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.

Omg!!!! I love Sally Hepworth, imo she can do no wrong and this book is no exception! It tells the tale of a trio of foster kids and their experience while staying with Miss Fairchild and how that also has molded them into the adults they are today. Maybe a bit dysfunctional (who isn’t?!) but one good takeaway is the bond they forged, stronger than blood. Their lives are spiraling out of control and to top it all off, the police want to talk to them about their time with Miss Fairchild when grisly discovery is made. They’ll have to confront the past to get through to the other side.

I've been a fan of Sally Hepworth since The Family Next Door and have rushed to read each new book ASAP.

The Darling Girls centres around three sisters Alicia, Jessica and Norah. They each gave their issues. They aren't really sisters, but called themselves sisters due to the close bond they formed while being fostered as children by the unpredictable Miss Fairchild.

When human bones are found on the site of the house they were fostered in, they are forced to face up to memories from the past. Whose bones are they and who buried them?

With three adult main characters and flashbacks to their time in foster care it isn't the fastest start, but when it gets going...Wow!

This is by far the darkest Sally Hepworth book I've read, life wasn't kind to the three sisters in Miss Fairchild's care. This is closer to Lucinda Berry's dark and disturbing territory than Sally Hepworth's signature sunny domestic noir and I loved it!

Great characters that we empathise with, an intricate plot, humour and big twists.

Once I got hooked I couldn't put it down.

Very powerful, moving, shocking and thoroughly entertaining!

Definitely recommended.


Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press

Alicia, Jessica, and Norah are sisters who from the outside look like your typical mostly high-functioning adults with some moderate issues. From the inside, there’s a past involving a shared foster home with an unpredictable, narcissistic foster mother. They thought they had left their past behind them until a set bones were discovered underneath their foster home and were called by police for questioning. Now they have to face the demons inside of themselves and each other…

This is hands down my favorite Sally book. Masterfully written, I could not put this down!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced release copy. Out April of 2024, this is definitely one for the TBR.

Now excuse me while I go tell all my friends how they need to buy this book….

A great read! I love when a book gets started really early on. I wanted to know MORE every time I finished a chapter. I loved how each of the three main characters were very different and loved the POVs as adults and as kids!

This was a fun murder mystery book. The twists and turns were entertaining. I liked that the girls showed true trauma from their circumstances. Definitely some triggering circumstances in this book but a good read for mystery/thrillers lovers.

In Darling Girls, Sally Hepworth creates an intricate and enticing plot centered on unraveling the mystery related to the childhood of three sisters, Jessica, Alicia, and Norah (with an h), who grew up in foster care under the supervision of Miss Fairchild. Hepworth does such skillful work of developing each character’s backstory and personality traits in a way that makes them distinct and endearing in their own ways. She builds the mystery by shifting from past to present unveiling each sister and her story intermingling humor with the often disturbing details of their childhood. The fierce loyalty of the sisters for one another provides light to the darkness of the traumas each has endured and inspiration in their ability to love, thrive, and survive. The mystery that draws the sisters back to Port Agnes makes the book terribly hard to put down. Like all of Hepworth’s works, the story and characters have a magnetic pull that draws readers in to the book’s world. The resolution does not disappoint and provides well placed surprises along the path. The novel itself reminds us of the power of sisterhood, well-placed loyalty, facing past trauma, and resilience. Hepworth’s presentation of the foster care system portrays both the shortcomings and darkness as well as the potential successes and light that can result.

Alicia, Jessica and Norah appear like your average grown women but underneath the facade they have some deep trauma dating back to their childhood. The women grew up together in a foster house but it wasn’t a happy ending aside from the bond the three women were able to form. When bones are discovered underneath that fateful house, they’re thrust back into the past and forced to face their demons. And secrets. Whose bones are they? Who’s responsible?

I adore this book. I adore Sally Hepworth. I adore all the feelings she was able to invoke with one book. So many feelings especially in the last 50% of the book. The way everything came together in the end was simply beautiful and truthfully not one I saw coming. A beautiful story about family and friendship which is always an added bonus for a mystery/thriller. Overall, a 4 star read because it was a pretty slow start but once Hepworth hooks you, SHE HOOKS YOU.

Thanks so much St Martin's Press and NetGalley.

