Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
This was 5 stars for me! I enjoyed everything about this book. The story was captivating. The twists were unexpected. I yelled “WHAT?!" at least one time during my reading. All this makes me very happy when reading a thriller. Sally Hepworth is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors! I will be recommending this book to EVERYONE!

I enjoyed this. It was twisty, which is what I've come to expect from Sally Hepworth.

I liked the sections with the doctor interspersed throughout the book. It was an interesting way to tell some of the backstory. I didn't really care for the romance with Norah and the bartender. Didn't really serve a purpose.

The foster home abuse was hard to read at times, but it added to the story. Overall, it was a captivating book and hard to put down. I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to others.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for my free ARC copy of Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth - available April 23, 2024 in the US.

I could NOT put this book down. I was drawn to the mystery of what happened at the foster home the three main characters grew up in. I loved reading the different perspectives and timelines and found the pacing of this book to be super quick. The very last twist had me shocked as well. I think this was written wonderfully and is now my new favorite by this author.

This story focuses on three sisters, Jessica, Norah and Alicia. Not biological sisters, but sisters in every way that matters because, when they were young, they were forced into the foster care system. Moreover, the were made to live with Miss Fairchild at Wild Meadows. What at first seemed like a fairytale, soon turns into a nightmare for the three girls. They have to rely on each other for love, safety and protection. And they'll do anything for each other.

Fast forward many years later, and the sisters are still bonded by the tragedy of their upbringing. When bones are discovered buried under the house at Wild Meadows, the are forced to revisit the darkness of their past. The police are curious to know who these bones belong to and how they got here. And one or all of the sisters are a suspect in what looks like a murder investigation.

The story starts with one of the women (but which one?) talking to a psychiatrist. That pulled me in right away, and I enjoyed all the counseling sessions peppered throughout the story. We get a glimpse into the lives of these three women in present day and how they've adjusted to life after childhood trauma. Some okay. Some not so great.
We also have a past narrative that focuses on the abuse the girls suffered as children. It was hard to read. Very emotional, and I found myself tearing up many times while trying to get through this book. I worked in social services for many years and, unfortunately, was witness to much childhood abuse. As much as we don't like to think about these things, abuse does happen within the foster system. And the trauma of that carries over into adulthood. I appreciate Sally Hepworth for shedding a light on those dark things that are taboo to talk about.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found Hepworth’s new book propulsive,,compelling, and challenging emotionally. We follow Alicia, Norah, and Jessica who must return to their childhood hometown when a body is going under the house of their old foster home.

I’m a huge Sally Hepworth fan and this book totally delivered! I loved the multi POV. The way they were introduced helped me to keep the characters straight. The character development was also amazing which is hard when there are several characters with so much to unpack. The formatting for the chapters was chefs kiss…multi POV, past/present timeline, and a little mystery surrounding psychologist notes/visits. At a couple of points, the mystery seemed straightforward and then BAM a twist would take us in a completely different direction. I highly recommend this one for suspense fans.

Read if you like:
▫️found family
▫️mental health awareness
▫️female empowerment

Sally Hepworth writes creepy, spooky stories involving families, and I have friends that swear by her, but this is the first of her books that I’ve read. My thanks go to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the invitation to read and review. This book will be available to the public April 23, 2024.

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are closer than most sisters, even though they are not biologically related. All three spent most of their formative years at an Australian foster home called Wild Meadows, under the gimlet eye of Miss Fairchild, an abusive foster parent. Miss Fairchild was adept at keeping up appearances, but once a visitor—an infrequent occurrence—was gone, the place got dark. The woman was cruel and unpredictable, dreaming up horrifying punishments for even slight perceived infractions. Open rebellion was unthinkable. But it was when she began accepting babies that they resolved to turn her in. Now all are grown, but they remain tightly bonded, and the call comes in: bones have been found under the foundation of the razed house. They must all report to the local police, which in turn means returning to the vicinity of Wild Meadows.

I can see why this author has such a loyal following. The way the narrative flows is flawless, and although we transition often from the past to the present as well as between the three girls’ stories, there’s never even momentary confusion. The list of characters is kept manageable, and all of them are believable. I begin reading via audiobook because that’s the version that was offered me, but once I began, I asked for and received the digital galley also. Usually this is a necessity in order to keep up with what I am hearing, but I scarcely needed it. Narrator Jessica Clarke provides the perfect listening experience.

