Review: Little Darlings

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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.

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