Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth is a dark and riveting exploration of resilience, abuse, and the enduring strength of female bonds. Alicia, Jessica, and Norah, survivors of a sinister foster home run by the manipulative Miss Fairchild, find themselves forced to confront their haunting past when bones are discovered under their former home. Hepworth masterfully navigates the psychological scars left by abuse, seamlessly weaving between past and present to deliver a story that is both chilling and engrossing. The characters, particularly Norah's blend of sarcasm and vulnerability, come to life on the pages, and the suspense build culminates in a shocking revelation that elevates the novel to a five-star rating. Despite the challenging themes of abuse, Darling Girls stands as a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the enduring power of connection, making it a must-read for fans of psychological mysteries and domestic thrillers.

Sally Hepworth’s latest involves three foster sisters that met at their abusive foster home. I enjoyed this book. There were some colorful characters & the story was interesting. The different points of view were cohesive & easy to understand.

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martins Press and Sally Hepworth for an advanced copy of this book

This was a great book!
This story follows the lives of three women when they were little and lived in a foster group home.
Although not blood related, these women remained close and viewed each other as sisters. This book explores so many topics that make you feel for children in the system. Unfortunately, these girls experienced abuse and neglect at the hands of their foster mother, Miss Fairchild. One point that really resinated with me was when the social worker would say “you are lucky to be placed ….” “You are lucky etc…”. Nothing was “lucky” about being put into the foster care system. This book brought all the characters together during an investigation about bones found years later under the very house they all lived. The mystery will be solved and the author keeps us wanting more to know what truly happened. It wraps up nicely in the end. Great great!
Thank you netgalley for the eArc for my honest review!

Jessica, Alicia and Norah were foster children at Wild Meadows under the care of psychopathic Ms. Fairchild. 25 years later it is torn down and they get a call from police because a body has been discovered. This was a wild read and I was totally gobsmacked by the ending. Thanks NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC that will be released April 23, 2024!

Alicia, Norah, and Jessica are haunted by their past in foster care under the watch of the cold, horrible Miss Fairchild. Now, a secret has been unearthed that threatens to bring up that past.

The characters in this book are more than likeable, something that can be hard to come by in the thriller genre. I almost wanted a darker book with darker twists, but I found myself just happy that the characters didn’t have to go through a dark twist.

The final twist though - that was so dark and twisty in a way that left me wanting so much more. It took a 3/3.5 star read (for me) and took it to a 4 star.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Creepy!!! Just wait til the end!! Compulsively readable. Jessica, Alicia, and Norah grew up together in foster care and consider each other sisters. Now they are adults, but still close, and have to deal with some issues from their past, mostly dealing with their foster mother. Some hard issues (abuse, abandonment, etc). Well written. Thank you to St. Martin Press, Netgalley, and Sally Hepworth for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was by far one of my favorite Sally Hepworth reads. It kept me on the edge of my seat from page one. I enjoyed all the different perspectives and timelines that Sally was seamlessly able to integrate throughout the book.

LOVED this one! Sally Hepworth does it again. Throughout the whole story there’s an underlying hum of what is going to happen and she does not disappoint with the twist. I highly recommend this book!

Amazing! This book absolutely hooked me in and I could not stop reading it. Anytime that I had to put this book down I was absolutely devastated because I just HAD TO KNOW everything that was going on! I loved the then/now timeline as well as the psychiatrist sessions. And the ending. The twist. OBSESSED.

I couldn’t put this book down! A fascinating, if troubling, look at three girls who struggle in a foster care experience. Displaced, looking for warmth and acceptance in a new environment, what could go wrong? Plenty! Told from both present day and the past perspectives, building toward a strong ending that kept me on my toes right until the end. Highly recommend.

I am a Sally Hepworth Super Fan. I have read and recommended everything she has written. All of my friends have read all of her books and I have gifted them and lent them out more times than I can count. Her latest is no exception, to me, it felt a little darker than her others, but it was incredibly well done and I obsessively read it and got little else done until I finished. I cannot wait until her next book comes out.

This is a super creepy slow burn about three girls growing up in foster care with a sometimes loving sometimes twisted foster mother. The book mostly reads as a family drama, but there are hints here and there that something isn't quite right. For me the ending definitely paid off and left off with another nice creepy twist. While I wouldn't necessarily call this a thriller, it has thriller energy and I was here for it.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this arc.

I have been a Sally Hepworth fan for quite some time and her books always deliver a lot of entertainment for me. I dare say this might have been my favorite book of hers. Sally writes about family and the bond we create with the ones we love, that family is not always blood, it’s the people we want in our lives and vice-versa.

The story revolves around three women: Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, who lived together in a foster home as children. They grew up together supporting, loving, and caring for each other. The book goes back and forth in time, exploring their lives and the adversities they went through.

The book kept me turning pages, it has amazing character development, and mystery. It’s a fast read, it’s dark and depicts a sad side of the foster care system. Well written and full of twists I always say you won’t be let down by Mrs. Hepworth.

This book was an easy read and it kept my interest till the very last page. . It is a book that leaves you with a sense of understanding for those who have not had the easiest start in life and why their adult life is spent resolving childhood pain.

I love Sally Hepworth, and this was a fun and fast paced thriller. I loved the dual timelines, and appreciated that I did NOT solve the mystery. I think this would be a perfect spring break or beach book, and I am looking forward to selling many copies when it is released in April.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth absolutely creeped me out in the best ways. Beautifully original, un-put-downable...you won't sleep without finishing!

Darling Girls is an interesting and saddening look into adoption and how it changed the lives of three girls. It was told in an alternating time period format. Starting in the present and flip-flopping to the past and back again, you almost get whiplash from reading it. But that does not take away from your interest in following the lives of these sisters.
As an American, reading a book about the Australian adoption system was just as sobering as reading one about America. I thought with public healthcare would be a more caring government for those on the fringes of society, but it seems like orphans everywhere get the short end of the stick.

This book did not disappoint! I loved the foster care story line, which isn’t something you get very often. The personalities and issues each character expressed made it easy to differentiate between them when they hopped perspectives. However, i do feel like last chapter made the entire book. There are so many times when it could’ve just ended without any “OMG” moment, but that chapter certainly gave it that little bit that was lacking!

I always look forward to Sally’s books.
Over the years she’s definitely become one of my favourite authors. Her plots are always unique and her characters grab hold of you never letting go. I find myself thinking about the stories and characters years down the road. That in itself is something else for me because often I’ll forget a plot 2 days after I finish a book. (I always remember my favourites though)

Darling Girls grabbed me from the very first chapter and I when I put it down to go about my day I would continuously think about it until I picked it back up. For me, that’s a sign that I definitely love a book.

One thing Sally always does is write an excellent sisterly dynamic. We’ve seen great sisters and we’ve seen some toxic ones but these sisters were unlike any sisters prior. Their bond was amazing, and I will remember Jessica, Norah and Alicia always.

For a thriller there were a couple of really funny lines and I enjoyed that. It was a nice little surprise in an already amazing book.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press for this advance copy in exchange for my review.

Thriller fans!! This is such a goody. I love an original plot in a thriller, they are few and far between. I could not put this down or figure out wtf was going on. I recommend even if you don’t consider yourself a Sally Hepworth fan this might just change your mind.