For me, the joy of this well written novel is somewhat dampened by the horrors of the girls’ experiences. The child abuse is so cruel, and so specific that I sometimes stopped listening early and went away with a ball of lead in my gut. I suspect that this is something most likely to be experienced either by those that were themselves abused as children, or—like me—those that have worked with such children. Although part of me still wanted to know what came next, another part of my thought that if I wanted this kind of nightmare, I should just go back to work!

Reader, you probably know what you can read and what you should stay away from. If this sort of novel is unlikely to haunt you, go for it. I doubt there are many that can do this thing better. With that caveat, this book is recommended to those that enjoy the genre.

In this story, we get a mixture of modern crime with past trauma (please check TW if you are sensitive). Our three main characters are adult women forced to deal with the terrible foster home they lived in as children when bones are found on the property. Along the way, we are also given the perspective of someone's therapy sessions. As the story unfolds, the reader is led to wonder who the bones belong to, who the liar is, and if the wrong person might get blamed. The three sisters (by choice) each show the damage from her childhood in her own way, but we get to see some healing, too. I also appreciated the author's note at the end explaining why this story matters to her. Her writing is propulsive. An enjoyable read dealing with tough subject matter, but impossible to put down.

This is my third Sally Hepworth book ever and it easily became my favorite. This story is so intense that I couldn’t put my Kindle down!

Three girls form an unbreakable bond when being put together in the same foster home.
Jessica entered Miss Fairchild’s home at only five, thus creating a strong attachment to the woman. Norah entered the home at eleven, and was known to be a feisty and problematic.. Lastly came Alicia, twelve, after her grandmother and caretaker became ill.

This is a story of the horrors and mental + physical abuse the three endured. Although the good times in that home were rare, they knew they had each other always. Sisters by choice.

I loved how this story jumps back and forth in time, slowly helping us uncover things. I enjoyed getting to know them as children and adults. The twists just kept coming and I ate them up. Everything about this book was calculated and chilling, as every great thriller/mystery book should be.

Each character was carefully written and complex in their own ways, yet, the three of them were ultimately charming and you couldn’t help but to like them. I must admit I questioned one of the characters’ motives until the very end, which made reading it even more fun.

I was on the edge of my seat the whole time while reading this book. You guys seriously need to add this one to your TBR; one of the best books that I have read this year so far.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for this ARC.
Pub date: 04/23/24

Darling Girls is about three foster children Jessica, Norah and Alicia who lived with their foster mom, Holly Fairchild. The children were treated unimaginably while living there (potential trigger warning—abuse) and are still suffering from the trauma during the present day. Told from a ‘then and now’ timeline, presently human bones are found under the farmhouse where they all lived. Who was it and who did it? Were the girls involved? Was it Fairchild?


I enjoyed the then and now timeline but felt that the character development could have been more during the present day. With that said I did want to read until the end to see what happened. The twists and turns at the end was well worth it although it was a bit slow at times getting to the end. Some of that may have been the character development struggle for me. Although, I did enjoy reading the unique relationship the three girls had and thought it was very sweet but understandably how they bonded over the atrocious ways they were treated by the not so nice Miss FAIR CHILD.

I did really enjoy the book overall and would recommend it to anyone interested in a suspenseful read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

This book has everything you would want in a psychological/ domestic thriller!

The story follows Jessica, Alicia and Norah foster sisters bonded by the trauma they experienced at the hands of their horrible foster mother Miss Fairchild.

Now adults, the sisters return to their childhood home when a body is found buried underneath and an investigation is underway.

Thats all I’ll say but it’s SO much more than that.

This is my second book by Sally (Soulmate being the first) and I’ve found that both times I was unable to put them down. Once you start, you’re addicted.

I loved this one! The characters are well developed. The snarky humor and banter between the sisters was appreciated to balance out how dark this one truly was. Very difficult subject matter was presented and written with care here. Be mindful of content warnings.

The twists were excellent and the ending was so satisfying, that last chapter was epic.

I can’t recommend this enough.
This one will pull you out of a reading slump for sure!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC.

📖DARLING GIRLS🧸
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you @sallyhepworth @stmartinspress for this @netgalley copy of Darling Girls for an honest review! Out on April 19th!
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This was not my first, but it was by far my favorite Sally Hepworth book I’ve read! I loved that the characters were more diverse and interesting than I think she has written before.

We meet the three main characters: Jessica, Norah and Alicia, who are sisters. Each have their own separate and stressful lives, but are brought together by the finding of bones underneath the foster home they all drew up in. They need to go back to their roots and unfortunately relive the memories and trauma that lead them out of this place.

