Destiny Williams: Destiny is also Dannys daughter but not Suzys. Danny and her mother went out before she was born but when Destiny was born, Danny wasnt around anymore. She sets out to find her father and becomes a good friend of Sunsets. An unsettling tale of a new mother, Lauren, of twin boys, who finds herself terrorized by a macabre woman attempting to abduct Lauren's babies and replace them with her own. Her account is dismissed by hospital staff, the police, and even her husband as a hallucination attributed to exhaustion, even Lauren herself begins to question her own sanity. The only person that is unconvinced that Lauren has simply snapped is the investigator that responded to her call for help, Detective Harper. She was still waiting for the rush of love. That one you feel, all at once the second they're born, like nothing you've ever experienced before. The rush of love that people with children always go on about. She'd been looking forward to it. It worried her that she hadn't felt it yet."

Jacqueline is one of the nation’s favourite authors, and her books are loved and cherished by young readers not only in the UK but all over the world. She has sold millions of books and in the UK alone the total now stands at over 35 million! Destiny is also an interesting character. At just 11 years old she feels more like the parent and has to plead with her mother, Kate, to seek help for her deteriorating condition. It feels as though we are meant to pity Kate for working so hard and trying to connect Destiny with her father - and whilst it was certainly sad to read about her neglecting her own health and falling into a depression, any likeability for her character was destroyed by how frustrating it was to read about her hysterical obsession with Danny and the way in which she neglects Destiny because of it. LITTLE DARLINGS by MELANIE GOLDING is an unsettling, compulsive and mysterious tale that had me constantly wavering between believing Lauren’s story and thinking maybe she really is just imagining it all. The feelings that I had for Lauren throughout were quite intense and had me feeling her fear. I wanted to believe her! During the first six weeks following childbirth, mothers may not go to sleep until someone has come to watch the child. If mothers are overcome by sleep, changelings are often laid in the cradle. The Sky Kids adaptation of Dame Jacqueline Wilson's Little Darlings is coming to Sky Kids and streaming service NOW from February 11, 2022.

Featured Reviews

Little Darlings gives a thrill so deep it dips at times into pleasure, at Golding's sheer creativity, at her ability to take our most natural and primal life experience and weave into it our most ancient myths, transforming it into high horror. She keeps the reader spellbound until the very end . . . The psychological intensity of this novel is on par with the best." Melanie Stokes, head of Kindle entertainment and executive producer and co-executive producer, Emma Stuart, added: “Little Darlings offers Jacqueline Wilson fans a fresh take on a much loved book, from writers Nathan Bryon and Jonny Wright." The scene where Sunset's father says she's rubbish at dancing was uncomfortable to read. It wasn't clear at all why he was behaving like that.

After the birth of my first child, I found myself crying uncontrollably. I was exhausted, confused and afraid of absolutely everything. On top of the hormonal crash that comes after giving birth, for most people there's also the pure terror of being wholly responsible for someone else's wellbeing for the first time in your life. Unless you were previously a carer, the emotional shift that comes with knowing the responsibility falls entirely on you changes you beyond belief.Little Darlings starts off, in my opinion, at a slow pace. Building up the tension and drawing the reader in gradually. I’m not a fan of fantasy, fairytales or folklore normally, but this book has possibly changed my mind. Sunset was a wonderful sister to her siblings and it was sad to see her being the responsible one and trying to fix things. She deserved so much better. Lauren has newborn twin boys. One night, in the hospital, she sees an ugly woman who also has twin boys. The creepy woman wants to switch her babies with Lauren's. Lauren called the police, but no one believes her story because nobody saw anything. Everyone says Lauren is exhausted, that she needs rest. But Lauren knows what she saw, and the things are getting worse.

Ending: An ending that left us with a little bit of mystery to ponder that I was totally satisfied with interpreting on my own.The child is not mine as the first was, I cannot sing it to rest, I cannot lift it up fatherly and bliss it upon my breast; Yet it lies in my little one's cradle, And sits in my little one's chair, And the light of the heaven she's gone to transfigures its golden hair." ~ From The Changeling by James Russell Lowell What I loved was how Golding keeps the reader guessing throughout the book. Is there truly evil, dark magic at play or is Lauren herself mentally unstable and dangerous? I thought the ending was well done, clever and satisfying! I enjoyed the excerpts throughout - they added valuable insight to the fairy tale angle and definitely upped the creepy factor. The book is very imaginative in a very common way. Yes, there are tons and tons of retellings about great stories, but I don’t think many people thought of the idea of retelling some gruesome folkloric tales. Qwill. "Interview with Melanie Golding, author of Little Darlings". Archived from the original on 2023-07-04 . Retrieved 2023-07-04. I will most likely read it again someday as I enjoyed it that much. Until then I will be loaning out my copy to all friends and family who will take it.

Little Darlings is a 2019 thriller novel by British writer Melanie Golding about a new mother who suspects that a supernatural entity is attempting to abduct her children. It received a 2019 Dragon Award for Best Horror Novel. The characters are so well developed you could think they are real, they all have their things and manias and quirks and are very much alive, and you can feel what they go through easily. Despite a slow start, I enjoyed this novel very much. I especially liked the police procedural part of the story. I was always questioning how many of the events had actually happened or were just imagined by Lauren. Detective Sergeant Harper brought a welcome dose of earthy realism. This book is seriously creepy, creative and sad. I think it's a bit misleading that it has found its way to the mystery/thriller section when it is mostly a contemporary with elements (or suggestions) of magical realism. But either way, it's a moving, frightening, psychological portrait of new motherhood, set in the Peak District.You don't need blood and gore to make a great horror story. Atmosphere, if masterfully done, will keep you creeped out and chill you to the bone.This eerie story will do that.This is done that masterfully. It will engage your mind on a wild ride and leave you so haunted, you may begin to question your own state of sanity, your own definition of sanity. LITTLE DARLINGS isn’t your typical psychological thriller that we all enjoy reading - this is a full-blown horror story. The explicit descriptions of the extreme physical and mental suffering the main character, Lauren, endured giving birth to twin boys and then caring for the babies after the birth caused me so much anxiety, I wished I had some Xanax. The main characters were richly developed and interesting. Without giving spoilers I will only say that we can easily visualize what Lauren see's in her "Little Darlings" and empathize with all of her thoughts and feelings. Double Act won the prestigious Smarties Medal and the Children’s Book Award as well as being highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People’s Choice Award.