Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $9.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Little Darlings
    Little Darlings
    Little Darlings
    Audiobook11 hours

    Little Darlings

    Written by Melanie Golding

    Narrated by Melanie Golding and Stephanie Racine

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    ‘Atmospheric and very creepy’ The Guardian

    ‘Goosebump-inducing…Unforgettable’ Woman & Home

    ‘Unforgettable…there is something of Sylvia Plath in Lauren…One suspects that the real sorceress here is Golding, whose writing has given a voice to every wronged mother’ The New York Times

    ‘Chilling story…stunning’ Clare Mackintosh

    ‘Taps into every woman’s fear that she will not be believed’ Mel McGrath, author of The Guilty Party

    * * * *

    THE TWINS ARE CRYING.
    THE TWINS ARE HUNGRY.

    LAUREN IS CRYING.
    LAUREN IS EXHAUSTED.

    Behind the hospital curtain, someone is waiting . . .

    Lauren is alone on the maternity ward with her new-born twins when a terrifying encounter in the middle of the night leaves her convinced someone is trying to steal her children. Lauren, desperate with fear, locks herself and her sons in the bathroom until the police arrive to investigate.

    When DS Joanna Harper picks up the list of overnight incidents that have been reported, she expects the usual calls from drunks and wrong numbers. But then a report of an attempted abduction catches her eye. The only thing is that it was flagged as a false alarm just fifteen minutes later.

    Harper's superior officer tells her there's no case here, but Harper can’t let it go so she visits the hospital anyway. There's nothing on the CCTV. No one believes this woman was ever there. And yet, Lauren claims that she keeps seeing the woman and that her babies are in danger, and soon Harper is sucked into Lauren's spiral of fear. But how far will they go to save children who may not even be in danger?

    * * * *

    Early readers can’t stop raving about Little Darlings:

    ‘Every mother will see themselves in Lauren…taut with suspense’

    ‘You just need to read it and let the creepiness and uneasiness set in’

    ‘A disturbing and spine-chilling tale…This tale will keep readers on the edge of their seat’

    ‘A unique, haunting story that stays with you long after finishing it’

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins Publishers
    Release dateMay 2, 2019
    ISBN9780008293703
    Author

    Melanie Golding

    Melanie Golding has a master’s in creative writing from Bath Spa University. She has taught writing in prisons and institutions for young offenders, as well as music in a school for boys with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Her novel Little Darlings has been optioned for film. A full-time, registered childminder, Golding splits her time between her childminding duties and her writing. 

    Related to Little Darlings

    Lesbian Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A New Beginning

      Mar 25, 2022

      A New Beginning
      5 min read

    • Article

      Heatstroke

      Jun 8, 2020

      Languid. The word that formed in Rachel’s mind was languid. The figure on the lawn was languid. Its limbs were loose, its joints fluid. Its hands and feet seemed too heavy for the bones that held them. It was draped over the sun lounger, dripping fro

      5 min read

    • Article

      Pneumadectomy

      Jan 10, 2022

      Rolly stood for a few minutes in the shade of the large oak, just out of sight of the boys gathered on the dry shaven green of the bowls club. All aged around eleven like himself, they were dividing up their meager numbers for a game of soccer, knowi

      10 min read

    • Article

      Bright Passage

      Mar 8, 2022

      Bright Passage
      19 min read

    • Article

      When Wendy Asked What We Dream

      Jul 1, 2019

      When Wendy asked what we dream, I wanted to say war and drowning. Not drowning exactly, but the moment when the choice is made to drown or not drown, before the mouth opens. Instead I said I never dream of cats. But that night I remembered the cats I

      16 min read

    • Article

      Prematurity Blues

      May 1, 2019

      A baby arrives with echoing thunder, its reverberations stretching into both your future and your past. It’s safe to say that our baby arrived with more thunder than most, twelve weeks early and weighing in at a vanishingly small 825 grams. “A crappy

      2 min read

    • Article

      A Nurse’s Coronavirus Routine: Recording Videos She Hopes Her Family Will Never Need To Watch

      Apr 3, 2020

      Anticipating a call to treat #coronavirus patients in the ICU, a Seattle nurse makes videos for her family — just in case she doesn't come home one day.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Reaching OUT

      Jan 17, 2024

      Reaching OUT
      6 min read

    • Article

      These Children Can Neither Move Nor Speak. Clowns And Engineers Are Trying To Listen To Their Inner Worlds

      Dec 13, 2018

      Some brain-injured children may be more aware than they seem. "Biomusic" might give parents a way to catch a glimpse — however fuzzy — of these kids’ unspoken feelings.

