DARLING GIRLS
Sally Hepworth

10 times out of 10 I like what Sally Hepworth writes so I may not be the best judge of her latest book, DARLING GIRLS. Even when the risks are lower as in DARLING GIRLS, I still have a great time.

In DARLING GIRLS, we are following three sisters not by blood but by promise. Wild Meadows is a foster home where all three girls lived at some point in their childhood. It was run by the enigmatic Miss Fairchild. Each of the sisters has their own story of growing up with their biological families and their eventual relationship with Miss Fairchild at Wild Meadows.

Jessica is a successful Home Organizer. She represses all her unwanted feelings and is both fearful and inspired by learning and experiencing new things. Norah is tall and has brown hair and blue eyes. She is a Test Taker, and dog-lover, and is on the dating scene. Alicia is a Social Worker, she is empathetic and caring and thrives in stressful environments. She loves working with kids and is inspired by them daily.

It’s decades later and the sisters have grown up and left Wild Meadows and Miss Fairchild behind. One day a set of bones is found on the grounds at Wild Meadows. The sisters have questions to answer regarding their time in foster placement, about Miss Fairchild, and just who those bones belong to.

DARLING GIRLS reminded me of Hepworth’s earlier work. Where the risks are lower, and the twists are softer, and murder is merely implied. It is not my favorite of hers but a solid addition to her lineup of books.

The audiobook is narrated by Jessica Clarke. Although I wasn’t familiar with her narrating style, I thought she did a fantastic job with the material evoking the emotions of each character and making what could have been confusing simple and easy to follow.

I liked this one and can’t wait for the next one. Have you read Sally Hepworth before? Now is the perfect time to start.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies! It was a pleasure!!

DARLING GIRLS…⭐⭐⭐

4.5⭐️ super dark and disturbing at times. It definitely became a page turner and pretty unputdownable.

There were times where I felt like the pacing of the POVs could have been more impactful but I was still hooked.

I saw ~some~ of the twists coming but not all of them! I’ll keep reading SH books for sure!

This is my first Sally Hepworth book and definitely not my last. Mystery books are some of my favorite books to read when they are done well and keep me guessing. Sally delivered an excellent example of how a mystery book should be written.

The plot was surprisingly easy to follow despite the time hopping and multiple POVs. I enjoy that type of writing style in thrillers.

This book wasn't as gripping as her usual books for me, A lot of time is spent in the past with the characters as kids experiencing trauma in the foster home. I think I expected a bigger twist or more drama. It read more like sad fiction than I was expecting.

Nevertheless I can see how a lot of people will love this . The child abuse / manipulation was not just overwhelming but may be a trigger for some.

I mean. If Sally Hepworth writes a drama thriller. I’m in. And I’m gonna have a great time and be flummoxed by the end.

This was no different.

Norah, Jessica and Alicia are as close as sisters come. (Heyyy trauma bond…we’ll get to it) when they each get a call to come back to the place they were in foster care because a body has been unburied and the police have some questions for the women. Told in dual timeline with flashbacks to when the girls met and became foster sisters and their experience with Mrs Fairchild.

I loved the sister’s bond and that they did have each other throughout the abuse they suffered in the foster system and throughout their lives. I really just love the way Sally Hepworth writes a novel with feeling like you have it all figured out and then. You really don’t. I loved it. I can’t rank her novels don’t ask me to.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan for an eARC.

Wow! What a wild ride this one was. It was impossible to put down. I stayed up late into the night reading it. I have read this author before, but I think this one may be my favorite! The characters were well done. She definitely did her research about foster homes and she made it clear with her characters that not all kids who end up in care are unwanted or troubled when they get there. The main characters were sisters of sorts and I enjoyed the relationship between them. The chapters were short and went back and forth in time, adding information at a good pace. There were several unknowns and so many possibilities! There were a few bombshells I never saw coming. I also thought the ending fit the book! An excellent read!!

WOW what a twisted ride. Full review to come but everything about this book was twisted while also exploring the different wants and intricacies of childhood trauma.

Another excellent book by Hepworth. This book centers around three women who grew up in the same foster home with a cruel, unstable foster mother. Now lifelong friends, the women have always been close after finally leaving Miss Fairchilds home. Years later a terrible discovery is made when the home is being torn down and the women must face their past, Miss Fairchild, and the secrets and lies the woman told. Fast paced mystery that transitions between past and present seamlessly. Not to be missed.

A psychological novel about three girls raised in a foster home by a narcissistic woman who had rules, discipline if those rules were not followed and a sick sense of love. Told from the time each of the young girls, Jessica, Norah and Alicia arrived at Wildwood Farm till they left, their bond as sisters could not be broken. But the author also writes of how their upbringing living with Miss Fairchild affected their relationships in adulthood. Addiction, obsessive behavior, anger issues, plus secrets, lies and murder make this book a compelling read.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an arc. The comments and review are my honest opinion.

Sally Hepworth does it again! I love her books for the drama. She always has me hooked on the story, even if it’s not a classic thriller. While one twist felt fairly obvious, the final major twist really surprised me! Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

Is it possible to not want to inhale a Sally Hepworth novel in one sitting? I have previously said she is hit or miss for me, but I’ve got to revise that statement- only one has been a miss and that was a long time ago! The last 4 of hers have been consistently great.

I loved the relationship between the sisters, they all are very different but their bond is undeniable. As usual, I’m a fan of the dual timeline and an added bonus is the therapy session chapters. Some of the treatment of the girls in the “before” chapters was a little hard to read but never felt gratuitous.

This book kept me guessing until the end and pulled off a last minute twist that definitely got me!

