This book is such a wild ride! Nothing like I was expecting and just so enthralling! I was invested from page one and it didn't let up until the end!!

This story covers three foster girls who end up at Wild Meadows Farm. Each girl learns self-survival and then slowly reaches out to form a bond with each other.

Years later, a crime is discovered that will pull them all together again.

This is my fourth book by this author, and out of the four, one stood out: The Good Sister.

While this book held my interest, it didn’t stand out as unique and one that was hard to forget.

The chapters did include the points of view of each girl, which was nice. But some parts of their stories were interesting, and some, unfortunately, weren’t surprising since I’ve grown to expect certain treatment at these institutions.

As I rounded to the finish line, I was still curious but felt a little 𝓱𝓸-𝓱𝓾𝓶, 𝓸𝓱, 𝓸𝓴𝓪𝔂, 𝓘’𝓶 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓽𝔂 𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽’𝓼 𝓶𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓾𝓹 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓘 𝔀𝓸𝓷’𝓽 𝓭𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓷 𝓲𝓽. Then I put my Kindle down.

Not a remarkable story, but okay.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a chance to read this book before publication. I’m just late in reviewing it. Oops! It was available April 23, 2024.

A dark tale set in an atmospheric house where the lady of the house, Ms. Fairchild, has decided to bring in foster children for extra money. The problem is she is not suited to raise children especially the young girls who are the focal point of the story. Jessica, Alicia and Norah are like sisters although not related and their time in the home has shaped each of them. They each have struggles and when they learn that bones have been found on the grounds of the home, they can’t help themselves in returning to a place they hated. The story bounces between the stories of the girls, now women seeking to know themselves and what they need to do to move forward in their lives.

Sally... I don't think I've ever finished a book of yours and not be fully shocked by the end, even if I didn't like the book that much, you still shocked me.

Without giving too much away, I loved the POV's in this book. I wish the fourth one was a bit more clear at times- sometimes it got jumbled in with the flashbacks, but it was crazy how it all tied in.

Past that, you really get sucked into the girls lives- past and present ones. I loved how each one was different but the same in some ways.

Wow what a great book. It was a little slow but the ending twists were definitely worth it. It was such a gripping story and very well written. I really enjoyed the multiple POVs and past and present scenes.

This was my first book by Sally and I will definitely read more.

Thank you to @stmartinspress for the digital ARC and @macmillan.audio for the audiobook.
This was such a great read for me! I started it in the evening and stayed up until 2:30am to finish it because I couldn't stop reading. The POV rotates and there were great plot twists, some that I saw coming and others that I didn't.
I'm not a fan of gory murder stories, but I enjoy domestic thrillers and this was such a good one.

Sally Hepworth really delves into the darkest corners of Foster care with this one!

The origin stories of the three sisters were all so interesting and unique, I didn't have any trouble keep anything straight throughout this twisty, turny, tale.

Although the twists didn't shock me, they were extremely satisfying.

As dark as this one was, there was still hope and love at the center of it.

I loved this book! It was such a quick read for me. I figured out some of the twists which is why I dropped to 4 stars. I love books that keep you on your toes and questioning everyone and everything. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

Sally Hepworth can do NO WRONG in my eyes! Darling Girls starts off with Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, foster sisters “lucky” to live on a beautiful farm with their foster mom. But no one realizes the tortured they endured and they’d also like to forget. When a body turns up on the property of their childhood home, old memories come flooding back while they face their past.

Beautiful, fast paced story I couldn’t keep my eyes off of! Fully recommend!

Sally Hepworth is a go to & auto-read author. She has deftly honed her craft at creating domestic suspense thrillers!
Darling Girls might be Sally at her best!

Darling Girls take's inspiration from foster care, former children in care's experiences, and the child welfare system. The story of 3 unrelated foster sisters navigating loss and trauma in a chaotic environment is heart wrenching. Now adults, they are called back to the home after bones have been discovered on the site where their foster home once stood.

This was a cleverly laid out tale with subtle layers that build on one another edging readers along in a slow yet compulsive read!

This book was just okay for me, probably 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. The writing didn’t seem as good compared to the last Sally Hepworth I read, but this was a super quick and entertaining read overall.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advance copy of Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth in exchange for this honest review. Darling Girls was released this week on 4/23/24 and is available for purchase now!

I was really looking forward to this one and have read a few titles from Hepworth in the past, and this one didn’t hold up as well as her previous ones in my opinion. It’s a bit of a slow burn, and while I think there was enough difference between our three main characters Jessica, Norah and Alicia, there’s a bunch of side characters that are supporting roles and have too similar names - Anna is the lawyer, we have Amy….why so many A names? Also - how old is Miss Fairchild? I had her pictured as an elderly woman, but she shows up in the present, so she can’t be that old. I also found the inserts with the psychiatrist to be a little “out of the story” and took away from the main plot - eventually it was all revealed, but I don’t know if they added anything to the story.

Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for this review. Darling Girls is out now for purchase!

I have a new favorite Sally Hepworth novel, and Darling Girls is it! Fast paced, completely enthralling, jaw dropping, heart pounding, emotional, horrifying, and twisty. The twists and turns in this book are astounding. I am still wiping the sweat from my brow from trying to figure out all the characters deeply rich, detailed stories. The three sisters who met in foster care did it for me. All completely different, each coming from varying backgrounds, and all emerging at Wild Meadows. Where Miss Fairchild is their foster mother. For Jessica, Miss Fairfield, started out as a warm and caring woman, which quickly turned. Leaving Jessica to cling and want for the love she is now missing. Norah is one tough nut. She has been to hell and back in her early life. Wild Meadows does not have the other intense horror she has experienced in other homes, and she now has a family with Jessica and Alicia. Alicia is spinning. She was only supposed to stay for a brief time, while her Grammy was in the hospital. All three of these brave girls form a bond that can never be broken. They have shared experiences that cannot be shared or understood by others, so they hold onto one another. In adulthood they are just as close. They receive a call from a detective stating they have found a body at Wild Meadows, and they would like to hear about their time spent there. Leading them back to retell their upbringing and the nightmares they experienced at the hands of Miss Fairchild.

I loved the dual timeline. When the three were at Wild Meadows and now. I love that I was able to see how they grew into their adult lives. The trauma that they all experienced still peeking out here and there. You were allowed into the Australian foster care system, which is terribly similar to the American one. You either land in an amazing home with a loving support system or you land in a traumatizing situation that you cannot get out of. This book is phenomenal, and you do not want to miss out. Thank you to Sally Hepsworth and St. Martin's Press for my gifted copy.

Sally Hepworth is a must-read author of mine, and this book did not disappoint! The pages were packed with drama, suspense, and plenty of secrets. The story is told through alternating timelines and multiple POVs, which I think helped the reader understand each main character better. It added more depth to the narrative. I thought the author did an excellent job of bringing to light the many flaws of the foster care system and the impact childhood trauma can have on one's life. Overall, this book was well-paced, grabbed my attention from the beginning, and had enough twists and turns to make me not want to put it down. It was a well-written and exciting four-star read!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

Darling Girls is a gripping read that's impossible to put down. Told from different perspectives and time periods, this was a thrilling, twisty read that kept me guessing. Loved it!

Ominous, gripping and intense!

Darling Girls is a well-executed, intricate thriller that takes us into the lives of foster care sisters Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, as after bones are discovered buried under the home where they were raised, struggle to come to grips with the actions, scars, treatment, repercussions, and tragedies from their childhoods.

The writing is brisk and tight. The characters are troubled, scarred, and vulnerable. And the plot, using a past/present, back-and-forth style, unfolds and unravels quickly into a compelling tale full of twists, turns, lies, secrets, manipulation, obsession, love, loyalty, jealousy, abuse, and murder.

I’ve been a huge fan of Sally Hepworth since I read The Mother’s Promise in 2017, and whether it’s one of her women’s fiction novels or edge-of-your-seat thrillers, such as this latest release, Darling Girls, I am always riveted, entertained, satisfied and highly impressed.

Another great book by Sally Hepworth! I really enjoyed the book all the way through but the last chapter (!!!!!) the ending blew me away!
Thanks NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author for an ARC of this book.

4.5⭐️ I really liked this book. It’s told in multiple pov from the girls which is nice to see their pov from all the different situations they were in. The mystery was well thought out. I guessed the overall mystery ….sort of which was why I gave it 4.5⭐️.
The last chapter I was like 😳.
Will definitely be reading more of her books.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc.

Sally Hepworth never disappoints! This book was full of all sorts of twists and turns. I kept thinking I had it figured out but then another twist and I was back to square one! Very well written and exciting!

Okay, I get the Sally Hepworth hype now. I haven't been super impressed by some of the other things I've read by her, but this was an absolute un-put-downable psychological thriller. Twists galore, I really did not know how this was going to end and finished the entire thing in one day!

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are bonded by their traumatic childhood at Wild Meadows. Once foster children under the care of Miss Fairchild, they formed a tight sisterhood through the abuse they suffered at the hands of their caretaker. Now, Wild Meadows has been torn down, but in the process bones were found under the house. The three sisters find themselves at the center of the investigation and forced to relive traumatic memories as the police try to understand why there would be bones there in the first place.

From the unreliability of every narrator, three-person plot line, and dual timeline of the book, this was fast-paced and one where I'd say "just one more chapter" to try and circle back to the cliff hanger we were left off on.

I was so satisfied by the way literally every small detail came together into a nicely tied bow at the end. There is nothing more satisfying than when an author mentions a detail that you don't really think will be important and brings it back as a giant important detail in the end.

If you are in need of a good mind bender where you're not quite sure who to trust, put this on your TBR!