So well written. I loved this book. I read a lot of thrillers and seem to either love them or tolerate them. This one was a definite winner.

This book. SO GOOD. So cleverly written with multiple perspectives. I absolutely could not put it down and had to see where it went. I didn;t guess a single thing, and absolutely loved the way it wrapped up. I have been super picky with thrillers lately and struggling to keep my interest, but after so many good reviews, I can now see why. I can not wait to check out more from this author. Thank you NG for the advanced copy!

Darling Girls tells the story of three adult women who return to the foster home where they were raised following a mysterious discovery. The plot takes a few diversions that don't entirely add up, but it kept my attention until the end when all came together.

3 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow. That was very dark and graphic.

This is my 4th book by this author and my reviews have been mixed. While I think she is really good at writing books full of twists, secrets, lies and drama I hope she doesn’t write anymore books like this because this was not what I expected.

This one centers around three troubled women who are brought together again after some bones of a small child are found under foster home they grew up in as children.

I enjoyed the alternating POVs, back and forth in time periods and the chapters with the psychiatrist. For the most part, I found the story fast paced and it was holding my attention enough for a few stars.

I did not enjoy the child abuse scenes. The foster mother - Miss Fairchild - was a heinous, gaslighting, manipulator. Is the foster care system really this horrific? I hope not.

Lots of triggers in addition to the child abuse. Be prepared.

The ending was very sick and disturbing, which ultimately knocked this down a star.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced copy to read and review.

When Jessica is sent to Wild Meadow farm as a foster child when she’s 5 years old, she thinks she’s found someone to truly love her in Miss Fairchild. It doesn’t take long for her to realize the love Miss Fairchild has for her is obsessive. Trying to please Miss Fairchild is a constant struggle for her. When she’s ten years old, another “darling girl”, as Miss Fairchild refers to them, comes to live with them. Norah is tough as nails, even as an early age. Jessica is booted to the side, as Norah is now the favored one. Shortly after, another darling girl enters the household. Unlike Jessica and Norah, Alicia is well loved by her grandmother, but due to recent health issues, is unable to care for her. The girls form a sisterhood, realizing they must bond together to make it through the manic moods of Miss Fairchild.

Twenty years later, they are called back to Port Agatha when bones were found under the house at Wild Meadows. As they face their past, they must again rely on their strong bond to put closure to their painful memories, and face Miss Fairchild once again. If you enjoy psychologicall thrillers, you should like this one. Thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for an ARC of this one; all opinions are my own.

This is a beautifully written book about the hidden power of women. Characters are well developed and likable. I thought the author did a commendable job interweaving different perspectives throughout the story.

“They might not have been related by blood, but their time together in foster care had made them closer than biology ever could.”

If anyone knows how to write a domestic suspense, it’s Sally Hepworth. Hepworth’s ability to weave a family dynamic into a twisty, all consuming mystery is second to none. The same is true for this story of a fiercely loyal and loving found family. Jessica, Norah, & Alicia are sisters of circumstance, not birth, but that does not diminish the bond that kept them together and helped them escape their incredibly abusive childhood.

“When it came to vengeance, Miss Fairchild preferred to play the long game.”

This story is full of heartbreak and trauma but it’s also full hope and love. There’s humour here too. Yes, it’s used as a vehicle for escape but it also serves to shine a light on these 3 strong and capable women.

“One thing to be said for having a horrific childhood is that pinpointing the happy parts is easy.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were foster children with Miss Fairchild. The girls have stayed close. When a body is found at their old foster home, they come home to unravel what really happened there. I really liked the three sisters.

Enjoyable mystery.

4 Stars

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Sally Hepworth, and St. Martins Press for an #ARC in return for an honest review!

