More like 4.5 ⭐️.

This thriller from Sally Hepworth had everything you wanted. Twists and turns. You don’t see anything coming. This is a story of three girls who lived in a foster home 25 years ago and today are called by the police because bones are found when they are demolishing the house. I love getting the stories of all of these three girls. Not just from the present, but also the past. It’s super easy to get into and easy to follow which I really enjoy in a very good thriller.

✨BOOK REVIEW✨

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

My sixth read from Hepworth and one of my favorites! Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were each placed in foster care under different circumstances. When they each end up on a beautiful farming estate with their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, they slowly forge a sisterly bond.

But their home life with Miss Fairchild isn’t exactly what it seems. Miss Fairchild is truly unhinged and stories like this give me the stomach ache because I know things like this are happening all over the world to sweet, innocent children

Years later, when human remains are found buried under the farmhouse (during construction), the sisters are forced back together and have to re-live a bunch of memories they have suppressed.


Read if you like:
-found family and sisterhood
-foster care stories
-creepy, unhinged behavior
-quirky characters

I can’t peel my eyes away from Sally Hepworth novels. She has such a way of drawing you in and sprinkling suspense as she goes. Her characters are my favorite!! They are usually flawed, unique, and mysterious.

As in Sally’s other books, this one had the classic twist at the end and I LOVED IT!

Pub date is 4/23! Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the early copy — all thoughts are my own.

4.5 stars!

This book held my attention the whole time, but at the end of the book I just had so many questions, and not in the good way. I didn't understand why Miss.Fairchild did anything she did, except being a terrible person, but that's not a great plot line. The 3 sisters were obviously failed in a lot of ways, and while the ending is bittersweet, I would have liked to see them work through more before and after the events of the book.

The Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth was definitely a page turner. I loved the different views between the past and present. There were some parts where the story dragged a little but had short chapters to keep your interest. However the plot twists are great & just when you think you know how the book will end, you will be surprised! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

I don’t want to say too much here but Hepworth knows how to write a page turner that’s for sure !
Thank you @macmillian.audio @stmartinspress and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

“When it came to vengeance, Miss Fairchild preferred to play the long game.” Thank you St Martin’s Publishing Group, Erica Martirano, and Sally Hepworth for this free early ebook.
“Darling Girls” by Sally Hepworth ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Genre: Thriller/Mystery. Location: Melbourne and Port Agatha, Australia. Time: Present and 25 years earlier. Triggers: Child abuse, Trauma from child abuse.

Former foster kids Jessica, Norah, and Alicia share a deep bond from their time in the 1990s at foster parent Miss Fairchild’s Wild Meadows farm. Miss Fairchild of the golden hair, blue eyes, pastel clothes, obsessed with cleanliness and balancing the books. She was never, ever to be crossed!
*First came Jessica. Now in her 30s, she’s a home organizer, immaculately dressed perfectionist, buries her feelings, always feels panicked.
*Norah arrived next, changing Jessica’s favored status by her arrival. She’s tall and beautiful, with startling eyes, and a strong tendency towards violence. *Last came Alicia, the innocent who acts 1st and thinks later. Immediately hated by Miss Fairchild. She’s now a social worker.
Bones are found on Miss Fairchild’s property 25 years later, and the 3 foster sisters are called to Port Agatha by Detective Patel to account for a past they can’t escape.

Author Hepworth has written a book that is character and plot driven. It’s full of children living through betrayals of their innocent trust. She divides the points of view between each of the foster sisters now and “before”, and adds in psychiatrist Dr Warren’s sessions. As a former Child Protective Services Social Worker (knowing what I observed on the job), I wasn’t sure I’d be able to read this, but I’m glad I did. It will open your eyes to abuses in the foster system. I’m not sure any of my clients had closure like these 3 sisters-I wish they all did. I thought I had the back story figured out, but Hepworth surprised me in the end. It’s so twisty and turny, it’s a page-turner, the ending will haunt you, and it’s 4 stars from me🌵📚💁🏼‍♀️

Sometimes the strongest familial bonds aren't forged by blood

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are sisters. Maybe not on a family tree, but in their eyes and hearts. They spent several years together at the same foster home under the care of Miss Fairchild. To an outsider, it looked like a perfect place: Wild Meadows Farm, a lovely house in the countryside. But Miss Fairchild could be erratic and even downright cruel. Then something terrible happened, and they never saw Miss Fairchild again. Now the police have come calling: bones have been found under their childhood home, and they want to know what Jessica, Norah, and Alicia may know. It's time to face Wild Meadows again.

