4 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


We all hear horror stories about the foster care system. Thankfully, not all homes are horrific, but in Darling Girls, we meet a woman who cares for her foster children in a frightening way.

Jessica ends up at Wild Meadows after the death of her mother. Miss Fairchild seems so welcoming and kind and loving. At first. Miss Fairchild is obsessed with a clean home and perfect children. Once Jessica starts school, the shine of Jessica gets a bit tarnished, as Jessica becomes friends with other children at school.

In comes Norah. A very angry, troubled foster child who has seen the worst of the system. Then Alicia, who was to be placed temporarily while her grandmother heals in the hospital. For these three, the life at Wild Meadows truly does become awful, as Miss Fairchild finds their deepest fears and uses them.

When the girls become adults, they carry these fears with them, which shapes their personalities. And when they are called back to Wild Meadows, they don’t know the best way to cope with what’s to come.

Sally Hepworth writes compelling human dramas that show both the best and worst of the human psyche. Through her characters in this novel, we understand how easily a child’s spirit can be shaped and broken. Wild Meadows truly was a clean house of horrors.

Quick read. Excellent story. Would recommend!

This was an intriguing story, I didn’t think it was a “thriller” or a “suspense” book, I would consider it a mystery. The story of 3 girls and their story at a foster home, what they endured while under Miss Fairchilds care. What seemed like an idyllic situation from the outside, was actually a horrific experience on the inside. The girls in her care endured physical and mental abuse from a narcissist, gaslighting care giver. The life they lived had these 3 non-biological girls band together, and act like true siblings to keep themselves as safe as possible. The story starts with the foster home being demolished so a McDonalds can be built on the lad, while they are digging for the parking lot, a set of bones is discovered …. Whose bones are they? And how did they get there? The girls think it’s Miss Fairchild, Miss Fairchild blames the girls, while others suspect a neighboring sex offender could be to blame. Step one is determining the age of the bones, and who they belong to, so the right person can be put to justice. Within this story, you are also privy transcripts of a “patient” and their psychiatrist … who is being interviewed? (You’ll find out about 50% in). It’s a beautiful story, about the girls, and how they have stuck together, protected each other, even with what they have endured. The who, what, and why left me angry, the twists at the end magnificent.

I have mixed feelings about Darling Girls. I liked the mystery and suspense of the book. I especially loved the short chapters - they helped move the story along and also made the hard chapters *a little* easier to swallow. I had trouble connecting and feeling much of anything for any of the characters beyond Alicia. The writing also felt uneasy with certain chapters being a lot cheesier than others (a confession and a some of the relationships come to mind). Overall, it was an okay read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

The perfect bingable thriller! I am reading SLOW these days, but I sped right on through Darling Girls.

Three sisters were rescued from seperate tragedies and raised as sisters in the foster care system. They met while in the care of Mrs. Fairchild (spoiler alert: she’s nuts!).

The girls are all grown up when they receive news that a body has been found under their old foster home. Old secrets and lies come back to haunt everyone and it’s a wild ride.

Wickedly twisted, the perfect domestic suspense novel!

Three not-related-by-blood sisters, bonded through the foster home where they grew up, have secrets to hide. But, when a body is found, everyone is suspect. Their lives are turned upside down, and they come face-to-face with the horrible foster mother who raised them.

Their entire childhood was a farce, and no one would believe the truth, regardless, so they learned to cope the best way they could, and coping is what they do best. They have to face the past and uncover the truth, no matter the repercussions. Even if it threatens their current lives and future with loved ones.

The twists and revelations as the story progresses will leave you on the edge of your seat, and the final outcome may leave you with your mouth hanging open in shock.

Couldn't get enough of this truly brilliant story.

Sally Hepworth has a way of writing books that are just so readable. Her stories just flow and you quickly find yourself immersed in it. Darling Girl did just that for me.

It’s about three sisters who return to their foster home when a body is found underneath the house. Sounds interesting, right? Like I said, her stories just sucks you in

I love reading each sister’s POVs and the mystery character. It’s pretty easy to guess who that person is but the twist?! That one I didn’t see coming.

Looking for a domestic thriller with dual timelines, multiple unreliable narrators, and a focus on the trauma foster kids endure? Then this is a great pick for you!
This book focuses on three foster sisters, bonded together forever by the treatment they endured at the hands of their foster parent, Miss Fairchild. Over the course of the book, we learn that Jessica was the first girl to live at Wild Meadows, then was joined by Norah, and later Alicia. The three are terrified of Miss Fairchild and her unpredictable moods, but they’re more terrified of being separated and sent to new foster homes.
In the present day, local detectives are trying to determine the identity of the body found beneath the Wild Meadows home. The three women are asked to return to the small town to be interviewed. As the interviews progress, we get more and more answers about their pasts. As detectives start pulling answers out of the women, it gets harder and harder to know who to believe.
With a balance of character-driven plot and slow-building suspense, this book kept my attention. The slow-burn feeling had evaporated by the last quarter, and I was racing to the finish line, desperate for answers.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

this is a slow, unraveling, mystery puzzle whose pieces come together through the pages.

