Wow. Darling Girls is easily Sally Hepworth’s best yet!

I loved the narrative style and the way the plot progressed through alternating POVs and a mystery therapy session. This book had twists upon twists that kept me guessing and engaged. I loved the bond between Jessica, Norah, and Alicia. Their personalities were so well written and their coping mechanisms as adults perfectly matched the way they’d grown up, correlating with the amount of actual love they’d received as children. The ending left me shocked with my mouth hanging open.

I am impressed with Hepworth’s ability to present an intense psychological thriller, while also shining an important light on the foster care system. Highly recommend!

Note: This book contains multiple triggers including sexual assault, child abuse, child death, sexual extortion, substance abuse, and more.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed following the girls individual stories. It was detailed but I was immediately hooked from the first few chapters. The build up was steady and jarring, slowly drawing your attention to all the small red flags that amounted to the discovery of what really happened.

I really loved all the characters and their flaws but I am over the pill popping characters. It’s a very slippery slope people fall into but it seems that all professional, traumatized, women in books lately have a drug abuse issue.

I really appreciate the author thanking the people she spoke to while doing research. This shows she really wanted to tell a story that would help others see what children in foster care struggle with.

When Jessica, Alicia, and Norah get called by police to return to their former foster home because bones were found under the house, their seemingly well ordered lives begin to fall apart. For Jessica, the business she runs seems ripe for disaster because of thefts. For Norah, she can’t control her anger issues. For Alicia, her unwillingness to see herself as lovable could cost her the most important loves of her life. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

As always, I enjoyed this thriller by Sally Hepworth. Each of the three girls has a distinct character as does the foster mother. There were these random sections where a therapist was talking to a woman and I wasn't sure how this fit into the book for quite some time. Other than that, the story is extremely interesting and easy to dive into. I was quickly hooked.

Sally Hepworth has done it again ! I loved this book. I read it in a day. It was really hard to put down this psychological thriller. I thought the storyline with the bond of the foster care sisters and their relationship with their foster mom was unique and different compared to other thrillers I have read this summer. I highly recommend picking this book up.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review

Can Sally Hepworth do anything wrong? She is an auto-by author for me, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

This was my first Sally Hepworth novel and I was not disappointed. I enjoyed the bond the sisters had. I guessed the twist pretty early but was thrown for a loop at the very end. Very twisted but very good. Thanks for the opportunity to read this.

Sally Hepsworth does it again! This is a psychological thriller that will have you skimming ahead because your anxiety needs to know what’s coming 🫣 t

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The plot shifts from present to past between the three female protagonists. While it is sometimes difficult to alternate storylines, I found it easy to follow.

I’m still recovering from this ending. These three girls endured so much and my heart hurt for their childhood upbringing.

TW: child abuse, narcissistic parent, negative foster care experience

Thank you to St Martin Press for the ARC!

Lots of details…A very slow read…a bit wordy for my taste.

The plot is good with plenty of drama and suspense…but a very slow build up.

I received this book via NetGalley in response for an honest review. Sally Hepworth has done it again. She manages to write well written and fleshed out characters with a story to match. So many newer thriller writers toss together a problem and a twist and readers eat it up, but Hepworth actually delivers substance. The story was harrowing and sad but also a celebration of the bond of families and created families. Of course, a few delicious twists add to the devour-ability of this latest. Brava!!

Much thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Sally Hepworth is and will forever be one of my favorites authors. Such a way to her writing that just connects. This one was no different. Recommend.

I really enjoyed this book. From the very beginning, it had my attention. The plot kept me interested the whole way through, which is sometimes difficult to do. I would have devoured this book in one sitting if I had the time to. Really interesting storyline, with a good twist at the end!

