Shocked to say that this is my very first Sally Hepworth book, but certainly will be added to my list of must-read authors. Darling Girls is more than just a "thriller". This is a book about the unbreakable bond of three girls who form a life-long sisterhood while growing up together in an abusive foster home.

Jessica, Norah (without a T) and Alicia grew up in a foster home named Wild Meadows under the abusive care of Miss Fairchild. They spent their days being manipulated and psychologically tormented by their caregiver. Realizing all they had to get through the days was each other, they formed an inseparable bond that would carry them into adulthood. Well into their 30's and still coping with the trauma they faced as children; they receive a phone call from a detective in their hometown of Port Agatha informing them there were human remains found underneath Wild Meadows and they needed to come back to aid in the investigation. They aren't ready to go back there and face their horrific past, but doing so will uncover secrets and ultimately bring them the closure they need to move on..

While this book didn't have crazy twists and turns (except for the ending!), the storyline was so well told it sucks you right in from the very beginning. The characters, while all flawed, are very likeable and I enjoyed getting to know them and watching them grow throughout the book. Highly recommend for anyone that likes thriller/fiction!

Ahhhh Sally does it again!!!!! I really enjoyed Darling Girls! The story is told from the POV of three different women, Alicia, Norah and Jessica. There’s also therapy sessions from an unknown POV throughout the book. The story is told in a past and present timeline and follows the three ladies and their time in and after being in foster care. I really enjoyed all of the characters and they were well developed, flawed and very relatable. I loved the relationship the three women had and how they always stuck together. The book does have quite a bit of abuse, mistreatment of children and the impact it has on people later in life (definitely check the trigger warnings). There were many twists and turns that I didn’t expect and I could turn the pages fast enough to see what happened next. The ending was so good!!

Read if you like:
💦 Multiple POVs
💦Strong female friendships
💦Slow burn suspenseful thriller
💦Short chapters

I love anything Sally Hepworth, and this did not disappoint. I was intrigued from the beginning and loved the back and forth timeline giving the views of the main characters from childhood to present. The subject matter could be a little difficult to read at times but was worth it in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press

"Darling Girls" was a great read. Lots of twists and unexpected turns and an ending you will not expect. Worth the read.

Sally Hepworth certainly knows how to write a twisty plot. I loved the books in her back catalog that I've read, so her new titles automatically go on my to-be-read list. "Darling Girls" didn't disappoint.

Norah, Jessica, and Alicia are the kinds of women who normally wouldn't be friends. They don't have much in common in terms of hobbies, habits, etc. But they share a past... a dark past. The three women grew up with the same foster mother. The beautiful Miss Fairchild wasn't exactly nice to them. The girls hatched a plan to escape and never went back to the farm where they were raised.

That is, until the police contact them. A child's skeleton has been found underneath their childhood home, and the police want to know what they might know about it. Whose body is it? And one of these three girls had explosive anger issues. Could she have done something awful? Was Miss Fairchild hiding a secret even from them?

My heart ached for the foster children in this novel. Unfortunately, situations like this do exist in real life and this felt very realistic of some awful situations I've heard about in the news. Told through alternating timelines, the twists in the plot were shocking. I highly recommend this novel.

This wasn't my favorite Sally Hepworth book, but it was decently entertaining. Three foster siblings are thrust together again as adults when a body is found buried underneath their foster mother's house. What initially seems like a case of wicked foster mom murders one of her kids turns into an entangled mess of an investigation. There were some red herrings and twists, but nothing that blew me away. Hepworth's books tend to learn more towards domestic suspense and I felt this one dabbled a bit with being a thriller, especially when she went into the back story of their childhoods. Overall, it was decently entertaining but nothing that blew me away.

Another amazing Sally Hepworth. I absolutely loved the Soulmate and this follow up was also incredible.I enjoyed the mystery and how the story came together. I highly recommend to mystery and thriller lovers.

This was a really slow start for me but start to get much better about 30% in. It kept me guessing until the end. And then the end was NOT what I expected. Overall 4 starts because of the slow start but ended up being pretty good!

