File this under absolute must reads!!

Three “sisters” return to the town of where they grew up in foster care when a body is discovered below their old house. I absolutely fell in love with each of the sisters - they are all so different but the bond they have is absolutely incredible. I thought the character development around each one was wonderful.

The chapters switch between past (growing up with their foster mother) and present (mainly spending time with each other trying to decide who the dead body could be). There are really tragic moments (trigger warning for an emotionally absuive foster mother), funny moments, and many heartwarming moments. This was an absolute perfect thriller!

Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this advanced copy. You absolutely must read this when it comes out on April 23, 2024!

Brought together by the “foster care” system, Nora, Jessica, and Alicia bond over their traumatic upbringing. Miss Fairchild, their foster mom, uses psychological punishments to wreck havoc on their lives. Flash forward to when the girls are adults and bones are discovered underneath the foster house they grew up in.

This plot was so unique; the character building was on point, and the twists got me. It was an excellent read. I loved the alternating POVs between characters and timelines. It would be easy to get confused with all the POV’s, but Sally Hepworth keeps everyone on task. Great domestic thriller!

WOW. Wow, wow, wow. Bravo Sally Hepworth! Darling Girls has quickly taken the top spot in my favorite Sally Hepworth books. The format of then and now as well as all three sister’s perspectives really made this book an easy, unputdownable read. I was constantly on the edge of my seat awaiting the many twists and turns this story took. I appreciated the way this narrative shed light on mental health awareness. I enjoyed Sally’s note at the end regarding her research for this book. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and of course, Sally Hepworth for this digital ARC and the absolute privilege of devouring this story. Definitely grab this one when it comes out April 2024!

Another great psychological thriller by Sally Hepworth. Actually I have loved every one of her books and this one as usual doesn’t disappoint.
Told in alternating chapters, we experience the lives of Jessica, Norah and Alicia who form a bond, a sisterhood and a tight knit family from their time in foster care under the demanding and often demeaning eye of Mrs. Fairchild the proprietor of Wild Meadows.
25 years after their stays at Wild Meadows, Jessica, Norah and Alicia are contacted by three Port Agatha detectives in regards to human bones that have been discovered buried under the farmhouse.
This was such a captivating book with well thought out characters. You will fall in love with these girls and feel for their awful upbringing in the foster system. You will cheer them on as adults with the unfortunate baggage they carry with them due to their upbringing.
I loved the twists and turns. Just when you have it figured out, Hepworth throws you a curveball.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC.

I personally enjoy books that pick up pace immediately. This read felt it took a a while to really get interesting but it wasn't a bad read! It reads well, flows great and is entertaining. Kept wanting to pick it back up to finish!

Sally Hepworth's books never disappoint in the suspense/thriller category and this book was no exception. Darling Girls follows three foster "sisters" (Jessica, Norah and Alicia) from both past and present storylines and their complicated relationship with their horrible foster mother, Miss. Fairchild. While the story kept my interest, at times was hard to read about the childhood abuse, sexual assault and neglect. I found these details too descriptive for my liking. Nonetheless, Sally Hepworth did a fantastic job of tying all the storylines together and left us with a another shocking ending!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a advanced copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

Sally Hepworth has quickly become my favorite mystery/psychological thriller author. Every time I think I know where she's going with a plot or a character, there's a complete 180 that I never saw coming!

"Darling Girls" was just phenomenal. The cast of characters was so eclectic, yet they somehow made perfect sense together. Their bond, forged by the abuse they suffered from the hands of Miss Fairchild, is so powerful and real.

The switching POVs is one of Hepworth's huge talents, and they make the ultimate twist that much more delicious.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have read and highly rated many of Sally Hepworth’s books. However, I didn’t like this story as much as her others. On the plus side, I enjoyed getting to know the three “sisters.” While each character had emotional issues related to their foster care experiences, their loyalty to each other was heartwarming. However, the story dragged in places, and the wicked villain of the story seemed a bit over the top. It’s not a bad book. Just a bit of a disappointment for me.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for letting me read and review this book. Much appreciated.

Thank you @netgalley @stmartinspress for the #gifted copy of this e-arc.

I am always so excited to read a Sally Hepworth book! I felt like this book seemed different to me for some reason although I am having a hard time articulating why. Maybe edgier? It doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it, I certainly did…it just seemed different.

I love the found family of sisters that bonds were created in the foster care system. I absolutely adored how they were all so different and broken in their own unique ways but their bond was unbreakable. It worked so well! They were all pretty kick ass and it warmed my heart to see them stick up for each other. I enjoyed having the alternating timelines and the buildup to watch how they became they way that they were! The ending was definitely shocking and the mystery behind the bones found had my head spinning! I felt this book ran the gambit with my emotions… it was shocking….heartbreaking…frustrating and had me angry throughout which I think is a sign of a good book! Sally is forever an autobuy author for me and once again delivers perfectly!

Very twisty, well wrote book. Overall a solid 4 star book! Loose ends were all tied up in the end. Looking forward to reading more from Sally Hepworth.

