Thanks to @Netgalley, @Stmartinspress for this eArc for my honest review! Publish date: 4/23/24
Having just finished “The Soulmate”, I didn’t hesitate to jump right into “The Darling Girls”!

THE TWISTS at the end, WOW! My mind is still spinning, I’ll be thinking this over for days! It’s honestly what brought this book to “5 stars” for me!

3 young girls, Jessica, Norah and Alicia found themselves together under the care of their foster mother, “Miss Fairchild”, on a farm called “Wild Meadows” ( and that it was), in the town of Port Agatha.
The girls all have their own distinct personalities and mental issues stemming from their disturbing childhoods.
Jessica- smart, independent yet deals with addiction. Norah- anger issues which has led to a criminal record and Alicia- insecurities related to the day she found out she wasn’t leaving Wild Meadows because her grandmother who raised her up until now had passed away.
The girls bonded immediately, claiming “Sisterhood”, despite the lack of shared blood between them. Jessica was first to arrive at “Wild Meadows”, and had a very close bond to Miss Fairchild”, until Norah and Alicia came , things quickly turned. Miss Fairchild sick with jealousy over their bond started to abuse them.
When they are pushed to their limit, they say they “ have to tell”. The do, The school principal and the police!

25 years pass and bones are discovered under “Wild Meadows”. Jessica, Norah and Alicia all receive phone calls from investigators from Port Agatha, asking them what they know. They are asked to come in for questioning as well as 3 others who were temporarily watched as babies at the farm by Holly Fairchild. Only one was missing, Amy, , THIS is where it gets good!
. This was their fear, to be asked to return to a place that only had horrific sick memories of a mentally deranged foster mother and the farm they spent several miserable years in together.

This novel deals with mental health, abusive narcissism yet the unyielding bond of “sisterhood”.

I highly recommend this book, it’s a thriller, who did it ?!!!
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This book just got better and better from the beginning. By the end I was completely in shock. I felt so many feelings throughout this story. Empathy, frustration, joy, affection, closure. This book really had me on the edge of my seat! Just when you thought the book got good, it got better, and better and better!

The story unfolds as three girls are fostered by a woman, Miss. Fairchild (interesting name choice for someone like her, by the way) who looks perfect on the outside but has a wicked and manipulative personality. The three girls do all they can to stick together even if it means being with Miss. Fairchild and enduring trauma and scars that last a lifetime.
The present, 25 years later, the girls are called in by detectives about a body found underneath their foster home. Now they must confront their past to uncover who was dug up and what it could expose which could end it all for them especially when Miss. Fairchild and her manipulation tactics enter the picture.

Thank you Sally Hepworth and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this ARC.

Omg so I read this one a little slowly I had only been reading it in the pool. But WTF. This was a grey book once passed the halfway mark I couldn’t put it down and I finally finished it! First of all the details for each character in this story are amazing! I felt truly invested in each one including the worst, most unlikable character! Then the unfolding of events OMG. Yes yes yes! This is the first novel I read by Hepworth (I read a novella by her while waiting in line at the SS office) and it DELIVERED! Absolutely recommend this one, it releases 04/23/24! I will definitely be reading more Hepworth!

cw: child abuse, toxic household, foster home abuse, child death, drug abuse, suicide attempt, sexual assault, panic attacks, body shaming, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, gaslighting

Moods:
Emotional
Dark
Mysterious
Fast Paced

Darling Girls is a dark, emotional, and fast paced mystery that follows three foster sisters through alternating timelines of past and present. The use of alternating timelines allows you to really get a sense of the abuse that the girls suffered and how it has effected them in adulthood.

The sisters are made to return to their hometown for questioning when human remains are found beneath their foster home.

The story delves into the heartbreaking realities that come along with the foster care system. Miss Fairchild is a dark and abusive foster parent who has her own abusive past that is revealed as well.

The end does have a few twists, which I found to be very well done! One I saw coming, but the other got me.

I recommend this to anyone looking for a fast paced mystery that will keep you turning the pages long after you should have gone to bed.

Excellent mystery. Written in different timelines and from different characters. Sally Hewlett books are always great. Kept me guessing with all the he twists Three girls grow up in a foster home and years later bones are discovered. pulled me right into the story. Very hard to out down.

This book was fabulous! A fast twisty mystery. Sally Hepworth always serves up a crazy story that I can’t get enough of. Loved the three sisters that are the main characters and we get the story told from various viewpoints and several time lines. Plenty of red herrings, suspicious behavior, unlikeable people and just plain insanity. Highly recommend this book for a fun time!

This is my fourth Sally Hepworth, and y'all, this woman can bring the twists. I felt so smart on this one because I thought I'd finally figured one out, and there were still a few twists I hadn't for me to enjoy. And then, AND THEN, the last few pages of this one came. And y'all, I knew nothing. This is a story revolving around three grown women who have returned to their childhood foster home. Living there wasn't a pleasant experience, and they've each tried to move on, but now, human remains have been found. Piecing the story together involves clues and developments from both the past and present, and like I said, it's got one heckuva twist that's going to get everyone talking! Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this April 2024 release.