I really enjoyed The Soulmate and reading the plot of Darling Girls I felt I'd have a similar experience.
By now you know I love a good dual timeline. I really enjoyed how this one hopped between showing the present and the past of Alicia, Norah and Jessica - girls who had been placed into a foster home together - as well as glimpses into the past of their caretaker, Ms. Fairchild. It definitely gave some context as to why the characters reacted or did things a certain way.
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Overall the story was intriguing, driving me to want to get to the bottom of whose bones were found under the house. It was just missing that something that made The Soulmate so captivating. Perhaps it was the additional layer of details around the girls relationships that I just didn't care for as it detracted a bit from uncovering the mystery. Regardless, a solid book and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Reading challenge – Booklist Queen 2023: A mother-daughter story

Thanks to #NetGalley and the author for the ARC ebook of this work.

I categorized this as a non-traditional mother-daughter story for my reading challenge. After reading a selection of Sally Hepworth’s work, I am glad that this one did not disappoint!

25 years ago, three girls (Jessica, Norah, and Alicia) were placed in a foster home called “Wild Meadows” in Port Agatha with an idyllic-looking farmhouse and an idyllic-looking foster mother, Miss Fairchild. Twenty-five years ago, unfortunate events brought three girls - Jessica, Norah, and Alicia - one-by-one to an idyllic-looking farmhouse called Wild Meadows and into the foster care of a woman named Miss Fairchild. Looks can be deceiving. The story is told through dual timelines – 25 years ago and the present.

In the present, the three sisters return to Port Agatha after a detective calls them regarding bones found under the house. Jessica, an organizational guru (think: Marie Kondo) who struggles with OCD and a secret addiction, is hesitant to return to the house she lived in for almost ten years. Norah, a self-employed job interview test-taker with unmitigated rage and 3 huge dogs, has legal issues and can’t stop hitting people finds this as a decent escape from her current situation. And Alicia, a social worker/case worker who cares too much but stays withdrawn so she can’t get hurt again, pushes her sisters to go, but with legal counsel.

In addition to the dual timelines, an unknown timeline and character is having therapy sessions with a Dr. Warren that are transcribed and inserted throughout the novel – with this storyline becoming clearer towards the end of the book.

Hepworth was able to keep me engaged and hold my attention for the duration of the book. There were a few things that felt like last minute additions and/or made me roll my eyes as tropes (hence 4/5 stars instead of 5). The women felt like real, well-rounded humans, and not just archetypes. The navigation through psychological abuse also felt organic. Hepworth’s acknowledgments at the end shouldn’t be skipped – I truly appreciate her describing the many definitions of what it means to be “lucky.”

This is a riveting exploration of trauma, family bonds, and the lasting impact of a troubled past. The author's command of suspense keeps readers on the edge of their seats, eager to uncover the mysteries that lurk within the shadows. If you enjoy psychological thrillers that delve into the complexities of family relationships and the blurred lines between victim and perpetrator, this novel is a must-read, a true haunting and atmospheric tale.

I just reviewed Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth. #NetGalley

It is beyond appropriate my first read finished in 2024 is by an Australian author, takes place in, and I am visiting Australia for the first time!
Many thanks to the publisher for my review copy…review to come on publication date!

An excellent, dark read! Couldn't put it down. So tense. I've enjoyed other Sally Hepworth's novels, and this one was just as good. Loved the girls. Thriller fans will like this novel. Great twists and reveals. When you think it’s one thing, it turns out to be another. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC!

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have always been told their lucky. As young girls they all foster children placed in the care of Miss Fairchild on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family.

But things aren’t always what they seem, and Miss Fairchild isn’t perfect. The three sisters escape one day, and thought they were free, but time has a way of catching up with you and now the sisters are catapulted back when a body is discovered. Are they witnesses? Or are they the prime suspects?

Sally Hepworth is one of my favorite authors. So, I was excited to see what she came up with this time around, and I was blown away.

