Sally Hepworth is a dependable twisty mystery author and I have liked all of her books so far. The subject matter of Darling Girls is surviving childhood abuse and trauma and how that can play out in adulthood. It is difficult and because of that, this one isn't for everyone. The story is told by 4 people in two timelines but it was never confusing to me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Sally Hepworth is an author I always enjoy reading. And this story was quite masterful. Three women, “sisters”, who all grew up in the same foster home with the trauma to prove it relive the past when they try to learn who the bones recovered from the ground belonged to. While there were numerous characters, I was able to keep track of who was who. A quick read that will keep you guessing.

Sally Hepworth does it again with ‘Darling Girls!’ This new book will be out April 24, 2024 and you’re going to want to add it to your spring TBR stat!

Alicia, Jessica, and Nora are not sisters, but they may as well be. They grew up together in foster care under Miss Fairchild. We’ll just say… it wasn’t the best. Now they are grown, with lives and secrets of their own. When one day they all receive a phone call that brings them back to the house they grew up in… Something was found under the house… what was it… and who put it there??!
And that ending!! 😳

I would describe this book as a twisty domestic thriller. It was a quick poolside & airplane read for me! Pictured: my delicious mimosa. I wish I had one RIGHT NOW.

Thank you to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for allowing me to read this book early.

Q. Have you read Sally Hepworth? If so, what’s your favorite?

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Both a beautiful and heartbreaking tale about three young women in foster care and how their experiences stayed with them for life. I loved reflecting back on the past to see their sisterhood form and their love for one another grow. Each character was unique in their experience and carried their trauma and abuse with them into adulthood in various ways, it was interesting to read their past and see how it formed their future.

A great suspenseful read, however, just downright sad knowing that the things portrayed in this book actually happen in real life. Thank you to Sally Hepworth for bringing it to light.

A story about three young girls in the Australian foster care system. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have all found themselves in the care of Miss Fairchild. Miss Fairchild is a woman who is not to be crossed. She's a master manipulator that has everyone fooled into believing her to be a caring woman that helps children in need. That couldn't be further from the truth.

Once these three girls made their escape they agreed never to return.

Until the police call. A body has been discovered buried under the farmhouse they lived in with Miss Fairchild and they have some questions they'd like answered.

As always, Hepworth delivers a page-turning mystery. I adored our sisters in this story, especially dog-loving Norah. The bond these women share is unbreakable and the love they have for one another is immeasurable. A perfect example that blood doesn't always make a family.

Miss Fairchild is a perfectly despicable villain that readers will love to hate.

For a book about abuse and trauma it never feels too heavy. Much needed humor via the sisters themselves and three rambunctious dogs brings levity to the story. With a few surprising reveals and a satisfying (yet disturbing 😮) ending make this another winner for Hepworth. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my complimentary copy.

I absolutely couldn't put this one down. It's by far my favorite book by Sally Hepworth. It grabbed me from the very start and kept me guessing until the very end.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

I'm having a hard time rating/reviewing this one. I read it in a day, so clearly it was attention grabbing. That being said, I was sometimes a little bored. There's a lot of back and forth dual timelines, but it was done in a manner which made it fairly easy to keep up. There are couple of "twists", one of which I didn't see coming...so that's definitely a win. However, it happens at the very end so you really don't have time to digest it or make sense of it. So honestly, I'm all over the place with Darling Girls. I didn't LOVE it, I definitely didn't dislike it, so let's just say it's "entertaining."

There are a ton of trigger warnings, dark topics, so keep that in mind and take care.

TW: Fostering, adoption, abuse of children (physical & mental), toxic diet culture, drug abuse, addiction, depression, child death, anger issues, neglect.

I devoured Darling Girls. I couldn’t look away from the tragedy and cruelty these girls faced., and the sense of hope I had for them. There is such a strong theme of sisterhood, bonding, and what love can mean and look like for everyone. A decade after they left, bones were found under the house, the girls must revisit those horrible years. The story really messes with your head the way things happen and how you feel about it all.
5⭐️

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for my gifted copy.
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**This book will be published on 04/23/2024!**
I received this e-book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the author/publisher for the copy!

