4.0 stars

I received a complimentary Kindle e-book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Sally Hepworth writes mystery thrillers that are "clean" - no blood or gore. All the ugliness takes place away from the book and the reader's consciousness. All of her books are filled with strong characters, storylines, and twists and turns so Darling Girls is right in line with all of her other books. Awesomeness! I am always disappointed when I don't figure out the plotline before the book is finished. Darn, you Sally - you are too good!

DEFINITE RECOMMEND

Oh Sally gets me every time! Another page turner from my favorite author, thank you! Her books always have a very satisfying ending and this was no different. I loved the characters and really hated the villain, so much that it made my stomach hurt at times. I couldn’t put this book down until the very end and it was worth the long night to get to it! Excellent book, definitely recommend! Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

For the first half of the book I felt like I was reading an early Sally Hepworth novel. The ones that deal with family in the heart wrenching emotional kind of way…. And then somewhere past the middle mark, something snapped and the creepiness factor of a thriller entered the pages.

It’s the story about 3 sisters, three foster sisters who bonded to survive against their foster mother Miss Fairchild. Each little girl ended up in the home for different reasons (don’t worry all is revealed at the end) but the story isn’t a happy one.

Jessica, the first “daughter” that ended up on the farm. Her first few years were happy. Until they weren’t. Then Norah arrived with a gut wrenching emotional past that left her angry and combative with anyone around her. Finally there’s Alicia, who had a beautiful upbringing until her beloved Grammy died and she got sent to Miss Fairchild at the farm. All 3 girls believed that cozy little farmhouse would be a new start… they just didn’t know it would be an evil one.

The novel flips back and forth between past and present with the 3 girls viewpoint. It may sound like a lot but it wasn’t, it actually brought the depth to the novel as the reader is able to understand each woman better.

I don’t actually think this book is a thriller. Nor is it “just” contemporary fiction. It’s a chilling genre mash that left me emotionally connected to all three girls. It was bingeable, haunting and bat shit crazy all rolled in the most heartbreaking way.

For me, this is Sally’s best. I loved her early work and enjoyed the domestic thrillers of late, but a combo of both landed a 5 stars from me.

Darling Girls is the first book I've read from the author. I had a hard time putting it down. The ending was a real jaw-dropper that I didn't see coming. My head was spinning ; it was hard to swallow. This book isn't for everyone dealing with the foster care system and the abuse. It may be triggering. So please read all the TW before reading. I enjoyed that the author included an extended denouement that traces Jessica, Nora, and Alicia's lives after the shocking outcome that is bittersweet and realistic. I fell in love with the main characters. They were well-developed, deeply flawed, and relatable. It's a well-paced suspense story that unravels into a compelling page-turner. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are foster care children placed at Wild Meadows, a farmhouse owned and run by Miss Fairchild. The trio form an unbreakable bond, and their story shows the strength of sisterhood and resilience of children. The sisters have done everything possible as adults to forget the atrocities they witnessed firsthand at "Wild Meadows." Still, when a contractor discovers human remains under their old foster home, the girls are pulled back to Wild Meadows; they are not happy about returning to the small country town of Port Agatha at first and have to dredge up their painful past but become eager to uncover the truth about who the bones belong to and who hid them underneath the house. Is one of them hiding a secret?
Darling Girls alternates between multiple points of view from Jessica, Nora and Alicia's and parallel timelines. We learn about the girls' time in foster care while a similar plot line follows the investigation into the mysterious bones. There is also a mysterious character who talks to DR. Warren. I found these chapters fascinating. The character development in this book is unmatched. From the narcissistic and manipulative Miss Fairchild to the neurotic Jessica, an angry and volatile Nora who gets herself in some legal situations and Alicia, an insecure with a vast heart, Hepworth expertly built equally relatable and heart-wrenching profiles. I admire her shining a light on the harsh realities of the failures of the foster care system and how much research the author put into this novel and did it with sensitivity. I highly recommend it!!