I absolutely love a good book that gives us things in bits and pieces. Telling a story in current person, but also giving flashbacks of past stories. All of which come together to tell you not only the characters journey but also their own story of who they are & why they make decisions that they do.

I had never read a Sally Hepworth novel. It was recommended to me by a friend & I was so excited to see it offered as an ARC in NetGalley. I was enthralled! I read it in a few hours because I desperately needed to know the full story of the sisters, the body Found during the excavation of their old home, and the WHO of it all!!

Sally keeps you guessing until the last page. I closed this book with a shudder.

Hopefully the final release copy has a trigger warning at the beginning because there are discussion of child abuse. Sexual abuse of a child in general story telling “like this happened to me” as well as verbal & emotional abuse. Additionally topics of growing up in the foster home are discussed heavily as that is a big premise of the bits & pieces of the story. As well as how they become “sisters”.

i truly enjoyed the slow burn. The calculated way the story unfolds. The characters are well developed, the plot well thought out & honestly genius! I loved it. More than that it’s a true twist of heartbreak, love & healing. Not to mention an ending I didn’t see coming!!

i look forward to reading more in her catalog!

shoutout to NetGalley & St. Martins Press for the ARC!

THAT FINAL TWIST THO!!!!! Darling Girls is told in the form of a now and then format that alternates in the chapters. Alicia, Jessica, and Norah are three foster sister who met at the Wild Meadows farming estate where Miss Holly Fairchild is the picture-perfect foster mother. However, Miss Fairchild can be cruel and unpredictable. The girls find themselves trying to survive until one day they make a break from Wild Meadows. They hope they'd never have to deal with Miss Fairchild or Wild Meadows again. Fast forward to the present and the three girls are now grown adults, just trying to live their lives until news that human bones was found under their old foster home at Wild Meadows. The three girls must now return and face their shared past.
Sally Hepworth is known for weaving family/domestic drama into her twists and this might be her best novel yet. Sometimes I find domestic dramas boring and predictable but this was super easy to keep reading and kept my focus the whole time. The twists were not super predictable but not outlandish which I appreciate, as it makes the story more relatable and believable. The chapters written from the girls' perspective is written using third-person point of view but there is also an unknown female first-person point of view that takes place in a psychiatrist's office, which is an interesting choice and somewhat unique. I will say this story is not for the faint of heart in that there is multiple depictions of child abuse, so if you are sensitive to that you might want to skip this one, otherwise, highly recommended!

Well, THAT was an unexpected and delightful exercise in keeping my composure while turning the pages as fast as I possibly could. There were times during my read that I laughed out loud, gasped like a horror movie watcher and asked aloud "what happened?!?" The multiple perspectives were effective and each character was compelling and impossible to forget. The book seamlessly flows through each sister's chapters, past and present. The author masterfully tells this story of three girls all but broken by the foster system, and what ultimately happened at their foster "home". What should be a place is respite was sadly nothing more than a place to sleep and eat (if they were lucky that day). I loved every page of this book.

This might be one of Sally's best! I loved the creepy tension throughout the book. The last few pages are just fire and I loved how it concluded. I stayed up late reading this one as I needed to know how everything was going to turn out. A binge worthy read for sure!

I didn't hate this book when I started it. I was actually very interested, even though child abuse is not my idea of a good time, even when it's pure fiction. But oh boy did I hate it at the end.

What a truly disgusting way to end a book that is written for entertainment. It's not clever, or new, it's just incredibly heartless and upsetting. I can read a lot of dark things without it getting to me, but this one was so obviously for shock value.

Two stars because I liked a lot of it. I just can't get over any human who can write those words down and publish them in good conscience.

Darling Girls is a twisted dark story of 3 foster children who forge an unbreakable bond as sisters. Jessica, Norah and Alicia all grew up at Wild Meadows, the home of Holly Fairchild, their foster mother.
Told from the viewpoints of each of the sisters now grown adults who come back to Port Agatha to wrestle with the demons of their past and the horrors that they endured at Wild Meadows. Sally Hepworth writes a gut wrenching story of foster care gone wrong.
I found myself wanting to keep reading at every turn to find out the truth behind what happened at that house. Fast paced story telling with brief chapters from every view kept me reading well into that night.
Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

I love Sally Hepworth's books! Darling Girls is engaging from the very beginning, and keeps you wondering what's going to happen as you read about the girls and their lives as foster sisters, up through their present as adults. You know it's good when it's wrapping up and you think that it seems like a low-key ending for a SH book and right then she throws another zinger at you! Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance digital copy!

There’s a lot packed into Darling Girls, but the prime message I received was just how messed up foster care is around the world. How those meant to protect children instead fail them and take advantage of the situation for their own gain. Not all foster parents/case workers, of course, for there are some good ones. Many parents and case workers put in long hard hours and suffer over what they see; they care for the kids in their charge. However, there are others who do it for personal gain and power, for control, and that’s what Darling Girls illuminates.

