Little Darlings by Melanie Golding

Read April 2019. Audio Book, for release May 2019.

This is the first time I have reviewed a pre-release audio book, and I would like to thank BloggerHQ@harpercollins.co.uk and Melanie Golding for the chance to be a part of this venture.

This is an unsettling tale of motherhood inspired by changeling folktale, The Brewery of Eggshells, and follows Lauren, a new mother to twins, as she becomes convinced that someone, or something, is trying to take her babies away.
Lauren must fight to save her babies from peril, while everyone around her thinks that she is losing her sanity, even her own husband, Patrick. Can Detective Harper get to the bottom of this, or will she be unable to allow herself to believe the "truth" she uncovers?
Only Lauren knows that the danger is real and she will do anything to keep her babies safe, even at the cost of her own liberty.

Oh my, this was a gripping and absorbing story, beautifully read by Stephanie Racine.
Melanie Golding herself, reads excerpts from haunting folktales related to supernatural child abductions, at the beginning of some of the chapters and I found these bits particularly terrifying - especially with the atmospheric music and sound effects.

This book captures, brilliantly, the fear that grips you as a new mother, when you realise how vulnerable your babies are to danger - and that it is up to you to protect them from this, no matter how unfit you feel for the task. The exhaustion...the claustrophobia...the feeling that you are somehow separated from the outside world, in those early weeks after childbirth.

This book will have you taking Lauren's side from the start, and you will wishing for her to succeed with every fibre of your being - even though you will simultaneuously continue to feel a grain of doubt throughout - very clever indeed. Is this real, or just imagination?
You will come to hate Patrick as much as Lauren does, by the end of the book. She has taken all the risks here, and yet, she cannot enjoy her victory in the way you want her to. I don't want to give any spoilers here, but I really need to see a sequel in which Patrick gets the ending he deserves. Bastard!

It's harrowing, beautifully written and chilling. I have not listened to a tale so full of tension and suspense in a long while. I was in dire need of a hug at the end!