Little Darlings by Melanie Golding #BookReview #BookBlogger #AmReading

by Shalini, posted in Book Reviews, Fiction

What’s the truth, what’s a lie

Go on, I dare you to try

Come closer, don’t be shy

Are they real, look in their eye

Twins to the mother were born

She tried so hard, not to be torn

Came a woman with a basket

Sang a tune to the casket

You had everything, she had none

To be fair, she wanted one son

One of hers to one of yours

If she dares, then both will be hers!!

This book is one of the creepiest ones I have read in recent times and I loved it. Lauren, after the birth of twins and going through post partum hemorrhage, was both exhausted and overwhelmed. Her husband Patrick pretended to support her, at least in the hospital. A woman in rags at night, singing a song, wanting one/both of her sons, put Lauren into a panic and a call to 911.

Days later, sleep deprived and going for a walk in the park with the babies, Lauren dozed off on a bench, and babies were gone. They were found, but Lauren was convinced her little darlings were swapped by changelings. Was that true, had the twins been interchanged or was Lauren hallucinating?

Melanie Golding’s debut had me questioning the lines at every point. My views kept changing about what was happening with Lauren. There was so much conviction in her prose that I had goosebumps while reading the parts of the story. The changed twins staring creepily caused a shiver to go down my spine. Brrr… The only thing I was sure of was that the husband was a nasty piece of work!!

I loved that this story was a cross between a thriller and Grimm’s fairy tale. The Dark Wicked Faerie wanting both her sons, really came alive with Melanie’s writing. The cop investigating all this Jo Harper soon found a place in my heart. I loved her gut feelings and her vulnerability in her personal life.

A few parts niggled me, they went slow, the story dragged at some points. The rest of the prose compensated for those slow bits.

I enjoyed the book thoroughly, I was scared and I loved that!! An absolutely atmospheric read filled with creeping eerieness.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Crooked Lane Books, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!!

All my reviews can be found here

Melanie Golding is a graduate of the MA in creative writing program at Bath Spa University, with distinction. She has been employed in many occupations including farm hand, factory worker, childminder and music teacher. Throughout all this, because and in spite of it, there was always the writing. In recent years she has won and been shortlisted in several local and national short story competitions. Little Darlings is her first novel, and has been optioned for screen by Free Range Films, the team behind the adaptation of My Cousin Rachel.

Everyone says Lauren Tranter is exhausted, that she needs rest. And they’re right; with newborn twins, Morgan and Riley, she’s never been more tired in her life. But she knows what she saw: that night, in her hospital room, a woman tried to take her babies and replace them with her own creatures. Yet when the police arrived, they saw no one. Everyone, from her doctor to her husband, thinks she’s imagining things.

A month passes. And one bright summer morning, the babies disappear from Lauren’s side in a park. But when they’re found, something is different about them. The infants look like Morgan and Riley—to everyone else. But to Lauren, something is off. As everyone around her celebrates their return, Lauren begins to scream, These are not my babies.

Determined to bring her true infant sons home, Lauren will risk the unthinkable. But if she’s wrong about what she saw…she’ll be making the biggest mistake of her life.

Compulsive, creepy, and inspired by some of our darkest fairy tales, Little Darlings will have you checking—and rechecking—your own little ones. Just to be sure. Just to be safe.

Publication Date: 30th April 2019

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

55 thoughts on “Little Darlings by Melanie Golding #BookReview #BookBlogger #AmReading”

      2. I took a nap after replying to you, and I saw the most horrifying dream, a child becoming the demon…. Omg omg… I scared myself woke up with my heart pounding 🙈🙈😂😂

        Liked by 1 person

      4. I know who thought I would love kill bill and creepy stuff… 😂 😂 😂 😂
        But the dream was so vivid. I kept wondering why was Jaya not saving me 😂😂😂😂

        Liked by 1 person

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