The epigraphs from Yeats, Grimm’s fairy tales (which are, in truth, quite grim), and other folklore and mythology found throughout the novel only fanned the flames of my nerd-dom. One night, alone during her recovery at the maternity ward, Lauren is convinced that a strange woman was trying to get into her room and take her babies, even though everyone, from her husband to the hospital staff, are telling her that the experience was all in her mind, a symptom of her overtiredness and trauma.

To me, this complete change of direction feels like a cop-out of sorts; a departure from the original topic. She has written over 70 best-selling books, and several have even been adapted for TV – most famously The Story of Tracy Beaker. Since we have Lauren's perspective, we are able to follow along firsthand with what's happening and experience exactly what Lauren sees. It is an absolutely beautiful heartwarming story about a girl who hasnt ever met her dad and it is a race for her to find out who her dad is however on the other side of the country is his present wife who is trying to keep him and the Kids away….After all the hassle of trying to get Destiny to meet her father, I also found the ending to be weak and abrupt and wish that moment had been more fleshed out. Knowing deep down he is right, Lauren takes his advice and takes the now six-week old twins out in their stroller for a walk—a miscalculation that she ends up regretting forever.

And I still spent most of the time reading this book with a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach, and that’s when I wasn’t also getting the heebie-jeebies. Wilson allows for the reader to not only see how ‘the other half lives’ so to speak but also watching the development of the characters and how they feel about their lives. However, I can only say very little about Little Darlings because too much backstory about folklore might 1) cause your eyelids to droop, 2) make you think I’m a little batty (you wouldn’t be entirely wrong), and 3) most importantly, give entirely too much away. While on an outing with the babies a month after they were born, Lauren falls asleep on a bench and when she wakes up, her babies are gone.It is as she feared; the strange woman at the hospital had done what she promised she would do—steal away her babies and replace them with her own unnatural, inhuman spawn. Ace is a very innocent little boy and in this emotional time, he also turns to his beloved sister for support and care.

To make matters worse, she endures a terrifying experience in the hospital, in which a strange, dirty woman with eel-like twins of her own threatens to take Lauren’s babies when she refuses a one-for-one trade. The writing leans much heavier in the literary and folklore realm than a traditional thriller and the pacing is also a bit steadier than a fast-paced thriller. The second is Sunset, his oldest legitimate child, who doesn't enjoy the hectic, drama filled life that comes from being the daughter of a celebrity.

I never knew that Destiny and Sunset would be half-sisters and I think that Jacqueline Wilson added a twist to Little Darlings. Lauren struggles with exhaustion, but with encouragement from her friends and a shove from Patrick, she finally gets it together and takes the boys out for a walk along the river. As time passes she begins to accept her daughter, and underneath her mask of a perfectly alright girl, Sunset begins to see somebody who has sensitivity too and is just as hurt by the situation as she is. As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children’s Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former Children’s Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame.

As I mentioned before, this isn't as much of a thriller to me as it is a dark literary work inspired by folklore elements. Riveting, terrifying and at times heart-breaking, Little Darlings had me tip-toeing through my dark house at night to check on the children. The Nickert is a small gray person that lives in the water and has a great desire for human children. I found having the perspectives of both Lauren and Joanna vital in creating the suspense around what exactly is happening. Danny and her mother went out before she was born but when Destiny was born, Danny wasnt around anymore.

For all the creepiness the book promises, you get the sense that Melanie Golding had some fun writing this; even at the start before the plot has properly picked up, there are some gruesome and all-too-real descriptions of what happens to a woman's body during and after giving birth (and like a typical male who'll never experience the pains of labour, I winced just reading about it). Claudia because she looked after Sunset and Sunset’s sibilings when Suzy was in shock and when Suzy was meant to be looking after her own kids.