Holy wow! Sally Hepworth does it again! No one can deliver a surprise ending quite like Sally and Darling Girls didn’t disappoint. I was quickly sucked into this one and loved the multiple POV!

I couldn't put it down! I loved the twists and turns of the story. When I initially read the summary, I was worried it would be so hard since the foster care system doesn't have the best reputation in thriller books. This book was a great summer read and a bingeworthy thriller. I loved it and the imperfect characters.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I’ve read several of Sally Hepworth’s books and this is my favorite of hers by far. It is twisty and suspenseful so I found myself fully engaged throughout.

Another great read by Sally Hepworth. I have read one other book by her and I loved it. I was excited to see she a new one and couldn’t wait to get right into it. I need books that will grab me from the beginning. I tend to be a bit impatient when it comes to books that I have to wait for a twist or if I need to wait for it to bring me in.

I really liked how dark this story was. I have not read many books about foster homes; let alone a murder happening here. This one started off as a slow burn for me. I loved how close Jessica, Alicia, and Norah. Each of these women is so different but even with being at the foster home at some point, they all had very different upbringings. The story is dark, eerie and Hepworth had the reader wondering who the dead body was. When it was revealed the age of the body, I was shocked. This is when I could not put the book down! The story unfolded flawlessly and shockingly! I loved the ending of this one.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Sally Hepworth for my eARC!

Very interesting book, it was very captivating and thrilling. I kept wondering what was going to happen next and wanted to keep reading, it kept me guessing throughout the book.

I have heard nothing but good things, so when this matched up with a Summer Reading Challenge, I jumped at the chance to finally read it.
I loved everything about this book. The characters, the settings, the side characters. I rooted for everyone, and hated who I was supposed to hate.
I think this is a good, fast paced read for any thriller lover. The only issue I found, was that the final reveal, before the FINAL twist, fell a little flat for me. Just a bit anti-climatic to me. But I did enjoy how it all played out and came together.

This is a book about sisters born from different wombs.
Due to family tragedies, three young girls are put into foster care and are placed under the roof of Miss Fairchild. From the outside, the girls seem to live an idyllic life but in reality, Miss Fairchild is cruel, manipulative, and abusive. Their mistreatment occurs for 2 years, until the girls run to the police.
Fast-forward 25 years and the girls still haven't healed from the emotional scars left by their evil foster mother. Jessica owns a home organizing business, but is sabotaging her own success. Norah earns a living by helping people cheat on IQ and psychometric testing and has violent tendencies. Finally, Alicia turned to a helping profession but is scared to let people into her life. All 3, while very different from each other, have an unbreakable bond. One day, the police reach out to the 3 women to let them know that their former foster home was being torn down and during excavation a body was found. Now, they must return to the town they avoided for most of their lives to help uncover the mystery of the murdered child and face their own traumas.
Despite the depressing plot, the story was really good. The women were relatable, there was a lot of suspense, and some parts made me laugh. Also, I did not predict the twist at the ending.
Well done Sally Hepworth! What a darling girl!

“Even after all these years, yearning for the love and attention of someone who couldn’t give it to her was much more comfortable than actually receiving it.”
― Sally Hepworth, Darling Girls

Told from the points of view from each sister, I enjoyed getting their perspective of the events that unfolded. Jessica was the people pleaser, the rule follower, and the leader. Norah was snarky, and the hot head. And Alicia was the quiet one, but very compassionate The bond between the sisters was refreshing to see given their living circumstances and trauma as children. Miss Fairchild was a real piece of work, and you could feel the tension through each sister’s perspective when she entered the room.

I really liked that the story was told not only in multiple perspectives, but in the past and present. Each sister had different personalities, and I liked that they were distinctive. Sally Hepworth managed to create a dark, and twisted family tale. This was the authors darkest book yet that I’ve read given the content. I could not look away, because I wanted to see how the story ended. I was not prepared for the last chapter of the book. I thought I had every question answered, but was delightfully mistaken.

This author is fast becoming a favorite of mine. With a knack for writing good suspense, this one kept me guessing and surprised me in the best possible way. Looking forward to what's next.

I highly recommend reading this book, as the twists and turns were plentiful!! I read this book late into the night, and the ending was well worth it!!

Thank you NetGalley, and the author for an Arc of this book which I had the pleasure of reading!

First, I love Sally Hepworth, so I was so excited to get an ARC of this title. This title started out a little slow and didn't feel like the typical Sally Hepworth novel which was leaving me perplexed, but it still drew me in and I could not stop reading. I was invested in these sisters and the mystery. I'll be honest, I'm a bit of a lazy reader and usually don't have much of an inclination to be an arm chair detective, preferring instead to just go with the story and let it unfold for me. However I kept trying to puzzle out for myself what had happened with that ending leaving me reeling!! This is a book I will be recommending to everyone for summer reading!

Told from alternating viewpoints with one being a patient speaking with a psychiatrist, this story was incredible! I’m not surprised though because Sally knows how to draw us in and keep us going until the very last page.