      19 min read

    • Article

      Why These Children Fell into Endless Sleep

      Sep 22, 2021

      I had barely stepped foot over the threshold and I already felt claustrophobic. I wanted to turn back. People shuffled into the room in front of me, while somebody else stood directly behind me, a little too close. It felt hard to escape. I could see

      12 min read

    • Article

      The Worst and Best Day

      Apr 16, 2022

      The Worst and Best Day
      8 min read

    • Article

      Sifting

      Mar 4, 2024

      CASSANDRA GARBUS is the author of the novel Solo Variations. Her fiction has appeared in Kenyon Review Online, American Short Fiction, Texas Review, Meridian, Louisiana Literature, and The Cortland Review. Lily slumps on the living room couch, absorb

      22 min read

    • Article

      The Pitch

      Jul 13, 2022

      The Pitch
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Primeval Comic Book

      Aug 1, 2017

      The Primeval Comic Book
      8 min read

    • Article

      Bear Necessity

      Apr 16, 2021

      Bear Necessity
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Pill

      Dec 10, 2023

      Marlee stopped taking the pill when she was fifty-two. She had been bleeding each month—albeit hardly and close to tar—so she figured she was fertile, sort of, that something would attach itself to her uterine lining even if not completely thriving.

      12 min read

    • Article

      What Remains

      Feb 21, 2019

      What Remains
      18 min read

    • Article

      Page-turners

      May 22, 2020

      If you’re looking for a bit of escapism to get away from the lockdown blues for a while, this is a good option. It will make you work hard to keep up with the changing timelines but also keep you engaged with the mystery as you try to figure out exac

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Watch

      Apr 30, 2020

      The Watch
      4 min read

    • Article

      Entry Points

      Mar 8, 2022

      WHEN FINALLY it was time for our daughter to be born and I headed out on the Green Line from Copley Square to the Brigham, I had only the one book I’d brought with me to work that morning in my backpack, Ishiguro’s An Artist of the Floating World. I’

      3 min read

    • Article

      Retriever of Souls

      Nov 25, 2021

      What they don’t say is that, sometimes God will call you to the wilderness, gesture toward the trees, and then, hang back and wave you on alone. —“Prayer for the Wretched Among Us” from The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded At nig

      18 min read

    • Article

      The Bridle

      Oct 10, 2021

      Saliva pooled on her tongue beneath the rusty depressor. She endured a constant urge to swallow, afraid of choking on her own fluids. The taste of metal and blood are so akin, it is easy to mistake one for the other. This early in the day, blood was

      11 min read

    • Article

      A Symposium on Childhood

      Sep 1, 2021

      A Symposium on Childhood
      25 min read

    • Article

      Net Effect

      Feb 16, 2020

      Net Effect
      2 min read

    • Article

      Grandma Ruth’s UP Truck Stop

      May 10, 2021

      Rachel’s last semester at the University of Michigan would have been easy if not for the news that reached her six weeks before her final exams. It wasn’t a phone call—the phone lines were still down from the most recent blizzard to hit Paradise, she

