A well-written thriller/horror creepy fiction, bit slow to start up but when it starts…
Golding manages to put down a creepy feeling, atmospheric enjoyable read.

Grab it if you can!

This is a very creepy and clever story about a new mother who is convinced that her children are in fact changelings.  I loved the mythology and folklore in the book, which is rather dark at times.  A wonderful read for darker winter evenings but very sad too.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

More than a psychological thriller, no less than a masterpiece.

I could start this review echoing the many plaudits Melanie Golding has received for this novel. They are all true. Yes, the novel is creepy, certainly atmospheric and undoubtedly there is something of Sylvia Plath in the writing of Golding. These are all apt statements that conjure up certain elements of this wonderfully intelligent story that focuses on the anxieties of new mother, Lauren, and her concerns that her twin boys (well one twin) has been replaced with a changeling. The author, with a deftness of touch, intersperses the main narrative with vignettes of contemporary fairy tales once used to contextualise feelings of alienation from one's child, feelings of alienation that we now attribute to post-partum psychosis. The question in Lauren's case is a little more complicated. Has she been manipulated by a third-party into believing that one of her babies is a changeling, or does this belief stem from something more organic, like a psychiatric disorder?  Whilst this is the core of the story, Golding expertly weaves, for me, this novel is about motherhood and our culturally inculcated assumptions about its 'naturalness'. In other words, "Little Darlings" is a thought-provoking, original novel about the social construction of motherhood refracted through the lens of a modern-day psychological thriller. I was reminded of Lionel Shriver's masterful "We Need To Talk About Kevin" when I read this book. Like Eva in "Kevin", Lauren experiences conflicted feelings of motherhood and describes the sheer violence and yes, violation of childbirth. It is a story of silence, feelings unspoken, in a society that still valorises the 'natural' mother. Of course, the universal desire to reproduce does not always come from our reptilian brain but rather from accepted ideology about the proper roles of the sexes. This is where "Little Darlings" is a superior novel about the human condition; it speaks of an absence of feeling as well as a feeling of absence, with the stories we tell ourselves about 'motherhood', as a singular monolithic entity, as its central component. Lauren, brilliantly conceptualised by Melanie Golding, can therefore be seen as a trojan horse for the social construction of motherhood and  a plea for understanding from the many women who still suffer in silence under its inescapable burden.

Simply brilliant.
5 Star Review

Summary:
A terrifying encounter in the middle of the night leaves Lauren convinced someone is trying to steal her new-born twins. Desperate with fear, she locks herself and her sons in the bathroom until the police arrive.
When DS Joanna Harper picks up the list of reported overnight incidents, 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. But Harper chooses to investigate anyway.
There's nothing on the CCTV, and yet Lauren claims that the woman is still after her children. No one will listen to Lauren – except Harper. And now Harper must ask herself, is Lauren mad, or does she see something no one else can?

This is such a creepy book.... in a good way. You are never quite sure whether the protagonist, Lauren, is mentally ill or really has seen the mythical creatures she claims has been haunting her. Entwined with mythology and tales about changelings, some of which I knew, this book is creepy, chilling and heart wrenching. Melanie Golding is definitely one to watch

Little Darlings is an enjoyable first novel, a psychological thriller with an unusual undercurrent.  A new mother of twin boys is convinced they are changelings after someone abducts them.  The supernatural element was clever.

So creepy and addictive! The story is disturbing and it's hard to distinguish what's real and what isn't. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed at the end as I had thought that there might be something more to the storyline but all in all I enjoyed reading this.

I loved this novel by Melanie Golding, it was creepy, sinister and a likening to the Grimm Fairy tales. So very magical yet with an element of truth that something like this could happen to anyone.

It probably isn’t what I usually pick up to read and it has been classified as a thriller, however I think this has elements of fantasy and magic in there. All in all I loved the fairy tale element to this book.

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?

Absolutely loved this book and raced through it in no time. A brilliant set of characters and a plot packed with emotions. HIghly recommended!
*** Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for granting me access to this title.

