Jessica, Norah, and Alicia: forever told how lucky they were. Lucky to have been taken from unfortunate backgrounds and put into the hands of their loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild. They each very quickly learned in their own way to not cross Miss Fairchild. Twenty years later, a body was found under the foster home in which they grew up to be such darling girls, as Miss Fairchild would say. Told from the perspective of each of the girls, in past and present, and from the office of a psychiatrist (you’ll find out the patient later), this story is one of secrets, murder, the bond of unbiological sisters, and what one would do to feel the love of a mother.
I was absolutely blown away, and I wish I could reread this novel for the first time again. You couldn’t help but feel for each of the girls in their tragic situations. On more than one occasion I thought to myself “I need to adopt a child and get them out of the foster system.” I cannot believe how much I enjoyed this novel. Sally Hepworth delivered on this one.

This book is set to be published April 23, 2024. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

This was a good book! Darling Girls is a definite must read in my opinion. I was very engaged in the story from start until finish. Really liked it a lot.

How is Sally Hepworth just so good? Literally how? This book is just as good as The Soulmate.

I started reading this book on vacation and finished it in 48 hours. It was one of those books that you really have no idea what's going on until the end. I loved the three women and their different personalities. In addition the twist at the end was not something I was expecting and I'm hard to surprise!

Get this book if you love thrillers. You will not be disappointed! I don't want to spoil this book so I know this is a small review but literally you need this book.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!

Jessica, Nora and Alicia are all young girls living with a foster mom. While living (and being tortured in one form or another), there, they form a sisterhood that is unbreakable. With this sisterhood, comes a secret that they want to keep hidden, for life. As adults, they are called upon to come back to the house, the town and discover that their secret wasnt the only secret!

Wow! What a heartbreaking story about three girls in the foster care system who end up in this seemingly perfect home with Miss Fairchild. They quickly learn how unstable Miss Fairchild is and how they can only depend on one another.

The story goes back and forth between the present time and their terrifying time at Wild Meadows. They now have to make their way back to Wild Meadows because human bones have been found on the property and they're called in for questioning. Each sister has their own secret they're dealing with while trying to get answers about who the bones belong to.

It was a fascinating read but also deals a lot with child abuse, so be mindful of that. I loved their bond and how they cared for each other even in their adult lives. I also enjoyed each sister's individual story and how they overcame those struggles.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

This is the second Sally Hepworth book that I've read. The first being "The Soulmate". She nails it with this one. I went into it without much detail and I'm glad I did. This one wowed me until the final page. I highly recommend this one to anyone who loves a great mystery!

Wow. That was definitely a ride on the crazy train!! That Ms. Fairchild is one crazy, messed up, horrible human being. You think you know what's going on here. I even spoke out loud to myself at one point because I was sure I figured it out. It was so obvious...and that should have been my first clue. I'm not that smart!!! I was thrown for a loop by a last minute curve ball, which I asolutely love.

Good thriller. Definitely what I expect of Sally Hepworth. I enjoyed the unreliable narrators throughout this book. It was a quick, entertaining read.

📖 Darling Girls
🖋️ Sally Hepworth
✨ Thriller
📖 April 23, 2024

•Rating•
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Must Read

•What to Expect•
Various POVs & Timelines
Page turner & quick read
Foster Care/Sisters

•Similar Recommended Reads•
Any Sally Hepworth book
If You Tell
The Housemaid

4.5⭐️s rounded down to 4.

Three young girls in the foster care. Years later a body found under the house where they were raised.. Mental health, child abuse and the foster care system all are part of a psychological thriller that has different tone lines. The twists kept coming at the end! You will definitely want to read this one!

Thanks to Net Galley for giving me this opportunity to review this book!

This book was somewhat of a disappointment. The premise was great and the potential was there. Switching from past to present, different POVs of the sisters, and the mystery woman taking to the psychiatrist all were great. I also thought the build up of childhood abuse was enough to feel for the characters, but not so far as too just be overwhelmed.

Unfortunately I also felt like some of the side plots took away from the story (although I know they were meant to show how childhood trauma impacted the sisters’ adult lives). The need to fit in many twist also led to whiplash towards the end that I thought took away from my enjoyment.

Overall I would recommend if you like Hepworth’s previous novels, but temper your expectations.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin Press for the eARC.

Darling Girls is a story about 3 girls raised in foster care by a Miss Fairchild. They each have their own story which alternates between present day and the time they spent in Miss Fairchild’s care. Present day: a baby’s body is found beneath the house of Miss Fairchild. This brings the 3 women, Norah, Jessica and Alicia back to Wild Meadows. Who is the baby and who killed her? While I was pretty sure I knew the answer I was surprised at the end of the book! The story certainly tells ones quite a bit about the foster care system and the people that abuse it. This is a story that will stay with you for a long time. It is well written and thought out.

BOOK: Darling Girls
AUTHOR: Sally Hepworth
PUB DATE: 4/23/24 by St. Martin’s Press
PAGES: 368
RATING: 4.5 stars
GENRE: Thriller
A BIG thank you to @netgalley & @stmarinspress for gifting me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

SYNOPSIS: For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life. But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

REVIEW: I do love a Sally Hepworth book to keep me on the edge of my seat, so I got a jump start on this ARC! The Soulmate was a hit for me last year! This one also grabbed my attention from the very first page, and try as I might, I was not able to predict the outcome! This story deals with young children forced into a foster care system, specifically into the care of Miss Fairchild. Many times in real life, as this story is told, there can be tragic journeys, and my heart went out to the girls in this thriller. I want to also praise & appreciate the foster parents in our sometimes broken world, that provide true love, shelter and an abundance of care to foster children. You are angels on earth. Another thank you to Sally who dug deep, researched, and so graciously navigates the foster world. Don’t miss this mind-blowing tale. It comes out April 23rd!