      28 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Little Darlings

    4/5

    159 ratings35 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Why did I leave it so long to read this? When twins are born and the mother starts hearing and seeing strange things you may think she had post partum psychosis that’s what I thought the book was leading to. Turns out I was wrong and it is not the first time it has happened, which DS Harper finds out when investigating.
      This book is creepy and chilling and one that grabs you in so you don’t want to put it down. I really enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      Rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..(netgalley) Oh man this book gave me the heebie-jeebies., It was creepy yet captivating, I feel like I have to make sure all my doors are locked and thankful that my kids are adults So we meet Lauren who just had twin boys and while there some woman tries to switch out her babies with her own. Now as a newly parent and especially of newborn twins you are exhausted and sometimes even a little delirious and that is how everyone is suggesting to her that what she felt was not real no one not even her husband believes her. It gets to the point that she wonders if she was correct, the only person who gives her credence is Detective Harper. Lauren is at her wits end and when she returns home it doesn't get better but worse..OOOO you have got to read but prepare yourself for some goosebumps!
    • 2/5
      This book has been very popular with advance reviewers and has already been optioned for a movie, too! Unfortunately, it didn’t resonate with me. The book focuses on a young new mom who’s just been through a traumatic birth, has no support system at home, and appears to be suffering from postpartum depression. She claims that someone has tried to steal her children and replace them with cursed, witchcraft enhanced fake babies. Naturally, nobody believes her - except for one police officer that will at least listen to her, for a start. Is she telling the truth? Is her mind playing tricks on her? Is anyone at all out to get her and the kids? The book explores these questions through the use of its unreliable characters, and blurs the lines between what is folklore and reality, madness and medicine. I personally found the descriptions of the traumatic birth and ensuing traumatic/depressive motherhood to be a bit too much for me and I could not really get inside the characters and the story.
    • 4/5
      This book was quite unusual but interesting nonetheless. I enjoyed it.
    • 5/5
      Gripping! Unlike anything I have ever read before. Page Turner
    • 5/5
      Lauren has just had a blessed event.. times 2. Beautiful healthy twin boys are born to Lauren Tranter after a very difficult delivery and traumatic after care. When a strange and foul smelling woman appears in her hospital room with a basket of inhuman twins and demands to switch one for one of Lauren's twins it feels like a nightmare from the exhaustion and stress of labor. But when Lauren refuses the woman, she demands both babies instead and forcibly tries to take them. Nobody believed Lauren in the hospital that night, and nobody believed her after her release when she saw the woman again outside her home. Terrified for her babies, Lauren spends her days locked away in the house with them, until her increasingly annoyed and utterly useless husband insists that she take them out for some fresh air. That day as poor sleep deprived Lauren dozed off for a minute, someone snatched her babies. When they are found, they are different.. strange... changed.
      "Changeling- a child believed to have been secretly substituted by fairies for the parents' real child in infancy."
      Is Lauren suffering some sort of delusion or are these truly not her babies? You will have to read to find out.
      I loved this book and the bits of fairy folklore in between chapters.
      I received an advance copy for review.
    • 4/5
      Folklore, myth and reality intertwine in this heart wrenching thriller. A mother’s worst fear...he children abducted and then returned but the children were not hers but something sinister.

      This book gives a front seat look into postpartum Depression mingled with otherworldy influences.

      The ending left me wanting more. I hungered for more information on the River mother. What happened to her? What lead her to this?

      Overall a decent read.

      *ARC provided by Netgalley*
    • 5/5
      ** spoiler alert ** Not since the novel “Baby Teeth” have I gotten serious chills from reading. This book was extremely hard for me to put down, and after reading the passages stayed with me. It is not only a thriller in the likes of Stephen King, but also an honest depiction of new motherhood, and the history of folklore. ⁣
      Lauren is a new mom of twin boys, so one would expect her to be exhausted and overwhelmed. Her husband Patrick means well but like some new dads, doesn’t quite know what to do and ultimately leaves the majority of the childcare to Lauren. As someone who had her first child a year ago, I sympathized with Lauren’s feelings of pure exhaustion, worry, and frustration. When she was angry with her husband, I felt it along with her. When the doctors wouldn’t listen to her, I wanted to shout at them on her behalf. That’s on behalf of the author, who writes very vividly. ⁣
      One night in the maternity ward, a strange woman attempts to abduct Lauren’s children. But no one seems to believe her, except a kindly police officer. Once Lauren and the babies are home, more strange events seem to happen. You are never quite sure what is a legitimate feeling and what is an exaggerated response as a result of postpartum depression. ⁣
      I read in the book jacket that the movie rights for this novel have already been optioned, which I can’t wait to see who they cast and hope they give this book the adaptation it deserves. This novel unsettled me, kept me on the edge of my seat, and yet I would read it again and recommend it to others. I am looking forward to the author’s next work as well.⁣
    • 5/5
      Delightfully unsettling. A blend of Grimm fairytales and domestic noir, with a heavy dose of unreliable narrator, Golding weaves a tale of the horror of motherhood. Is a mysterious woman trying to steal Laurens twins or is she wrestling postpartum, depression and exhaustion playing tricks on her mind? A gripping, compelling story.
    • 5/5
      This was an interesting book! It is a fairy tale, involving actual fairies and also has a bit of cop mystery entwined! Lauren Tranter is a new mother of twin boys! She's overwhelmed and exhausted (like any new mother of one!) and she's a little lonely as she's in the hospital with only the Morgan & Riley to keep her company. Soon, she hears a woman in the cubicle next to her, singing to her own twin boys but she's not exactly what Lauren thinks! She wants to trade her twins with Lauren's! Lauren then has to do what she needs to do to protect her babies but yet, no one seems to believe her. She goes through quite the ordeal! I loved how this book was told from Lauren's perspective and also Detective Joanna Harper. They are both characters you learn to care about.
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars.

      Little Darlings by Melanie Golding is an eerie mystery with supernatural elements.

