Sally Hepworth reigns as the queen of domestic thriller characters, and her latest work, Darling Girls, continues to showcase her ability to craft compelling dynamics among her characters. She is best known for delving into various human relationships, including family dynamics, friendships, and romantic partnerships while creating multi-dimensional and relatable characters.

The central focus here is the relationship between Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, which is the story's heart. Hepworth's exceptional character development is evident, with each character possessing distinct qualities and facing conflicts that enhance their relatability. What captivated me most was the genuine bond shared among them. Despite individual battles, they remained pillars of strength for one another, embodying the true essence of female bonding.

Sally Hepworth seamlessly weaves elements of drama, mystery, and tension while delving into universal themes like love, female bonding, resilience, and personal growth, adding emotional depth to the story and allowing Hepworth to address complex and sensitive topics thrillingly. From the opening chapter to the satisfying payoff at the story's end, it captivated me, absorbing me in the pages.

I always enjoy a Sally Hepworth novel-I love how she writes female relationships—mother-daughter, wife, sisters….this one was about 3 foster sisters who grew up under awful circumstances but who found strength in each other and grew into adulthood. They are suddenly thrown back to their childhood when the bones of a child are found under the foster home they lived in, 25 years ago. Whose are they? How did they get there? What will they mean to the sisters?

have a few of Sally's books on my shelves that I haven't gotten to yet but I'll be picking them up next. This book was a quick read and kept me interested throughout. I do love a book with multiple POVs and this one went back and forth from past to present. I loved the sister relationship and Miss Fairchild was irritatingly interesting. I also liked that the end of the book wrapped it all up for the reader!

Darling Girls started off really strong, as usual Sally Hepworth characters are described in detail, I was very intrigued by the foster child storyline. This book would have been a 5 star read for me if not for the seemingly unnecessary romance side plots. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Please check CW before reading this book. There were some tough subjects discussed. This was a book about the insidious nature of people and what trauma can do to you. Switching back and forth between POVs kept this book feeling fresh.

Alicia, Jessica, and Norah are "sisters" who are bonded for life after living in a horrible foster home together as children. When they are contacted by a detective to ask some questions about their past, they begin to dredge up their childhood memories. What really happened at the house where they grew up? Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I am so glad that several years ago I stumbled onto the author Sally Hepworth. Since finding her first book I have devoured everything she writes. I am never disappointed.

Darling Girls is such an easy book to get lost in. I loved getting to know Jessica, Norah, and Alicia. They each has such unique stories as to how they came into foster care. I am sad to realized that the foster card system is broken everywhere. I had hoped that may have been a problem in the just the states. The girls survived so much and their bond was truly beautiful.

One thing that I truly love about Hepworth's writing is the twist and turns. I sort of figured that Miss Fairchild was not what she seemed. She seemed to be able to manipulate Jessica even so many years later. The mystery regarding the bond found under Wild Meadow had me captivated. I really loved to see how their time at Wild Meadows affected each of the girls lives.

This book was so well written and so enjoyable while being about a very sad existence for these young girls. I highly recommend this book.


Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Sally Hepworth does it again! Multiple
Timelines and POVs pulled together beautifully in this twisty read

Wild Meadows...sounds like a beautiful place. But, it is anything but for Alicia, Jessica, and Norah, 3 girls from completely different backgrounds who end up being wards of Miss Fairchild through the foster system.

The bond that forms between the 3 is strong, and when Miss Fairchild starts to take in babies to care for, they know that something isn't right. When they see the way that Amy is treated (a toddler), they know that they need to do something.

***Small Spoiler Alert***
The girls talk to their school administrator and the police become involved. But, when they go to Wild Meadows there is no evidence of Amy ever being there. How could this be? Well, you know early on that Jessica has the strongest bond of the three girls to Miss Fairchild, and she warns her that they are going to talk, allowing for time to get rid of her. This is told through a series of flashbacks.

When bones are found buried at Wild Meadows, and they are of an infant/toddler, the 3 women are called back to have a discussion with the police. Is this what happened to Amy? And, when Miss Fairchild shows up it opens a new set of emotions among the three.