A Contemporary Fairy Tale - a page-turner:
"Little Darlings" by Melanie Golding is certainly very different. The story is inspired by local fairy tales, fables and history.
The book's structure is different from that which we would normally expect. In structure the book starts at the end and the reader is then taken on a journey to that end. Except that the start isn't quite the end so you have to read the complete book to get the full story. You'll understand that last sentence when you read the novel.
Lauren Tranter gives birth to twin boys. Because these are her first children and twins every one imagines that Lauren's report of an attempted kidnapping which hasn't been captured on the Hospital's CCTV is down to post natal fatigue. After all in a high tech world such an event would have been captured on film but it wasn't. However DS Harper who investigates the report catches sight of an unexplained blur on the CCTV images and is sympathetic throughout the novel to Lauren's claims that a woman is attempting to kidnap her twins, Morgan and Riley, and replace them with substitutes. If she succeeds in kidnapping the boys will anyone believe her story, especially if the replacement boys are almost identical. Identical to all but their mother. Lauren's lazy husband, Patrick, is forced to take on more of a paternal rôle than he had originally been planning as Lauren struggles to cope with motherhood and attempted kidnappings.
As with all fairy tales contemporary or old, the reader expects a happy ending and Melanie Golding fulfills that challenge admirably.
A real page-turner for me at least and I'm sure those of you who read this novel will agree.

Little Darlings is a curious read, and I don’t know whether to describe it as a psychological thriller or a paranormal mystery. It’s ambiguity leaves the reader rather nonplussed at the end, but it’s a read that forces you to keep going to try and puzzle it out.
Lauren Tranter has just given birth to twins. Sleep deprived, without a support network and full of doubt, she is struggling. While in hospital she thinks she hears a woman singing to twins. However, her children are the only twins in the hospital. Another night she believes the same woman has tried to abduct her twins. She locks herself in a hospital toilet and calls the police. There’s no evidence of anyone else having been in the hospital.
Eventually let home Lauren retreats into herself. She stays at home, full of doubt about her capabilities. Her husband is beyond rubbish - insisting on catching up on sleep during the day as the twins have kept him awake, and begrudging Lauren asking for a drink - and complains that she’s not taking control of stuff. Concerned for her welfare, or sulking because he actually isn’t the most important thing in her life? We’re not sure.
After a week or so, Lauren decides to try and get out for a walk. Things seem to be going well. Then she sits at a bench, falls asleep and wakes to find her babies missing. After a frantic police hunt the twins are found, by a woman who seems to have been having a relationship with Lauren’s husband, and Lauren is convinced her twins have been exchanged.
Interspersed with this narrative we have Harper, a member of the police who goes above and beyond to work out what’s happening. Her approach was unlikely, and yet it offers credence to the paranormal element of this story.
By the end there were signs that there was nothing mysterious about this at all. Lauren simply had a deeply immature and unpleasant husband, and she was mentally ill. The resolution of the narrative didn’t offer much hope, and left me feeling rather short-changed.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this and offer my thoughts in exchange for an ARC.

Now this was a strange one for me and I'm totally unsure of how to rate it.

This novel fantastically tackled the gripping, all consuming dark place of PPA/PPD and any mother reading this who has been down that road might honestly have a few dark moments reading it (as I did) BUT the fact that Melanie Golding has written it so bloody well makes me wonder whether she suffered herself. I'm actually in awe of how accurately she has managed to get those horrible dark feelings down on paper.

The story is based on a Welsh folklore but is considered a paranormal thriller, not my usual genre at all but I'm so glad I read it... purely for the fact that it is tackling something that is so rarely spoken about let alone written about. 

A very dark, creepy but important read that I hope gets the recognition it deserves.

I'm now going to go and sit quietly and let the old emotions of my dark days die down.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

What a chilling story! I really liked the book and I thought the characters felt real with their flaws and their own thoughts. Even though the pace was not as quick as I would have liked, each chapter made me want to keep reading because I didn't know what was true and what was fantasy and the babies in the story added a very creepy aspect to it. 