      Lauren Tranter has just given birth to twin boys. Following a long labor, a somewhat traumatic birth and little sleep, she is left to care for the boys on her own when her husband, Patrick, leaves for the night. Lauren is completely overwhelmed and exhausted when she is attacked by a crazed woman who tries to steal her newborn babies.  Despite no one believing Lauren's experience is real, Detective Sergeant Joanna Harper cannot shake the feeling there is something to the new mother's claims. And a month later, when the twins go missing during an outing, Joanna  keeps digging for answers long after her boss tells her to close the case.  What happened to Lauren's babies? Is there a sinister reason for what is happening to Lauren? Or is Lauren experiencing postpartum psychosis?

      Lauren and Patrick have been happily married for quite some time when the twins are born. Lauren is already aware that Patrick is not exactly the caregiver type, but she is still somewhat stunned when he turns all the childcare and household duties over to her.  She is delighted with her sons, but nursing them around the clock, a lack of sleep and her fear the woman will steal her boys is taking a huge toll on her.  It does not help she has received some odd gifts and she cannot shake the feeling that someone is watching her. Absolutely convinced the woman from the hospital is just waiting for the chance to grab her sons, Lauren locks herself in the bedroom and refuses to step foot outside the house.

      At Patrick's urging, Lauren finally decides there will be no harm in meeting her friends for a few hours in the park. Feeling more like her old self, she is having a wonderful time until a fateful decision turns her world upside down.  Afterwards, she remains certain that something is amiss with her sons. And Lauren is determined to do whatever it takes to right this tragic wrong.

      Little Darlings is a clever mystery with a storyline that utilizes some rather dark fairy tales and folklore.  Lauren's experiences as a new mother are realistically portrayed and her predicament makes it very easy to empathize with her. DS Harper is a fantastic detective who refuses to quit searching for the truth about what happened to Lauren and her sons.  Despite the slow pacing, there is plenty of suspense as Melanie Golding  brings the novel to an exciting yet frustratingly ambiguous conclusion. An intriguing debut that I recommend to readers who enjoy a good mystery with just a touch of the supernatural.
    • 4/5
      Trigger warnings: if you had a traumatic birthing experience followed by postpartum depression, this book may seriously trigger you the way it did me. Golding's moment by moment description of Lauren's seriously rough delivery of twins, followed by pain, exhaustion, and a terrifying lack of connection to her babies was horrifying and extremely accurate. I had nightmares all night long after reading - and not because of the possible haunting. I'll try not to give away the ending, but let's just say this is not the book to hand your friend who's struggled with postpartum depression.
    • 4/5
      Little Darlings by Melanie Golding is a 2019 Crooked Lane publication.

      Creepy, atmospheric mix of psychological suspense and supernatural folklore

      Lauren is understandably exhausted after giving birth to twins, but enough to imagine she saw a woman enter her hospital room and attempt to swap out her babies? Lauren insists someone is out to steal her twins, but the only person who is giving her the benefit of the doubt is Joanna Harper, the officer who responded to Lauren’s initial 999 call.

      Then, just as Lauren is starting to feel confident about going out again her babies are abducted, just has she’d feared. Although they are quickly recovered, Lauren has horrifying reaction, insisting the babies aren’t hers, which promptly lands her in an institution.

      As Jo investigates the odd goings on, she makes some interesting discoveries about Lauren’s husband, some lurid folklore tales about twins, and a shockingly similar case that took place decades earlier...

      This book was super-hot with many of my friends on social media last year. I’d been dying to see what all the fuss was about, but as I was still doing a lot of assigned work at that time, the book slid down my TBR list and off my radar. I don’t think I realized the novel had such a strong paranormal tone, thinking it was more of a psychological thriller. As it turns out the novel is adept at genre bending- mixing suspense and mystery with supernatural elements, while painting a vivid portrait of the length's parents will go to, and willing sacrifices they will make in order to protect or save their children.

      It’s an interesting mashup, and it works spectacularly. If all horror novels were like this one, I’d read this genre more often. I liked Joanna, but occasionally her personal thoughts and relationship woes didn’t really interest me and slowed down the momentum, breaking the carefully woven spell on a few occasions. Other than that, this is a super tense story, very eerie and atmospheric, and despite the slightly disappointing ambiguousnesses of the conclusion, it still left me with a lingering feeling of poignancy long after the final page was turned.
    • 4/5
      Eerie and disquieting journey into the world of folk lore and myths.

      Lauren is a first time mother who has just given birth to her twin baby boys, Morgan and Riley. While recovering in hospital from the difficult births, Lauren is woken in the middle of the night by mysterious noises coming from the hospital bed next to her. Curious because the noises seem to be a new mother with her own set of twins, Lauren is confronted by the sight of a horrid woman who wants to trade her babies for Lauren's boys. After a second encounter where the woman demands Lauren's babies, Lauren lock herself in the washroom and calls police but no one is found. Lauren is finally released from the hospital with her babies but is still convinced a strange woman tried to take her babies so insists on staying at home and protecting her newborn babies. Eventually, her husband convinces Lauren to go for a walk with the babies and while resting. the babies disappear and the police are called. Thankfully, the babies are found unharmed but Laurn is certain that the babies are not hers and have been "changed".

      I absolutely adored how this book was written. The surreal encounters with the mysterious woman, Lauren's experience of being a first time mother, her growing horror of realizing the babies are not hers, the police woman who has a hunch that Lauren is telling the truth, the background of folklore ingrained in the story... it isn't easy to incorporate all of that into one book seamlessly but the author nailed it.
      I liked the side story about the police woman who believes Lauren very much. She was not the main protagonist but I liked her character (and hope there will be more police stories with her in them... hint hint). I have to say I detested the husband but you need a negative character sometimes just to spice things up a notch. I really can't say too much because I don't want to give spoilers away. The book is more than it seems, and either way you interpret the book, you are in for a wonderful debut novel.
    • 5/5
      A mother always knows her own babies.....doesn't she? Of course she does.....right? Fairie tales show their sinister side in the current century for new mother of twins, Lauren. As a new mother, she knows whats best for her babies! Why does she feel so alone and why does no one believe what she knows to be true? As you read through Little Darlings you're on this wicked trip, like the water ride from hell, as you believe and doubt and believe and doubt and on and on....never knowing when this ride will really end, never knowing who to really trust in the end.
      The main characters were richly developed and interesting. Without giving spoilers I will only say that we can easily visualize what Lauren see's in her "Little Darlings" and empathize with all of her thoughts and feelings.
      I enjoyed this book and found myself grabbing it in the middle of the night for "a chapter" only to find myself still reading an hour later. Mystery, fantasy, horror and crime with a nice dose of creeps. Well done.
    • 5/5
      What happens if the "old wives' tales" aren't just folktales?

      I absolutely loved this book!! Ms Golding created a very believable story of a young mother caught in the turbulent early days of motherhood who believes her newborn twins are at risk of being stolen by the fairies and replaced with changelings. When she fears the unthinkable has actually happened, she must go to great lengths to make things right and rescue her babies.

      While I really did care about Lauren, my favorite character was actually Officer Harper. I loved her determination and stubborn willingness to follow her instincts; I loved her general "realness" and vulnerabilities and back story. The author did a great job of keeping Harper guessing, so that I felt like she was going through the same back and forth feelings as I was -is Lauren simply crazy or is there some truth in her paranoia? I really hope the author isn't done with Harper yet, I would love to read more of her.

      The conclusion to Lauren's story is not crystal clear. It's all wrapped up, but in the end, I still don't know what just happened! I found myself completely believing the changeling story, but at the same time I can't help wonder if that's not really what happened to Lauren. I love books that make me still think about them afterwards!

      I am so glad I had the chance to read this before the movie comes out next year.

      *received a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review
    • 3/5
      I received this ARC from Crooked Lane via BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion in any way. All quotes are taken from the uncorrected proof and are subject to change.

      When the time came for them to sleep through the night, something would be given: the gift of rejuvenating sleep, essential to life. But like every bargain, something would also be taken: it would be another of those inevitable steps away from her and into themselves. Let it go on, she thought, this beautiful torture, the time of sleepless nights. For as long as it will.
      Obligatory Summary

      Lauren Tranter is certain that a strange woman wants to steal her newborn twins and replace them with her own, but no one else believes her; not her husband, not her friends, and certainly not the police. Detective Harper, however, thinks there's more to the situation. After Lauren's twins get briefly abducted, things seem to be coming together, but nothing is as it appears. She insists that the boys in her basket aren't her own, that they've been replaced with changelings. And when Lauren considers the unthinkable, the divide between fantasy and reality blurs. Can Harper solve the case before it's too late? And will Lauren ever get her own boys back? Were they ever even gone?

      My Thoughts

      I liked the writing enough. As a debut, it was pretty good, but the "debut-ness" sometimes showed, with awkward, repetitive prose and redundancies. There were a lot of Britishisms that took me a bit to figure out. Like, apparently they say "interview" for everything? Like, in America, it's just job interviews and the like, with interrogation and questioning for criminal proceedings, but this book had interviews with suspects and potential witnesses. It was just odd and a little eye-opening. British people use such cute little terms hah.

