Slow to start, but once it did it sucked me in and kept me wondering until the very last page.


Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a complimentary copy of this novel!

Jessica, Alicia, and Norah end up fostered as young girls with Miss Fairchild. But the longer they are there, the girls come to realize that Miss Fairchild isn’t the supposed loving foster mom they hope for. Miss Fairchild has rules that are meant to be followed. Miss Fairchild expects cleanliness. She expects obedience or else the girls face her wrath. Although, the three girls are not blood sisters, they are sisters to each other because of what they endured under Miss Fairchild. After they were able to get away from her, their past childhood trauma still haunts them today into adulthood. So now, over two decades later, they each receive a call that a body has been found under the house where they were fostered. They must return and face their past.

This novel is a psychological thriller mystery that will keep you turning the pages until the end!!! The novel alternates between the girl’s past and their present to slowly reveal the events that unfolded. This is Sally Hepworth’s newest novel and definitely not one to miss!!! And the ending will have a twist you won’t see coming!!! AVAILABLE April 23, 2024

WOW!! I was hooked on this book from the first page and was unable to put it down. I felt myself trying to guess who done it the whole time and had it wrong the whole time. The last chapter left me speechless. I enjoyed all of the character POV's and how it shifted from current to past. This was a unique thriller and got me out of reading slump

This binge worthy thriller is just what I needed! Three foster “sisters” (Jessica, Norah and Alicia) find themselves at Wild Meadows under the care of Miss Fairchild. On the outside, Miss Fairchild, appears to be a good foster mother but that can’t be farther from the truth. Fast forward and the foster “sisters” are now living their adult lives when they receive a call from a detective telling them a body has been found under the house at Wild Meadows. Now they must return to their roots to face their dark past!

I enjoyed the multiple point of views and the dual timeline. This domestic thriller is dark with multiple twists. The final twist did me in! I’m always a fan of Hepworth’s books but this one is officially my favorite. This book will be published on April 23rd so be sure to add it to your spring reading list. You won’t be able to put it down!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A complex an intriguing mystery that will keep you in suspense until the end. The subject matter is a bit difficult to get through, dealing with foster children and abuse, but it is a mystery story with an important message. While not a page turning thriller this is a great drama with multiple mysteries woven in. The characters are also complex and well written, with no one being the "hero", but the protagonists all coming with their own flaws.

I'm a big fan of Sally Hepworth, and though I enjoyed Darling Girls, it's definitely not my favorite of her books. This story of three girls in foster care (and their lives as women) is compelling in its depiction of the possible horrors of that system, and I loved the way the personalities and motivations of each of the three sisters were developed. I thought the actual "mystery" of the plot was a bit less successful, and I especially did not like the chapters in the psychologist's office as they were a bit awkwardly written and were a bit disjointed from the rest of the novel. That said, the atmosphere was taut (as is the case in other Hepworth novels) and I'm glad I read it. And one small note - the cover really doesn't work for me given the direction of the books!

Sally Hepworth is one of my favorite authors because her books just never disappoint! So many twists and turns that I felt like I had whiplash. It was a quick read that fans of Sally and thriller lovers in general will love!

Jessica Lovat, Nora Anderson, and Alicia Connelly had once lived at the Wild Meadows Foster Home under the care of Miss Fairchild. Detective Ashleigh Patel contacts each of the girls to ask for help with her investigation regarding the human remains found during the demolition/excavation of Wild Meadows. Whose bones are they? What do Miss Fairchild’s girls know?

Sally Hepworth constructs a delicious thriller. She is able to move the reader easily from the present to the past so the reader gets a true understanding of the girls’ day-to-day lives at a foster home. Before I know it, I’m well into this thriller and read on with anticipation of what is to come. I also like the first-person retelling of visits with the psychiatrist interspersed throughout the book. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of DARLING GIRLS.

