What a little gem of a novel. Gripping, creepy and just delicious. An easy read that should be a summer bestseller. Should fly off the shelves.

The beginning of this book is superb. I was hooked by the second chapter. Lauren’s character is great and the premise of the story (twins/changelings/folklore/fairytales) is fantastic.
The ending for me didn’t clarify quite everything and left me with questions. It’s a well written book, Melanie Golding really proves herself as a magnificent storyteller, I just would have loved some of the themes and story explained more clearly at the end.

Melanie Golding’s debut novel ‘Little Darlings’ has much to recommend it: a realistic and moving portrayal of a mother, Lauren, floundering in the days after the traumatic experience of a complicated birth to twin boys, and almost drowning in the complex emotions that she is experiencing. In hospital, exhausted, overwhelmed by both the responsibility and the love that she feels for her sons, she is also convinced that a strange woman is out to steal her babies.
Weeks later, after becoming a virtual prisoner in her own home in order to protect the babies from the shadowy woman who threatens to destroy her family, she reluctantly agrees to meet up with other new mothers and their offspring in a park. Lauren enjoys the fresh air, the company, her happy babies but, after the friends disperse, she falls asleep and wakes up to find that her twins have been stolen.
Particularly enjoyable for me was the series of epigraphs focusing on folk lore about changeling children that preface many of the novel’s chapters, highlighting the long-held fear that babies and young children can be taken to be replaced by something ‘other’ – a difference that, sometimes, only the mother can see. This narrative is one way in which postpartum psychosis has been explored through storytelling over the centuries.
DS Joanna Harper becomes involved in the case. A single woman with particular empathy for mother/baby separations, she finds the boys who appear to have been taken by Natasha, a young woman with a singular connection to Patrick, Lauren’s husband. At first, this seems a clear-cut kidnapping case but the water is murky and unseen obstacles lie ahead, not least during the compelling section detailing Lauren’s terrifying experience of incarceration in a mental health unit.
Some elements of this first novel are not so convincing, such as the tentative relationship between DS Harper and local journalist, and the latter’s sources. Much of this does not ring true. Nor does it always add much to the narrative. However, that Melanie Golding does not sugar-coat her portrayal of some women’s experience of early motherhood is to be applauded. We feel Lauren’s pain; we know she loves her sons; we fear for them.
My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

I can't quite come to a decision about whether I liked this book or not. What seems like a thriller on the surface is mixed with folklore and superstition! That said, I did enjoy it, liked the detective and the setting, it definitely kept me interested

I really enjoyed this book it is well written and the story line is something I have never read before and with a bit of creepiness in it. Not a really fast paced book but it does keep you reading and turning those pages. You just need to read it and let the creepiness and uneasiness set in.

This is an absolutely excellent debut novel. It is a twisty combination of thriller, horror, myth and legend. Lauren has given birth to twin boys, Morgan and Riley and she is exhausted. As she lies, half awake and half asleep, in her hospital bed, she hears the noises of another mother in the next bay murmuring to her baby. As she listens, she realises there are two babies responding to their mother’s voice. When she asks about the new mother the following morning she is told there were no new admissions.

The following night the woman is back; singing an unsettling song to her babies. When Lauren confronts her, the woman says that she want to trade one of her babies for one of Lauren’s. Terrified, Lauren locks herself and her babies in the toilet and dials 999. Security can find no evidence of the other woman and tell the police it was a false alarm. Has Lauren dreamt everything? Her husband Patrick, and the hospital seem to think so.

A short time later, when Lauren has gone home, she see the woman watching her house. She is still not believed, although DS Jo Harper, who has taken an interest in the incident at the hospital, wonders if there is more to this case. Not long after this, during a walk by the river, Lauren falls asleep and when she wakes, her babies are gone. The twins are found but Lauren is convinced they are not her children; they are changelings. Is Lauren imaging all this? Is she mentally distressed? How can she get her sons or her mind back?

Gripping, dark, scary and twisty, I could not put this book down. It is so well written and the characters were completely believable. Patrick is a terrible husband, selfish and self-regarding, Jo is a policewoman pushing the boundaries and Lauren is a lost new mother. There are a couple of good side stories one of which involves Jo and a journalist.

