This book was truly amazing, another page turner from this author. Thrilling, character-driven, twisty, full of secrets and impossible to put down.

Thank you St. Martin's Press Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this gifted copy.

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This book has a compelling mystery that surrounds three sisters. As the tale unfolds we get glimpses into their experiences as foster children and why their bond is so strong. This storyline centers on a hard look into the dark side of the foster care system. All three characters were well developed and I found myself eager to pick up the story to find out what would happen next.

Ah yes. Sally Hepworth has done it again. This was a cleverly written domestic suspense novel. It had a different feel as the primary characters met in a foster home and that lent to the development of the overall storyline.

The book is told in alternating timelines and also from alternating perspectives. All of this helps to give the reader tid bits of information that they otherwise wouldn't have. It all helps to build the case for what the story is in the present day. Yet, there are some nice twists along the way as well.

I hesitate in saying too much in this review because I strongly believe this book should be enjoyed without too much advance knowledge. I will say it was a fun read and kept me entranced.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The narration was perfect for this book. The voices truly captured the characters and were different enough to help follow the change in characters during the story. 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the audiobook and ebook.

I really enjoyed this book! I thought that the pacing was really nice and the entries from the psychiatrist aligned really well towards the end as everything was coming together.

I was a little bummed at the end thinking really? That’s it? But omg the last chapter changed those thoughts completely!

I also really liked how we got the point of view of each sister but also that we were left guessing the twists and turns till the very end!

Overall I loved this book and I’m so glad that I got to read it.

"Darling Girls" is a captivating story that explores the complexities of sisterhood, the shadows of foster care, and the haunting nature of long-buried secrets. Sally Hepworth expertly weaves a narrative that spans both past and present, revealing the intricate lives of three women who are bound by their shared childhood experiences. Hepworth's narrative is a maze of twists and turns, with each revelation more surprising than the last. The characters are well-developed, with unique personalities and believable relationships forged in adversity. The dual timelines are skillfully handled, maintaining suspense and intrigue throughout the novel.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sally Hepworth is another go to author that hardly disappoints me.

This story is about three girls, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, who are sent to a foster home. Miss Fairchild was their foster mother and they lived on an idyllic farm. Jessica was the first of the girls to arrive and was eager to make Miss Fairchild happy and they quickly formed a bond until the next girl came. Miss Fairchild quickly manipulated the girls against each other and employed evil tactics to make sure she kept them in line. The girls still formed a close and unique bond over the years and tried to put the past behind them. Until one day they get call informing them that the remains of a body have been found at the foster home they grew up in. They’re asked to go back and answer questions and they have to relive and uncover all the years of abuse they endured while at that house. Each sister is dealing with their own personal issues as they try and figure out who this body is. Could it have been one of them? That’s what I quickly wanted to learn. Told in alternate POVs and timelines, the story quickly unfolds.

I found it gripping, fast paced, easy to follow, and full of mystery. I loved the bond the three sisters formed out of a traumatic childhood. I loved the psychological thrills in this story that kept the compelling storyline feeling even more heartfelt for the girls. If you love this author’s other books, I think you’ll enjoy this one too.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the opportunity to read this book in advance in exchange for my own opinions.

This book was so good I managed to finish it within three days 🙈 I found myself so engaged that it was hard to put down ! This one is definitely my favorite Sally Hepworth novel. I’m not usually a fan of domestic thrillers but I really loved this one. I really enjoyed this one all the way through but the ending really caught me by surprise !

Hepworth is exceptional at taking very different characters and weaving their stories together in such a way that just feels dare I say, perfect. This story is no different. Jessica, Norah (with an H) and Alicia could not be anymore different but they all find themselves in the foster care of one, Miss Fairchild. We witness these three strangers whether through trauma and turmoil to forge a bond of sisterhood that would last them in to adulthood. Beautiful and thrilling who done it. Just and all around good and easy read. I enjoyed it so much, I even bought the audiobook when it came available🫣

i had well and truly written off this book as i pieced at all together it was obvious, and i felt that way up until the last 1 pages. WHAT!!! this book had me entertained but it felt predictable and like something was falling short or not adding up. but then there it is as the finale! alicia, jessica, and norah are forced to return to their foster home when bones are found under the house 15 years later. they all had different but terrible experiences there that impacted how they grew up, and returning unleashes all those feelings again.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told by their social workers that they’re lucky to be in the care of Miss Fairchild at the Wild Meadows foster home, but they soon find out that it was a lie when their foster mother turned into an abusive monster.

Now twenty five years later, they’re all summoned back to Wild Meadows because a body was found underneath the home and homicide detectives want to hear their story. Bringing those traumatic memories back to the surface gives readers a glimpse back in time from each of the women and shows how the girls went from strangers, to bonding for safety, and finally becoming sisters.

I’ve only read one other book by Sally Hempworth, but this one felt genuinely dark and twisty. The layers of suspense kept me reading, the rotation of memories kept me guessing, and the ending was breathtaking. This book is one of the best that I’ve read all year!

This was such a great thriller. While the suspense was a slow burn, I was still glued to the pages to find out what was going on. The characters were well developed, and I enjoyed their sisterly bond. This book does have some darker themes, and shows you the awful, and unfortunate realities that can occur in the foster care system. I thought that the end of the book was done well, and I enjoyed the twist. I would definitely recommend this one!

Read if you enjoy:
✔️Multiple POVs
✔️Nonlinear timelines
✔️Secrets
✔️Slow burn suspense

Thank you @Netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC!