This story is told from past and present timelines but it was very easy to follow. I thought all of the characters were well written, and had mixed feelings throughout. At one point I almost felt bad for Miss Fairchild. Until the end when you get the real story.

Foster children, foster parents, you get a feel for how imperfect this system can be, even though the book is fiction. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

I am a big fan of Sally Hepworth novels and I was not disappointed with Darling Girls. I was so excited to receive an advance copy of this novel through NetGalley.

This book had me hooked from the beginning and I never lost interest! I loved the different points of view and I loved the flashbacks to the past. I will say it was hard reading what happened to the girls when they were young. It was definitely a trigger point for me, but I loved the whole mystery of the story. It was one of those books that you keep thinking about even after it's finished.

I have been a fan of Sally Hepworth's book but I think this one is now my favorite! I really enjoyed all the twist and turns, loads of suspense and right up until the end this book was full of surprises. I love a POV style and this book did that very well. These characters were not perfect and sometimes not quite even likeable. Nevertheless, you root for them and want them to find happiness. This book won't disappoint.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Darling Girls is about 3 foster sisters and their experience at their foster home with Miss Fairchild. The sisters get a phone call from the police years later saying that the foster home has been torn down and a body was found underneath the building. They must relive the past in order to help solve the mystery of who the body could belong to.

The story is told from each sisters perspective alternating from present day to the past. The chapters are short and is very fast paced. I could not put it down and definitely recommend!

I loved this book so much. It is a heartwarming, and gutwrenching story of the traumas we endure as children with bad parents, especially those raised in foster care.
From the first page to the last you'll want to know who and why there was a body under the house.
5 star book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this ARC

Self proclaimed wimpy reader! Yet here I am always diving into these twisted Sally books. This one is extra creepy with some of the trigger-like content, but whew— Sally Hepworth takes you through it. Plot twists, disturbing and a quick binge read.

Darling girls… wow! A tragic story of sisterhood and overcoming childhood trauma. The book wrapped up nicely and just when I thought I figured out the plot, I was wrong! Once I picked this book up I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait to see what else this author has in store 😊

Trigger warning!! This book was hard to read. It's well written and the characters are well developed but the abuse is awful.

So good! The book flashes between past tense and present mostly focusing on 3 foster sisters. Wild Meadows was far from a dream foster scenario. Now adults, a body is found under the house they lived in. What happened in that house? You won’t guess the ending. I couldn’t put this one down!

Warning: Child abuse.

I LOVED this book! I liked the perspectives of the three different girls and also the timeline. Former foster care girls go back to their old home called Wild Meadows. Each of the three girls has carried their time at Wild Meadows differently but we get flashbacks of life there which I liked. We also see how they support each other now as adults. This book had me hooked from the beginning and I couldn't put it down! I highly recommend it! This one will be out in April 2024. Thank you Netgalley for the early E-copy of this fantastic book from an author that I will always read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of “Darling Girls” in exchange for an honest review. If you are considering picking this one up be aware that there are several TWs. The book is a constant barrage of images of child abuse in multiple forms. The plot seemed far fetched to me and I just had a really hard time getting into it. It was absolutely horrible to read the constant descriptions of abuse as well. Because of the number of characters throughout the book they all felt kind of flat and didn’t really seem like complex people at all. More like caricatures who were filling a specific type of person. I also counted almost 30 typos in my ARC, and that impacted the experience too as it felt wild to me that there were so many. It was very distracting.

Darling Girls is getting solid reviews, and the plot works well with some good twists and turns. BUT - this book portrays pretty horrific child abuse (mostly psychological torture) on almost every page, so know what you can take before you pick up this novel. I read a lot of mysteries and have no problems reading gore and gruesome content, but this got to me. One disconnect I felt while reading was some of the banter between the sisters - it just felt too light and humorous in contrast to the abuse. Plus, the sisters were each rendered without much depth to their personalities - one is the angry get-in-to-fights all the time no matter the consequences, one is an anxiety-ridden high achiever, and the third is too sappy.

I like Sally Hepworth's other books, especially The Good Sister, so I'll keep reading her works, but this book wasn't for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for gifting me an ebook ARC in return for a review.