This is a remarkable, heart-rending story. It takes place in rural Australia, and follows three young girls put into the care of Holly Fairchild. Holly has a need to be the center of attention; she’s also jealous when the girls show any interest in others, even other children their own age. She becomes abusive both psychologically and physically. There are also instances of drug abuse in an effort to deal with childhood trauma, and instances of stepparents abusing their stepchildren. If that’s not heartbreaking enough, there are also cases of wife abuse and teen pregnancy.

This is a book of survival and learning to adapt to what life throws at you, but often that’s not easy, and often you’re forced back into old patterns of behavior. In the end, however, it highlights the idea of choosing your own family, of the power of love and acceptance.

I thought the ending was appropriate. It showed just who and what Miss Fairchild really was, and what her own background did to shape her.

There are many surprises in Darling Girls, good ones and bad. But in the end, it’s a tale of love, of accepting who you are and what you’ve endured, how you’ve risen above.

An excellent if dark read, with many opportunities for hope and believing in the future and the promise it holds.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. I thank all involved for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

This book was very unusual. It did go back and forth slot but I never gave up on this book because I wanted to know what was going to happen.

It was very interesting and it was slot of oh my gosh moments but very good.

3.5 rounded down to 3
This was my second book by Sally Hepworth and I’m just not sure she is for me. This book was just ok for me. I listened to this one and the narration was fine- Australian accents which added to the story since it took place in Australia. I liked the multiple POVS from Jessica, Norah and Alicia and also the dual timeline to see what had happened to them when they were younger. The ending, while I didn’t expect, was very underwhelming to me.

This is my first novel by this author, but let me tell you, she pulls you right into the story! The multiple character viewpoints, going from past to present time, and the unpredictability of the story had me hooked early on! I enjoyed the focus on the foster care system and how it affects those kids/adolescents into adulthood.

I did not see that last chapter coming! Do yourself a favor and snag this one when it comes out!

Special thanks for St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC. Publish day 4/23/2024

I’m a huge Hepworth fan. I’ve read quite a few of her books and she never ever lets me down. But, as I was reading this juicy story, at first glance, I’m thinking this is perhaps a four-star read, that is, until I got to the ending!

Hold on to your seats, Nerds, because this novel is going to give you one straight out of the gate! Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are sisters. They’re not biological sisters, but sisters, nonetheless. They happen to make their family what it was because they were thrown into the foster care system. And, because they were in the system, they were often told how “lucky” they were because someone chose to foster and nurture them into the adults, they’d one day become.

But are foster children lucky? I guess that would depend on who you ask, but as for Jessica, Norah and Alicia luck had absolutely nothing to do with their situations and circumstances. Jessica had the closest relationship with their foster mother, Miss Fairchild. She went to her when she was a toddler. She was the mother that Jessica so desperately wanted to have and needed. Miss Fairchild’s love was like a warm cozy blanket and Jessica relished in wrapping herself within it.

One thing Jessica soon discovered about her mother was whatever you do, never cross her because the sweet and gentle Miss Fairchild had a dark and sinister side. The side that would call Jessica names and play cruel jokes and games with Jessica’s psyche. For a child as young as she, Jessica didn’t know how to handle an adult’s mood swings, let alone her foster mother’s.

So, as “luck” would have it, Norah was sent to Miss Fairchild due to her violent tendencies and constant struggles with authority. The caseworkers figured it would do Norah some good to have the proper upbringing and guidance since she did such an amazing job with Jessica, right?

No sooner had Norah joined the group, along came Alicia. She was sent to the home due to an unfortunate accident with her grandma, who swore she’d be back to get her as soon as she was better, but better days never came. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia made a pact and had a special bond that no one could ever break. They were sisters in every way.

Miss Fairchild, no matter how proper and stern she could be, was a jealous foster mother. She was the God in her household and expected all her children to look upon her as such. Imagine the surprise of the three girls when Miss Fairchild began taking foster babies into her fold to thrust their needy responsibilities onto the three young girls. As time went on and they grew stronger and into teenage years, one little girl was sent to their home who captured their hearts in ways they never thought imaginable.

One day, baby Amy was there. . .and when they returned from school, she was gone. And that’s where our story takes off and soars. Wow! I have to say, this story was quite long, and of course, it’s a huge pet peeve of mine, but reading a Hepworth story is so worth it. I found some of the backstory to be a bit much, but after figuring out how this story was going, I completely understood it.

As I mentioned, I started to give this story four stars until I got to the end. If you’ve never read a Hepworth novel, you’re missing out on something truly masterful. She literally slapped the hell out of me with that ending. I had figured everything out. I was so proud of my sleuthing skills and then she threw a twist that I never saw coming. That’s the Hepworth effect for those of you who don’t know. You’ll be reading along and thinking you know so much and then she throws something out of left field at you and you’re like, wait. . .what? Oh, how I live for those moments!

When a book is able to rattle your emotions so much that you are mad on the last page, then I would consider that an amazing book. This story definitely has some triggering moments including psychological and physical abuse towards children. I really enjoyed the way the author brought to light some of the issues within the foster care system's. I also enjoyed reading from the different POV’s within the past and present.

Thank you again Net Gallery for this ARC!