I want to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sally Hepworth has done it again. I read this in one sitting. I enjoyed both the mystery, with all of its suspense and twists, but also the depiction of sisterhood. The author’s depiction of the traumas experienced by Jessica, Norah, and Alicia was authentic. I also liked how they still grew and overcame the abuse they experienced, ultimately each finding healthy relationships.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Wow. Sally Hepworth does it again. Such a twisty read!! A trio of women must relive the horrors of their mutual childhood foster home when bones are found under the house. This story will keep you guessing! The characters are well developed and the storyline is intriguing. You’ll binge this one!

A twist I did not see coming!

I'm a big fan of Sally Hepworths books and this one is no exception. This face paced thriller will definitely catch your attention and keep you guessing all the way until the end! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

5⭐️

The Soul Mate was a disappointment, so it was with great pleasure that I devoured the latest from Sally Hepworth, Darling Girls. Engaging and suspenseful with characters that you'd like to be friends with, this twisty read is sure to be a hit with fans of Hepworth.

Norah, Alicia and Jessica grew up in foster care together. for the last few decades, they have considered themselves sister and have kept their bond tight. The women have done everything they can to forget about the abusive Miss. Fairchild. When a body of a child turns up on the estate they resided with Miss. Fairchild, the girls must face their past and help the investigators determine who's body was buried -- and who put the body there.

Twisty, dark, with some comedic relief, Darling Girls provides a twist that will hit you right at the very last moment! Excellent writing and a fun book to read.

📱Darling Girls, Sally Hepworth ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press, and Sally Hepworth for an opportunity to read this book in advance of the publication date in exchange for an honest review.
Starting out, I’d like to give a trigger warning for child abuse, sexual abuse, and manipulation.
This dual timeline story did a great job of building the characters and telling their stories as individuals in the past and today. Most of the story was from a Third Person POV, which I think worked really well for this one. We were able to get to know all three sisters and Ms. Fairchild really well as the details of the story unfolded… or did we??? I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a character driven novel with a bit of mystery and a couple of twists. This book kept my interest and I flowed through it really easily. This was my first Sally Hepworth book but I have a few on my bookshelf o need to get started on. My will motivate me to do that sooner!

This is a fantastic fast-paced thriller that grabbed me from the beginning and didn't let go until the last page. I would have been happy to keep reading more about the characters lives - it's that good! The twists and turns made me gasp. The story is about three young girls that become "sisters" in a not so loving foster home with "Miss Fairchild". The parts that have abuse are a little hard to read - but they should be - and important for the story and contributing to how they all end up. What these girls endure, how they bond, along with a whodunnit murder of a child's bones found under the house they were fostered in, keeps you glued to the pages. This book has it all especially love with many complicated faces, and I highly recommend it! Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and the author for allowing me to review this book and find another new favorite author!

This book does a very deep dive into the foster care system and its emotional and physical ramifications to those who are placed and aged out. I cannot begin to fathom how it would be to exist in such situations as what Norah described and how it caused her to lash out in such a physical way. Alicia, Jessica and Norah were truly sisters as they cared for each other despite being subjected to Miss. Fairfield who took such pleasure in depriving these girls in any type of happiness one should experience as a child. She wanted each one to love her and her only and if not, she quickly turned each day into punishment. Interspersed with Holly telling her "story" and how everyone was to blame except for her, she was the epitome of a sociopath. Amy was a paramount character in this book and why Holly became obsessed until she was not and what happened to the Amy that was birthed by a member of her family was truly horrific. This book is extremely well written but hard to read due to the level of suffering. I am glad that all three women got what they deserved in life when it comes to love.

I think I've had multiple books of Sally Hepworth's on my TBR list for years, and somehow this is the first one I've actually read! Why are there so many good books out there? But I'm not complaining.

Darling Girls is the story of three girls - Alicia, Jessica, and Norah. While not actually related, the years they spent in foster care with Miss Fairchild have brought them close enough to call themselves sisters. After all, trauma can do that. Although their time with Miss Fairchild is not really something that any of them want to remember, a discovery at the farmhouse that they lived in with her brings to light an old mystery that they feel compelled to revisit.