Darling Girl by Sally Hepworth



As usual, Sally Hepworth doesn’t fail to “deliver” in her latest novel about a “twisted” foster mother and the “darling” girls under her care.

This “character rich” saga alternates between the past, present and a psychiatrist’s office, a setting which leaves us wondering…”who is the patient”, until the very end.

Wild Meadows home is a farmhouse in a rural area, home to Holly Fairchild, a “youngish” woman who has decided to become a foster mother, clearly without a Psych evaluation, or background check! Young Jessica is delivered to her doorstep, , by a social worker, with the promise of a wonderful life. What could go wrong? A beautiful home with a pool. A, seemingly, adoring “mother”. Little Jessica quickly adored all of the attention, and adoration, of “Mother Fairchild” . She became the ultimate “people pleaser” in order to survive the psychological abuse. Then, along came Norah. An older girl, with a family history of sexual abuse, and violent behavior, she was a “scrapper”, with a quirky sense of humor. She learned to use manipulation to get what she wanted. Her strength would be critical to survival in that home. Alicia, sweet and fragile, closer to Norah’s age, arrived when her grandmother/caretaker became ill. Expecting a short stay, it became permanent within a few weeks, when the Grandmother died. Having been doted upon and well-cared for all of her life, this new home is “hell”.

The girls band together to “fight” and form a “sisterly” bond that would, ultimately, save them from that wretched situation, and keep them forever connected.

Oh, did I mention the baby, turned toddler, who suddenly disappeared one day?

Twenty five years later, a call from Police Detectives reignites their old traumas, when the bones of a small child are discovered underneath the former foster home and they reencounter Holly Fairchld, and a few of the other unsavory characters from that chaotic childhood. As adults, they are each still broken in different ways, and still “struggling” to fit into some kind of “normal” life.

You cannot help but fall in love with each of the girls as we follow them into adulthood. They are survivors. They are sisters. Of course, there is a murder, with a twist. Can you guess it? Enjoy the ride.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley for the ARC.

It was my pleasure to provide a review!

I was hovering around 4 stars until the final chapter. I can’t believe that I was surprised by the final reveal. Fooled again. It was the final shocker in a book in which I was successfully misdirected at every turn. How do these authors do it? How do they think of how to trick their readers? Or am I just blind and credulous? I did my best to imagine how the author was going to pull a fast one, but I didn't guess correctly, did I? I really liked that the ending removed some mixed feelings I had about one of the main characters. So I bumped it up. I can’t quite give it 5 stars. Most thrillers have very disturbing content but this one involved child abuse. Mostly it was psychological and very cruel, and almost started to get repetitive and overdone. I can only take so much dread. But as soon as I thought it had crossed the line, a new distracting factor or surprise was introduced. It was very well-constructed, and there was just enough humor to relieve the tension every so often.

This is a dual timeline book wherein we trace the lives of our three protagonists both as children in which the 3 “sisters” survive their horrific childhoods and as adults as we see how their childhoods with their cruel foster mother have damaged them. And every so often we have the therapy sessions of an unknown (at first) person with a psychiatrist who appears to be a little “off”. And I mean the doctor, not the patient. The present-day plot is centered around what happens when the 3 get contacted by a police detective who wants to question the 3 women about some human bones that have been uncovered under the demolished house where the girls grew up.

It started out with a bang. Every time I had to take a break, I couldn’t wait to get back to it. Some books, as much as I enjoy them, don’t have that extra something special: I can put it down and I’m not all that compelled to pick it up again ASAP. All three of the attractive women were very different from each other but utterly devoted to each other. True sisters of the heart. One is kind and good, but insecure and vulnerable and afraid of to open herself up to the possibility of a new family. One is funny and tough, but whose anger issues have reached a point that if she assaults a fellow human one more time, she will end up in prison. The last has control issues, OCD, and a drug problem. She has a very successful, even renowned, business and is married to an apparently nice guy. We learn soon enough that one of these women is a lot more damaged than the others. After a lull in the action, the stakes are raised for the 3 girls and their miserable lives with Miss Fairchild a little over halfway through. A few genuine mysteries develop in the past and the present. Meanwhile, in the present, one of the women’s lives is headed for disaster. The reader really starts getting some gasp-worthy shocks and surprises about 2/3 of the way through, and then it never lets up until the very final pages.

I don’t want to give up any spoilers, but can I say that everything ends up great on all fronts except one? In a very satisfactory conclusion, all questions were answered and all loose ends were tied up. It was a great ending. It was my kind of book. I definitely will be seeking out another of Sally Hepworth's novels.