Hepworth has become an auto-read author for me! They are always full of mystery, unsettling characters, and a good plotline that keeps the reader entertained. I really enjoyed the multiple POVS: Jessica, Norah and Alicia who are three unbiological sisters that grew up in a foster home together. They have grown and moved from the terrors of the foster home and Ms.Fairchild. Now 25 years later, they are back together unleashing the traumas that happened to them. And to help identify the bones that were found at their old foster home. The chapters were short and easy to follow. Each character had their own personality and their own space in the story which was nice to see as it all unwrapped. There was lots of emotion as you flipped through the pages. I did not know who to trust and I was suspicious of all occurring. Suspenseful, traumatic, and a bit cozy.

My only iff? I think this got repetitive at times and I wish there were more emphasis on the ending. It felt like it wrapped up too quickly and left some unanswered questions for me.

I think this is a must read this summer! I finished it in one day.

Read if you like:
- Mystery
- Unreliable Narrators
- Multiple POV's
- Dual timelines

Alicia, Jessica and Norah are sisters by choice and have a bond as strong as any connection by blood. The three always had each other’s backs and now as adults, are as tight as ever when the past comes back to haunt them.

This book played with my emotions from fear to sadness to joy. Each character had her own side story that broadened the intrigue between the past and the present. As I’ve come to expect from a Sally Hepworth novel, she has yet again woven together a family drama into a captivating suspense tale that stays with you.

5😁, 5👏 and 5⭐.

Sally Hepworth really has a way with dysfunctional characters and domestic suspense. I adored The Good Sister and Darling Girls was equally brilliant.

Here we have sisters, not biological, but bonded through their childhood in foster care. The girls suffered trauma which is reflected in their adult lives, but because they had and still have each other, they grew up with a support system and are much better for it.

When bones are found in their childhood foster home and the police come knocking, the girls are suddenly reliving the very memories they tried to forget.

The author of this book has a fantastic sense of humor. She's able to make laughable moments without undermining the girls' situation.

The woman who took them in, Miss Fairchild, was not without her own issues and her backstory is interwoven throughout the book.

There were a couple twists I didn't see coming- one in particular that made my jaw drop.

At the end of the day, we have a mystery, well developed characters, well placed humor, and a whole lot of crazy. I highly recommend this novel!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC! I loved it! Review to be shared on Amazon, Bookstagram, Barnes and Noble and Goodreads.

This was a great thriller and an interesting view of growing up with intense trauma. Sometimes stories built around foster care and connection can be difficult to read but this one really balanced the topics well. The ending surprised me and I was on the edge of my seat until the final page, great book! Thanks to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first Sally Hepworth book and will not be my last. I absolutely loved this book. The chapters were short and it flew by. Thanks so much for the review opportunity!

Excellent Twisty Thriller With Uniquely Broken Characters Will Be Far Too Difficult For Some. Straight up, I loved this one. It was so *oppressively* dark, yet done in such a way that even though there is truly little light to be had and also with no supernatural element to the darkness at all... you still want to see exactly what happened to make this tale this way.

The reason it will be difficult for some, perhaps many, is because of the *rampant* child abuse, including some sexual abuse and even a rape - though while "on screen" it is more "dark room" based. Still described, but not as... vividly... as it could have been. Showing that Hepworth *does* show restraint when going even more explicit doesn't add anything further to the actual story. There is also a rather horrifying birth scene, though this is far from the "splatterpunk" / "horror" that one reviewer described it as. Though going further would perhaps spoil what happens there *too* much, so I'll show the same restraint in the review that Hepworth did in the text. If such scenes are difficult for you... this may not be the book for you.

The reason I actually enjoyed the book though was because of how the central characters - three chosen sisters bound not by blood, but by shared trauma and survival- were both broken... and how they used that brokenness as adults, showing that even some of the most difficult times, the darkest times of someone's life, *can* be overcome to varying degrees. Not that any of our adults are truly "normal" healthy - again showing a great deal of reality here - but that they're still, to use a term used to describe Autistics that I truly despise but fits here, "functional". Ish.

