Book Review: Little Darlings by Melanie Golding
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Little Darlings by Melanie Golding
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Horror
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (April 30, 2019)
Length: 312 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Little Darlings is exactly the type of mystery/thriller I love to read, containing just a touch of the paranormal and enough creepiness to push this one into almost horror territory. Best of all, it features allusions to the changeling myth, the idea that fairies could steal a baby away, leaving behind an altered or possibly evil simulacrum in its place.
This is the story of Lauren Tranter, a new mom to twin boys Morgan and Riley. The birth was difficult with complications, further adding to her exhaustion and frazzled nerves. One night, alone during her recovery at the maternity ward, Lauren is convinced that a strange woman was trying to get into her room and take her babies, even though everyone, from her husband to the hospital staff, are telling her that the experience was all in her mind, a symptom of her overtiredness and trauma. But Lauren knows what she saw, and the memory of the event has made her so anxious and skittish that even after returning home, she is afraid to leave the house or let her boys out of her sight for a second.
Finally, her husband Patrick has had enough, persuading Lauren that she has to start going out and seeing people again, which would help get her back into the normal routine of life. Knowing deep down he is right, Lauren takes his advice and takes the now six-week old twins out in their stroller for a walk—a miscalculation that she ends up regretting forever. All it took was a moment of distraction, a few minutes where Lauren’s attention was elsewhere while she rested on a park bench, and suddenly, Morgan and Riley were gone. Thankfully, the police quickly mobilized a search and found the twins by the river before anything could happen, and a person of interest was also taken into custody for the abduction. But rather than the joy of being reunited with her babies, Lauren feels instead a terror and a revulsion when she looks down into the twins’ faces. She knows with a mother’s instincts and every fiber of her being that these are NOT her sons. It is as she feared; the strange woman at the hospital had done what she promised she would do—steal away her babies and replace them with her own unnatural, inhuman spawn. Lauren doesn’t understand why no one else can see this, but everyone thinks that the pressures must have finally gotten to her, that the twin’s brief disappearance was what broke her mind. Only Joanne Harper, a determined Detective Sergeant who had been the original officer to respond to Lauren’s emergency call at the hospital seems willing to consider the possibility that not all is as it seems.
To begin, I have to say that when it comes to books, I don’t really scare that easily. The written word isn’t like the movies; without any physical images, it falls to great writing and a very talented author to generate the same kind of visuals in my mind. I can probably count on one hand the number of books that have managed to truly and genuinely creep me out. Now though, I can add Little Darlings to these exclusive ranks. Seriously, what is it about children and babies that make them such an effectively terrifying trope when it comes to the horror genre? And twins, especially creepy twins! There were scenes in this book that would have made me run screaming from the room if I ever had them happened to me. Reading this one in the dead of night was probably not the best idea, but at the same time I relished in the thrill of being scared, and some parts were just so gripping I could not put the book down even though it was well past my bedtime.
I think one big reason why Little Darlings got to me so much was my ability to relate to Lauren. My heart broke to read about all those complex emotions in her, which transported me back to those uncertain months following the birth of my oldest, when I was a nervous and paranoid wreck. Let’s be clear, there’s no way I could have read this novel when I was a new mom—it’d be too disturbing, and I’d be waaaaay too freaked out. I likely would have been driven to new heights of terror, for there are things in here that are the stuff of nightmares for any parent. I am fine now, but I still remember with uneasy clarity the horrible postpartum anxiety I experienced, the worries and fear that I would fail miserably as a mother and that I was doing everything wrong. And I still spent most of the time reading this book with a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach, and that’s when I wasn’t also getting the heebie-jeebies.
Bottom line, I had a good time reading this book. Little Darlings was chilling and addictive, a fantastic thriller if you want both a touch of horror and some mystery in one neat package. Great characterization, atmosphere and writing in this one! Recommended.
The BiblioSanctum 
THis thriller does seem better than that other one ;=)
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Yep, it was the standout among a string of thrillers I’ve read lately, lol.
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It certainly sounds creepy. I don’t often read this kind of horror but it sounds like you really enjoyed it!