This novel had an added bonus for me as it is set in the Peak District where I grew up and I know the story of the lost village which is a significant feature in the story.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher HQ for the ARC.
I rather enjoyed this book. It is an interestingly-constructed psychological thriller - the story weaving around fairy tales and folklore involving changelings, and post-natal depression/psychosis which can afflict new mothers. In this chilling tale the two are combined, with potentially devastating consequences.
DS Jo Harper has a past, a secret, which she shares with no-one. She has a rocky relationship with her boss and hates being desk-bound; she is a maverick and distains authority. Early one morning she's perusing the overnight logs when she spots a No Further Action call concerning an attempted kidnapping of newly-born twin boys at the local hospital. The mother, Lauren Tranter had phoned-in, frantic, that a woman was on her ward and trying to take her babies. DS Harper's instinct drives her to investigate further.
Returning home, Lauren becomes isolated and over-protective of her identical twins, Riley and Morgan, believing them to be in real danger. Her husband Patrick is not overly-supportive, but then he has other things on his mind, not yet revealed. Did Lauren really see that old woman again across the road from their house? Did she really have a psychotic episode in the hospital? Were her babies targeted to be swopped for the hideous beings in the old woman's basket?
Unofficially, DS Harper becomes more deeply involved, aided by her friendship with a local reporter who can access 'resources' unavailable to her officially.
Lots of questions - what relationship does the confluence of two rivers, and the reservoir-induced submersion of a town years ago, have to do with Lauren's present perceived situation?
To say much more would be too much. Suffice it to say that this is indeed a compelling read.
On the negative side I would say I found the dialogue aspect to be rather thin: I could see this as a TV film if dialogue was improved.
This story is a slow, emotional, burn, you can really feel Lauren's desperation, the helplessness of Patrick, and DS Harper's determination.
Well-worth the read.

I thought this was excellent. It is set in and around Sheffield, which I know well, with the names of famiiar locations changed. It involves Lauren, who has given birth to twins. She is convinced that they have become changelings and gets sectioned to a mental hospital. Joanna, the detective in charge of the case is not willing to let the case be closed and carries out some clandestine investigations with the help of a local glamorous journalist. At the beginnings of the chapters are some quotes and rhymes from folklore regarding faery folk and changelings. These add to the creepy feel and really make you believe that something magical is going on. The husband, Paul, is under suspicion as possibly not being as supportive as he could be. The ending is left slightly ambiguous so you have to draw your own conclusions. This is very cleverly plotted and is a compelling and absorbing read.

I really can't believe this is a debut novel, I couldn't put it down until I'd finished the whole thing. So here I am in the small hours writing my review whilst Little Darlings is fresh enough in my mind that I'm still properly creeped out. This isn't the first book that I've read on changeling folklore, which in itself is such a terrifying subject. The harm that real life women visited on children in the belief that they were saving them sends shivers down the spine so already I was heavily invested in this book from the opening chapters. All of my expectations though were turned upside down when I realised that this story is anything but straightforward. There are visceral descriptions not just of childbirth but also the painfully haunting disassociative despair of a new mother. There are also some frankly cinema ready moments that had me questioning why on earth I decided to read in the dark. Fantastic work, I will absolutely look out for the next one.

If you are looking for a great creepy, scary, psychological thriller then look no further. This one will have awake all night after reading, just be aware of you have twin babies !!

In the middle of the night, just after giving birth to her twin sons, Lauren Tranter, wakes up to the sounds of a woman in the next cubicle singing to her babies but after listening to the words being sung Lauren feels terror. Lauren is next hiding in the bathroom with her twin boys dialling 999 after the lady in the next cubicle tries to snatch her babies. No-one believes her and it is recorded as a mental health episode.

After going home Lauren sees the mystery lady opposite her house, and scared to leave the home she hides away from the world. Detective Jo Harper visits Lauren and despite everyone else not believing Lauren, Jo finds herself relating to Lauren and feels that there is some truth to what she is saying. Will the mystery lady got to Lauren’s twin babies or is it all in her head ? Can Jo crack the case before it ends in tragedy ?

This really is a creepy tale with a hint of the supernatural. A great read that will keep you awake at nights, especially if you have young babies !!

Thank you to HQ and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Infuriatingly slow to start and massively infuriatingly compulsive!