Whatever Hepworth writes, I will read. However, this fell a little short for me. It was her traditional twisty thriller, but the characters were not particularly memorable. The last quarter of the book contains a ton of cliffhangers that will keep you reading. If you are a fan of Hepworth, particularly the mother in law, I would still recommend. Ms. Fairchild gave the same infuriating, but captivating energy as Diana.

Thank you to St. Marten's Press and NetGalley for an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

Darling Girls focuses on three foster sisters, Jessica, Norah and Alicia. The story is told from all three women's perspective as adults now and from their perspective as kids when they were part of the foster care system and living with their caregiver Miss Fairchild.

It took a bit to get used to the change from past to present but as the story progressed you could totally see how their past, still haunted their lives as an adult. This story definitely gave Mommy Dearest vibes, and it was a little hard for me to read because of that vibe. My mama heart hates reading about child abuse. But overall, it was a pretty good story even though the ending made me want to slap a character. lol

5 star read for me! This book centers on foster sisters, Jessica, Norah and Alicia. All 3 girls were placed in foster care for one reason or another and ended up in Wild Meadows under the care of Mrs. Fairchild. At first, it seems like a dream come true but that dream quickly spirals into a nightmare as they are subjected to near constant mental abuse from Mrs. Fairchild.

Told from today's point of view as well as the past, the characters in this book were so well fleshed out. Jessica with her control issues due to the lack of control from her upbringing. Alicia afraid to love anyone because of her fear of abandonment. And Norah who has severe anger due to the trauma of their past.

Fantastic read! Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I needed a day to think about this book before reviewing it. I know that there are very good foster parents. I also know there are terrible ones that do it for the money or some other twisted motive that may leave the children scarred.
Such is the story of Jessica, Alicia, and Norah. We go back and forth between when the girls first arrived at Wild Meadows with Miss Fairchild and what happened at the house. In the present, the sisters are heading to Port Agatha to help police with an investigation of bones found at the home. We also see someone through their appointments with a psychiatrist. This book delves into the worst of the worst with the foster care system, and even though it's set in Australia you can see the same things here in the US. Social workers are burned out or overworked and kids may fall through the cracks. Kids are terrified to say anything. Being in a home that's bad but what if the next one is worse? What happens when you age out and have to be on your own?
This book also does a wonderful job of highlighting the invisible scars like Jessica's obsessive organization to exert control in her life, Alicia's avoidance of love, and Norah's rage against the world. I enjoyed seeing the life of the sisters as much or more than actually finding out the mystery.
Another great book by Hepworth.

Alicia, Jessica & Norah have a bond no one can fully understand. They lived on a farm with their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, who had strict rules and could be unpredictable in her moods. She was never to be crossed and found manipulating ways of punishing the girls. The 3 girls broke away from Miss Fairchild, but she always lived in the shadows of their minds. Bones are discovered under the farmhouse years later and are brought back by police to tell what they know and brought back to Miss Fairchild herself.

Yet another highly entertaining read by Sally Hepworth! I always thoroughly enjoy her books so I was really excited to get an advanced copy of Darling Girls. She does a great job of showing how the girls trauma in their childhoods all manifested in different ways in their adult life. Loved the ending! The twists weren’t ground breaking but I couldn’t put this one down! (4 ⭐️)

✨ Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. Available April 3, 2024 ✨

5 star. Loved it. Read the whole thing on a plane ride. Great twists and turns until the very end. She is an auto read author for me - think I've loved everything I've read!

I loved Sally Hepworth's latest thriller, Darling Girls, so much! A slight twist on a normal family psychological thriller, Darling Girls focuses on three foster sisters, Jessica, Norah and Alicia. The story is told from all three women's perspective now as adults, and also 25ish years ago when they were all part of the foster system and became foster sisters under the care of Miss Fairchild. Miss Fairchild seemed lovely and sweet and lived in a beautiful home, but what went on behind closed doors was sinister. Now the remains of a skeleton have been found under the home and all 3 women return to relive their past and maybe uncover some secrets about their former foster mother and each other. This was the perfect amount of thrill. not too scary, but definitely dark. The twist at the very end I did not see coming but was an excellent touch. This was an extremely well done novel, you won't want to miss!

I received a complimentary copy of this book "Darling Girls" and all opinions expressed are my own. Always love to read books by Sally Hepworth, I put them on the top of my TBR list. This one was interesting and had twists and turns. The characters were great, except the Miss Fairchild, but she had a evil part to play in the story. Overall fast paced and suspenseful.

Not my favorite Hepworth book, but it was okay. I am getting a bit bored with authors doing a juxtaposition between past and present and having to follow two story lines in one book. I understand the "past" does provide a lot of context for the "present." Very solid ending, still unsure how I personally feel... but I think it would be received well by a mass audience.

Another Sally Hepworth book that I thoroughly enjoyed. The only reason for 4 stars rather than 5 is that I got confused midway. That may have just been me though. My confusion was all cleared up in the end, but then I felt the book fell short because of how the ending was kind of just thrown in. That said, I loved the characters, the story and the heartbreaking element of foster care. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!