From a young age, Jessica, Norah, & Alicia have been in the foster care system. When their paths crossed at Wild Meadows in the care of Miss Fairchild, they became very close, like sisters. Miss Fairchild was an unpredictable woman with crazy rules. Once they escaped her, they thought they were free of her forever. That is, until a body was discovered under the house they grew up in at Wild Meadows. Whose body is under that house & will the three girls be believed this time?

Sally Hepworth is a newer author to me & I am loving her work! She definitely knows how to keep you hooked and wanting to keep reading. I couldn't stop reading! There is psychological child abuse & some physical child abuse (stated & assumed) so if that would affect you, please reconsider reading. I find it very hard to read those types of subjects, but was too into the story for me to consider not finishing.

Having read many of Sally Hepworth books (loved The Mother-in-Law), I was so excited to receive an ARC of this book. Fast paced, this plot driven story keeps you engaged. However, the characters are flat and some places are rushed. Interjections of characters such as "the babies" are randomly thrown in with not a lot of background and it feels like catch-up for the reader. Additionally, be aware that this story has the premise of child abuse and dysfunction of the foster child system that makes it sad. It becomes the children who need to save themselves as the adults are not dependable or reliable. The effects of their childhood played heavily on their normal functioning as adults. I found this book a rather sad commentary. But that being said, there is a mystery, not it's not exactly a thriller or suspense. This might be one that I would pass on and choose a different book by Hepworth. Many thanks to #netgalley, #sallyhepworth #darlinggirls for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you so much for letting me read another Sally Hepworth ARC! Sally has created another book that I could not put down. The bond between three sisters is formed when the girls are fostered at the home of Ms. Fairchild. Years later a body is found under their childhood foster home and the sisters must go back and face their shared trauma while the truth about who is under the house is being investigated.

I’ve read other Sally Hepworth novels and loved them, so I was excited to receive an advanced copy of Darling Girls. It really didn’t live up to my expectations. I thought the characters were really flat; I felt like it was too plot driven. I didn’t get to know or care about any of the characters. The writing felt juvenile and not as good as her other books. My ARC also had a ton of typos which really threw off my experience.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After reading "Demon Copperhead," I thought I was done with fiction drama centered around foster care, but after picking up Sally Hemsworth's "Darling Girls," I couldn't put it down. 
Jessica, Norah and Alicia, sisters since their days in Miss Fairchild's horror-care, I mean foster care, are all grown up and moving on with their lives. Until they get a call from the police in their childhood hometown, a body has been found under the home they grew up in, at the hands of MIss Fairchild. The book is a stark reminder of the lingering demons of our past, particularly when intertwined with a figure as mysterious and fearsome as Miss Fairchild. Her erratic behavior and stringent regulations create a chilling portrayal of life in foster care. Hemsworth adeptly captures the individual hardships faced by Alicia, Jessica, and Norah, each grappling with their own psychological wounds—Alicia's struggles with self-esteem, Jessica's battle with OCD, and Norah's anger management issues. What sets "Darling Girls" apart is its exploration of the bond shared among these women. It's a connection forged in adversity, stemming from a shared traumatic ordeal that serves as both their source of strength and their burden. The unearthing of bones beneath their old farmhouse symbolizes the revelation of their buried past, compelling them to confront memories and truths they had hoped to bury.
The novel raises thought-provoking questions about survival, the resilience of the human spirit, and the potential for overcoming the shadows of a traumatic history. It's a gripping, intense read that may not suit all audiences, especially those with similar traumatic experiences, given its unflinching portrayal of abuse and psychological anguish.

“They might not be able to save themselves, but by God, they were going to save her.”

Sally does it again! Except this time, it will be taking the #1 place as my favorite of hers now!

THIS. This is the type of story that makes you drop all your responsibilities until you finish. And let me tell you, that’s exactly what I did. This is one of the saddest books I’ve ever read. Sally aways knows the perfect formula to weave family, relationships, love and suspense all wrapped into one. Nothing can describe the emotional ride I went on while reading this book. Only Sally can make me cry on one page while making me laugh so hard the next!