There is folklore and fairy tales at play throughout the book mixed into a psychological thriller with touches of the supernatural. This book plays on the fears of every new parent, the sleepless nights, the paranoia of something bad happening to your new baby and even the irrational fears every parent feels at one time or another.That is this books strength, how well she has put those fears and thoughts, the emotion they create and written them into this fantastic book. It had me questioning my own sanity and believes in the unknown.

Changelings – a child believed to have been secretly substituted by fairies for the parents’ real child in infancy. One of the most sinister superstitions and folklore.

The only slight negative I can say about the book is nothing to do with the book its self as such as the book is well written, slow paced until the midway point and then things really start to unravel with a great ending, so it is more to do with the advertisement of the book. Described on Amazon as ‘The most addictive and haunting debut of 2019’ that is a massive statement to live up too and as much as I enjoyed the book it just didn’t hit that mark for me sadly. Didn’t meet expectations you can’t help but have going into this book just from that one sentence.

Other than that it is a great read and one that will make a brilliant book club read as it will give you all plenty to discuss, during the read and after.

I can also see this one hitting the big screens in the near future, I know I’d love to see this book turned into a movie!

Little Darlings will be published in the Uk on 02 May 2019 and can be pre ordered now

A massive thank you to the author Melanie Golding, publishers HQ and NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest and independent review.

https://debbiesbookreviews.wordpress.com/2019/03/18/little-darlings-by-melanie-golding/

I absolutely loved this book it had me hooked from the first page
Only work and chores stopped me devouring it in one sitting
I would seriously recommend to others
The attention to detail and knowledge of the topic amazing

Oh my goodness! What a book! Honestly there are no words!!!!!!

So many times throughout reading this I thought I had worked out what was happening and going on but I was always wrong and I just didn't expect all the drama that happened in this at all.

My heart was pounding - I was scared, scared for Lauren, scared for the twins.

I definitely did not predict the ending to this! WOW!

Sensational, gripping and frightening!

There was no question of me NOT reading this book, was there?! I mean, twin books are my thing but I don’t think I’ve read many “baby twin” books before. And all I can say is…thank goodness I didn’t read this when I was pregnant with my twins or it would have scared the bejesus out of me!! This beautifully conceived book took the old folklore and fairytales about changelings and weaved a modern day tale around them that left me mentally traumatised! Little Darlings will haunt you long after you have finished reading it and you’ll probably wish it didn’t! I still have goosebumps every time I remember certain parts of the stunning but chilling narrative.

I was very lucky when I had my twins. I had an incredibly supportive husband and we had a fabulous little nighttime routine right from the word go. He would go downstairs and get bottles warmed up for them both while I changed twin 1. He would then take her and feed her while I woke twin 2, changed her nappy and then gave her a bottle. They were then winded, cuddled and popped back in their cots! It worked so well that by 6 weeks they were sleeping through the night. But if I had been married to Lauren’s husband Patrick then I would have had a very different nighttime experience indeed and I would probably have been arrested for causing him a major injury!! Poor Lauren is exhausted, especially after a traumatic event in the hospital shortly after her twin baby boys were born, but “poor” Patrick needs his sleep-even though he is on paternity leave for the first week that they are home! I mean if my husband had mentioned the words “spare bedroom” and “earplugs” in the same sentence after I had just given birth to my first born child, let alone twins….!!! Yes, Patrick’s lack of support made my blood boil from the start but then again no one else seemed to sense the huge amount of pressure that Lauren appeared either. But there was more to Lauren’s exhaustion and anxiety than just the normal first time mum blues and although she tried her best, there still seemed to be something very unsettling about her twin boys…

I don’t think I have read a book like Little Darlings before. I thought it was a brilliant mix of psychological thriller, horror and mythology that worked so well, I really couldn’t decide which direction the narrative was going to take. I didn’t expect the path it chose but I think that it was the right one for this storyline and worked perfectly. The author has done a huge amount of research and it has certainly paid off for her as she purposefully delivered a suspenseful, harrowing dilemma with a sense of unease from beginning to end.

Although Lauren was a fascinating character, it was Jo Harper that I really took to and one that I would really like to meet again. In fact, Little Darlings is one of those books where you want to be able to revisit the world that you left when the book finished to find out what happened to the characters after you left them behind. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them since I finished this creepy and compelling thriller! And for me that’s the sign of a brilliant read that I want to shout about to anyone who will listen! Definitely one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.

This book completely freaked me out. Is she imagining it all, or is there some supernatural element at play. Swinging back between the two throughout the book had me totally engrossed and somewhat hollow by the end. Do read it.

Thank you to NetGalley, HQ and Melanie Golding for the chance to read and review this novel.

This book is such a triumph that I can’t believe it’s the author’s debut novel. Deliciously sinister, twisted, dark and unsettling, this beautifully written book starts with a letter to the reader that tells us about changeling folklore and how the child-friendly, Disneyfied Fairy Tales we know today are very different from their terrifying origins that were used to scare children rather than entertain them. Through the main character this book emerges you into every mother’s worst nightmare and chills you to the bone.

‘Choose one,’ said the woman, ‘choose one or I’ll take them both...I can make sure they look the same.’

Lauren Tranter is feeling traumatised after the difficult birth of her twin boys, Morgan and Riley and feeling overwhelmed with the task of caring for the two tiny infants alone in the hospital. In the middle of the night Lauren a woman in the supposedly empty bed next to hers singing an eerie song. Lauren decides to ask her to stop and is confronted with a strange, ugly woman with two babies of her own. She tells Lauren both sets of twins are charmed, only hers are cursed with darkness. To balance this out she demands they exchange a twin and that if Lauren refuses she’ll take both and make sure the replacements look the same. Lauren, aghast and overcome with fierce maternal protection, locks herself with in the bathroom with the twins and calls the police. But hospital security say no one was there and there’s nothing on the CCTV so Lauren is referred to a psychiatrist. Despite this, DS Jo Harper can’t shake the feeling that there is more to this case than meets the eye.

Back at home Lauren lives in fear that the woman is going to take her children grows but no one believes her, not even her husband, Patrick. She refuses to leave the twins alone even for a minute, won’t leave the house, is scared to sleep and is just trying to survive each day. Patrick and her friends become increasingly worried about her. Eventually, she takes the boys to the park but the outing ends in disaster when she falls asleep on a bench and wakes to find the boys gone. Lauren’s elation at their recovery soon turns to horror when she realises these babies are not Morgan and Riley. The woman has carried out her threat to take them both. But everyone else is fooled and her desperate attempts to convince them leads to her being sent to a psychiatric unit.

At the psychiatric unit Lauren is filled with panic and fear.She knows she has to convince them she isn’t insane, that she doesn’t think the babies are her children so that they will let her go and she can save the real Morgan and Riley. So she tries to say the right things and act like she isn’t full of revulsion for the things that have replaced her perfect boys. When the police investigation finds no suspects everyone seems sure that Lauren is suffering from mental illness. Everyone except DS Harper. She still feels sure there’s something they’re missing and begins investigating various leads that could prove she’s right. But is she being fooled by a sick and unstable mother who is a danger to her children or the only person who believes a mother who is innocent and desperately trying to save them?

There’s some books you seem to just instantly connect with for one reason or another and this was one of those for me. The letter at the start, the ominous prologue and even the setting, were reasons this novel resonated with me so quickly. The book is set in my hometown of Sheffield and while I’ve read books set in places I’ve been or know a little, I have never before read a book set in my hometown. It added an extra layer of enjoyment when reading for me. I loved that I could picture the hospital Lauren gives birth in as I gave birth there myself and all the places mentioned are so familiar that I could picture them clearly.

One of the things I loved about this book was the uncertainty if Lauren was crazy or the fairy tale was real. I vacillated on this point many times and still can’t decide which I believe or which would be the least unsettling. Sometimes I find such ambiguity ruins a book for me but in this case I thought it enhanced the story. Afterall, this is a story based on a fairy tale and they require you to suspend your disbelief at the impossible, so it isn’t a stretch for me to believe that Lauren was telling the truth. But then the changeling folklore began as an explanation for the impossible, for something that is now a recognised mental illness, and therefore it is also not hard to believe that this is the explanation for what she is seeing. Overall, I did like Lauren. She did whatever she could to protect and save her children in her mind and while she seemed weak and paralysed by fear at the start, she found strength and fought her fears as the book went on. DS Jo Harper was also a great character, probably my favourite. Her back story gave substance to her actions that you could tell were often emotional and I liked that when she believed in something she pursued it, even if it got her in trouble. Patrick is another matter. I couldn’t stand him and for most of the book I wanted to reach through the pages and slap him as hard as possible. His complaints about losing sleep, complaining he can't function without it and she knew that before the babies made me so angry. He was anything but the helpful father Lauren expected and my heart went out to her as she realised the man she married wasn’t who she thought he was. Although he did seem to step up after the babies were abducted his earlier actions and other revelations meant that even this didn’t endear him to me.