Fantastic! This book will tether you to your chair. Be sure a pot is not on the stove waiting to boil, or a cake in the oven ready to be removed and cooled, or your family is awaiting dinner! Sally Hepworth is a gifted story teller and she writes with clarity, humanity and warmth. The way she wove the storyline was exceptional. Brava! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for granting me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I was fortunate enough to receive this book by Sally Hepworth, an ARC through Net galley and the story did not disappoint, The story weaves together the story of 3 girls in the foster care system and their story of hope, strength and survival. Jessica is the one that seems to have her life totally together despite her upbringing. Norah is a fighter right from the beginning and still trying to stay out of jail and get on the right path. And Alicia, the one that knows what love is and wants the world around her to experience it too. Its a story of having to face the reality of their past and what happened to them all and finally receive justice. This is a great read that I am sure has some very strong truths in it that we can relate too. Thank you again for letting me read and review this book.

Wowwwwww!!!! This is my first Sally Hepworth book & I will most certainly be reading all of her other books. I was hooked from the first chapter. The twist in this book blew my mind. Being able to connect with all the characters & feel their pain is amazing.

For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. All three had been through tragedies that brought them together under the care of their foster mother Ms. Hepworth.

But their childhood wasn't the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. All three girls endured emotional and physical abuse. Reuniting years later when a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrown into the media and a court case as prime witnesses. I can’t give much more away but they face the question of you can really burry your past….

As usual Hepworth draws the readers in with her suspense, flawed characters and surprise endings! This wasn’t my favourite of hers but that’s not saying it’s not worth a read.

Excellent and engaging! I love this author and she did not disappoint. The story follows three girls as they navigate being foster children under a Mommy Dearest type—fast forward and a body is found under the home and the now young women are called on to help solve the mystery. Highly recommend!

This book was excellent. I read it in a few days. It was fast moving and you really felt like you got to know the characters from children through adulthood. The book did not disappoint with twists and turns. In the style of Sally's other books, many of the characters are likeable, quirky and flawed at the same time. And the premise was one I had not come across before in a thriller. All of this combined to make a wonderful. sit on the edge of your seat read.

5 stars...obviously.

I can't get enough of Sally Hepworth, and it's no surprise that I couldn't restrain myself from reading this one way sooner than my spreadsheet should have allowed. No regrets, though. This is the best one yet.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are sisters who share perspectives throughout the course of this gripping novel. Hepworth moves seamlessly between each woman's story not only in the present but also in the distant past, and the organizational fortitude is exceptional, not to mention the well-timed revelations that unfold throughout these coexisting timelines. These women arrive at their sisterly bonds in a somewhat untraditional manner: as foster children under the charge of the fiercely memorable, deeply disturbing, and ironically named Ms. Fairchild. Ms. Fairchild's brand of torture is creative and sinister, and the impacts are obvious not only on the girls who face it directly but also on the women they become.

While all of the characters are well drawn and memorable, Norah is a highlight. Even the way she names her dogs is awesome. It's impossible not to root for all of the sisters, but the variations in their presentation make them especially appealing to different audiences, and this is another wise move on Hepworth's part.

My goal is always to know as little as possible about the books I'm reading, especially when they're penned by someone whose work I adore, and that was the correct approach with this one. The reveals are part of what makes this novel a real standout among an already stellar collection of Hepworth's works. I recommend this one highly, though folks sensitive to child abuse in any form should be mindful of the content. The primary focus is a combo of psychological and emotional child abuse, but there are also descriptions of physical abuse and mentions of sexual assault and rape.

I was in a huge reading slump. I hadn’t even finished a single book in the last month. Then along came a new book by Sally Hepworth. Once again, she knocks it out of the park with this one. I was instantly hooked!

The story follows three girls, Jessica, Alicia, and Norah. It goes back and forth between their childhood and the present.

The three girls grow up together in the foster care system on a farmhouse, Wild Meadows, with Miss Fairchild. The girls endure psychological abuse by their foster mother.

Fast forward to the present and the three women are brought together again to face the awful woman who raised them when some bones are unearthed under the farmhouse they grew up in.

The big question, whose bones are they and how did they end up there? Follow the story as the mystery unravels with a jaw-dropping ending that you don’t want to miss.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Sally Hepworth for the digital reviewer’s copy in exchange for my candid thoughts.