Little Darlings: The chilling, haunting and addictive best selling crime thriller debut everyone’s talking about

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I don’t know what I was thinking when I requested the ARC for this book, but you cannot blame me after that blurb. It really is a very interesting one. And I will say this, Melanie Golding did not disappoint.

Notting Hill director Roger Michell has died aged 65". The Independent. 2021-09-23. Archived from the original on 2021-09-23 . Retrieved 2023-07-04.

I recommend this book for readers who love dark fairy-tales, mothers who aren't weirded out by horror books about babies and anyone who likes a good shiver. I understand this book may be made into a movie. I will be interested to watch it! Little Darlings is a 2019 thriller novel by British writer Melanie Golding about a new mother who suspects that a supernatural entity is attempting to abduct her children. It received a 2019 Dragon Award for Best Horror Novel. Viscerally creepy and compelling— a contemporary dark fairy tale that reeled me in like tales of old." The Changeling Folktale Gets A Modern Reimagining In The Creepy Psychological Thriller 'Little Darlings' ". Bustle. 2019-05-16. Archived from the original on 2023-07-04 . Retrieved 2023-07-04.

Let me just say this book wasn't anywhere near the top of my TBR pile, yet circumstances put me in a place where this was the perfect read. Once I started, I couldn't put it down and that was a good thing since sleep was eluding me anyway. I loved how to me at least, the ending was open to interpretation and I look forward to discussing Little Darlings with my book loving friends. 4.5 shiny stars and a book I definitely recommend. Honestly Changelings are not put to good use in today's literary field. Old Irish folklore about the most scariest thing that could happen to a new mother. I couldn't put the book down! The "mystery" was pretty much solved (Lauren's mentally unstable and there is no actual "other woman") about half way through, but I still had to keep reading! What will happen to the babies? And there is a twist toward the end! It turns out there was a women with twins in the water! How did Lauren know? And how did the other woman (40+ years earlier) have the same hallucinations?I also enjoyed the sections told from the perspective of the police sergeant. I found her character to be a new take on the trope of a police investigator and I enjoyed her perspective. There is also a journalist character who is used to move the story along that I didn't enjoy nearly as much. McLain, Katie (2019-04-16). "50 Must-Read Spring 2019 Crime Novels". BOOK RIOT. Archived from the original on 2023-07-04 . Retrieved 2023-07-04. Now imagine this: you awake, startled on the bench, not knowing how long you've been asleep only to see that the stroller and your precious babies are no longer there. 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.

However, once the story took off, I was completely hooked. I read 70% of the book in less than a day because I could not put it down. At the first run of the talent show, the judges panel is made up of students and it is treated like a popularity contest. Destiny is marked second to last place, because she's new and isn't part of any of the local gangs, the Flat boys and the Speedos. At the evening version, however, the teachers judge and Destiny comes first place. She sends Sunset a copy of the DVD recording. 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. Golding had first begun working on a short story about changelings set in the modern day because the folklore frightened her, which became much longer than she originally planned. While researching for the story, she found that similar folktales were common across cultures. [5] She wrote the novel as part of her master's degree in creative writing at Bath Spa University. [6]

The question of whether or not the events are real or all within Lauren’s head are never explained- and that’s a good thing. There’s a constant tension that forces you to ask yourself if you truly think Lauren is suffering from post-partum psychosis, or if there’s a natural inclination to disbelieve women, especially new mothers, who say that something is wrong.