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!

InDarling Girls, three girls navigate the challenges of a foster home led by an unpredictable foster mother. Deputies her erratic behavior, Jessica, Norah and Alicia find strength in their sisterhood. This book sheds light on the resilience of children in foster care, highlighting the power of love and compassion to heal.

A gripping psychological thriller that follows the lives of 3 foster children who formed an unbreakable bond during their time at a foster home called Wild Meadows.

Now in their mid thirties, they are still coming to terms with the trauma they’ve endured at the hands of their foster mother, Miss Meadows. The abuse shaped who they are today and these 3 women must come together and face the past to unravel a mystery that no believed happened in the first place.

This is my favorite Sally Hepworth novel to date. I could not put this book down and enjoyed the multiple POVs to tell an emotional story that tugged at my heart strings. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good mystery with shocking twists and turns ‘till the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the gifted ARC in exchange for my candid thoughts.

This was an interesting read. I flew through my first Sally Hepworth book so was very excited to see this one be released. Right away I was in it and excited, but then I struggled through learning about the girls time in foster care. I have a hard time reading about children being abused.

The story did keep me captivating and I was excited to see how everything played out.

I'll definitely tell my friends about this one but probably include some trigger warnings.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this!

While I normally like Sally Hepwroth's books, this one just wasn't my favorite. This is probably a me thing though since I've been really into reading romance lately. The premise of this book was something that I just didn't enjoy. Children in foster care, being abused. I almost DNF'd but decided to push through to be able to write a review. While this one wasn't as dark as others I have read in the past, it still was a little too much for me in this moment.

The pace is a bit slower but the twists at the end are well worth the wait.

I did enjoy the female friendships and to see how they grew into three amazing women.

I really enjoyed how this book kept me guessing throughout. I didn't feel like I could fully trust any of the characters, which kept up the suspense. Of course, I definitely had one character that I didn't like at all and I think the author meant for us to hate this person. I liked the ending and how I got to see each of the character's moving forward in their lives. I would recommend this book for all fans of psychological thrillers.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth is a psychological mystery about three girls who become sisters when placed at Wild Meadows, a foster home run by Miss Holly Fairchild.

Jessica Lovat was only four years old when she was placed at Wild Meadows; her mother, a Chinese Immigrant who worked as a seamstress, died, and her father was unknown. She became Australia's reading expert on home organization and married Phil.

Norah Anderson was ten years old when she was placed in the foster system. Her mother became addicted and died of a drug overdose holding Norah's hand. She's six feet tall, has olive skin, blue eyes, and a Lebanese heritage. When she was placed at Wild Meadows, it was already her seventh placement.

Her grandmother raised Alicia Connelly until she became ill and was hospitalized. She went to Wild Meadows as a respite case but stayed for over a year. Later, she became a social worker, working with foster children.

Miss Holly Fairchild owns and operates the Wild Meadows foster home. Ms. Fairchild had rules, was unpredictable, and was never to be crossed; the punishment could be detrimental. At one point, it was only young girls, but then she started taking in infants Rhiannon and Bianca. Taking care of particular needs, infants became overwhelming; she gave up the babies and adopted a little girl named Amy, a blue-eyed blond-haired girl.

Dirk Winterbourne is a red-haired, freckled young man who is the horse caretaker who worked on the property for the boarded animals.

Scott Michales is the darling girls' social worker who placed them at Wild Meadows.
Dr. Warren Psychiatrist

Twenty-five years later, Miss Fairchild sold the property, and they were knocking down the house to build a McDonald's when they came across human remains. The police contacted all the girls who lived at the home, asking questions about their time at Wild Meadows.

The twists and turns, the abuse and trauma these women experience at the hands of a psychopath narcissist.

This was my second Sally Hepworth (the Soulmate) and I am so happy to have found her as an author! Darling Girls was one I could not put down, I was so invested in the 3 "sisters'" stories both past and present, I needed to know what happened next after each chapter. Also loved the Dr. Warren parts and I figured out pretty quickly who he was treating, but that did not ruin the story for me. There was still a great twist at the end to satisfy me! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy!