This was a really hard read with lots of trigger warnings since it took place on a multi-timeline with girls raised in an abusive foster home. It was wonderfully written and a compelling story, and I felt like I needed to finish it to honor the people living this experience right now. The author's note added a lot to the story as well, as always. Sally Hepworth will forever be a immediate click for me.

It's books like these, with the multiple viewpoints and story lines that I can get lost in. This book was amazing and while a few things I guess at before it was obvious or revealed the ride the book took me on was still worth the journey.

First, thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I will not be providing a review, although I have marked the book as 3 stars on GoodReads. Unfortunately, this book was not my cup of tea, although it may very well be for plenty of other readers. I like the idea the author had, but the story fell flat for me and felt predictable. I did like the relationship between Jessica, Norah, and Alicia and would read another title by this author in the future.

Also, FYI - there were a great many errors in the ARC that will need to be addressed. I recently reviewed another title for your company with very few edits and just wanted to make you aware.

A fast paced thrilling ride of a book! I don't think I would have put it down if I had the chance. Told in multiple POVs and two timelines, this book follows three very flawed foster sisters. I loved each of the characters and enjoyed seeing the way their childhood shaped them as adults. I found the various ways of coping very real and very relatable. I was glad to see the characters grow and work through their various traumas.

I think it tells a lot about an author when not only is a great story read, but as the reader, I came away from this book seriously asking my partner if we should go down the foster parent route. I love that the author did her research and spoke with women that had been in the foster care system. Overall a great book!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was excellent. It's about 3 sisters that were in foster care as children and are now living their lives as adults dealing with all that trauma. Bones were found at their old house, and they have to go back to talk to the police about their time there. This is a strong story, and I like the twist at the end, though it is abrupt and oddly paced compared to the rest of the story.

Whaaaa. I love Sally Hepworth. One of my favorite all time authors. I always love her books. Not sure what happened to this one but it was not for me.

Positives:
The end did redeem some of the book for me as it answered some questions and tied the plot up nicely.
The special relationship between the three foster sisters was a bright side.
The author's note

Negatives:
A lot of child abuse, both mentally and physically, throughout the whole book
Too many side plots (addiction, extortion, hiding true feelings for someone, corrupt and broken fostercare/adoption system, anger management issues, pornography, sexual offenders, manipulation). Left my head spining.
The ending was suppose to serve as a major shock or plot twist but by that point I didn't even really care about that character at all.

I will continue to read Sally Hepworth's books but I will not be recommending this one to many people.

Starting my obsession with Sally Hepworth was The Soulmate and continuing it is this book! Another twisty masterpiece by this author with amazing character development and an ending that is sure to shock the most avid reader!

WOW! Sally Hepworth is always a go-to for me so I was super excited to receive access to an advanced copy of Darling Girls. In a shifting timeline between present day and childhood, Jessica Norah, and Alicia revisit their childhood at Miss Fairchild's foster home amidst an ongoing investigation about bones found under Miss Fairchild's old house. This was one of Hepworth's best and truly had me on edge and guessing until the very end. A must read!

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?
Beat novel ever.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me an advance copy.

Ohhhh what a juicy delicious story this one is!! How fun that there were twists to the very end. Loved the portrayal of the dark side of foster care, while also showing the good side too. This is such a wonderful sisterhood story!

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy.

Darling Girls is my second Sally Hepworth novel. I'm not sure what to classify these books as... domestic thriller? mystery? This book is light on the thrills but still full of plenty of unpleasant topics as well as twist and turns. The biggest trigger warnings would probably be around child abuse and trigger warnings. The book follows 3 former foster kids - Jessica, Norah and Alicia - as they are struggling adulthood only for their past foster care life to pop up when an unidentified dead body is found under the girls shared foster home. Told in flashbacks in all 3 povs, this book is loaded with names, details and personalities to keep track of. It's a tall task but the author does a good job at giving just enough character growth to everyone that they almost feel fleshed out. I found myself liking some of the girls more than others and more interested in the flashbacks than the present day mystery. In terms of drama, the flashbacks were more page turning than the slow reveal in the present day.

In the end, I didn't enjoy this one as much as the other Hepworth novel I read but I still plan on reading more. If you are a fan, you will for sure enjoy this.

I seriously couldn’t put this book down and found myself reading it instead of sleeping.

Three girls are sent to foster care with Miss Fairchild - Jessica, Norah, and Alicia. Miss Fairchild was the opposite of a loving and caring mother. Twenty five years later, a body is found buried underneath the childhood home. Police are trying to find out who the victim is and who killed them.