Happy Reading!

Ive always been a fan of Sally’s writing! This one didn’t disappoint! Such an original story. Fast and fun read! Definitely recommend!

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Foster Care system, violence, drugs, murder.

Sally Hepworth became one of my favorite thriller/mystery writers a couple years ago and I devoured her books fairly quickly after finding her first book and since then have picked every new release. She writes domestic thrillers that are enthralling to make your way through as well as characters that hold your interest.

Jessica, Alicia, and Norah are three foster children that grew up in the same household and were left to be abused by a meticulous woman, Miss Fairchild. When each girl came to the estate they believed that it would be a life changing event in a positive way, but led to the girls being messed with more than they had previously. Although their childhood was shadowed in darkness they were able to form a sisterly bound with one another that allowed them to move into their adulthood together.

When a body is found buried under the estate, the women must return and face the past that desperately ran away from. This leads to the women not only being able to tell their side to the police, who did not believe them as children, but allows them to face the woman that was meant to be their mother and protect them. Who is lying and who murdered the young child found under the house?

I recommend this book for those that enjoy a good domestic thriller with interesting characters. Sally Hepworth shows the effects of the foster care system on these three girls and how it failed them when they needed the most help and love.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-ARC for a honest review!

3.5 Stars rounded down for this newest book from Sally Hepworth.
Darling Girls is about three women, united as sisters after surviving abuse at the hands of their foster mother as young girls. Jessica still experiences a problematic attachment to her former foster mother, and struggles with an addiction to benzos. Norah is violent and compulsive, and views romantic love as a transaction. Alicia becomes a social worker herself, but refuses to form close relationships with anyone besides her sisters. Miss Fairchild left her marks on all 3 women.
The story is told in alternating chapters from each woman's point of view, with flashes back to when they are young and in Miss Fairchild's care, as well as glimpses into therapy sessions with a Dr. Warren from an unidentified narrator. The book opens with the women learning a child's dead body was discovered buried underneath the floor of their former foster home and are called to return to the town to discuss the discovery with the team of investigators. Upon their return, they are forced to confront their past and come to terms with the mental and emotional scars they are left with.
This is a domestic drama more than a typical thriller, and while I found the premise intriguing and the story well written, the pacing felt a bit uneven and even by 60% into the book I struggled to identify what the point of the story truly was. This is why I am rounding down from 3.5 stars to 3 stars. It was a decent read overall, but not something I could see myself recommending to others to pick up for themselves.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for an advanced e-book copy in exchange for my honest review.
Sally Hepworth is a favorite author of mine. This book tells the story of three young women who were placed together at a home in foster care. The author weaves a tale of the mystery surrounding their foster mom, their past, and the present. When the body of a child is found under the house they were in, it brings them back to the past. This story was intricately weaved together and kept me guessing. I enjoyed the multiple POV and the interjections from the interview with a therapist. I loved the fast pace of the book and the character's growth in the end. There are definitely some trigger warnings: child abuse, foster care, child death.

This book took me on an absolute ride. It kept me guessing and trying to make sense of what was unfolding until the end, and the final twist was genuinely a jaw-drop moment for me.

Jessica, Norah and Alicia grew up in foster care together in what ultimately amount to a house of horrors for the three young girls. They thought they had broken free from their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, but now as adults they’re summoned back to where it all started when skeletons of the past are quite literally uncovered.

All three girls suffered trauma in different ways in their childhood before, during, and after landing in Miss Fairchild’s care. Their stories are told in alternating timelines of ‘before’ and present day. This helped get a good sense of who each girl was and how their pasts influenced the struggles in their adult lives. Jessica had a much better start with Miss Fairchild than the others, but it quickly devolved once the shine wore off. Norah was the next to join and had by far the most tumultuous life from the beginning. Alicia had a charmed life with her grandmother before being placed in what was meant to be temporary respite care and became a permanent nightmare. The three formed an unbreakable bond in the mutual suffering under Miss Fairchild, and it’s apparent even through their differences as adults. This all creates such an interesting dynamic that plays into the way the mystery is unraveled and leaves you wondering what they might be hiding for each other.

The other element of the way this story was told that I found incredibly effective was the therapist sessions interspersed throughout the chapters. I started out believing it was one person but as the book went on and more of their story came out it became clear it was someone else. The final twist was dropped in one of those and made so much sense when looking back at the sessions that came before.

I did get a bit confused with the back and forth timelines and shifting POVs at times, but overall I really enjoyed the rollercoaster of this book. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

First I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Heartbreaking is the first word that comes to mind after finishing this. This was such an amazing read! This story showcases the horrors of foster care in Australia and three women’s journey through it. The book has three main POVs; three foster sisters that each survived horrific experiences at Wild Meadows.
Norah, Jessica, and Alicia all come from different backgrounds and have differing reasons for coming into Miss Fairchild's less than stellar care. The three girls are close in age and create a sisterly bond that follows them to adulthood. After the home is torn down years later bones are found and each girl must come to grips with the past and try to heal. The revelations in the story are so cleverly done and some were even quite unexpected. The ending left me with chills. I 100% recommend this book.

This book was a wild ride. I thought I had the twist figured out but was shocked in reading the final chapter. I cared deeply for these three chosen sisters who had to endure such horror at the hands of their caregiver in foster care. It was a quick, well paced, and thrilling read. Miss. Fairchild is definitely going to be giving me nightmares tonight! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.