Alice, Norah, and Jessica share a bond as they all were with Miss Fairchild as foster children. Now adults, a detective has informed them that a body has been discovered under the farmhouse of their old foster home. They are unexpectedly brought back to the past and to Miss Fairchild herself.

This book is hard to read at times, and is a powerful reminder of how children need to be protected. Told from multiple POVs in the past and the present, there are so many layers to the plot. You really get to know the main three characters. This a mystery story with an ending that is surprising!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this free digital copy for my honest review of this story.

Oh, my gawd is this a story! This story grabs you from the very beginning and doesn’t let you go. Sally Hepworth has a way of doing that. On the seat of my pants I flip page by page wondering what will happen next. Hepworth incites anger at the broken foster care system, foster care parents, parents who abandon their children to this system and the lives these children live as a result of their lives in foster care. Then she demonstrates the love that the heroes of the foster care system provide.

74% into this story and I am nauseous and furious enough to stop reading but still want to know how this is going to end for these 3 young women. And who wouldn’t want to know about the bones?

In the end the reader has a tangle of emotions for what children in foster care live through, the effects these emotions carry over into their adult lives and how many appreciate the love provided to them by their foster families. Three foster children that grow into strong adult women but with such a strong bond to their foster sisters, possibly even stronger than some natural siblings.

I enjoy Sally Hepworth's books so "Darling Girls" was a must read. The story has a central mystery of whose bones are found under an old foster house and the characters and scenarios are crushingly authentic. Things happened to foster children in this story that were so painful I had to skip through them. Like Hepworth's other stories, I read this in one sitting. Powerful, dark, and disturbing, I highly recommend this for readers of psychological suspense thrillers and Hepworth fans. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read this incredibly captivating story!! For fans of Those Girls- Chevy Stevens and The Secrets of us- Lucinda Berry!

Alicia, Jessica and Norah are adults now. Incredibly close sisters who met in foster care in a small farm town. Miss Fairchild (mommy dearest) was their guardian and now they are called back as a body has been found on the property. We then get an in debt look into their time at the farm and what a heartbreaking story it is!

This story was one of my favorites this year and I’ve read 180 books. Gut wrenching with an unexpected twist at the end!

This book is classic Sally Hepworth. Twisty and dark, yet with characters who have depth that you can’t help but root for. Darling Girls, for me, had a lot of quiet tension. There’s obviously the huge questions of whose bones were found under the house and how did they get there. There are also questions about how each of the adult foster children are going to work through their issues. What I appreciated the most is that the reader gets full closure on this book. There are no unanswered questions and you do not have to imagine an ending for any of the characters…the author is gracious enough to tie up all the loose ends in a very satisfying way. It’s very well-written, too…the descriptions are so vivid that I could picture everything in my mind. This would make a great miniseries if Netflix or Amazon Video wanted to take it to the screen!

A few caveats before I tell you to go read this immediately. First, it’s dark and there is child abuse. Reader, know thyself. If certain themes make your stomach turn, go research the trigger warnings on this one. Second, do yourself a favor as you begin reading and jot down a few reminders about who is who. In the early stages of the book, I had a little trouble keeping everyone straight (particularly Alicia and Norah for some reason).

Summary: This was an absorbing, captivating read. I read it in an afternoon to the complete neglect of all my other responsibilities. If you like dark psychological thrillers, this one is very well done! Fans of Sally Hepworth will love this one!

To the publisher-thank you for the ARC. Also, well done on the cover. Whoever designs the covers for Sally Hepworth’s books does a wonderful job of making them eye-catching and appealing.

DARLING GIRLS was another winner by Sally Hepworth, who is quickly becoming an auto-buy author for me. This multiple POV thriller was a fast, engaging read - the story flowed seamlessly between the different characters and raced to a surprise ending.

Similar to her other books, Sally Hepworth has a way of writing that sucks a reader in quickly. Despite her recent books being thriller-esque in nature, her writing has an authenticity and believability that feels as if her stories could happen anywhere. This is part of the delight of reading one of her novels!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review DARLING GIRLS!

I received a ARC from NetGalley of Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth. I devoured this book! Definitely a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ book for me. Amazing character development and told from multiple points of view. I am a big fan of this author and she did not disappoint with this book! I loved how the book flowed and went back from present to past. I found myself tearing through the pages to see what would happen next. Thank you NetGalley!