The way she unraveled the story of each foster girl was truly heartbreaking. She continued to rip my heart out on multiple occasions and I’ll never forgive her for it! I experienced the childhood trauma and mental health issues with these women and they felt like so much more than fictional characters. The exploration of the issues with the foster care system are so real and this story was so impactful. This was such a dark story but I was so thankful that in the end, justice was served. Sisters supporting sisters through thick and thin was my favorite theme throughout this book.

And that last chapter? I am shook to my core. Darling Girls was full of twists and the most thrilling from Sally yet!

3.5 stars rounded down. I really liked the plot but I thought that the book overall was half baked. The book was super fast paced and held my attention which I loved. However, I thought that at parts the writing was very clunky and the characters and plot points could have been developed a lot more than they were.

I loved it. The characters were well developed, the story was engaging, and the twists were a surprise. There are triggers that deal with child abuse and it bothered me, but I expected it picking up this book and was able to detach from the emotional unease.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an advanced copy for me to read.
Jessica, Norah and Alicia all came from broken homes. Separately, they were brought together one by one to Wild Meadows where their unbreakable bond began.
Forced to live with their narcissistic foster mother, Miss Fairchild, they endured physical and mental abuse. The gaslighting foster mother even had them questioning their own sanity at times.
This book is written in dual timelines bouncing between the time the girls were living at Wild Meadows and current time after bones had been discovered buried under the home where they were raised. Who was responsible for burying a body there? Only time will tell.

I loved this book! The characters were so easy to connect with. The drama that went along with it was delicious and the book kept me in my feelings the whole time.
I loved the wrap up at the end. It wasn’t predictable, but also made perfect sense. It was a crazy wild ride all the way to the end.

Halfway through this novel I would have given it 3 stars, but the last quarter of the book really ramped it up for me. Three young foster children, fostered by an obviously deranged young woman, become their own family, sisters in spirit if not biological. Twenty five years later, bones are discovered beneath the house they were fostered in. Their experience in the foster care system unquestionably impacts their adult lives. The story goes back and forth between "before" and "after". Loved the twists!

Darling Girls | Sally Hepworth
This was a solid 4⭐️ read for me!
SISTERS, SECRETS, LOVE, AND MURDER?! Sign 👏🏼 me 👏🏼 up
I’ll admit, at first, I had a hard time keeping everyone’s stories/backgrounds straight since there’s three female MCs and it alternates between past and present and then thrown in an unknown POV told through therapy sessions. Once I got those down, I was hooked!

Brief synopsis: 

Following various childhood tragedies, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia find themselves in the foster care system & now being raised under the same roof on a picturesque estate by Miss Fairchild. They are seemingly given a second chance at a “happy family”, but is it really all that it seems? Miss Fairchild is cruel, controlling, & unpredictable. The three girls finally break away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Then 20+ years later, a body is found under the Wild Meadows estate they grew up in. The trio finds themselves thrown into the middle of the murder investigation as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

It was interesting to see how the trauma from their childhoods affected each character differently as adults. The women are flawed, yet relatable. I found it a little predictable and repetitive at times, but the last few chapters had my head spinning 🤯 especially the last chapter!!! It threw me for such a loop!

I really enjoy Hepworth’s writing style. This is my third book by her and I’ve enjoyed them all! She does a great job weaving multiple timelines and character storylines together seamlessly. If you’re looking for a page-turning domestic suspense/thriller - I highly recommend picking this one up!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Sally Hepworth for providing me with a gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

▪️Short chapters
▪️Alternating POVs and timelines
▪️Strong sister bonds / found family

This was a good mystery. Parts were a little predictable but it had a good end twist I didn’t see coming. There were some parts that were a little cheesy (like how many times Norah talked about how good her boobs were) but I really enjoyed it overall. I enjoyed the multiple POV from each sister and the flash backs to tell the backstory.