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Yeah, it’s more thriller than horror really, but there were some really creepy parts!
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I don’t do scary. In movies, in books, in real life. I just dont get any enjoyment from it. Sorry to hear it reminded you of a bad time in your life but it appears you’ve obviously moved past that point, so that is good.
Horror books I’m always iffy on. But ones that deal with children I just tend to stay away from in general. There is something extra super creepy about the mixing of horror and children. I don’t know if it is because I think children should be innocent (I know they’re not. I’ve worked with kids at church and my goodness, they are just little sacks of poop and uncontrolled emotion) and horror not only rips away that innocence but turns them into the very opposite? Or that they are the most helpless part of the human race and need all the protection they can get and once again, horror strips that protection away AND turns them into the predator. Whatever the reason, I simply can’t read that kind of stuff.
I am glad to hear you got a good scary thrill out of this though.
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I read an article recently about horror themes and why children and babies seem to be so prevalent in horror films and the point they made was very similar to your comment. And LOL yes, children can be such little jerks! Though to be fair, sometimes they just don’t know any better, and their minds are still not developed enough to understand why the world just can’t go their way and why simply being a pain in the ass won’t get them what they want. We all want to protect our children from the harsh side of the real world for as long as we can, which is why I think horror movie makers want to thrust them into all that darkness and ugliness and dial it up to 11, all designed to invoke a visceral reaction.
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Ooh nice! I was eyeing this one but since I keep adding books to my TBR and not seeing the pile go down much I was trying to be more picky about requesting books for review. This still catches my interest though! A story back to the old days of bad faeries and such. The changeling story was always a freaky one! One of the stories that sort of drives me batty is when the real person has been replaced with a fake one and no one knows the difference except the real person! Granted, this is with newborn babies so it’s slightly different! Going to keep an eye on this one! Great review!
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Geez, that story you described sounds terrifying! And yes, changeling stories are fascinating because of that, but also very disturbing!
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This sounds great! Luckily my memories of being a new mom are long gone, but no doubt reading this would bring them back😬 Also, I’d never heard of Crooked Lane Books until I found out one of my favorite authors has a new book coming out with them!
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Memories of those days are also fading for me, thank God, lol! But reading this brought some of them back, and oof, I really felt for the main character. It’s like I’ve been there and done that, and I just can’t imagine the added terror and stress caused by what happened in the story!
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It’s true that horror feels less gripping on the page than on the screen, and it took King’s “IT” to scare me out of my skin for good, so if this novel is just as terrifying I will welcome it into my personal gallery of creepy masterpieces . 😀
Thanks for sharing!
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Agreed, it takes a talented author to creep me out, it’s not as easy as a movie!
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One of my current reads. Glad to see it worked for you! Bodes well 😀
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Hope you’re enjoying it! I look forward to your thoughts!
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The fact that it was able to creep you out (I don’t get creeped by books easily either) makes me definitely want to read this! I’ve seen positive comments about this already so I’ve got it reserved at the library, I’m hoping to pick it up next week. Looking forward to giving it a read – great review! 🙂
Caz xx
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Awesome! I hope your hold at the library comes in soon! Crossing my fingers that you’ll enjoy it as much as I did 🙂
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I CANNOT wait to read this one!!
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Woohoo, I hope you enjoy it!
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Sounds like another great thriller, will have to look for this one!
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Excellent review! I am not great at horror myself (I can only dabble), so I can’t imagine how scary this one is to have creeped you out! Demon babies freak me out too, but it sounds like the author brought a very human element out in the story at the same time, which does help me digest horror stories (i.e., The Conjuring, one of the few horror movies I’ve seen and almost enjoyed).
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I enjoyed this one too. In fact think I rated it a 4. What I thought the author really did so very well was that feeling of being a new mum, she really pulled it off so well and then there were so many creepy books with the twins later on in the book – I don’t want to give away spoilers but sometimes the way they looked at people – CREEPY – and the talking!! Brrr.
Lynn 😀
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This sounds so well written- I’m definitely curious about it!
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