Little Darlings by Melanie Golding | #minireview #20BooksOfSummer

Author : Melanie Golding
Title : Little Darlings
Pages : 330
Publisher : HQ
Publication date : April 30, 2019

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

Lauren’s hopes and dreams of being a new mom are shattered when she encounters a mother’s worst nightmare—someone is threatening to take her children if she leaves them alone. Everyone, from her doctor to her husband, thinks she’s imagining things. From the stark loneliness of returning home after giving birth to the confines of a psychiatric unit, Lauren’s desperation increases as no one will listen to her. Is she mad, or does she know something we don’t?

| MY THOUGHTS |

Loosely inspired by folktales and the idea of changelings, Little Darlings is an immensely unsettling story. After a traumatic birth experience, Lauren finds it hard to bond with her newborn twins. Then she claims someone tried to steal her babies. Is it postpartum psychosis? Is Lauren going mad? Or is someone truly out to take her twin boys away from her? Nobody believes her but Lauren knows she must do whatever it takes to keep her babies safe.

Suffice to say, Lauren isn’t exactly a reliable narrator and as strange things start to happen, I was left to wonder if Lauren herself was responsible or someone else. With a few red herrings along the way, it was quite hard to figure out what was real and what was not.

But this story is so much more than that. Yes, it’s creepy in places but it’s also amazingly well written with regard to Lauren’s mental state. Not an easy topic to tackle at all but Melanie Golding managed it wonderfully as we follow Lauren into this frightening downward spiral.

Little Darlings is a gripping, dark and suspenseful story and even though I didn’t warm to any of the characters, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. A very impressive debut from Melanie Golding!

Little Darlings is available to buy!

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