There were twists and turns and at some point I felt like I could not put it down. It was a very intense psychological thriller and I will keep my eyes wide open for Melanie Golding's novels from now on.

This was such a great thriller about the fear new mums face when they think their children are in danger. Is Lauren going crazy or is someone really trying to abduct her newborns? This book keeps you guessing throughout and was a genuinely enjoyable read.

Sore and exhausted, Lauren is attempting to rest after a hard labour during which she gave birth to twin boys, when during the night she is visited by a sinister stranger who appears to be trying to take her newborns. Others convince Lauren she was seeing things, and eventually she returns home to care for her babies but she can't shake the feeling that somewhere out there someone is waiting, and her sons are in terrible danger.

This book was a fantastic, creepy read that left me a bit shake in all the best ways and a little bit scared to sleep with the lights off, From the very first chapter, this book had me hooked as we immediately met Lauren recovering from her labour and already she was a character we wanted to look after and root for. There was something really powerful for me in the image of an exhausted new mother alone in a hospital bed trying to figure out how to be a mother and then having to activate her protective stance almost immediately. I felt cold and uncomfortable picturing Lauren alone in the room, seemingly without much help or comfort from the nurses in the hospital.

My emotions quickly turned into anger and frustration as Lauren moved from the hospital to home and had to not only deal with her fussy twins but also an inept and selfish husband - which I'm sure is a feeling a lot of new mothers have to deal with and someone how swallow down! The way this was written and how Melanie Golding was able to really get all the emotions needed out of the reader was genius.

I did like the police officer in this book, though I wasn't expecting the chapters from her POV. And I could have done without the tope of the 'detective having personal history with the subject matter in the care' and that's why they care so much but I do think it was done fairly well here too. We did also have the stereotype of the immoral journalist who would do anything for her story which as a former journo I'm not and never a fan of but could deal with here.

Little Darlings perfectly tiptoes on the line between thriller and horror and you never really know when things are going to get a bit dark and grisly and a face might appear at the window. I loved the fact the reader had to decide what they thought was really going on - supernatural or post partum psychosis. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of tension.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC,I also read this book via Pigeonhole but then also won a copy from Caboodle books.
It was an extremely unsettling book to read. The storyline was incredibly creepy and based on old folk stories. Whether the identical boy twins were ever swapped is for the reader to decide. The characters were excellent and the father of the twins was someone you wanted to shake, he was so awful as the father of newborn babies and needed his needs to be priority. Extremely clever debut book by Melanie Golding.
Highly recommended.

À 4 star  read! Creepy, gripping and atmospheric - Little Darlings was a very enjoyable read that had me hooked and intrigued right from the very beginning!

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.

An incredible thriller with great character development that kept me turning the pages! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced reading copy.

A bit late to the party, I had this on my Kindle for months before actually getting round to it (life got in the way…) I wish I hadn’t waited so long! It was well plotted, and didn’t always go in the direction that you thought it would. It isn’t a straightforward detective novel, although DS Harper is a key character. The protagonist, Lauren, has just given birth to twin boys. In the hospital, she has a creepy encounter with a woman who wants to swap babies with her. Lauren panics and shuts herself in the toilet with her babies, calling 999. Hospital security and the CCTV on the ward says there was no-one there. 
Lauren’s marriage is under strain, she is anxious after the encounter in the hospital and cocoons herself at home. 
The descriptions of her feelings after the birth were spot on, it brought back those first few weeks with all of my children. I think Lauren is drawn beautifully and I felt her emotions. The story itself is a mix of crime fiction and supernatural, and it blends both together.  It reminded me of CJ Tudor’s ‘The Taking of Annie Thorne’. 
A really good read.

I picked this up thinking it was a standard detective story, but there is more to it than that.  When I realised there was an element of the supernatural (whether real or imagined?) I almost dismissed it, but persevered and am glad I did.
 Those who have experienced the early days of motherhood will recognise how acutely accurate the feelings described are.  Not your average detective novel.