📱 Darling Girls 📱⁣
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⁣Genre- Thriller. ⁣
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⁣Length- 368 pages. ⁣
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⁣My thoughts- If I had to sum up Darling Girls in two words it would be dark and twisted! Three sisters each receive a call from the police after a body is found buried at their former foster home. This story is told in a series of flash backs intermingling with the present day story line and I was completely addicted! ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣This book depicts a lot of child abuse. Sally did a good job balancing this with the present day characters- strong, smart, women who are dealing with their horrific pasts in their own ways. They aren’t perfect, but I really enjoyed each of the sisters! ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Darling Girls was a good book and a wild ride! Four stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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⁣Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of Darling Girls in return for my honest review. It publishes today!

Wow. Just wow. This was something.
Nobody does a psychological slow burn novel like Sally Hepworth. With the first line of the synopsis as … Sisters, Secrets, Love and Murder you know it is going to be good.

Darling Girls checked all the boxes for a very unputdownable novel. It had multiple POV (which I loved). Dual timelines (then and now), which is so great for peeling back the story like layers. Plus a handful therapy interview segments mixed in.

With the handful of characters I was worried at the beginning I wouldn’t be able to keep the straight but after just a few chapters I had no issues.

Thank you St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this early eARC copy to read and review! Darling Girls is out now.

Wow. Just wow. This was something.
Nobody does a psychological slow burn novel like Sally Hepworth. With the first line of the synopsis as … Sisters, Secrets, Love and Murder you know it is going to be good.

Darling Girls checked all the boxes for a very unputdownable novel. It had multiple POV (which I loved). Dual timelines (then and now), which is so great for peeling back the story like layers. Plus a handful therapy interview segments mixed in.

With the handful of characters I was worried at the beginning I wouldn’t be able to keep the straight but after just a few chapters I had no issues.

Thank you St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this early eARC copy to read and review! Darling Girls is out now.

I have loved this authors previous works before. This one was just okay. Nothing to write home about though.

Wild Meadows a place that was supposed to bring acceptence, safety and love but instead brought fear, trauma and dread. A place of nightmares.
And now Jessica, Norah and Alicia must return

OHHHHEMMMGEEE, Sally does it again.

This is defenitly my new favorite Hepworth, hands down.

It has darker, and grittier elements to it for sure. With immense intensity building with the turn of every page and flashbacks thrown in, there was no way I could look away.

The plot is deep and heavy. And the way Hepworth put her mesmerizingly addictive spin on things was just fantastic. I just can't get over the way she does domestic. Its sooo good.

They aren't sisters by blood, but by coincidence. Brought together by lack of family care and bound together by their traumas they faced together. This is a trio I defenitly sympathized with and enjoyed seeing a deeper sight into their lives. And it was magnificently refreshing to see although they weren't biological siblings they still guarded and loved the others as if they were.

Just go read it. I promise you won't be disappointed.

A huge thank you to @sallyhepworth @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honost thoughts and opinions. I loved discovering all the secrets buried at Wild Meadows.

Sally Hepworth writes some of my favorite domestic suspense novels. DARLING GIRLS was propulsive, perfectly paced, and filled with characters to love and root for... and one to love to hate. At its core, it’s a book about the bonds of sisterhood (biological or not) but it takes place with the backdrop of an abusive foster home situation. Now, it was more like watching a juicy episode of DATELINE than, I don’t know, reading DEMON COPPERHEAD, but do know going in that we’re dealing with tough stuff.
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DARLING GIRLS is a stand-out in Sally Hepworth’s catalog. If you have enjoyed her works before or love a good domestic suspense novel, this would be a great pick for your TBR.

Darling Girls was one of my favorite mystery/thriller books so far this year. I was so invested in the sisters and the outcome of the investigation that I couldn’t put it down. The dual timeline allowed a great perspective of the mistreatment they suffered in foster care and how it affected them, both together and separately, over the long term. I would definitely recommend this book, after checking the trigger warnings in advance as there is sensitive content!

Darling Girls is less a thriller and more crime fiction/mystery with family drama mixed in as well. I think this mixture of suspense with deeper connection and emotion is what made this book a standout for me.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are not sisters by blood but sisters nonetheless. They spent time in the same foster home with the awful Miss Fairchild when they were young, and bonded over the trauma of the experience. They were each other’s lifeline. Fast forward, the girls are now adult women and their personalities and coping strategies are as different as they were when they were kids. They are still close as ever and are brought back to their old hometown after a body is found beneath the house they lived in as kids. Whose bones are they? Who is a murderer? Who is telling the truth? You’ll have to read to find out!

The start of this novel is definitely on the slower side, but you can’t help but be invested in these sisters. Once the story picks up, there is no way to put it down. As a Social Worker who works with kids in the foster care system, I tend to be sensitive to how mental health and child welfare situations are portrayed in books, and I think the author did a really nice job overall. Of course it is a work of fiction, but I felt it was a respectfully done representation. The relationships in the book felt so genuine and brought a level of depth that I appreciated.

And that ending… just when you thought you knew all there was to know Sally Hepworth is like, hold on one more thing…

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 @𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 @𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊.

What do you say about a story which involves, sisterhood, secrets, love and murder? PLENTY!

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are all foster children living on a farm with Miss Fairchild. Miss Fairchild runs her household with strict rules and punishments and was NEVER to be talked back to. The three girls formed a bond and referred to themselves as sisters..

All of the sisters points of views are from the past to the present. Now adults, the sisters are forced to confront their past when bones are discovered buried on the grounds of their former home. Each sister is dealing with their individual traumas. The police call them in to answer questions, but it is uncertain whether all three sisters are seen as witnesses or suspects.

This book was a real mystery until the end. There was some real twists that kept you thinking and captured my attention.

There are some heavy topics in this novel and I recommend to read with caution.