This is a page-turner of a story. I found it very hard to put down. Hepworth makes it quite easy to get caught up in Jessica, Norah, and Alicia's story! GIRLS is packed with exciting twists and turns as we follow the story of Miss Fairchild and her wards. Is she a kind woman just looking to help kids have a better life? Or is there a more sinister side to Miss F?

Hepworth weaves the narrative through the eyes of each sister. There's anxious, overprotective, Jessica, now married and running a successful organizing business. She still plays the role of older sister/mama bear to the group. Norah is still the wild child, quick to fly off the handle at a moment's notice. Now Jessica can (usually) rescue Norah using her money or influence, whereas Norah typically wound up locked in the basement by Miss Fairchild as a kid. And then there's Alicia, who gravitated to the role of social worker as an adult. She just wants to protect kids from suffering from what she experienced, but she's too scared to make any changes or big steps in her own life.

We learn about each woman through flashbacks to their past at Wild Meadows, as well as the present-day story. Their stories are interspersed by an eerie interview of an unnamed character with a therapist. All of these devices function well to create drama, slowly release information, and effectively build suspense.

GIRLS deftly explores family dynamics, the various sides of motherhood, and found family. I loved how close the three foster sisters are, as well as how it explores both the negatives and positives of the foster care system. Being a thriller, it has quite a dark side, and it's filled with a ton of Sally Hepworth-patented surprises. It gets a little rushed near closing and everything ties up a little easily, but there's a good "what!!??" moment as well. I wouldn't say there's a ton of character development here, but it's worth it for all the shock and awe.

What’s not to love? Another brilliant book by Sally Hepworth and oooh the twists!

Three women, very different yet very close due to growing up together as foster sisters

When they get a call about discovered bones at their old foster home, they return with hesitation and fear

Sally Hepworth has become one of my favorite authors because she knows how to pace the suspense and create such real characters

I loved the three sisters and kinda recognized myself in all of them

Their upbringing was shocking and it was impossible to look away 🫣 Foster mother Miss Fairchild was such a fantastically awful woman, I wanna be her for Halloween!

I was lucky enough to receive the ebook before release but would love to listen to the audiobook - I do love an Australian accent

I don’t give 5⭐️ easily so can say with confidence that this book is bloody brilliant

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for access to this eBook ARC in exchange for my honest review

I'm a big a fan of Sally Hepworth stories and this one did not disappoint! The girls story kept me invested and the ending surprised me! Thank you for the early access netgalley!

I loved this book. The way it combines family drama with the thriller element is very well done and I found myself staying up much later than I should have to see what would happen next. The plot twists were well done and fit the storyline. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

This novel should come with all kinds of trigger warnings...emotional, physical and sexual abuse all make an appearance. Norah, Alicia, and Jessica are foster "sisters" with an extremely close bond living in Melbourne. Jessica is an uptight home organizer, Alicia is a sweet social worker, and Norah is a looker with a bad temper. When their former foster home a couple hours away in Port Agatha is demolished and a set of infant bones is discovered underneath, the sisters head back to face their childhood demon...Miss Fairchild. While the bones set things in motion, the central story focuses on the trauma of the past and how it manifests in their adult lives. The resolution gives you a twist, but doesn't leave you hanging.

I received this as an arc from netgalley. This is a 3 from me. There was only one twist that I didn’t already know prior to reveal and it didn’t really have much to do with the storyline. Definitely big trigger warnings and I had major disgust when I finished. Just did not like the direction things took and was disturbed. I don’t know what else to say about this one.

