Genre: Psychological Thriller


Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Review: Little Darlings by Melanie Golding

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I received this book for free from Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Little Darlings by Melanie GoldingLittle Darlings Published by Crooked Lane Books on April 30th 2019
Genres: Adult, Psychological Thriller
Source: Crooked Lane Books
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four-stars

“Mother knows best” takes on a sinister new meaning in this unsettling thriller perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Grimms’ Fairy Tales.

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.

This one messes with your head, guys! I love psychological thrillers, and this had me totally creeped out from very early on. It also had me puzzled with the mystery of the fairy-tale-like storyline. With each new chapter we’re given a new layer of this mystery that makes absolutely no logical sense, but can’t deny that it’s all happening. I kept wondering if this was just a big mind-game with a huge twist that would turn everything on its head. Or if I was just completely overlooking a small detail that would make everything clear. I loved it!

Being a mother myself, I couldn’t help but relate to what Lauren was going through. The exhaustion, the lack of help, the loneliness that comes from having a new born (I can’t even imagine with twins). It’s something almost all new mothers will feel at one point – the loneliness even if you’re never technically alone, not having anyone else understand what you’re feeling. I found Lauren incredibly easy to connect with and empathize with. Her voice is genuine. Her fear, her doubt – even in regards to her own sanity, her love for these new babies in her life were all so palpable. Even though this is written in 3rd person, which I was a bit worried about at first, I found myself engrossed by these characters.

The story is told in alternating POVs. One being Lauren, the other being Harper – the local detective who found Lauren’s story a bit too unusual to leave alone. Harper is also a well rounded, flawed character who has her own issues that make her feel connected to Lauren. Having this second POV makes the mystery all the more eerie – as Harper finds pieces of the puzzle that make your skin crawl. It can’t be all in Lauren’s mind if Harper is seeing it too, right!? AAAAH!

Little Darlings is a gripping and disturbing psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat – and your sanity.

four-stars

4 Hot Espressos

Review: After the Woods by Kim Savage

Posted by on 02/26/2016 • 2 Comments

My feelings about After the Woods are complex. I think it is a great novel on the whole but there are also bits about it that bothered me. Either way, if you are looking for a psychological thriller with a potentially unreliable narrator, After the Woods is for you.

The reason why I am not completely ready to say I loved this book though is that I am not satisfied (I’ll never be satisfied.)  There are so many questions left unanswered by the end of the novel. It feels unfinished, like there is more of the story to be had. Not necessarily in terms of plot but in terms of character development and understanding the motives. Also what actually happened in the woods.

Don’t get me wrong, I love books…

Review: Captive by A.J. Grainger

Posted by on 11/12/2015 • 4 Comments

I always find it hard to review books that I have no strong opinion of either way. I didn’t really like this book, but I didn’t dislike it either. It was readable, but it didn’t make me NEED to keep going. The main character wasn’t all that interesting, but I did kind of like her… sometimes. As you can tell by the title and synopsis, this book is about a girl who is kidnapped because she is the Prime Ministers daughter. She is the leverage to get what they want. So of course, she is being held captive and we learn about her history through her wandering thoughts. We also learn about the conspiracy that got her to this place by one of her kidnappers. The book opens pretty cool,…

Review: We’ll Never Be Apart by Emiko Jean

Posted by on 11/09/2015 • 4 Comments

I’m always up for a book that is creepy and messes with your head, and this sounded like it was perfect for that. Sadly, it really fell short for me. It’s supposed to be a mind fuck, but it was too predictable. It was supposed to be creepy, but it just wasn’t. I didn’t really like the main character much because she was kind of boring. Even though she is breaking all the rules and is out for murder, she just seemed a bit blah for me. And the love interest… there always has to be one of those right? He didn’t do much for me. He’s the one who is supposed to be all dangerous, but helpful, and really a sweetheart. Yeah, he met all those stereotypes on the…

Review: Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn

Review: Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn

Posted by on 07/09/2015 • 7 Comments

This book left me wondering what the hell I just read, but in a good way. Told in a few different POV’s you get a lot of what is going on. You get to see things from each person directly involved. This is one messed up and weird story that kept me going page after page. The characters have some major issues and I loved seeing what would happen next. This book definitely messes with your head and at the end you are left going WTF did I just read, but it was also really good!!

Sadie has some major issues. She really needs help. She loves to cause trouble. Cause pain. Mess with people’s heads. She has been thrown out of the school she was in because she almost…

Review: Normal by Graeme Cameron

Review: Normal by Graeme Cameron

Posted by on 06/11/2015 • 14 Comments

A book about a serial killer in the eyes of the serial killer… I know what you’re thinking: the morbidness! The fascinating concept! The potential to show us what it is like on the other side of the fence! The opportunity to give us such a gritty, different, and complex story!

… which boggles the mind: how the hell did this one manage to bore me the frack out?!

Here’s the thing, ladies and gents: when we’re reading a perspective from the other person when it comes to controversial issues, I expect it to be… well, deep, because they shove us an extremely unlikeable person who does extremely unlikeable (read: detestable) things so they can humanize them to a certain extent in order to make us “see” where they are coming…

Review: Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

Review: Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

Posted by on 08/07/2014 • 17 Comments

My, my, my… what can I say? Abigail Haas has done it again folks! When I put down Dangerous Boys I sat there in a daze in my backyard just thinking about what it would be like to be in this woman’s mind for 24 hours. I imagine it to be very dark, full of twists, and yet somehow still beautiful and a place you would want to be lost in for days on end. Maybe I’m just a masochist though…

Anyway, back to Dangerous Boys. I will be up front and say that I went into this one with some sky high expectations because I was a huge fan of Dangerous Girls. I was prepared to meet some characters that would be really hard to get a read on…

Review: The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Review: The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Posted by on 07/03/2014 • 14 Comments

I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t even read the blurb for The Half Life of Molly Pierce, I was sold simply by the name and the cover. Even though the novel features a premise that I have read/watched many times before, it was an intriguing, fast-paced read that kept me entertained until the last page.

We meet Molly Pierce as she wakes up in her car with no recollection of how she got to where she is. Her last memory is from that morning when she was in school, where she was supposed to be all day. As she is driving back to school she notices a boy following her on his motorcycle and that he is driving quite recklessly. He gets hit in the middle of an…