Three girls put into a foster home with Miss. Fairchild, experience life through abuse and heartache. Jessica, Alicia and Norah grow up to all have issues – who doesn’t but, these issues are due to their life of being in the foster care system, especially with regard to Miss Fairchild. Their lives as children was hard and it still gets to them. Years later there are bones discovered under Miss Fairchild’s house. The girls take a trip and speak with detectives on the case. And life becomes even harder. Whose bones are they though? Is it the sweet little girl they helped take care of that suddenly disappeared or another foster child? Though trying to act as though they’ve moved on, they haven’t – their lives are still entwined into the terrible years that they dealt with Miss Fairchild.

This story was so good and well developed. The plot, the characters and the tension was perfectly placed. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, once again Sally kept me intrigued and wanting to read more. Most definitely recommend for the elements of suspense and mystery perfectly intertwined with a story of hope and recovery. Four stars for this gem!

This is unlike the thriller I expected it to be. It is more like a family/generational suspense, told in dual timeline. I really enjoyed all three of the sister characters, and the Mommy Dearest villain was fun to hate. There was good character development, and the story kept me interested throughout. Overall, it was a good, solid suspense novel!

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth is a thriller about three foster sisters that were raised together by Miss Fairchild. As adults, they had a lot of issues due to the way they were treated by Miss Fairchild. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, they go back to help figure out what happened. While there, they have to face the way they were treated, and the way they are as adults now. I have read several of this author's books now, and this is definitely one of her best. I really enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Ever since the mother in law I’ve read all off Sally Hepworths books. Darling Girls was a fantastic read. From the first lines I was sucked into Darling girls. 3 foster sisters Alicia,, Norah, and Jessica return to their childhood foster home of Ms. Fairchild after a body is discovered . Secrets and murder which sister did it…

Title: Darling Girls
Author: Sally Hepworth
Source: DRC via Netgalley (St. Martin’s Press) in exchange for an honest review
Publication Date: April 23, 2024
Synopsis: Goodreads
Purchase Link: Amazon

Other books by this author: The Good Sister, The Younger Wife, The Soulmate

Why did I choose to read this book?

This book was emailed to me directly from St. Martin’s Press without me even having to request it! Of course I was going to read it because Sally Hepworth has a way of reaching inside my brain, finding each and every one of my insecurities and fears, and ripping them out as I read them on the page. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press!

What is this book about?

This book explores gaslighting, emotional and verbal abuse, and the horrors of the foster care system. It’s set in Australia but Hepworth could really be writing about anywhere.

What is notable about this story?

This is the most horrifying book by Hepworth that I’ve read yet. Honest to Christ how does this woman know how to write manipulation so fucking well? Reading about Miss Fairchild and their foster home was like reading a horror novel about a haunted house. These three girls/women (the story is told in multiple POVs and between their past and the present) went through so much and even as adults people in authority weren’t going to believe them. WILD.

The handling of the trauma that each of the girls carried with them was so well done in the writing. I don’t know how to explain it but I really appreciated that I never viewed any of the women as their trauma/behaviors. Right from the start it’s clear that these are not behaviors that they chose for themselves, they are things they do to just get by and survive and in the end they just became a part of who they thought they were. THIS IS SO REAL. If you’ve never experienced the kind of abuse that is in this story I need you to know that overcoming that kind of psychological manipulation is a life’s work and some people never crawl out from under the weight of it.

THE ENDING TO THIS BOOK IS WILD HOLY SHIT – I’m not gonna spoil it but Hepworth had me right in the palm of her hand and I’m STILL salty about it.

Was anything not so great?

I probably shouldn’t have read this book, but I trusted Hepworth to give me an ending that helped me find closure (MOSTLY, again I’m still salty about it). Everything about this book is exceptionally well done: the writing, the plot, the character development and investment, all of it was well done. I was glued to the pages right until the end.

BUT if you’ve had emotionally or verbally abusive relationships, or perhaps grew up in a household that utilized these techniques to keep you under control, or if you’ve had firsthand experience with the foster care system but not in a good way, please consider this a HUGE trigger warning. I’ve had years of therapy and it still hit me in tender areas.

What’s the verdict?

Five stars on Goodreads. Sally Hepworth is a genius and no one can convince me otherwise. I hope St. Martin’s Press decides to send me whatever she’s cooking up next, because I can’t wait.

A psychological thriller that had me flummoxed until the end! Not only is it a mystery thriller, but its also the story of a sisterhood forged by three young girls who were placed together in a foster home. Listening to interviews by Sally Hepworth, I know she put in the work to understand the impact of being placed in the foster care system and that came through so organically in all the characters in this book. When a discovery is made at their old foster home, the girls return together to fill in any pieces they could for the investigation.
The story is as much about the lives of Jessica, Norah and Alicia as it is about the murder mystery. The character development of where they came from to where they are today flows flawlessly through the book. With multiple timelines and POVs the story delves into their lives, their traumas, their bond forged together by living under the unpredictable Mrs. Fairchild. And an ending that totally took me by surprise!

Sally Hepworth knows how to build a story. I loved the multiple perspectives and timelines. The end was great.

I have yet to meet a Sally Hepworth novel that I didn't like. She is masterful at creating suspense and throwing in twists you don't see coming which is really important for me as a reader of suspense. I like to be surprised. I thought the premise of the book was interesting, and the character development was fantastic- I really felt like I knew these women by the end of the book. I think this might be Sally Hepworth's best book yet. I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys suspense!