Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.
Twins are born after 36 hours of not sleeping and Lauren is exhausted. After giving birth Patrick is sent away from visiting leaving Lauren struggling with being a new mother of twin boys. To make matters worse a smelly woman tries to make a trade, they both have twins, one pair charmed and one pair cursed. Lauren of course declines and the woman threatens to take them both. Lauren picked up her little darlings and hides in the bathroom while calling the police. Problem: no one noticed an intruder there, everyone thinks Lauren is overly tired.
Lauren has literally no support at home or from the hospital staff. Since the perpetrator was never caught Lauren sees threats in every shadow. For a month she hides away in her house refusing to leave her boys for even a moment. Every moment is spent worrying about their well being. Sleep when they sleep, great advice but between the twins normally one is awake. Four weeks old, the twins go on their first play date and disappear after Lauren momentarily falls asleep. When a detective recovers the newborns Lauren realizes the boys aren't hers.
Lauren seemed like an unreliable narrator. NO ONE believes her and the symptoms could be explained organically (depression, sleep deprivation, mental illness, ect). Even so, a sick part of me wanted to believe something was going bump in the night, evil was lurking around the corner, waiting for the perfect moment.
Most chapters start with a short quote about changelings from various cultures. I love fairy tales so these little blurbs turn the story dark and sinister.
I think the author did a great job describing the challenges of being a first time mother. Everyone has their own opinions but no one is helping, sleep deprivation, learning to love a very demanding infant, being solely responsible for the welfare of another person, not having enough time for self-care, post partum depression, insecurities.
if you don't mind slow pacing and you like dark fairy tales- this is a creepily good read.
Twins are born after 36 hours of not sleeping and Lauren is exhausted. After giving birth Patrick is sent away from visiting leaving Lauren struggling with being a new mother of twin boys. To make matters worse a smelly woman tries to make a trade, they both have twins, one pair charmed and one pair cursed. Lauren of course declines and the woman threatens to take them both. Lauren picked up her little darlings and hides in the bathroom while calling the police. Problem: no one noticed an intruder there, everyone thinks Lauren is overly tired.
Lauren has literally no support at home or from the hospital staff. Since the perpetrator was never caught Lauren sees threats in every shadow. For a month she hides away in her house refusing to leave her boys for even a moment. Every moment is spent worrying about their well being. Sleep when they sleep, great advice but between the twins normally one is awake. Four weeks old, the twins go on their first play date and disappear after Lauren momentarily falls asleep. When a detective recovers the newborns Lauren realizes the boys aren't hers.
Lauren seemed like an unreliable narrator. NO ONE believes her and the symptoms could be explained organically (depression, sleep deprivation, mental illness, ect). Even so, a sick part of me wanted to believe something was going bump in the night, evil was lurking around the corner, waiting for the perfect moment.
Most chapters start with a short quote about changelings from various cultures. I love fairy tales so these little blurbs turn the story dark and sinister.
I think the author did a great job describing the challenges of being a first time mother. Everyone has their own opinions but no one is helping, sleep deprivation, learning to love a very demanding infant, being solely responsible for the welfare of another person, not having enough time for self-care, post partum depression, insecurities.
if you don't mind slow pacing and you like dark fairy tales- this is a creepily good read.