The latest book by Sally Hepworth was on par with other books I've read by her, enjoyable and worth reading when you have time. Each sister had their own story to tell, their own trauma's to work through and their own complicated feelings with a present day Miss Hannigan. The first "OMG" moment of the book was when I first guessed who might be meeting with Dr. Warren. Once you figure that out, the book takes on a whole different pace and makes you stop and rethink what you've read so far. The big twist at the end, will leave your jaw hanging open and realizing the level of deviousness that can live in a person and sometimes we never know the true depth of evil.
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Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This story kept me on my toes the entire time. I could tell that Ms. Fairchild had something wrong with her, but did not expect her to be as fully insane as she was. As an adopted child, it breaks my heart that foster kids really do live in situations like this and much worse so in some ways, this was hard to read. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia formed a bond that no one can replicate with the situations they went through together. This twist at the end was not something I expected and the way Ms. Fairchild played the entire legal system blew my mind. This is one story that you will not want to miss.

Sally Hepworth forever reminding me while I love her. I devoured every page of this book from start to finish as usual with her books.

I’ll admit, her last book had a bit of a slow start and finished strong, but this one.. wow. Right from the start I was invested. The multiple POVs told a different side to the story and even though it switched timelines, the story was effortless. Each of the three sisters kept you invested and guessing what their role was to the main plot. The characters were so well developed you almost felt you knew them by the end of the book. It made the story that much easier to follow excitedly.

The twist you’re expecting.. is probably right, but also you’re wrong. I know that doesn’t make sense, but the ending will leave your jaw dropped. A must read for all thriller fans.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

I was very excited for this new Sally Hepworth thriller. While I found the first half to be a bit slow, the second half really sucked me in and I was eager to see how the story played out. While I figured out most of the plot ahead of the actual twists, I would still recommend this one to any fans of Hepworth’s work!

Fast-paced, mysterious, and a little bit disturbing "Darling Girls" by Sally Hepworth has everything I want in a thriller.

The story is about three foster sisters, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia. They were raised by a woman named Mrs. Fairchild. To the outside world, Mrs. Fairchild looks like a loving mother, raising foster children out of the goodness of her heart on an idyllic estate. But the picture-perfect life perceived by others may be the farthest thing from the truth.
Decades later, a body is found under Mrs. Fairchild's home, the home where Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were raised. The three sisters are called in as witnesses, or maybe suspects?

Sally Hepworth has a way of keeping a story moving. The writing is fast-paced and catchy. I love how each chapter is short, but I find myself wanting more after each one ends. It definitely kept me on my toes until the end. And just when I started to think the book could use more twists, the story truly delivered.

However, I did find the book to be disturbing at times. That is expected considering the genre, but there is a lot of child abuse in it, which is hard for me to stomach. It also highlights some of the trauma that foster children go through which is heartbreaking.

While it was often disturbing, the story conveys the deep bond between the three foster sisters, which I found very touching. It helped balance out the heaviness in a successful way.

Overall, I thought this book was excellent with fantastic storytelling and writing that kept me hooked from the first page. If you don't think you can get past the disturbing topics then it might not be for you, but I recommend giving it a try!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Another great book by this author! She does not disappoint!

Darling Girls tells the story of 3 girls, "sisters", that grew up in the foster care of Miss Fairchild. Everyone thinks they had this amazing, idyllic childhood, but there are secrets. Secrets that cannot be afforded to be revealed.

Miss Fairchild is not the motherly figure that everyone thinks that she is.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been able to get away from Miss Fairchild and live (semi) normal lives. As adults, their world is shattered as a body is found under the home they grew up in.

As the story unfolds, you learn of the secrets that were not supposed to be revealed.

Throughout the story there are interview excerpts with a psychologist - I thought I had it figured out who was the patient...but I was wrong.

Suspenseful and a great read! you won't be disappointed!

I love Sally Hepworth as an author and Darling Girls didn't disappoint!

This is told from multiple points of views and I love that format in a book. Alicia, Jessica and Norah are sisters (not bio related) who grew up in foster care together. Through their horrific upbringing they bond for life and are now adults who've been out of their foster home for 25 years. A gruesome discovery underneath their old foster home brings them back to the small town they grew up in and takes them back to the past. There's also a dual timeline where the present and past are both told to give a picture of what happened.