Sally Hepworth does it again, yall! I LOVED this book. I will start by saying there are definite trigger warnings in this book so please do your research or message me!
However, this book was fantastic from start to finish. The subject of this book focused on foster children and the heartache and torment they go through. Specifically dealing with abuse. I loved the back and forth between past and present. It kept the book so interesting while the story unfolded. Piece by piece we learned what the three girls went through and with every revelation I was appalled. And the final big twist - unlike any book I’ve read before. I highly recommend this one when it comes out! - 4.5⭐️

The book moves quick! Not in an overwhelming way but in you can’t put it down way! The book runs parallel story lines from the main characters childhood to the present. The trauma reactions and adult personalities match the childhood experiences very realistically. There are quite a few characters but they’re diverse in nature enough to be able to keep up with everyone.

I thought this was a dynamic story.
You are really put in the story line and able to see how things played out. It was illustrated very well narratively.

A few lines have specifically grabbed my attention a rough quote of one “I wish I made you smile as much as your sisters do.”
If you are married and have sisters this line is valid. There is a joy sisters bring that is different than marriage. Both are a joy you’ll have your whole life. But one is the utmost of chosen love , the other is purely platonic love you can only get when you’re truly family. By blood or adoption like situations.

Trigger warning
If you’ve been in the foster care system or adopted this may not be a great book if there’s any personal trauma related to those events in your life.

This was certainly twisty and unputdownable! Three girls, Jessica, Alicia and Norah were in foster care at Wild Meadows, in Port Agatha. They were abused and manipulated by Miss Fairchild, the foster mother. But she was very clever about it, a classic narcissist. After the girls were out of the home they stayed together, having formed a bond and considered themselves sisters. After several years they were informed that human bones were found buried under the Wild Meadows. They were asked to come back to Port Agatha and assist the police in their investigation. I did not see the end coming! It was great!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

DARLING GIRLS moves between present and past among three women who grew up in foster care. In the present, the women are drawn together when human remains are found under their old foster care home. The past storyline unearths their past as girls in the foster care system, when they lived under the care of their abusive foster parent Miss Fairchild.

If I had realized this included details about child abuse, I’d have skipped requesting it altogether. The reveals weren’t enough to make this feel worth reading, and the middle is especially a slog. In most ways it does read like standard Sally Hepworth fare, though, subject matter aside, this is my least favorite of hers that I’ve read.

content note: child abuse, violence, murder, rape (mentioned), pedophilia (mentioned)

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy.

3.5/5 ⭐️
Three foster sisters must relive their trauma when word gets out that bones were found underneath the home.

I ~liked~ this one but was missing the suspense. I felt this was more a family drama rather than a thriller (which is what I was expecting). I think if I had gone into it with different expectations, I might have enjoyed it more.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for ecopy for my Kindle.
I have read all of her books and have purchased most of them, but this one was my least favorite.
Although the story line was interesting even though very disturbing at times, the language and sexual content was what I didn't like about the book.

If you’re looking for a juicy, hard-to-put-down, character-driven thriller with a good mystery humming along in the background, I think you’ll like Sally Hepworth’s latest, DARLING GIRLS.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia grew up in a foster home and although it seemed idyllic from the outside, the experience was anything but. Their foster mother, Ms. Fairchild, was terrifying and found inventive ways to terrorize her “darling girls.” Fast forward 25 years later, and the sisters have all been impacted by their time in Ms. Fairchild’s home. And now, bones have been found on the property where their foster home once stood. Who do the bones belong to? And how did they get there?

The story is told on a couple of different timelines and from several points of view, which I enjoyed. Although this can sometimes be hard to follow, Hepworth does a great job keeping the voices distinct. I also liked seeing the sisters’ relationship evolve: each of their backstories is interesting and unique. Ms. Fairchild is quietly terrifying. The twists are not earth-shattering, but still satisfying.

A sincere thank you to NetGalley and publisher St. Martin’s Press for an early digital copy of DARLING GIRLS in exchange for my honest opinion.

Sally Hepworth is my all-time favorite author and I was so excited to receive this ARC from Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press. With all of her books, I’ve enjoyed the story being told by multiple different people with multiple different perspectives. The plot moved very slowly as with all of her books, but I enjoyed seeing the dynamic between Norah, Alicia & Jessica. There was a buildup for the ending, but I was disappointed. It seemed a bit rushed and wasn’t nearly as exciting as what I’m used to with her books. Overall, not a bad book but definitely not nearly one of my favorites by her.