      Golding really excelled at setting descriptions and really painted an excellent scene, but her characters somewhat lacked depth. Harper's character, in particular, seemed irrelevant at first, to the point that I considered DNFing the book. This story had great potential to be a quality horror, but it really wanted to be a mystery thriller instead, and I had to reconcile that for myself. There were times when it almost reached spooky territory but backed away at the last moment, leaving me feeling unresolved and a little disappointed. The ending, for example, had this whole chapter about a seemingly unrelated mystery that ultimately felt like a retcon and a waste of my time. I think if more time had been devoted to building suspense instead of introducing new information and having the pay-off a chapter later, I would have been more invested throughout.

      Also, Patrick can go die.
    • 3/5
      A mother who thinks her twin boys have been replaced my changelings. Sign me up! I love the description of the book. The book becomes a question of whether or not you believe Lauren. She claims to have been threatened by a mysterious woman. After her twins are lost and then recovered, she claims that they are not hers. Who do we believe? Is Lauren going crazy, or is she really under attack by a supernatural being?

      I felt the first half of the book moved a little slow. Once the twins are swapped, it began to move faster. I'm not totally in love with how the book ended. And Lauren's husband, Patrick is a real jerk. He is very self centered throughout the book and frankly not much help to his wife.

      I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
    • 4/5
      Little Darlings seamlessly blends a dark fairy tale world into modern day. But the supernatural aren't the only things to be afraid of in this book, humans can be just as bad. Lauren's husband, oh my. Everyone in this book has they're own hangups and you can't trust any of the narrators to be reliable. Is it really supernatural or is Lauren crazy or suffering from postpartum depression? Who can be trusted? Even the reader will doubt Lauren's sanity. It's a gripping story absolutely worth the read that plays on primal parental fears.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book! I knew that I wanted to read this book after seeing a couple of really favorable early reviews. Since I didn't get to it prior to the book's release, I decided to take a look at the audiobook and I was sold on it after listening to the sample. I was somewhat mesmerized by this story and found myself frequently wanting to read just a little bit more. I am really glad that I made the decision to read this book.

      I didn't really know what to expect from this book when I started reading it since I try to go into books as blindly as I can. I was drawn into the story right away. I think that one of the main strengths of this story is its descriptions. I felt like I was right there with Lauren when she had the twins and felt her frustration and exhaustion as she worked to care for them largely on her own. Her fear, her panic, and her desperation were all beautifully illustrated through the details of this tale.

      This was really more of a mystery than anything but there is a bit of otherness to the story. There is definitely a fairy tale aspect to the story with changlings at its core. I really liked the fact that in addition to Lauren's point of view we also get to see things from Detective Harper's perspective. I couldn't help but wonder what was really going on and I wanted both of these women to succeed in their quest to figure things out and protect the babies.

      I thought that Stephanie Racine did an amazing job with this book. This was an emotional story at times and I think that the narration was able to add a certain element to a number of passages. She had a very pleasant voice with a nice accent that was easy to listen to for hours at a time. There were quotes at the beginning of some chapters that were done by a different narrator, the author I believe. I would have preferred to see a single narrator for this story. I don't think that there was really a point to having someone else read the quotes at the beginning of the chapters and I wasn't a fan of the delivery. Even the audio quality seemed off during those sections. Thankfully, the quotes are very infrequent and had no real impact on the story or my enjoyment of it.

      I would recommend this book to others. I thought this was a really well-done story with just enough of a creepy factor to keep me hooked from beginning to end. I cannot wait to read more of Melanie Golding's work!

      I received a digital review copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.
    • 5/5
      Little Darlings by Melanie Golding

      What a creepy, unsettling, sad book! I have to say that the story is well written and different but left me wishing it was not so dark. At the end of the book I was left wondering...about a lot of things. In some ways this is a fairy tale or myth but in others more a horror story. Why do I say this? Because the life of new mother of twins Lauren was a nightmare. Lauren’s experience was real to her BUT was it REAL? When I finished the book I had to google to find out about postpartum psychosis and what I read made me realize it is a nasty disease. It takes a long time to deal with and can recur. I have a feeling this book will linger with me awhile. Hope I can sleep tonight!

      What I liked:
      * the new idea that incorporates changelings
      * Harper, the detective that didn’t give up...really liked her
      * the writing
      * that the story grew on me – hated it at first but came away applauding the author

      What I didn’t like:
      * Lauren’s husband – what a jerk!
      * Harper’s boss
      * The ending...wish there had been an epilogue…hat the unsettled feeling I am left with...though kudos to the author for achieving that.

      Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

      4-5 Stars
    • 4/5
      Many thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Melanie Golding for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

      Lauren has just given birth to twins. She is waiting for that “feeling” that she expected would happen once her babies were born. That love and strong bond, but it just isn’t there. She is exhausted, in pain and sleep deprived. But is she also crazy? She doesn’t know herself anymore. She was sure that there was this strange woman who wanted to trade one baby with her. But she understands why everyone is saying that it wasn’t possible. She was sure she saw the same woman again, in her backyard, threatening to take both babies from her. But, again, her husband couldn’t find anyone. She didn’t mean to fall asleep at the park, but she did. And someone stole her babies. Yes, two babies have been returned to her, but those aren’t her children. Hers are gone. And the only way she can get them back is to put these changelings back in the river that they came from.

      Be ready to be scared. Serious warning and if you are a new mother, you might want to pass on this one until a later date. I loved a lot in this story. It had the creep factor, the unsteadiness of never really knowing what was going on. I thought that Golding did a great job of keeping you guessing as to whether or not this was evil, postpartum depression, or whether Lauren has really just gone crazy. There is always a valid reason why this would all be in her head. We also know the effects of not getting enough sleep and Lauren is not getting any sleep. Her husband happens to be a crappy person and I would have loved to know what their marriage was like before she got pregnant. The draw on folklore was so interesting and added the tie to history that gave credence to the whole story. Lauren was a complex character and it was difficult to pin her down which kept the mystery of what was really going on. I couldn’t imagine. Golding really made the revulsion of having to hold these things, while trying to make everyone believe that she was fine, was excellent.

      I will admit that one night I was petrified to go to bed. I mean real intense fear. So I stopped reading it at night. I did find a little lull about two thirds of the way through, I think, because it became repetitive. But overall a great read.
    • 5/5
      Lauren Tranter has just given birth to twin boys, Morgan and Riley, after a difficult birth. She’s completely exhausted. When a strange, threatening woman comes to her hospital room carrying a basket with her own two weird babies and tries to convince Lauren to exchange babies, no one believes Lauren. They think she’s imagining things. But Lauren is convinced that this filthy woman is trying to steal her babies, leaving her “changelings” in their place. When Lauren gets out of the hospital, she hides away at home, leaving her husband baffled. When she finally ventures outside with the babies a month later, she falls asleep in the park, awakening to find her babies are gone. They’re soon discovered but Lauren is sure that these are not her babies.

      Goodness, this one had my spine perpetually in chills throughout its reading. It was so realistic and frightening but I couldn’t look away. It completely held me in its spell. I don’t often given thrillers 5 stars but this one was a step above the usual. I could completely relate to Lauren and suffered her fears right alongside her. As horrifying as it was to believe her babies were going to be stolen and not having anyone believe her and then finally having them taken, how much more horrifying for her to believe that these were not her babies but rather the creatures left by the scary woman. This just escalates in suspense. And there are plenty of twists that have you wondering whether Lauren is correct in her convictions or not which really leave you on the edge of your seat.

      What I absolutely loved, too, is that the author included snippets of fairy tales/poems throughout her book, such as from “The Stolen Child” by Yeats and from several poems from different authors called “The Changeling”. This added to the overall darkness of this compelling book. This fact that this is the author’s debut is quite surprising.

      Most highly recommended.

      This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      When Lauren Tranter gives birth to her baby twins, an incident severely shakes her: a woman went into her room and tried to swap the children. Since neither the nurses nor the rest of the hospital staff saw anybody enter or leave, Lauren’s statement is dismissed as a hallucination by an exhausted mother. Life with Morgan and Riley is hard for her after she has returned home. Her husband more or less leaves her alone and with twins who cry and want to be fed 24 hours a day, Lauren feels dead-tired and hardly leaves the bed anymore. When one afternoon she finally finds the strength to meet some friends in a park, the worst case happens: her baby boys are abducted. Luckily, they are quickly returned, but Lauren is sure: these are not her boys, the evil woman has exchanged them.

      Melanie Golding’s thriller plays with the most awful thing that could happen: the abduction of your children. Having two little precious peas whom you would kill for endangered is surely the worst that could happen to a mother. Yet, all though the novel, there is some nagging since you can never be absolutely sure if you should trust Lauren or if she actually is suffering from some mental disorder.

