Jessica, Norah and Alicia are three sisters not by blood but bonded by their traumatic experience as foster children under the ruthless Miss Fairchild.
Years later when the house is demolished and bones are discovered underneath the house, the women must return to their childhood nightmare to find out the truth about who was the one who did it.
Navigating through the past and present, we learn what real trauma can do to a person psychologically and some of the very real painful experiences that foster children go through.
This was a very eye opening psychological thriller that will change the way you think about a lot of things.

WOW! All the details in this book perfectly bring the story to life and definitely do a great job of showing how ' he events in the characters lives molded each one of them. However, Sally Hepworth doesn't stop there, she then proceeds to throw in a few unexpected surprises.

Five stars!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, St Martins Press and Sally Hepworth for the opportunity to read this arc. I was beyond excited for a chance to read this one!

This is my fourth Sally Hepworth book, and I honestly think it’s the best one yet! I couldn’t put this book down and would look forward to my little one going down to nap just so I could pick it up again! I absolutely loved the multiple POVs, as well as alternating between the past and present. The twist at the end definitely shocked me! This is an easy five star read for me!

Thank you Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for an eARC of Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth! Hepworth is one of my all-time favorite authors. After seeing her last year in person and hearing a snippet of this book. I dove into it as soon as I received this early approval. Once again, Sally did not disappoint.

What's it about?
Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were all rescued from family tragedies and raised by foster mother, Miss Fairchild on a farming estate. Everyone thinks it was a fairy tale childhood - But they didn't know what happened behind closed doors. The rules Miss Fairchild had. She could be unpredictable, and nasty. They broke away one day and tried to separate themselves - But always felt her somewhere in their minds.

Years later, a body is discovered under the home they grew up in. Are they witnesses, or suspects?

I really enjoyed this one because the sisters were all so different from one another! I was consistently changing my opinion of what happened - and still didn't guess the ending (LOVE that!) I really enjoyed the current and past POVs of the girls and learning about their upbringing while at the same time uncovering the pieces of the dead body investigation.

As always, I cannot wait to see what Hepworth comes up with next.

I really liked the characters and dynamics of the sisters in this book. It definitely provided a tense dynamic and made me actually cared what happened. The plot to me was too boring - not enough happened, it felt slow, and it didn’t feel like a big enough conclusion to satisfy.

This is my second Sally Hepworth book and again I found her writing to be very enticing and engaging. I kept thinking I had things figured out only to discover I was wrong, which was great because I would have been bummed if I had guessed correctly right away. It was a very emotionally distressing book with the story revolving around foster children. My heart broke several times for these characters. I will say that I was not very happy with the final chapter, didn't think it was necessary.

Quite and ending to this one along with a few exciting twists in the second half of the book. It took
a bit long for me setting up but then became a page turner. Interesting characters with different background as to how they became foster children and their hard experience
in the home that made them sisters to one another. Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

Multiple pov, dual timeline
Three foster children are found in a not so ideal setting in a farmhouse with an evil foster mother harbouring secrets, it isn’t until years later when contacted by the police that they get the whole story finally! But if it really the whole story or are secrets still lurking

Hepworth has a masterful way of writing that just draws you right into the story and has you hooked and devouring her novel in no time. Darling girls is told in multiple points of view in a dual now and then time line that is so cleverly drawn out and comes seamlessly together at the end. A story of three foster children, becoming close knit sisters due to the circumstances of them meeting. Now years later they return to the town where it all began for them. A chilling story about foster care, a troubled woman and three very strong young ladies who made it out alive. Now everyone is curious about the secrets that lead them back to the town and what happened in the farmhouse, will everyone get the answers they are hoping for?

"Darling Girls" tells the story of three women who form a bond in foster care years ago. They need that bond to survive their foster mother. They remain close and still consider themselves sisters. Their lives take a turn when they are contacted by law enforcement about bones found at the site of their former foster home.
There are unpleasant details in this book, but we need to understand what these women experienced. Their lives as adults show evidence of that treatment, but they still cling to each other like sisters. The mystery and intrigue continue to the last page. Just when you think someone might have a redemptive quality, think again. I didn't like what was going on in the book, but this is well-written. It makes you care and makes you think.


Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

Darling Girls is a book that starts slow, imagine climbing a rollercoaster, then you reach the peak and can’t stop reading until you finish because it gets so good! The character development, the story, and the twists are all executed perfectly!

I loved the relationship between the sisters, loved how some details were omitted but not in an annoying way, loved how each character had a vey distinct personality and growth thought out the book. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a nice surprise from Sally Hepworth, the queen of domestic suspense in my opinion. The typical family dynamic in her books dramatically shifts in "Darling Girls", and I was skeptical that I would enjoy this as much as her other work. Instead, I found this dynamic so fascinating, and I think this book also serves as a conversation starter about foster care and how humans can support those in foster care and those doing the work of providing foster care. While there is a dark storyline of child abuse in this book, I think Sally told it very well. She got the point across without taking it too far and making it disturbingly dark. I think this may be my favorite book of Sally's yet because it's so different from anything else she has done, and the ending left me satisfied and with the closure I think this kind of story needs.

