Chilling

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding is a sinister and chilling contemporary tale with fairy tale elements to it.

The characters are well drawn. The reader ‘feels’ the terror and utter desperation of the main character. We are never quite sure – is she deluded? Or is she telling the truth? You decide.

The atmospheric terror is enhanced with the locations, the sights and the sounds and the ‘smells’. So vivid are the descriptions that I definitely read with the hairs on the back of my neck raised. Murky waters and dark woods heightened my emotions and level of fear.

New babies should bring happiness but when their existence is threatened, emotions of a different kind take over.

Little Darlings was a very sinister tale, not to be read at night or alone when things may creak or go bump. Even now I am not sure what was real and what was imagined. A smashing debut novel that would make a marvellous film.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON