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I also enjoyed the police-procedural side of the story. The clues, the investigation and a determined officer added to the tension and intrigue. An intoxicating and atmospheric journey. The next day, Kate confesses the reason she's suddenly become insistent on Danny Kilman knowing about Destiny is she's worried she might be ill and wants to know Destiny will be looked after if the worst happens. Destiny insists that Kate see a doctor and they find out that Kate has hyperthyroidism. Lauren Tranter has just become a first-time mother of twin boys, Riley and Morgan. While still in hospital, she begins to struggle with her new role.
I want to thank the publisher Crooked Lane Books and Netgally for the opportunity to read this ARC! The book is told from the point of view of Lauren Tranter, an exhausted new mother of twins and Jo Harper a detective who investigates the events that take place concerning Lauren and her twins. The story starts towards the end of Lauren's long labor and the baby boys are named Morgan and Riley. Lauren spends several days in the hospital with them, wondering when her "love" for her babies will appear. Lauren is exhausted, inexperienced, and gets no real support from her husband Ben, at any time in the story. The first night of her babies' birth, she hears and sees a dirty woman in the area next to hers, singing a horrid song, while a basket with the woman's "twins" surrounded by rags, sits at the woman's feet. As the woman tries to trade babies with Lauren, she is able to call 999 to get help and Det. Jo Harper's intuition drives her to want to know more about what is happening to Lauren. I was immediately drawn into this story and felt a strong connection throughout. The author, Melanie Golding, does a brilliant job building suspense, keeping the intensity of the intrigue engrossing throughout the entire story. The characters were fantastic – I loved the two main characters, Lauren and DS Jo Harper. I could strongly relate to Lauren – Golding did an exceptional job capturing the chaos and exhaustion of a new mom. The Hidden by Melanie Golding". www.publishersweekly.com. Archived from the original on 2023-07-04 . Retrieved 2023-07-04. Heavily borrowed from fables and fairy tales, Little Darlings skillfully walks the line between psychological and supernatural horror. Ingeniously, the reader is left to decide how much to believe when it comes to the ghost stuff. I’m not a big supernatural fan, but little bits injected into a familiar story is perfect and adds a great deal to the already tense atmosphere.Lizzie Shaw (also referred to as Big Mouth) Danny's new girlfriend who he met at the Milky Star premier. She is an actress who is also in the film. Sunset, Sweetie and Ace all hate her but Suzy even more so as she is very protective of Danny and despises Lizzie very much. Lauren’s reflection had deep shadowed holes where it should have had eyes. A vision of horror. She turned away.” This novel has supernatural aspects that were handled skillfully and believably. Supernatural elements are usually a turn-off for me, but they were presented in such an intriguing and fascinating way, that I was completely drawn into the plot and invested in the characters. DS Harper vacillates between belief and disbelief in Lauren's insistence that these "creatures" are not hers. Is the "kidnapping" a hallucination? How will Jo separate shadowy, inconclusive data from reality? Both Lauren Tranter and DS Jo Harper are truly unsettled by the disturbing events surrounding Morgan and Riley. Has Lauren experienced postpartum psychosis, a "temporary impairment of her mental health"? In true fairy tale style, each reader's interpretation will be his (her) own.
Selverton, the fictional town in which the story takes place, is based upon the real life village of Ashopton which was submerged to create the Ladybower Reservoir. [7] Plot [ edit ]
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First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an advanced copy of LITTLE DARLINGS in exchange for an unbiased review. I really appreciate the opportunity to read this book before it is released. All opinions that follow are my own. Where Little Darlings breaks away from the same old/same old is in the gorgeously stylized horror factor. At one point in the story, Lauren believes the babies have been switched and are not hers. I promise-- you will never look at anyone’s baby the same again after reading the passages about these changelings! Golding’s vivid descriptions of the babies singing eerie songs at night or talking to each other is SOOOOO SCARY!!! Movie? Yes, please. (Insert creepy CG faces onto little baby bundles here). Kate Williams – Destiny's mum, who believes Danny, Sunset and Destiny should have met a long time ago. Kate is ever so imaginative, and tries to stay positive when her and poor Destiny are forced to move into a dull, unsafe apartment in a rough and unsuitable estate. She has a very gentle and empathetic temperament, and wants her little Destiny to grow up with he best possible childhood. She can't give Destiny much, but she gives her unconditional love, and that is enough the get them both through when poor Kate falls ill with thyroid issues. Riveting, terrifying and at times heartbreaking…Melanie Golding’s disturbing portrait of a new mother’s paranoia is superbly written, cleverly plotted and gruesomely beautiful in an unforgettable way. A stunning debut.” One day, at the park, Lauren’s babies disappear from her side and she faces with her biggest fear: because when they’re found, she realizes the babies she deliver not her babies! :Somebody kidnapped and replaced them.
Laura Tranter just had newborn twins. She named them Morgan and Riley. She is exhausted and needs a lot of rest. The night in the hospital room a woman tried to take her babies. and replace them with her own...creatures. Eek! When she tells everyone what happened, no one believes her. They think that she is just imagining things and needs lot of rest. Harper was a police officer on the case. Compulsively creepy and inspired by some of our darkest fairy tales. Each chapter starts with a passage from dark folklore. Is Lauren imagining all of this or is the supernatural real? Both Sunset and Destiny's chapters only properly connected at the end of the book. Before this they could have been two completely different books. Sunset a Destiny sa spolu stretnú na premiére filmu Milky Stars, kde chce Destinina mama Destiny predstaviť Dannymu Kilmanovi. Keď sa im to však nepodarí, skúsia sa do Dannyho domu vlámať a tam sa Sunset a Destiny spriatelia, a nič by ich nemalo zastaviť pred tým, aby boli aj naďalej kamarátkami. Ani rozzúrená mama, veľká vzdialenosť či talentová súťaž...This would be the perfect fall/October read. Dark shadows, creepy folktales that are brought to the modern day and age, a frantic mother spending 90% of her time in a psychiatric hospital. So much fun! I love dark creepy tales and this one executed that perfectly! I’d love to he Suzy Kilman – Danny's wife and mother of Sunset, Sweetie and Ace. She used to be a model before she had children, she is going through an "emotional process" throughout the book and generally doesn't appreciate Sunset but hates her even more when she brings up Destiny to Danny. Suzy can sometimes be ever so slightly violent towards her daughter, and has forbidden her from eating sweet foods, saying that she is too big. As time passes she begins to accept her daughter, and underneath her mask of a perfectly alright girl, Sunset begins to see somebody who has sensitivity too and is just as hurt by the situation as she is. The mom of newborn twins, Lauren's intense love for her boys shines throughout the book. She took me through many emotions and while she was surrounded by a cloud of mystery. I wanted to believe her. Real or imagined ? This is what I kept asking myself. Cover: I got a chance to vote on this cover and mine wasn’t chosen. To be honest I didn’t really care for any of the covers.
The idea of changelings is closely examined in this work and I loved how many chapters began with little excerpts from various fairy tales focused on that topic. Lauren gives birth to twins and taking care of them without any help has been exhausting. Taking her husband's advice she decides to get out of the house and take them for a stroll in the park. She dozes off for a moment and when she wakes up they're gone!The story is inspired by some deliciously creepy dark fairy tales that adds an extra layer to the sinister, menacing and eerie feel of the book. I absolutely love these types of tales and found myself devouring this one! As a mom of four I remember the sleep deprived feelings, forgetting what day it even is, never having time for a shower or to read even a magazine or newspaper and the constant needs of a newborn. I can’t even imagine the exhaustion of this new mother of twins. Unfortunately, no one believes her story. The hospital staff didn't see anyone. Additionally, how could an intruder have gotten past the surveillance cameras without being seen?
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