Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this advance copy.
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This upcoming release started as exactly the page turning thriller I was craving. This is the story of three adult “sisters” who bonded during their years together as foster children, alternating with flashback chapters to their younger years in the same foster home. The story became extremely dark with trigger warnings galore, but oddly still written with a lighter tone. The writing in the last half was not the quality I have come to expect from Hepworth, but that might be improved in the final copy. This was my 5th novel from this author and I look forward to reading what she writes next.

Sally Hempworth is a must read author for me. I was thrilled to receive this eArc from Netgalley. I devoured this book in 24 hours on vacation. Told from multiple points of view, the story unfolds as three now women spent time together in a foster care home. Parts of this book was hard to read, so please be aware of trigger warnings. The writing and the way the chapters switched from person to person made this book unputdownable. solid 4 star read

This book was a little slow and then it picked up. We meet Jessica, Nora and Alice. They were all raised in foster care. They end up getting contacted by the police when a body is found on the property they were raised in. They are hesitant to return because they will have to confront their past. Whose bones are they? And who did it? I do love that all three girls stayed close and help each other out. There are so many twists and turns. The book was a little dark and I wasn’t a fan of Miss Fairchild but it was an interesting read.

Thank you NetGalley, Sally and St. Martin’s press for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of "Darling Girls" by Sally Hepworth. Without giving too much away, the book follows three foster children who consider themselves sisters and bonded for life after enduring unimaginable abuse as children at the foster home, Wild Meadows. This was a solid thriller and I enjoyed the character development and flashbacks. Overall a solid read!

Sally Hepworth is an amazing author and this book is delicious! I devoured it in 1 night, between tears and a few glasses of wine. Only the best author can tell you a thriller and make you cry! Sally Hepworth allows the reader to feel the central characters emotions and wonder if you would make the same choices they did. This book is worthy of much more than 5 stars!!
Told in a back in forth fashion between the past and present with every new chapter a jaw dropping twist. The story is about 3 foster girl and the life they lived with their evil foster mother. I do not want to give anything away, but be careful who you feel sorry for until you have read the whole book.....
Everything about this book worked for me. This is a story that is so believable it could have been ripped from the headlines. Readers of any genre would find enjoyment reading it.
Thank You to St. Martin’s Press and Sally Hepworth for the gifted ARC provided by NetGalley. All opinions are my own!

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are sisters. Not by blood, but by circumstance. The three women all grew up together while in foster care. Miss Fairchild was their 'mother' and their jailer.

Now, as adults who escaped from Miss Fairchild, the women are contacted because a body has been found on the property where they were raised. Returning to the town to confront the past isn't all that it seems.
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I enjoyed this take on a 'bad childhood/redemption' story. The three women are all trying their best, but it's easy to see how the effects of their childhood still affect them now. Jessica, while successful, is still seeking approval. Norah is still acting out and using her beauty for her advantage. Alicia now works so hard in foster care to make sure no child has to live with what she did.

I feel that Sally Hepworth was about to capture the tension around the discovery and the stress that each of the women is under. I thought that the chapters with the therapist were EXCELLENTLY inserted and framed the entire story. The final 'reveal' was the cherry on top of this already disturbing story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Is there anything you wouldn’t do to protect your sister(s)? Set in a sleepy town in Australia, Hepworth takes us on an adventure with this twisty tale of love, betrayal, and the bonds that sisters share. A slow burn to begin, but once the sisters return to their hometown the story takes off!

I loved the alternating timelines in this story, and how the interviews with Dr. Warren played out. Every time I thought I knew what would come next, Hepworth surprised me with another plot twists - and, that ending! This book will stick with me for ages! Can't wait until this one is published so I can recommend it to all my friends!

4.5 stars!
I've read several books by Sally Hepworth and always enjoy them...this one is no different! I was hooked from the start. I loved the multiple POV from the sisters.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were foster sisters at the infamous Wild Meadows estate when they were young. Their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, was a real piece of work! It was a traumatic time but now, as adults, they remain close. When bones are found buried under the home, the past is dug up as well. The sisters are witnesses...or suspects?

I thought the character development was great and loved that the sisters were all so different. I really felt like I got a grasp of who they were when they were young as well as adults. And as always Ms. Hepworth gets us with that ENDING!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Such a well written and intriguing story. The dual timelines from different character perspectives were seamless and easy to follow. Hepworth developed the characters so well that I feel like I know them all personally.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thank you to NetGalley for early access!

I have loved every single book that Sally Hepworth has written, and Darling Girls is no exception! This story blew my mind--and don't even get me started on that very last chapter!! Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are sisters in every sense of the word except biological. All three were rescued from not good situation and place in a foster home run by Miss Fairchild. They are nervous, scared, and hopeful about where they are...until too many weird things begin happening. And Miss Fairchild is not even close to being who she pretends to be. This book was mind-blowing. I could not put it down until I read every last word. I finished it a week ago and I'm still thinking about it!! Sally Hepworth can do no wrong!

Darling Girls had everything I crave in a thriller: suspense, twists, and a captivating storyline that kept me hooked from start to finish. Each page was a new revelation, keeping me guessing until the very end. The characters were so well-developed; I loved getting to know their personalities. This book is truly addictive—I couldn't put it down!

Absolutely loved this book - I never knew what was going to happen and was gripped from start to finish.