The story is told through the POV's (past and present) of three sisters, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, as well as a mystery fourth POV that we only see in talks with a psychiatrist. The three sisters come together under the care of Ms. Holly Fairchild in her charming farm house lovingly called Wild Meadows in Port Agatha. While it all looks perfect on the outside, Ms. Fairchild has zero business providing foster care for children. She is a master manipulator and her treatment of the children in her care is truly appalling. Years after the girls are out of her care and into adulthood, they are drawn back to Port Agatha because human bones have been discovered buried under the farmhouse. Who do the bones belong to? Were the girls involved? If they didn't put them there, then who did? Each sister has an underlying struggle they're dealing with individually while they try to get to the bottom of this collective problem they share.

My only critique of this book is that the beginning of the book felt repetitive with all the day to day in the home with Ms. Fairchild. I didn't think it would take as long as it did to pick up based on my reading of some of Sally's other work. The book didn't "grab" me until 52 percent (on my Kindle) of the way through, and then I couldn't put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Darling Girls is my new favorite Sally Hepworth novel. I loved how the book switched between the past and present and told the story of three girls. The last chapter had my jaw on the floor. I absolutely didn't expect that ending. Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sally Hepworth is a wonderful author. All of her books are written so well and have so much to them. I love the complexity of the characters and always trying to figure out what exactly is going on. I liked the setting and backstory to this tale, The multiple POVs made the reader see the story from so many lenses. I love the little twists throughout the story to keep the reader guessing "what really happened.

Three young women are contacted by the police about the uncovering of a child’s bones found beneath the foundation of their childhood foster home, Wild Meadows. The three foster sisters, Jessica Lovat, Norah Anderson and Alicia Connelly think it is their missing foster sister, Amy. They had reported abuse by their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, as children; abuse to them as well as their two year-old foster sister, Amy. At the time, the police didn’t believe them as the three were troubled and not a trace of Amy was found at Wild Meadows except for a doll. Now adult women, the three sisters travel to their childhood town to answer questions and find answers.

The story is told by the three sisters in alternating chapters between past and present. Additionally, there are excerpts of a woman talking to a psychiatrist, Dr. Warren. But the reader is left in the dark as to which woman is disclosing such abusive behavior to the psychiatrist.

I feel the book moved a bit slow at times and my interest wavered. The subject matter - child abuse - was graphic and hard to read at times. I felt invested enough to want to find out the answers. I did feel the end of the book had redeeming qualities, especially the surprise ending, and that is why I rated this book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

One last thing I felt was interesting is the name of the foster mother - Fairchild. Considering how she treated the children her name was very symbolic.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and Sally Hepworth for the opportunity to read this early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have yet to be disappointed by a Sally Hepworth book - I just love her writing style and Darling Girls did not disappoint! It was a heart wrenching, twisty and gripping domestic suspense that will keep you hooked from the beginning to the (shocking) end. I loved the characters and the multiple POV which kept the story interesting throughout. It was a bit of a slow burn but picked up at the end and left you with a jaw dropping twist in usual Sally Hepworth style! I fully enjoyed my time reading this book and would absolutely recommend picking up a copy!

Thank you so much to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for my early digital copy for my honest thoughts and review.

I've enjoyed the Sally Hepworth books I've read in the past, so was so excited to read her new one early! Darling Girls was a quick, unpredictable story that I read in a day because I had to know what happened. I liked the different points of view throughout the story and getting to know the three girls, though I thought it switched back and forth too often. I would have rated this higher if not for the last ~10%, which was a bit over the top, though the final twist got me! It looks like readers are pretty split on it, so I'm glad I'm not in the minority! Overall, I would recommend this book and can't wait to read whatever Sally Hepworth comes out with next. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I’ve had fun with all the Sally Hepworth books I’ve read in the past, but Darling Girls never clicked for me. In the book’s defense, I’ve been sick while reading it, and that’s often a kiss of death for me in terms of connecting with a story. I’ll keep reading her in the future!

DARLING GIRLS by Sally Hepworth is the story of three girls trying to survive.
Jessica, Norah and Alicia are sisters, not by birth but by circumstance. Sent to a foster home run by the heartless Miss Fairchild, the girls survive with only each other for support. As adults they remain close, but emotionally scarred by the cruelty suffered at the hands of their foster mother. Then they are contacted by the police and told that the remains of a child have been found on the site of their former foster home. Told in alternating time times this story of childhood abuse and survival is a page turner until the end. #netgalley

This book was a huge page turner, a psychological mystery and suspense following three foster sisters Jessica, Norah and Alicia. The women are contacted by detectives investigating remains found at Wild Meadows Farm where they lived in the 90s with Miss Fairchild, their foster mother. We hear recollections of abuse from each woman with alternating timeline chapters, showing their life at home and the mysterious event that finally saw them out of the home.

I was wholly invested in these characters, this played very well into my empathy and I literally couldn’t put it down. Showcasing very dark themes of child abuse, neglect, and subsequent trauma the girls were subjected to, now dealing with the aftermath in adulthood. I loved the contrast of the sisters, despite the odds they had each other, I liked each of their personalities and the journey they took to heal in the end.

It was a rollercoaster of emotions and I enjoyed it quite a bit despite the disturbing undertones. Darling Girls highlights the exploitation of the foster care system with strong female characters and twisty reveals.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the early copy to review.