This was my first book by Sally Hepworth and I enjoyed it! I finished it in one sitting. The characters were likeable and the plot was great, easy to follow. I will be reading more by Sally Hepworth in the future!

This book was sooooo good! I love all Sally books, and this one is now high on my favorites list! I was hooked right away and really felt connected to the characters. Sally has a way with words that really make you see what she is describing. I would highly recommend this book to my friends and family! So good, and I'm so glad that I got the chance to read an ARC from Netgalley! Thank you!!!

Thanksful to NetGalley for the chance to read this latest upcoming book by Sally Hepworth, an author trusted to always provide a propulsive fun read. Darling Girls tells the story of three women who were all fostered in the same house. Jessica was the first to arrive at Wild Meadows, a manor home located in a rural town, two hours away from Melbourne Australia. The owner of Wild Meadows, Miss Fairchild, young, beautiful, and alone in the huge manor house, was happy to take in a foster. Jessica was joined soon after by Norah and then Alicia. The three foster sisters formed a bond that takes them into adulthood. When the three women find out that Wild Meadows was being torn down and in the process human remains were discovered, they must go back to the small town of their youth at the request of the local police, to answer questions. In flashbacks, we learn what their life was really like the few years the girls spent there and what horrors seemingly charming and kind Miss Fairchild put the girls through. This was a fun suspenseful mystery with several unexpected twists that make Sally Hepworth a favorite of mine. 3.5 stars rounded up!

Norah, Jessica and Alicia are sisters who have come together under the care of their foster mother, Miss Fairchild. Growing up in her home and dealing with the verbal/physical abuse, the 3 girls bonded. When a new baby is brought into their foster home, the girls immediately take a liking to her, but Miss Fairchild refuses to let them help. After leaving for school one more to tell their counselor about the abuse that’s been happening, the police return to Wild Meadows (the foster home) and discover that there haven’t been any traces of a baby at all. What happened to Amy?

Jumping forward to the present time, remains are found under the house where they grew up. The police investigate, throwing the girls back into their childhood and reliving and retelling the abuse that they had endured. Who’s remains were found? We’re they Amy’s? Or were they someone else’s all together? You don’t know who you can trust in this story and something feels off and eerie about some of the characters.

I really enjoyed this and wish I had picked it up sooner!
Thanks so much to NetGalley, St Martins Press and Sally Hepworth for giving me a chance to read Darling Girls before it’s realize in April 2024!

I really enjoyed this story. I've read several of the authors books and have really enjoyed them all. The plot and characters really kept me engaged

This was my first Sally Hepworth book and it did not disappoint!

This story follows three girls from three separate homes, who are all placed in foster care. They end up in the home of Miss Fairchild— it was a farmhouse called Wild Meadows. The girls end up creating an unbreakable bond with each other as they had to lean on each other to survive. Miss Fairchild was not very kind — she was very hard on them, expected way too much from them, and also made them take care of the babies that were being fostered there too. This took a huge toll on the girls. But somehow, they made it out together!

Now adults 25 years later, they are still as close as can be despite how different they are. They are called to help solve a crime — human bones were found under their old foster home of Miss Fairchild and the police needed them to help piece it all together. Who knows? Maybe they’ll find some answers of their own to give them some closure!

Hepworth did a wonderful job keeping the suspense and the story going. I had a hard time putting it down! I thought I knew what was happening but I was wrong 😆 I loved each character and they all had a lot of depth and kept me interested. Overall, this was a great story and I will definitely be reading more from her!

Thanks Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Sally Hepworth for the ARC 🫶🏻

**a huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an opportunity to review an ARC of this book**

This is only my second book by Sally Hepworth and she's become one of my autobuy authors!

I have to say I'm surprised at how well the characters were developed through out the story given there is a lot of jumping around with multiple POV (which I normally like, being inside everyone's head!)

This is a pretty dark story about 3 girls who grew up in foster care so I would warn anyone to please check trigger warnings as multiple dark topics unfold in this thriller., this is MULTIPLE shades darker than her last novel The Soulmate, which was also a good read, but did not pack as much of a punch as this one.

four stars!

This book was hard to put down. I was in suspense from start to finish and the ending! What an ending!

The story alternates between past and present and follows three women their trauma and their relationship with one another. I loved the bonds between these characters and the theme of sisterhood.

I loved how the author wrote the three main characters- each one different with different trauma and how they navigated it.

There is child abuse and neglect in the novel so please be aware of the trigger warnings before reading.

An great book that I would recommend!

Great read! I will post my full review when SMP addresses discriminatory language used by their employees.

I enjoyed the story of these three women who were bonded through trauma as youth in foster care, and the current day mystery that brings them face to face with their childhood monster. All of the characters were very well written; flawed as they were. The character of Miss Fairchild was equally well written, although terrifying. Sally Hepworth has delivered yet another wonderful, character driven story. I definitely recommend this one.