Ultimately this is one of those books that will likely prove divisive in at least some groups, but I thought was done well, with the author using so many real world horrors (and yes, in my own work through my church as a teen and just generally being an observant adult, I've seen this and so much worse on occassion) to craft the story she is trying to tell... while showing restraint where further graphic details don't add any more needed information to extract the desired emotions from the reader. Showing that Hepworth truly is a master of her craft, even when she is somewhat intentionally pushing some buttons of some people.

Very much recommended.

I love Sally Hepworth! In Darling Girls, we follow three sisters as they are forced to face their childhood foster home after a body is discovered there. The characters were great and the scenes were emotional, thrilling, and, at times, shocking. This book kept me captivated for sure! Thank you, NetGalley.

Well that was underwhelming. I tend to love Hepworths books, but unfortunately this one fell short for me. There was no real suspense and it was such a slow burn. The child abuse was so sad to read about. Honestly. My least favorite by Hepworth

A big thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy to read and review.

This novel was such a twisty psychological mystery that had me quickly captivated. While I could quickly figured out one piece to the puzzle, I was guessing on some parts to the very end. A great, solid read and I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Three young girls - Jessica, Norah and Alicia - are placed in foster care. They all end up at Wild Meadows and their foster mother is Miss Fairchild. The girls grow close and consider themselves sisters. To the outside world, it looks like the perfect set up, but looks can really be deceiving.

Miss Fairchild is anything but a loving mother. She believes in tough discipline and the girls try desperately to survive each day. When the situation gets out of control, the three are able to get away from her and never look back. They stay closer than any biological sisters could ever be, but the memory of Miss Fairchild’s abuse always hangs over their heads.

The girls are now adults when the unthinkable happens. The police find a body buried under Wild Meadows. Not only do they want to find out the identity of the body, but they think the three women know more than they are saying or possibly even be responsible for the dead body.

Talk about a page-turner! There were so many twists and turns throughout the book. I couldn’t figure out what was going on until the end. I was engrossed until the late hours of the night. The story alternates between the past and the present. It’s so well written and the characters are well-developed.

I’ve only read a couple of Sally Hepworth’s books, but I’ve loved each one. She always manages to hook me in from page one.

Hepworth has become an “auto buy” author for me.





FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Quick and Dirty
-domestic thriller
-contemporary setting with flashbacks
-multi-POV
-sister story
-reads like an Annie retelling

Swipe for the full synopsis!

What Worked
I’ve read and enjoyed Hepworth novels before, so I had no doubt that this book would work for me. She has a knack for creating a suspenseful story with compelling characters that are not too gory or scary (which I prefer). And Darling Girls was no different. The sister storyline was really well done, and their current-day relationship felt authentic and lived-in. Miss Fairchild was a perfect villain, hot then cold and always keeping the girls on their toes much like Miss Hannigan (IYKYK). I found myself easily drawn into the drama and guessing at plot twists the entire listen. And though there were multiple PoVs, I never found it confusing to switch between character narratives. There were MANY things about these character stories that I found FASCINATING from a social worker’s perspective, so anyone with a clinical background will likely enjoy this one. I wanted to be everyone’s therapist. 😂 I found the ending super satisfying, especially the twist on the final pages (no more spoilers I swear).

What Didn’t Work
If I’m being honest, my only issue with this book is super nitpicky. There were several occasions during the flashbacks we are led to believe that a very young child has the reasoning and judgment skills of an adult. As a clinician, this was really hard for me, and I found myself momentarily distracted from the plot. Again, this is very clinical of me, but I struggled with this aspect of the narrative. Other than that, this one worked well for me. It did exactly what a domestic thriller should do!

Darling Girls is a captivating read, with alternate timelines and 3 POVs for our sisters that met in foster care the story sucked me in and wouldn't let me go until I turned the last page. While the tale of how our characters met is sad and horrifying I loved the bonds they built with each other that lasted the test of time. I don't want to say too much about this as I think going in blind will give you the best reading experience. But I will say I loved how the relationships between the sisters, the tension that built when they had to return "home", and all the twists and turns that had me glued to the page. Sally Hepworth has done it again in delivering a compulsively readable story and I can't wait to see what she's going to come out with next!