This book packed in a lot! Definitely a story that I got sucked into, and the twists and turns kept coming. It is a tale of found family, tragedy, and how even if you are brought up in a bad situation, the choices you make are still your own. If you are looking for a mystery that will give you something to think about long after putting the book down, definitely pick this one up when it releases on April 23, 2024.

My Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth is a well-written, suspenseful thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end. The story follows three foster sisters, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, who are reunited as adults when human bones are discovered buried on the farm where they grew up.

Hepworth does a masterful job of building suspense and weaving together the past and present timelines. The reader is slowly drip-fed information about the sisters' childhood abuse and the dark secrets that lie buried beneath the farm. The characters are complex and well-developed, and the reader can't help but root for them even as they make mistakes.

The ending of the book is both shocking and satisfying, and it will leave you thinking long after you finish reading.

The reason for my 4 star review is the undeveloped subplots that are scattered throughout. There are a lot of fringe characters which do contribute to the story and the main character development, but at a basic level.

Overall, I enjoyed My Darling Girls and would recommend it to fans of domestic thrillers and mysteries.

My Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth is an excellent psychological , domestic thriller well developed characters and and lots of secrets and twists and turns .

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth, published by St. Martin's Press
This novel was amazing, the author has done a fantastic job with this story. It's one of those books you just don't want to put down and read until the wee hours of the morning. There are lots of characters and the story takes place in the present and the past, but it's not at all confusing, I just loved it. Great twists and turns.
The main characters are Jessica, Norah and Alicia, 3 children in foster care, Miss Fairchild is the foster mom. The girls are grown now and consider themselves sisters, but as we go back in time we learn of the events that took place at the Farmhouse called Wild Meadows and Miss Fairchild's perverse child rearing methods.
Honestly an amazing story, it made me think a little bit about the Gypsy Rose story at times. This novel was extremely well written, the characters were well developed and had depth, I could picture them in my mind. I loved the ending and the twist it takes. I was very happy to have received this ARC. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who loves Sally Hepworth, psychological thrillers or mysteries. It will keep you on the edge of your seat.

I've been loving Sally Hepworth's recent books and this one is no exception! I sped through it in a day - it was that good. Even though the plot deals with tough subjects like addiction and abuse, it does so in a thoughtful way. Norah reminded me a little of Fern from The Good Sister.

Despite being on a steady diet of psychological thrillers, I didn't expect the twist at the end, ha!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Sally Hepworth is truly my favorite author of all time. She has MASTERED the art of a domestic suspense and I live for her books every year.

Darling Girls was no different. I went in blind. All I knew was this was Sally’s latest and I’d read her grocery store list without anyone twisting my arm. This was truly such a compelling read, one that broke my heart with the foster kid stories, but had me absolutely rooting on the found sisters element.
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I loved this. Sally - you are truly so incredibly talented!

Sally Hepworth is an author I love to read when I need a distraction. Her books are quick reads for me and she never fails to get me with that final twist.

I really struggle with this one though. I really think it was how bad the girls were treated and how no one would help them.

I did like how the girls formed their own family and were there for each other. I even appreciated how they grew and they relived what happened and came to understand things about themselves.

My trouble with this book will not help me from eagerly anticipating and reading Sally’s next book. She is incredibly talented.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the copy of this book. All views are my honest opinion.

5 STARS
Sally Hepworth did it again!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Darling Girls. This book kept me on the edge of my seat turning the pages of the book (kindle style) as quickly as I could. The book is about 3 young children, Jessica, Norah and Alicia who spent a few years at with a foster mother who lacked in the maternal department. They formed a bond that survived many years of adolescence and adulthood. The children are now grown women with obvious issues directly influenced by their upbringing. They all receive calls from an investigation team that human remains have been found on the premises of the home they grew up in. The 3 head back to their childhood home ready to help unbury all the secrets they had preferred stay buried. When I think of this book, I keep thinking - "that ending"!

Pre-order your copy today!!!