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A review by syazahaniss
Little Darlings by Melanie Golding
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The most off-putting aspects of this book is the fact that it’s so painfully slow (the crazy long paragraphs didn’t help either) and that there were some questionable parts/parts I didn’t fully understand. The ending was one of them and for that I couldn’t give it a higher rating, even though I mostly enjoyed the story.
I’ve long had biases against domestic thrillers because they mostly revolve around the same thing: “crazy” mother, disbelieving father and somehow a kid/kids are involved. The ending is usually similar as well in that everything is explained by the mother having postpartum psychosis or somewhere along that line.
This book was no different except for the addition of the old wives’ tales/superstition concept. I was hoping the author would fully go down this route when explaining all the happenings because for once, I wasn’t iffy about the “supernatural” concept of it – it seemed to fit just nicely enough for it to appear realistic. Unfortunately, Lauren’s entire ordeal wasn’t explained clearly but I did infer that it was her mental state that was the reason for everything.
I liked reading the story from DS Harper’s POV, because at least we’re not stuck inside the head of the “victim” all the time – from my experience, it does goes boring. On the other hand, I felt like some parts of the investigation surrounding Lauren’s case (Natasha, Betty) didn’t exactly get closure. It felt like there were some loose threads to the story.
On that same note, I couldn’t seem to get a good understanding of Lauren and Patrick’s relationship, especially towards the end.
Generally I felt that the ending could have been written better. Other than that, a pretty solid book in terms of plot.
I’ve long had biases against domestic thrillers because they mostly revolve around the same thing: “crazy” mother, disbelieving father and somehow a kid/kids are involved. The ending is usually similar as well in that everything is explained by the mother having postpartum psychosis or somewhere along that line.
I liked reading the story from DS Harper’s POV, because at least we’re not stuck inside the head of the “victim” all the time – from my experience, it does goes boring. On the other hand, I felt like some parts of the investigation surrounding Lauren’s case (Natasha, Betty) didn’t exactly get closure. It felt like there were some loose threads to the story.
On that same note, I couldn’t seem to get a good understanding of Lauren and Patrick’s relationship, especially towards the end.
Generally I felt that the ending could have been written better. Other than that, a pretty solid book in terms of plot.
Content Warnings
Minor: Kidnapping