Darling Girls centers around three girls: Norah, Jessica, and Alicia; who are in foster care and are housed at the same residence. Their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, is mentally and physically abusive to all of the girls. A very punny name because she is far from fair to any of her foster children. The girls are now grown and have a bond as tight as biological sisters would have, if not stronger. Norah, Jessica, and Alicia are contacted by a police detective and made aware bones from a child were found underneath their old foster home.
Through dual timelines between 25 years ago and now, the story unfolds through alternating POVs between the three girls, and a mystery POV from someone’s sessions with a psychologist.

Norah, Jessica, and Alicia were strong, likable characters. They were presented in a way that made you root for them throughout the entire book as the each battled their personal demons. The alternating POVs helped with that as it made you get a better sense for who each one truly was.
The beginning was a bit slow, but about a third of the way in the pace picked up and kept me wanting more. The ending was a little predictable to me, but still very enjoyable. Overall this was a 4.5/5 for me.

Wow.

First off, thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for providing me with a digital reviewers copy!

This book surprised me in the best way. I thought I had the story figured out early on in the book but that last chapter threw me for a loop. I was prepared to give this book an average rating until that last twist!

If you’re a fan of multiple POVs, many twists and psychological thrillers this books if for you. There were quite a few lines in this books that gave me chills reading them so check trigger warnings before you read. Great book from Sally and can’t wait to read more in the future!

4 stars
Sally Hepworth is a solid author. There were a few too many characters for me to track, but this was an interesting story..

Let me start by saying I love Sally Hepworth and I’m very thankful to netgalley for the opportunity to review this book in advance…
With that being said, Holy Trigger Warnings! This book was very disturbing… a good story and wonderfully written, and it had many twists and turns and the ending was great but I found myself needing to walk away from it several times.

Sally Hepworth is the queen of the domestic thriller. This book grabbed my attention from the very beginning and didn’t let it go until the last page. Although, I preferred the ending without the last chapter included. The characters were overall very likable and relatable. It was nice to see how they developed and matured as the story unfolded. Seeing how bad their lives were at Wild Meadows and how they remained close and continued to support each other long after foster care was also very interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sally Hepworth manages to grab me and pull me in with her latest installment Darling Girls. When a body is found at their old foster home, the "sisters" decided to return. Told in pieces from the past and the present; Hepworth's twisted story kept me gasping for me. These poor, darling girls! This is one thriller you are not going to want to miss in 2024!

Could not put this book down!! Loved the character development and how the stories flashed from past to present. It will have you on the edge of your seat until the last page.

A beautiful thriller about past trauma, friendships, grooming, and facing all of that in one's current life. Tightly plotted and fascinating.

4.5/5, I really enjoyed this book! Sally Hepworth is an amazing storyteller. I was sucked in as soon as I started reading. The multiple perspectives going between the past and the present really kept me guessing. Overall this was a great read!

Sally Hepworth is an auto-read author for me, so I was thrilled to get my hands on a copy of her upcoming release!

As we’ve grown to expect from Hepworth, this book delivers on the twists and turns that had me literally gasping aloud. This book is the darkest of Hepworth’s that I’ve read, and it definitely doesn’t shy away from hard topics. It was creepy and sinister and really kept me on the edge of my seat.

I actually think this is my favorite of this author’s recent thrillers and I definitely recommend putting this one on your radar if you’re a thriller lover!

Whoa. This book is hard to review: I was riveted and stayed up too late finishing it, but the story and a particular character are very disturbing. With that it needs to be said that this book comes with a huge trigger warning for child abuse.

Hepworth’s stories and characters are deep and complicated, and this book is no different. I just wish I had a better idea of what I was in for. This is definitely a page turner, but I was often sick to my stomach reading it, and wanted the twisted Miss Fairchild to come to an untimely end. It’s a hard read, but the story of foster children is important, and ultimately I was glad the author wrote about such a tough topic, and I’m glad I read it.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Oh boy… this book was so incredibly hard to read, but I could not put it down. If I didn’t have responsibilities needing my attention I would have finished it in one sitting. As I said though, it is very hard to read about the abuse without throwing my book (kindle) across the room in frustration for the lack of help those girls desperately needed. And the ending… THE ENDING!!!!!! 🤯🤯🤯

Holy moly this book was great. Just loved the dynamic of the sisters and their story. And twists!!! Just when you think you know what is going on!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this book, with my honest review below*

Sally Hepworth has written a page turner filled with tension and trauma in Darling Girls. Following three foster sisters, now grown, we revisit their past and upbringing with Miss Fairchild, who ran Wild Meadows, their foster home while solving a mystery in the present of a body found under the since destroyed home. Throughout the novel you get to know each sister (my favorite being the feisty Norah) and how trauma shaped them as well as the psychology of a major player in the novel.