Thank you NetGalley, Sally Hepworth, and St. Martin’s Press for this digital arc. OKAY YES!!!! It’s been a minute since I read a thriller that I flew through! This book had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. I really enjoyed all the FMC (Jessica, Norah, and Alicia). I loved the multiple POVs and time frame dynamic. Sometimes the multiple POVs can deter readers or be confusing, but this really worked well! It may seem a little predictable at some points, but I highly recommend this one for everyone’s future TBR!

The author did a great job tugging at my heart strings with the stories of abuse the characters went through in their foster home. I also loved how unique each of the women were both as kids and as adults trying to navigate their trauma. They each found their own way to cope while still helping each other. I found their relationship with the police to be really interesting and enjoyed the way they firmly advocated for themselves.

I didn’t rate it higher because I think the book was a little predictable overall and it just didn’t feel like a unique plot to me. The ending was really good, but didn’t blow me away.

★★★★

Overall, this was a great psychological womens mystery. The story was about three women who bonded as "sisters" while in foster care. The chapters jump back and forth between them as children and them now. The timeline jumps provide you with valuable information as to why they are the way that they are and helps to truly complete the story.

This part may contain spoilers:

I had a really hard time deciding on a rating for this book. The story was great but there were a few parts that really made me pause when deciding on my rating. 1) I really wish the parts with the psychologist were under their own chapters. I know it was meant to be that way but it truly just added unnecessary confusion. They could have been stand alone chapters with no character attributed and 2) This story makes the entire foster care system look bad based on Norah's history. I wish there were some redeeming qualities somewhere.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and author Sally Hepworth for this digital ARC to honestly review. It’s due to be published on April 23, 2024

After hearing so many good reviews of Sally Hepworth’s books, I thought it was high time I read one too. This is how I find myself reading Darling Girls.

The book is told in dual timeline, twenty five years apart, telling the lives of three very different sisters. Jessica, Norah and Alicia. The sisters lived in a seemingly idyllic house called Wild Meadows, set in plenty of grounds, with a swimming pool. A sinister discovery at the foster home of their youth catapults the sisters back to a time, and a place, they have tried very hard to forget; Port Agatha.

The sisters aren’t blood related. Their strong family bond is forged from mutual trauma, and the knowledge that the other two will be there for them always, without question. The book is gripping, as each of the sisters have their own personal storyline, as well as the larger issue they face together.

I adore Detective Hando’s dogs’ names, especially the one eyed terrier; I won’t be able to look at it’s namesake in the same way again.

As I mentioned, Darling Girls is my first read from Sally Hepworth, but it certainly won’t be my last. The author writes very well, I was completely enthralled by the rich characterisation, and engrossed by the plot.
Each of the siblings’ characters, and lives are interesting, and diverse; which ensures engaging family dynamics.

I thoroughly enjoyed Darling Girls, and highly recommend this 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read.

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on April 23, 2024.

Wild Meadows Foster Care is where three darling girls become bonded for life. Raised by their foster mother Miss Fairchild, the girls endured repeated abuse. On the surface everything appears picture perfect, but the girls are living a nightmare. Fast forward 25 years and a body is discovered under the house they were raised in. Who’s buried under the house and who committed this heinous crime? I enjoyed the twist and turns of this psychological thriller. Pub Day is April 23. Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC

Thank you to netgalley and Sally Hepworth for this e-ARC.

This was an excellent story about a foster mother, Miss Fairchild, and her three foster daughters. As a work of fiction, it's still sometimes hard to read about certain subjects, such as foster children because you know the sorts of abuse that happened in this book, can happen in real life.

However, the 3 sisters in this story are an example of the strong bonds that can be made when people have to endure trauma together. It was lovely to see the 3 girls support each other from the day they met, through their adult lives after aging out of the foster system. They all have their own trauma and their own faults from what they went through, but they always have each other's backs.

When a body is found under the home they grew up in with Miss Fairchild, the girls must make a dreaded trip back to the town and help police with an investigation regarding the bones. Nobody knows who the bones belong to. Or do they? There's a great twist at the end that I never saw coming. Maybe I should have, but it never even occurred to me.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me the chance to read a digital ARC of Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth! Sally Hepworth has solidified herself as an auto-buy author for me, and I am so excited that I had a chance to read an early copy of this book. Even though this doesn't come out for another couple of months, I found myself in a bit of a reading slump, so I started reading this in hopes that it would capture my attention, and I was right! In this book, there are three sisters who were once fostered by the same foster mother. Although they are not biologically related, the things they went through together at her house bonded them forever. They have tried to move on with their lives now that they are older, but the trauma from their past remains. When bones are found at the site of their old childhood foster home, they are forced to return and confront their past, and their foster mother, in hopes of ID'ing the remains. This book was a wild ride from start to finish. As a mother to three children, it was, at times, a bit hard to read the things that Miss Fairchild did to her children and the way that she treated them. There are definitely some trigger warnings that readers will want to pay attention to. I have an almost five month old baby, and my recent gauge of how invested in a book I am is how much sleep I am willing to give up in order to read it. In this case, I was definitely willing to give up some sleep because I wanted to find out what was going to happen with the women and their past. I will say, I was a little confused by "Amy" but I eventually figured it out, and there was a twist on the last page. I think I'll forever by a Hepworth fan, and I think this book may just be my favorite of hers yet!