I was a little apprehensive about getting the story from past and present points of views for three characters, but this was done so well, that it worked for me. I loved exploring the relationship between Jessica, Norah and Alicia. While they weren’t sisters by blood, they were sisters by circumstance. Found family can be stronger than real family in my opinion and that was the case here. The intricacies of the relationship between the three was interesting and well flushed out, it seemed realistic.

The characters were all well developed, and since we got the past point of view, we learned what shaped them into them into people they are today. They all have different issues and took different paths, and their back stories supported and built up the case for their present. I liked the little tidbits of information that were sprinkled throughout that just clicked when you read it about why each of them did what they did. It was also really interesting to read about their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, she was quite an interesting character.

While I had figured out one of the big twists of this one relatively quickly, it didn’t deter from my enjoyment. I don’t think that this is necessarily an edge of your seat thriller, that’s why I’d classify it more of a women’s fiction with thriller undertones. It’s well done, and entertaining, and it holds your interesting, it just isn’t super thrilling, and I was okay with that.

I will continue to be a supporter of Sally Hepworth and can’t get enough of her books. I anxiously await the next one.

Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press @StMartinsPress and Netgalley @netgalley for

This review will be posted to my blog, speedreadstagram.com around publication date.

3.5 stars for me. I enjoyed the varying perspectives and the different timelines, but much of this story was easy to predict well before it was revealed. Some of the scenes are hard to stomach and there are triggers for varying forms of abuse. Nevertheless, Sally Hepworth’s novels are always worth the time and this was no exception.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins for the arc.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are sisters. Not by blood, but they grew up in the. Same foster home under the care of Miss Fairchild. Their time with Miss Fairchild could be considered anything but a happy childhood.

Once they’ve grown up and have been living their own lives, they are informed that a body has been found underneath their foster home.

The story jumps back and forth between the past and present. We get the backstory of the girls’ lives under their foster mother, and then are brought back to current times to learn more about the investigation.

As per usual, my girl Sally KILLED IT (no pun intended) with this book. There are plenty of twists and jaw-dropping moments, right up until the very last page.

If you’re a fan of the thriller/mystery genre, this book is a MUST READ.

I have really enjoyed other books by this author, but I found this one was just okay. The story is about three young women who were foster children together in the home of a woman called Miss Fairchild (who, in my unprofessional opinion, was probably a narcissist). When the police find bones under Miss Fairchild's barn, the girls are interviewed by the police and the past they thought they had left behind comes back to them, as the mystery is investigated. I did find the character development quite good, which is always the case with Sally Hepworth's books, but definitely NOT always the case with psychological thrillers.

Hepworth’s books are always phenomenal! This one did not disappoint! The last page threw me for a loop!

Sally Hepworth has done it again! "Darling Girls" is a captivating thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish. As a devoted fan of Hepworth's previous works, this book exceeded my expectations.

The story follows Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, three foster sisters who grew up under the care of Miss Fairchild. Despite the seemingly idyllic setting of their farming estate, the author skillfully unveils the darker side of their childhood. Miss Fairchild's rules and unpredictability add a layer of suspense that keeps you guessing until the very end.

Hepworth's storytelling is impeccable, and her ability to create relatable characters is on full display. The foster sisters' journey from a fractured past to the discovery of a body under their childhood home is filled with twists and turns that had me on the edge of my seat.

If you are looking to add an amazing thriller to your Spring of 2024 TBR list, do not miss Darling Girls!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

My first thoughts upon racing through this book were WTF did I just read?!

This is my first Sally Hepworth novel, but it will NOT be my last.

The story unfolds with alternating perspectives through time. The three foster sisters have very distinct personalities and pasts. The past and present flip back and forth building a very compelling story. There’s also a mystery character delivering secrets to a therapist intermixed in the chapters. I was able to figure out the mystery character pretty early on, but was not expecting the final twist!
This book should maybe come with trigger warnings. It was such a fast read, it took a while to realize I was reading about some messed up situations.

Thanks to the publisher, I received an ARC through NetGalley.