The book is written with 3 POVs and we jump back and forth, past and present. Hepworth ways does an amazing job keep the chapters short, fast paced and enticing! You won’t want to shut the book until you’re finished!

Hepworth’s latest book is my favourite of hers, yet. A story about sisters and sisterly bonds at heart, this twisty tale follows Jessica, Norah, and Alicia through their harrowing childhood as foster children under the care of Ms. Holly Fairchild.

As the layers peel back on this dual timeline story, we see the trauma these sisters lived through as children and how it has impacted them as adults. Hepworth did her due diligence, speaking with many folks who were in foster care, and her attention to detail was done with sensitivity and care.

I got swept up in this story and couldn’t put it down once it got going. I loved the pacing the most - I always felt like I needed to read just a bit more to know what came next. The ending has a great twist, too!

I think fans of Hepworth’s other novels, or fans of Rachel Hawkins or Mary Kubica would enjoy Darling Girls.

Told through the eyes of three women: Alicia, Jessica and Norah, who were placed in the same foster home run by Mrs. Fairchild at Wild Meadows In alternating POVs and timelines, we learn what happened in the past and how each woman endured. A difficult read at times given the subject matter, but well paced and a twist at the end you may not see coming.

Wow, this is probably my favorite Sally Hepworth ever. The story will totally engross you and you will be unable to stop reading!
I will say, there are A LOT of really dark and hard themes throughout this book, so I think it needs a clear trigger warning. The story doesn't work without these aspects, but it could absolutely be upsetting to some readers (especially those who grew up in abusive homes or in foster care).
I will say that Nora made me a little bonkers and I found myself wanting to shake her but also shake her sisters for not stepping in. She does kind of need to be the "hot mess" character in order to propel the book forward, but it was frustrating.
Jessica was my favorite character and.I had a really hard time with the part of the twist that surrounded her (no spoilers, I promise). I enjoyed the way Hepworth represented addiction, and the struggle for both the addict and those around them. Suffering alone is a huge theme in this book and Jessica is no exception.
I think the author did a good job of respectfully writing about a very hard, and very real, topic in a compelling way. She worked to represent the pain many kids in foster care experience, but was also considerate with her words.
This novel is also a demonstration of good coming from pain and championship coming from hardship. The ending was GREAT, but it wasn't perfect in the "happily ever after" aspect. I like that we see the characters still struggling, but working to be better and caring for those around them.
"Sisters in every way that counts"

Please note: this review is now posted on my GoodReads account
Thank you for letting me read!!

This book kept me intrigued until the very end and I enjoyed the plot. The characters were very likeable. I typically don’t like group friend ones but this was very enjoyable.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

This was one of my most anticipated thrillers of the year and it did not disappoint. I really enjoyed following the sisters throughout this story. I thought Hepworth did a good job explaining each unique backstory and I was really invested in the characters. The ending was good, at around the 50% mark I couldn’t put it down. The end had twists that I didn’t see coming which was an exciting surprise. I was really intrigued by the foster storyline, as a teacher, I have taught children in the foster system and some stories break my heart. Some parts of this book were tough to read, so trigger warnings for child abuse.

Overall a 5 star read for Darling Girls, I would highly recommend this captivating and fast past thriller. It had me hooked!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Three sisters receive a call from the police asking them to answer questions related to a body found on the property they grew up on. The sisters haven't been back in years, running away from the trauma only foster children understand. When the sisters return, old secrets will bring back painful memories with the hope a mystery will be solved.

Sally Hepworth does it again with Darling Girls. Another 5-star read on the books!

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the chance to read an advanced copy!

Somehow this was my very first Sally Hepworth book, and it will certainly not be my last! This was such an engrossing and fun murder mystery/thriller. You'll instantly be captivated by our three foster girls/women and their terrifying foster mom, Miss Fairchild. This book 100% gave me Flowers in the Attic vibes!

I was just about to give this book four stars until...that very last chapter😱! I love a last page twist!

If you are sensitive to certain topics, please check the trigger warnings in advance.

Sally Hepworth consistently captivates me with her writing, and her latest release, "Darling Girls," is no exception. The novel delves into the lives of three foster kids—Jessica, Norah, and Alicia—and their tumultuous experiences. Hepworth masterfully weaves their stories throughout the narrative, shedding light on how they ended up in foster care, their time at Wild Meadow, and their struggles as young adults. While "Darling Girls" may not be a pulse-pounding thriller, Hepworth keeps readers engaged with unexpected twists scattered throughout the book, ensuring that the journey is anything but predictable.