The Reading Bud

Book Blog by Heena Rathore-Pardeshi

ARC Review: Little Darlings by Melanie Golding

Author: Melanie Golding
Release Date: 30th April 2019
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Adult Fiction, Horro, Supernatural, Suspense
Series: 
Edition: Ebook
Pages: 304
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Blurb:
“Mother knows best” takes on a sinister new meaning in this unsettling thriller perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman, Grimms’ Fairy Tales, and Aimee Molloy’s The Perfect Mother.
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.
Compulsive, creepy, and inspired by some our darkest fairy tales, Little Darlings will have you checking—and rechecking—your own little ones. Just to be sure. Just to be safe.

REVIEW

★

Let me begin by saying that when I first saw this book’s listing on NetGalley, I was totally in awe! It had the most amazing cover, an incredible blurb and (upon further research) some really good reviews in the book’s favour. So basically it had it all and I was positive that this will be one heck of a read.
To be honest, I couldn’t start reading this book fast enough and I felt like this right till the moment I started reading this book:

description

But when I started reading this book, say about 20-25 pages in, I was really not sure if I was reading the right book because the writing felt very forceful and unnecessarily dramatic. For one, the author kept going on and on about how the main character (don’t even remember the name) did not feel “the rush of love” for her newborn twins. I am all for complex and grey characters, but after a while, it did start to feel like the author was unnecessarily pressing the point on the readers in order to make them hate the MC (or maybe they just wanted to make the readers feel that the character was very complex) either way, it felt too forced and outright fake. Still, I kept on reading in the hopes that maybe once this part gets over the good part would begin.

description

Then came the part where the MC was being checked by the doctor in order to see if her womb (?) was okay (not even sure if I even understood that part) and then everything went to hell because the descriptions got so crazily gross that it’s going to take me a long time to get over it. I mean, if you haven’t been pregnant ever, then I recommend not to read this part as it sure as hell scared the shit out of me!!

description

AND THAT WAS IT FOR ME!
I COULDN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!

If you’ve read this book and liked it, then hats off to you! But you haven’t yet read this book and are planning to read it, then I’d suggest to check out some other book on twins and/or pregnant-female-horror fiction like Cleaving Souls by Chauncey Rogers or stick to the plain ol’ decent thrillers like Sister Sister by Sue Fortin or The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena.

You can also read this review on Goodreads

I love reading your comments, so please go ahead…

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

I’m Heena

Welcome to The Reading Bud, my cosy corner of the internet dedicated to all things books and authors. Here, I invite you to join me on a journey of discovering under-represented books, independent and small press authors, and all things book with a touch of love and loud purrs. Let’s get Reading!

Book of the Month

Read this captivating story on the adventures and hardships of Frank Knightlite, a man who strives to illuminate darkness with his lantern in search of answers to life’s questions.
You can get it here.
January 2019
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  

Reading is like breathing to me.

Recent Posts

  • Book Review: A Thanksgiving Tribute – Ancestors In New World America by Gayle Michelle Fowler

    Author: Gayle Michelle FowlerRelease Date: 9th September 2020Genre:  Holiday Story, HistoricalSeries: Format: E-book Pages: 103 pagesPublisher: Blurb:Through a granddaughter’s narrative, peek into the phenomenal triumphs that led to a “Gratitude Celebration,” a Thanksgiving tradition.The story centers on William Brewster, ancestor to many, father…

  • Book Spotlight: The Blazing Chief by Matt Spencer

    Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Matt Spencer novel The Blazing Chief, the 3rd book in the The Deschembine Trilogy. The Blazing Chief Synopsis For untold ages, the refugees from the land of…

  • Book Review: The Great American Jew Novel by Michael Kornbluth

    Author: Michael KornbluthRelease Date: Genre: Family Life, HumourSeries: Format: E-book Pages: 110 pagesPublisher: Blurb: The Great American Jew Novel is a religious based, midlife crisis, reinvention tale, about a 9-year old daughter who becomes her Stay At Home Comedian Dad’s Talent Agent, to…

  • Book Review: Controlling My Kids With Comedy, A Love Story by Michael Kornbluth

    Author: Michael KornbluthRelease Date: 13th June 2019Genre: Satire, HumourSeries: Format: E-book Pages: 137 pagesPublisher: Stand Up StafferBlurb: Controlling My Kids With Comedy, A Love Story, is a collection of essays and poems about an unplanned father of three falling for fatherhood and working…

  • Book Review: The Trail Of The Beast (The Deschembine #2) by Matt Spencer

    Author: Matt SpencerRelease Date: 13th May 2019Genre: Urban FantasySeries: The Deschembine Trilogy (Book #2)Format: E-book Pages: 362 pagesPublisher: Back Roads Carnival Books Blurb: Five years ago, Rob and Sally fled Brattleboro, Vermont. Now married, they are hiding out in a Florida backwater, hunted by…