I enjoyed this book, both for the depiction of the good and bad of foster care (foster parents with the right intentions should be honored by everyone, and I’m glad the book focused on them as a counterbalance to foster parents with more selfish intentions) and its suspense as we learn more about the mystery of the body. The closure at the end was well done, and the final twist came out of nowhere but made perfect sense for the character it focused on. With excellent writing, I would recommend this for readers of this category and beyond.

WOW!!! Just wow with the surprises in this story. I loved how this story was told in both present day and in the past. The way it flipped between the two just left me in suspense and it let the story unfold perfectly! I thought I had it figured out a few times, but nope! This one will truly have you guessing until the very end. The last chapter totally got me!!! I highly recommend this one as a MUST READ!

Thank you to the publisher for a Netgalley.

Wow. This was intense. Every time we flashed back to the past, you got a tightening in your stomach knowing that something terrible was going to happen to these kids. So please go in knowing there is a lot of child abuse. I personally did not think it was graphic or overly violent, but it was a lot of psychological abuse.

The story of our three women is an interesting one. I found all three of them to have interesting current lives and learning how these foster sisters became true sisters was really well written. Darling Girls was an absolute page turner.

Darling Girls will be a great Summer thriller to read! It took me a while to start reading this book as I had others on my list to get to, however, when I started, I couldn't stop. I would sit down for a specified amount of time to read and read much longer because I was enjoying following the plot twists and turns that will keep any lover of a good mystery engaged up until the very end.

Sally Hepworth's story catches up to the lives of three very different foster sisters in their mid thirties. First, is Jessica, a type-A owner of a home organization and makeover business. Jessica seems to have it all. But her tightly crafted faced begins to chip away. Jessica's marriage is lackluster and she may have some skeletons in her closet.

There is also Norah, who is beautiful and feisty. She runs a company taking placement tests for people and has a long history of issues with the police. Norah has a long string of dates that she meets on apps, usually for free handy work around her house. She loves her dogs, but is not interested in a serious relationship.

Finally, we meet Alicia, a social worker who helps place foster children in safe and loving environments. She is big hearted and earnest, but cannot sustain a long term loving relatiionship. In fact, she hasn't even tried.

The sisters are close, but the bedrock of that closeness is shattered when a body is discovered underneath the foster home they grew up. Their foster mother, Ms. Fairchild appeared loving and kind to outward people, but was strict and exacting. The sisters are pulled back into memories of trauma and abuse. While they are witnesses and working with the police, are they also suspects?

As mentioned before, I kept reading on, as I was on the edge of my seat. I don't want to give too much away, but Sally Hepworth produced a real page turner. I hadn't read her before, but would definitely read her again. I see her as contemporaries with Alice Feeney, Greer Hendricks, and Liane Moriarity (another Australian writer like Hepworth).
So if you enjoy those writers, give Sally Hepworth a try!

Triggers: Child abuse, substance abuse, assault, murder, mental health issues.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this. Was I able to piece together the plot as Hepworth took me along this twisty ride? Yes, but that didn’t take away from me enjoying the story.

Hepworth has a way to draw you in from the beginning. The writing style is so easy, bingeable and suspenseful. I’m a big fan of her backlist. This is classic Hepworth in her prime.

I loved the suspenseful multiple POVs this is written in, giving background on all three sister’s experience: past and present.
The ending is absolute chefs kiss!!

Miss Fairchild fosters children in her home and can only describe her kids as darling girls. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were saved by Miss Fairchild, or so they think. Miss Fairchild is strict and scary at times. The girls escape and years later are questioned by detectives about a body found underneath Miss Fairchild’s house. But whose body is it? Suddenly the darling girls become suspects.

Multiple POVs and timelines always make for an interesting read. Fast-paced thriller that kept you on edge the entire time!

Honestly, this is my favorite Sally Hepworth novel to date! Thanks to Net Galley, Sally Hepworth, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC! Pub date 4/23/24

I enjoy Sally Hepworth's books and "Darling Girls" is no exception. The book goes between the present and the past. Three girls, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, end up in foster care of Miss Fairchild. The farmhouse looks like a beautiful place to stay but not everything is as perfect as it seems. To survive the rules and abuse that Miss Fairchild inflicts on the girls, they form a tight bond of sisterhood that goes into the girls adult lives.

The novel explores the foster sisters' past, revealing that their time in Miss Fairchild's care was far from idyllic. The rules in the house and the mental abuse builds tension until the girls finally have to breakaway. Their shared past and the different experiences of each girl reaches into their adult lives.

When a body is found at the farmhouse, the girls are forced to go back. The story has a mystery around who was found buried at the farmhouse. Are the girls suspects? Did Miss Fairchild kill a foster baby? There is a good balance between the past and the unfolding mystery of the present.

I would recommend reading "Darling Girls". Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy. #NetGalley #DarlingGirls #SallyHepworth