I don't want to give too much away but this was full of twists and completely pulled me in. I read this in two days and couldn't put Darling Girls down! I loved the three main characters and the supporting side characters. There was a good mix of past and present with some present day side plots thrown in to keep things interesting. I found the book flowed well and I was invested in the character's story. I'd highly recommend this to anyone who likes a twisty thriller that isn't too over the top. I'm a big Sally Hepworth fan and would continue to read any new books that she publishes.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is my third Sally Hepworth book and has trumped the list to my favorite of hers yet. While I enjoyed and devoured this the whole way through, the very last chapter bumped this up from four stars to five!

This story, at its heart is about three non-biological “sisters” who were raised together by foster Mom Holly Fairchild at their home called Wild Meadows. In present day, the sisters, in their 30s, find out that a bunch of bones were found underneath Wild Meadows when they were demolishing the property. The story flashes back and forth between the present day girls revisiting Wild Meadows and their hometown for the first time in 25 years to see what’s going on as well as chapters from their past as they recount the horrors they endured as adolescents.

While the thriller aspect of this was twisty and dark (which I love), I think I loved even more seeing life through the eyes of children in foster care. The three girls, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia all were so different and ended up in their situation for vastly different reasons, yet the author did such a great job at make them so fleshed out and real. It was amazing to see and understand that who they were as adults were direct reflections of what they dealt with as children individually.

This book doesn’t come out until next month but I absolutely recommend adding it to your TBR and reading it as soon as you can get your hands on it. This is one you won’t want to miss.

Sally Hepworth does it again with Darling Girls. This is a gripping story about the bonds of foster children and how appearances can be deceiving. Five stars!!!

Darling Girls is Hepworth at her best. Every element of this book hit. I grew to care about these characters and I was really rooting for them. I was shocked by the ending and this has taken the place as the #1 book of hers for me.

You can always count on Sally Hepworth to put an interesting twist in a family story. This book centers on the past and present lives of three foster sisters. They were raised in an idyllic setting, but their lives were far from happy. As adults, they are called back to their hometown. An investigation is underway to identify buried bones found under their childhood home. This is a great twisty thriller, but it also has heart. I kept turning pages and could not predict the ending.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for the ARC of this book.

I read this from NetGalley. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press!

I would and will definitely be suggesting this book to others! I’m writing this now because there are spoilers in this review. If you haven’t read, order now. If you have read, continue on.

I needed to keep reading because I absolutely could not go on without knowing what happened.

The plot was good. Three sisters, foster sisters, coming together to find out the truth about the dark childhoods they all had together. A body is found under the home they formed their sisterhood in and they are called back to help with the investigation. A dark childhood festers in different ways as people grow older. Each sister has her own way of dealing with the past trauma. They all unfold throughout the book. I liked how they were all so different. Three completely different paths are intertwined because of one person, and I’m not even referring to the foster mom.

The narcissistic foster mother is still around, plot twist one. I was surprised when she walked through the door and was then an open part of the investigation. It’s surprising that as much fell through the cracks with these girls as it did, but con people are con people are con people. The drinking. The mood swings. The extremes.

Darling girls come and go, and never fill the void.

The foster moms meetings with the psychologist, plot twist two, taking place in prison, plot twist three, all made sense once you got to it. Throwing the excerpts from the meetings in different chapters really had me wondering who was actually speaking.

Honestly when the police said they imagined it all, I was shocked. It was very sixth sense. You stop and think oh shit that makes so much sense. But then I remembered how much interaction the foster mom had with the toddler.

The ending was good. I kind of figured it was coming but I guess that’s what happens when you watch more true crime than the average woman. I’d like to know more about Scott. I’d like to know more about what happens to the foster mom next. That’s how I know when a book is good, if I am still wondering about it a few days after I finish it.