      What I liked especially about the novel is the combination of some dark fairy tales with hallucinations or mental disorders. Everybody knows that tales are not true and the magic that happens there is just an invention. Nevertheless, they are fascinating also for adults and even against better knowledge, you sometimes wish for them to become real. Yet, there is this tradition of the gloomy tales that mainly frighten you, even as an adult, and I always wondered where those stories come from and why they outlived generations even though they are hard to endure. “Little Darlings” cleverly rewrites this tradition but does not provide a finite answer to some big questions. You conclude the novel with a slight thrill – wonderfully done.
    • 4/5
      Little Darlings takes postpartum to a new level! A little bit thriller, a little bit folklore and a lot of nightmarish moments are in store for readers when they pick up this new debut novel by Melanie Golding.

      After experiencing a traumatic delivery, Lauren has a difficult time recovering and adjusting to twin babies. When she awakens one night to discover a woman wanting to take her babies, everyone believes she was mistaken due to the fact she had been given medication and was exhausted from childbirth.

      Add to the fact that once at home, Lauren’s husband was more concerned with himself than he was about the health of his wife and how she was adjusting to caring for the twins. He needed his sleep because he had to work, but never considered the fact that Lauren was on duty 24/7 with little to no sleep at all.

      The only person who seems to believe Lauren is the police detective who astutely guesses that things aren’t as they seem and stays on the case, even off the clock, to try and figure out what’s going on with Lauren and her twins.

      Is she suffering from postpartum psychosis or is there some mythic folklore involved? Read this and come to your own conclusion.

      This was a wonderful debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Melanie Golding.

      Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.
    • 5/5
      I have read a handful of "changling" stories. There has only been about one or two that I liked. Well I am excited to report that this book is in my top list. In fact, it is one of the best "changling" books that I have read.

      Lauren had me with her every step of the way I never doubted her love as a mother would prevail in the end. This book does have aspects of a Brother's Grimm Fairy Tale but with dark elements What Lauren experienced is every mother's nightmare. As I was so invested in this book, it was so easy and quick to read. I tried to slow down to make every moment last longer.

      Ms. Golding delivers the gold standard with Little Darlings! I picked up this book and was committed from page to page...beginning to end. An easy recommended read. Little Darlings needs to be on every readers to be read pile!
    • 4/5
      Little Darlings is a lot of truth. Wow. As a mother who had borderline postpartum depression/psychosis with my second child, I completely understand how this can really happen. Lauren is crazy. Of course she is. How else can you explain the things she's doing? I swear it's impossible to understand unless it has actually happened to you. I saw myself in this story. Me, about ten years ago. I didn't harm my baby, but everyone thought I would. In the end, I tried to harm myself because I couldn't make anyone understand how deeply buried and desperate I felt. I had to put this book down, and walk away several times. I could feel that downward spiral pulling me back to the same dark abyss that Lauren was in. It's always there at the edge of the mind. It's something women should know about before having children. I know some people think it's not real. If you haven't lived with this condition or even depression, then your opinion doesn't matter. Some mothers survive, and some don't. Some babies survive, and some don't. Just don't ever question the legitimacy of this condition. I love this book for it's sharpness, raw truth and all the feels it leaves you with long after the last page.
      Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      Grab this book, get comfy, turn off the lights, take a deep breath and dive in! Little Darlings by Melanie Golding is a heart-pounding suspense thriller with just enough of a horror twist to make this novel genuinely creepy! Lauren’s newborn twin boys have been stolen from her by an eerie and ominous woman and replaced with “changelings.” Nobody believes Lauren — they all think she’s crazy. The only way to get her true children back is put the imposters into the river.
      Be warned... once you get started reading this novel you might find yourself holding your breath while flipping pages at a frantic pace. Then we get near the end but there’s no way the story can wrap up with only a few pages to go... but it does... and it’s amazing. I had a lot of fun reading this book. The author’s writing and plot sucked me in from the first page! I highly recommend this book!
    • 4/5
      A creepy and atmospheric story that contains elements of the Grimm Fairy Tales.

      In the maternity ward, a mysterious woman appears in Lauren’s room at night and tries to take Lauren’s twin boys and replace them with her own creatures. The doctors and husband put it off as Lauren just seeing things due to exhaustion, but Lauren knows the truth. What will a mother do to save her twin boys?
    • 4/5
      This was a dark, page turning novel about a young mom, Lauren who has just given birth to twins. She is doubting her abilities as a new parent and exhausted beyond her limits. When she begins to fear that a sinister woman wants to take her newborns and leave changlings in their place, not even her husband believes her.
      A female detective feels compelled to help the young mother. With hints of a fairytale in a modern world, this story is both addictive and a spellbinding read. I received a complimentary ebook from the publisher.