Review: Little Darlings by Melanie Golding

Title: Little Darlings 

Author: Melanie Golding
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publishing Date:  April 30th, 2018

Pages: 304
Genre: Adult Literary Fiction

Series:  Stand Alone
Source:  Audio

 

“Mother knows best” takes on a sinister new meaning in this unsettling thriller perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Grimms’ Fairy Tales.

Everyone says Lauren Tranter is exhausted, that she needs rest. And they’re right; with newborn twins, Morgan and Riley, she’s never been more tired in her life. But she knows what she saw: that night, in her hospital room, a woman tried to take her babies and replace them with her own…creatures. Yet when the police arrived, they saw no one. Everyone, from her doctor to her husband, thinks she’s imagining things.

A month passes. And one bright summer morning, the babies disappear from Lauren’s side in a park. But when they’re found, something is different about them. The infants look like Morgan and Riley―to everyone else. But to Lauren, something is off. As everyone around her celebrates their return, Lauren begins to scream, These are not my babies.

Determined to bring her true infant sons home, Lauren will risk the unthinkable. But if she’s wrong about what she saw…she’ll be making the biggest mistake of her life.

 
This book was brought to my attention by a fellow blogger. I do not remember who... but I remember the mention it was on NetGalley and I thought it sounded so wonderful. I grabbed it on NetGalley but story of my life, I didn't have it read before it came out on audio. So I grabbed it on audio. I listened and I loved. Such an amazing read. It was everything I hoped for and more. 

Lauren and her husband  just had twin boys. The first night in the hospital, Lauren sees an old woman, hears her, this woman tries to trade their babies. No one else has seen this woman. Even when Lauren goes home, the woman is alaways there wanting her children. Lauren finally gets the nerve to go out and while at the park, her boys go missing. When they are found she swears they are not her boys and she must do the unthinkable to get her boys back. 

So I can't say too much about this book. I don't want to give anything away because this was quite the ride. What I will say is this book was creepy, dark, insane, it made me question my own mind. This read will mess with you and your sanity. 

The main character is an interesting character and she is unreliable.... or is she. I really can't say. This is what makes the entire book hard to figure out. There were times I thought that Lauren was completely sane, knew what she saw, and there is an explanation or a stalker or a  kidnapper... then other times... I question  everything she thought and said. I felt bad for her and I wanted her to be sane. 

The character I really liked... the officer, Harper. She is pretty awesome. Great instincts and she really wants to help. She is a smart woman and I just adored her.  She made her it mission to find out what was going on with Lauren. She wanted to believer her, in fact was the only on that did believe her.  She goes out on her own to investigate and I think is the one that helps Lauren the most. 

Really this book is a crazy mind screw and the ending is just one of those... you will  like it or you won't. I liked it and I thought it was the perfect read. This will be one of my favorites of this year. 

Super enjoyed it.  Super loved it. Super amazing read!

Melanie Golding is a graduate of the MA in creative writing program at Bath Spa University, with distinction. She has been employed in many occupations including farm hand, factory worker, childminder and music teacher. Throughout all this, because and in spite of it, there was always the writing. In recent years she has won and been shortlisted in several local and national short story competitions. Little Darlings is her first novel, and has been optioned for screen by Free Range Films, the team behind the adaptation of My Cousin Rachel.