Darling Girls is a thriller that gives a glimpse into the horrific abuse of a foster home and the three women changed by it. Alicia, Jessica and Norah are sisters but not by blood but choice. First came Jessica, then Norah, and finally Alicia to the foster home of Miss Fairchild. The story is told in alternating timelines featuring all the main characters in the past and in the present. Miss Fairchild is revealed to be a monster who abused the girls that the effects are still prevalent in the current lives. When a dead body is discovered under their former foster home, the girls must return to talk to the police as the past is finally brought to light. The ending contains that extra twist that this author loves to add to the mix to make a page turning, hard to put down roller coaster ride of emotions. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

I absolutely tore through this book so fast, I LOVED it. Darling Girls tells the heartbreaking story of 3 foster sisters and their struggles in adulthood as a result of their upbringing in foster care at the hands of their foster mother Miss Fairchild. Who we mostly hate, and then question, but ultimately still hate. I loved that the author developed each character and their backstories individually as children and as adults. It really added to the overall story. But the TWIST AT THE END THOUGH. I couldn't believe it! I ate it up though, it was the picture perfect ending, albeit awful and heartbreaking, but you are left thinking "yeah, that tracks."

Sally Hepworth does it again! While this wasn’t my favorite by her, it was still stellar. The research Sally does to make her characters come alive really shows and I love the dynamic that she creates between the characters. Awesome book with great twists!

Three young women with sad, challenging backgrounds. A Mrs Trunchbull like character and a buried body make for a psychological thriller.

Do you expect anything but a fantastic book from Sally Hepworth? Me neither. This one did not disappoint (of course).

Slow burn suspense that alternates between past and present of three girls entering the foster care system. Things are not always as they seem, which these girls soon learn. The story then switches to present day as they return to the house in which they spent several years of their lives.

The ending was ✨ perfection, of course. Highly highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for an eARC of this highly anticipated book coming out next year!

And I will say right now, this is my favorite book of hers. It is centered around 3 girls that grew up in foster care. It goes back and forth between the past and present as a dead body is found beneath their old foster home.

The author takes great care in really highlighting the tragedy of foster care, the heartbreak, the bonds, the isolation, as well as the mental health responses as they grow up and age out. 💕

The twists were nice, not over the top or unbelievable. I really really enjoyed this one!

Another Sally Hepworth hit!

I love that with a Hepworth book you know what you're getting yourself in for, but there's always room for a surprise. Even though I guessed the twists fairly early on, I was still hooked in and page-turning. The story centres around three girls who were in the foster system and must now confront their past. The subject matter isn't a light one, but Hepworth is respectful while maintaining that element of mystery.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.

•Darling Girls 👧🏼•

📚Genre: domestic thriller
🤔Rating: 🍺🍺🍺(3/5)
#️⃣ of pages: 368
👯‍♀️ read if you like: family drama & suspense, multiple POVs, unreliable narrators
⚠️TW: child abuse, death of an infant
🗓️Publishing Date: April 23, 2024

👍🏼:
•love alternating timelines
•the ending was a nice twist to wrap everything up!
•kept me intrigued

👎🏼:
•I figured out most of the twists very early on, except the very last one
•didn’t love any of the characters really & didn’t feel connections to them. I love that it was told in multiple POVs but I just didn’t connect with them
•slow start IMO

Overall…
This is one of my favorite subgenres and it just didn’t do it for me. It got better as it went on, but wasn’t one that will live in my mind. The abuse and childhood trauma was a little hard to read at times. It took a while to get me super interested & didn’t feel like an “unputdownable” book (definitely a made up word LOL). It did pick up the last 30-40% and surprised me at the very end.

Special thanks to NetGalley for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review!

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3.5 ⭐️

Anything Sally Hepworth writes automatically takes the top spot on my TBR list!

This book has an intriguing and unique premise. The vivid descriptions made me feel like I was right there with Jessica, Alicia, and Norah at Wild Meadows.

The flashback chapters had me on the edge of my seat, genuinely concerned for the girls' well-being.

Spoiler Alert!
However, I must admit that the final chapter from Miss Fairchild's perspective left me slightly disappointed with the ending. I was confused why she attempted to adopt Amy #2 years later, especially considering her intense jealousy towards Amy #1, which ultimately led to her death.

2.5 stars

We have the traumatic story of a foster home and three girls that end up there.
Although they are mistreated and abused, they decide to stay where they are as they were afraid, with good reason, to be sent somewhere worse (especially since some of them have been in worse places already).

The story is told from two standpoints, the past and the present.
There is a little twist half way through that made the book drop a notch and from there onwards it kept going down.

The writing is good, the stories are compelling and heartbreaking. Sally Hepworth knows how to keep the reader interested and captivated. I can honestly say that for the most part, this is a page turner.

But the last part of the book and the ending was very disappointing for me.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book and I am looking forward to read the next one by Sally Hepworth!

Loved this perfectly paced thriller/mystery about chosen sisters who must confront their evil foster mother and uncover the truth about what really happened when they were girls.