I've read all of Hepworth's book and enjoyed them, so I was eager to start this ARC. Darling Girls moves from present to past with multiple POV that are not at all difficult to keep track of. We get to know the three main characters better through glimpses into their past, which helps us to understand their present struggles. An intriguing physiological thriller with twists. If you enjoy Sally Hepworth's writing style, you'll definitely enhoy this one. Trigger warnings: deals with foster care and abuse.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC and opportunity to procude an honest review

Darling Girls tells the story of three girls in foster care at Wild Meadows and how they had to stick together to survive while under Miss Fairchild's care. Once the newness of each child that came to live in the house wore off, the girls were left to help raise them. Miss Fairchild ran a very strict household. The girls struggled to meet her expectations. But somehow together, they made it out. Now years later, they all travel to Wild Meadows to help uncover who was buried there.
Sally Hepworth pulls you in and keeps you guessing until the final chapter. Like others, I thought I had it all figured out many times. But I was wrong. Hepworth is a great storyteller. I highly recommend her work to others and will continue to seek out her future work. Special thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sally Hepworth for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 4.5 stars for me.

Darling Girls is about three girls–Alicia, Jessica, and Norah–who bonded together in the foster system. We see them in the present day as they make a return to their foster home and confront their past. Their story is told interspersed with flashbacks to their childhood living with Miss Fairchild–their foster mother. You come to care about the girls and root for them to overcome their past trauma.

I really struggled with reading about their foster care situation and the abuse by their foster mother. So you should know going in there are triggers for those things.

It's well-written and well-paced. If you are a fan of Sally Hepworth you will enjoy Darling Girls.

Thanks to St Martins Press and Netgalley for the advanced copy.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me the ARC (ebook) copy of Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth. First of all, Sally Hepworth is one of my “go-to” authors for domestic suspense thriller novels. The minute I finished reading her previous novel, The Mother-In-Law, I was hooked. This was the 5th novel that I have read of hers. She usually has good character development and throws in a little mystery in her novels. Darling Girls in no different. In fact, Darling Girls has more of a mystery suspense than her previous novels.

Darling Girls is about 3 “sisters”, foster sisters not sisters by birth - Jessica, Nora, and Alicia. Each with their unique personality which developed mainly in their response to their upbringing. Jessica, the rule follower with OCD tendencies; Nora, the rebel with anger issues, and Alicia, big hearted with low self esteem. We soon find out that their foster mother, Holly, is more than a “strict parent” with rules to follow. She verbally, mentally and physically abuses them. The story flashes back from past to present, revealing snippets of their abusive upbringing by their narcissistic foster mother to current day when they receive a call from a detective telling them the bones of a child was found buried on the property of their old foster home.

And so the mystery begins… who do the bones belong to? What really happened 25 years ago? Can these 3 sisters move on from their past? This novel was full of twists and turns - some I was able to guess and some I totally did not see coming! Recommend for those who enjoy suspenseful, fast paced thrillers.

I found Darling Girls, about three foster sisters who return to the foster home they fled decades earlier after a body is found buried beneath the house. I found Jessica, Norah, and Alicia to be compelling characters and loved their dynamic—specifically I felt the perspectives, both past and present, to be well done. However, was the central mystery started to unravel I felt it kind of fell flat and was left lacking a bit. As such, I wasn't fully sold on Miss Fairchild and her motivations. Still, though, a mostly exciting thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy, in exchange for an honest review of this ebook.

Sally Hepworth has done it again. Darling Girls is a story that is filled with twists and turns!

This is the story of 3 foster sisters who remain family because of their bond growing up in an emotionally and sometimes physically abusive home. I would give a trigger warning at the beginning of this story. (I grew up in a loving home, and this story caused me to shudder).

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as other books by Hepworth.

Another great book by Sally Hepworth! The story is told from the points of view of the main characters which are Jessica, Alicia and Norah. They go from past to present in which they recount their horrible time in Wild Meadows when they were in foster care. As you read each of their stories your heart just goes out to them. I was rooting for them and their well-being throughout the book. This was a great read and I strongly recommend it! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This is Sally Hepworth at her best I devoured this book in two sittings. The characters were so well developed that I wanted to reach out and hug them myself. This is a scathing review of all that can go wrong in foster care. I did not see that final twist coming and I gasped out loud on the last page. This may be Sally’s darkest book yet.

I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher for review. All opinions are my own. Thank you for the copy!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and intended to post a full review after St. Martin’s Press made a statement about the racist actions of their employee. I never considered that St. Martin’s Press would just never say anything. However, it seems as if that is what the publisher is content to do so I will be moving on and will unfortunately not be providing any further feedback on this book.

I read this in one day. It’s that good. I loved the plot about girls that grew up in foster care and a body being found in the ground years later. All three of the foster girls were really good characters. And the foster mom made you really hate her. The book did a really good job going back and forth in time and it all making sense. I didn’t feel like there were random gaps missing.