I thought the ending was going to be very predictable but the last couple pages made me gasp! I am normally not a big fan of mushy loving storylines but this was actually appreciated. Loved reading the relationship of the three sisters- even though they were stark contrasts of one another.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth will be published on April 23, 2024.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sally Hepworth and St. Martin's Press for this ARC of Darling Girls.

This was my first Sally Hepworth novel and it was intense. I mean that in the best way possible. Some of the chapters were harder to read compared to others because they were flashback chapters of the abuse a woman had unleashed onto innocent children. But when I tell you, my jaw kept dropping to the floor all the way until the last page, I mean it.

It also helped that there were 3 main characters in this thriller that were actually likable, I feel in thrillers it is really hard to like any of the characters. I highly recommend this book to readers who have an interest in thrillers!

Make sure to save the date, April 23, 2024!

Darling Girls, written by Sally Hepworth, tells the story of sisters Jessica, Norah, and Alicia. These girls became sisters when they were foster children together in Port Agatha, with foster mother Miss’s. Fairchild. But it was not the best situation, which the reader learns while the sisters look back on their time there, twenty five years later.
I have always been a fan of this author, and Darling Girls did not disappoint! I loved reading about the sisterhood between these three women, and watching them grow throughout the book. I really enjoyed the presence of Norah’s dogs and the comic relief that they brought to the book. I also really appreciated the ending, and all of the twists and turns that this book took getting there. Definitely recommend!

Jessica, Norah and Alicia all share a strong bond from when they were little girls. Years pass and bones are found on their old childhood home. They are called by the police to come in and talk to them.
This book had a few tough moments to read through, but as always a Sally Hepworth is a good time!

Hepworth’s latest novel follows Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, three foster sisters with trauma to spare even decades after they get away from their abusive foster mother. From the outside looking in, they’re told how lucky they are to live in such a picture perfect foster home, but no one sees the horrors the girls face within. Told in alternating timelines, we dive deeper into what really happened at Wild Meadows back then, and whose bones are now buried under the house.

I really enjoyed this story and got sucked in. The alternating timelines kept me engaged, and getting a POV from each of the girls helped develop them as individuals and sisters. Each of the girls brings long held secrets and trauma from their time spent with the neurotic Miss Fairchild. I loved the perspective of the dark side of the foster care system, as heartbreaking as it is. The ending was simultaneously what I expected and not at the same time, which I just loved.

Thank you to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review. This book is due to be published April 23.

Wow wow wow Sally Hepworth does it again! This book is probabaly hands down my top favorite by here.

The plot twist, the darkness behind the reality someone's mental capabilities, the sad reality of foster care. I mean I was hooked from the first chapter.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are all foster "sisters" living together at Wild Meadows with Mrs. Fairchild. Throughout the book the plot goes back and forth between past tense and fast forward 25 years. Jessica is now a successful business women with a hidden secret and a life that seems "perfect". Norah is just trying to get through life while not trying to end up in jail. And for Alicia she wants to the tell the person she loves the most that she wants a shot at a relationship but can't because of her past. Through the book you go on the journey of how the girls ended up at Wild Meadows and the lasting impression it left on them both mentally and emotionally. In the present there is a murder investagation going on now that wild Meadows has been torn down. Upon this discovering the girls are forced to face some of the demons of their past while also running into past relationships that hold secrets.

I highly recommend if you like mystery and explosive secrets! TW: murder, overdose, mental illness, abuse, teen pregnancy, & sexual assault.

thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me preacess to this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this book! The Darling Girls of the title are 3 foster children "cared for" by Miss Fairchild in her rural farmhouse outside of Melbourne. The book goes back and forth in time between the present, when a set of bones are discovered under the farmhouse, and the past, when the girls were young. We learn that Miss Fairchild wasn't exactly an ideal parent, and each of the girls is scarred in her own way by the experiences in that house and their earlier lives.

The characters were well-drawn and really interesting, and the author did a great job of slowly revealing their personalities. Lots of misdirection along the way, and it takes some time to reveal whose body was buried and whether the girls had anything to do with it. The book was fast-paced, and a very enjoyable read. Definitely recommend!

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

Received an ARC via NetGalley. Disfunction at its best! The characters grab your heart from the beginning. What could go wrong with being in the foster system? Read and find out. Highly recommend. 4.5 stars

I love everything Sally Hepworth writes she is always an auto-read author for me! I was so excited to get this arc and couldn't wait to read it and was not disappointed at all. Her writing style is so easy to read and even when it's a difficult subject matter like foster care I can't put her books down. I don't want to give away too much of the plot but will absolutely recommend this book when it is released. Giving this one 4/4.5 stars I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital arc in exchange for an honest review.