Little Darlings is a spine-tingling, absorbing and spectacular novel. Filled with clever twists, shocking revelations, edge of your seat suspense and unnerving changeling folklore this is a book that will stay with you. Melanie Golding is an exciting new voice in fiction and has created a book everyone will be talking about.

CHANGELING
“A child believed to of been secretly substituted by fairies for the parents’ real child in infancy”

I don’t think it’s possible for me to write a review for ‘Little Darlings’ by Melanie Golding that can do it justice or even begin to explain the emotional turmoil it has put me through. It is one seriously messed up, disturbing and sickening read and that is why I absolutely loved it!

‘Little Darlings’ is a psychological thriller with a folklore twist. It leaves you second guessing and always questioning the reality. Could there really be magic people who live near by who wish to take our children? or Is Lauren suffering from a rare mental illness? Whatever the case, Lauren is determined to do whatever it takes to protect her twin boys even if to others it appears she is doing the complete opposite.

This was such a fantastic read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys thrillers but is fed up with the same old story lines. This novel is unlike anything you would of read before.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC in return for an honest review.

Wow, this was absolutely superb!
I didn’t really have any preconceptions for this book with not having read any of the author’s work before. It can always be hit and miss when you request a book on NetGalley from a new author. I’d been putting off reading this as I was worried it might be a miss. I shouldn’t have waited as it was more than just a hit!
It gripped me and wouldn’t let go; it was so creepy that I was actually afraid to go to sleep after reading it. I kept seeing the woman’s eyes peering through the window (something similar happened to me when I was younger, and I hate having the curtains open when it’s dark!) I don’t have kids of my own, but I still felt the sheer horror of the tale.
The whole way through you don’t know if this is a supernatural thriller and what is happening is ‘real’ or whether Lauren is stark raving mad. Even at the end you still don’t truly know. It leaves you with a million questions and makes you think for quite some time after finishing it. This isn’t a bad thing, as so often I finish a book and forget all about it. I always think the outstanding books are the ones that stay with you afterwards that you can’t get out of your mind! This is one of those books!
The citations at the beginning of each chapter made me chuckle as this was undoubtedly paying homage to the MA the author had just finished. Once I realised she was a recent graduate these made so much more sense!
I’m gutted to discover that this is the author's debut book as it means I can’t read any more of her books yet!

I do most my reading at night in bed hoping to read myself to sleep. This thoroughly engaging but also thoroughly creepy book was probably not the best choice for late night reading in the dark. I stayed up till the early hours of the morning reading Little Darlings, too freaked out to sleep but also unable to put it down. And I regret nothing.

From the author's introduction to the satisfying yet disturbing end, I was utterly enthralled with Melanie Golding's modern take on folklore. I've read a lot of fantasies, fairytales, and books with myth in them but except for YA I can't think of many that take place in the present, non-magical world like this.

It brings up an interesting thought- fairytale and folklore were accepted truths in the not so distant past but in today's "modern" thinking world, things like fairies and changelings have no place. Yet does that mean they don't still exist?

This book was an incredible blend of fantastical and every-day-life horrors. Our poor new mother of twins was being bombarded on all fronts from dangers outside, in her head, and in her home. It shook me to my core and was a great read.

As a personal side note, the night I started reading this my husband and I broached the subject of having kids, something I've always been wary of. After the first few chapters of Little Darlings that dealt with the traumatic birth followed by post-partum depression and the general uselessness of her awful husband, I'm not only terrified of changelings but also kind of terrified of having a kid. I think I might have to hold off for a few more months before thinking about having kids!

An unsettling and spine chilling read which, as a mother, left me uneasy while reading it but unable to put it down. I really enjoyed this and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others.