PUBLICATION DAY: April 23, 2024

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are loyal and devoted sisters - but not from the same womb. They met as “lucky” foster children who had all been placed in the same home with Miss Fairchild. But how lucky were they really? Years later, they are called back to the town where they had once met because human bones had been discovered on the property. Reflecting back on those days brings up trauma once buried, but will bringing it all up solve the mystery of who died there? And what other secrets will these women discover?

PROS and CONS:
A very engaging writing style with three different characters to cheer for in different ways. For Jessica, to figure out why she needs to be constantly in control. For Norah, to discover the reason for her angry outbursts. And for Alicia, to understand why she cares for everyone else except herself. I greatly enjoyed reading the stories of these three women. Nothing too earth shattering here, with some of the past bits feeling a bit repetitive but it is a good, good read.

READ IT?
If you like dual timelines with a bit of mystery - you’ll enjoy this one!

4 Stars

📖 Darling Girls follows 3 girls living in a foster home in the 1990s and their foster mom, Miss Fairchild. Their childhood is sick and twisted, but it turns out they weren’t the only one with a cruel upbringing.

Ok that was a wild ride. This book likely won’t be for you if you have any first hand experience with foster care, adoption, or mistreatment of children (TW 🚩). This is classified as a thriller, but I feel like it better fits as a ‘family drama’ or ‘domestic thriller’ for clearer expectations.

I primarily read romance these days, so I don’t have a lot of recent comparison for Darling Girls, but I thought it was equally interesting and screwed up. I enjoyed the multi POV, dual timeline + psychiatrist transcriptions.

Have you ever so badly wanted a fictional character to get the karma that’s coming for them?!? This ENTIRE book made me feel that way. Miss Fairchild, if I ever catch you…

This book was a fast-paced domestic suspense story about three girls from the foster care system who unfortunately ended up at Wild Meadows with the horrible Miss Fairchild. From the outside looking in, Miss Fairchild is a wonderful, kind, caring foster mother, but behind closed doors she is manipulative, emotionally abusive, and narcissistic. The story is told in alternating timelines (current and past). The three sisters must return to their childhood foster home when a body is found under the house

Things I liked:
- Short chapters
- Felt that “can’t look away” at some parts of the book and needed to keep reading!
- Twists!
- Found family
- Classic Hepworth humor/sarcasm intertwined in the story

Things I liked less:
- In some places the pacing was a bit off

Highly recommend this book and any of Sally Hepworth’s novels if you want a quick read! Please check TW in this book as it does discuss some heavy topics.

This was a great read — good characters, well paced, intrigue and mystery with a few twists and turns.

The balance between what happened 25 years ago and the present day investigation were well balanced and doled out the details just right.

And point of interest, I was also born with six toes on one foot — you’ll understand the reference once you read the novel!

3.5 ⭐️

This book was just okay for me. It was a fast read. Once I devoted time to sit down to read it, I was flying through it. I always appreciate a fast paced thriller, so I liked that aspect. But overall, it just wasn't anything Earth shattering for me as far as thrillers go.

With this book, we follow along three main characters, women who met and became lifelong friends through foster care. We get the back and forth timeline of then versus now, which was easy to follow with no confusion. But just a heads up the past timeline shows the horrors of foster care and gives us detailed child abuse that was disturbing to read.

I will say I wasn't expecting that ending, and because it is a mystery trope, where we are fed parts of the puzzle as we continue reading, it kept my interest enough to see how it all played out. Based on the high ratings so far, I don't think anyone who picks this book up will be disappointed. I was just wanting more I guess.

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth // Mystery/Psychological Thriller
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

ARC Review:
Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have a sisterly bond that could withstand anything. After spending years of their lives as foster children at Wild Meadows under the care of Ms. Fairchild, they share a life story of trauma, love, and resilience. When the call comes that human remains have been found under what was once their foster home, they aren’t surprised. Who is it? Who did it? And how can they prove their innocence?

By the end of chapter one, Sally Hepworth already had me on the edge of my seat… and by the end of chapter three I was hooked.

Around the half way point things heated up even more, by 80% I thought I had it figured out. I was completely off the mark, though — the last chapter will throw you for a loop!

I HIGHLY recommend this book! I was absolutely stoked to get approved for this ARC… I just knew Sally wouldn’t disappoint, and she didn’t! It is available in Australia and New Zealand now, and comes out in the US on 4/23.

Okay this was fantastic!!! So eerie and so much happened. Darling girls follows 3 orphans in foster care. Their foster mother is cruel and absolutely horrible. Then as adults.. they get a call that bones were found under their childhood home. Gaaaah!!! So much drama. I loved all the girls so much the characters were all so different but had so much detail.

Thank you netgalley for the earc in exchange for an honest review.

This one…woah! The drama itself is off the charts. The back and forth between past and present kept me on my toes and I was turning the pages so fast to just inhale as much of this book as I could. Jessica Norah and Alicia have a bond that honestly can’t be broken and what they went through is enough to tug at anyone’s heart strings but the twists and turns in this story are the real stars. Absolutely addictive and captivating.

I was not disappointed by this book and it’s definitely another winner by Sally Hepworth! I did a mix of audio and ebook and really enjoyed the audiobook!

I loved the relationship between the three sisters. The past and present timeline of the book really helped explain how their actions in adult life were a result of their childhood trauma. I enjoyed the mystery person’s POV and was surprised by the twist at the end. This book was definitely a slow burn but the building suspense throughout and twists kept me reading and needing answers. I thought the ending was great and I appreciated how all the loose ends came together and my questions were answered.

There were a few slow parts in the middle of the book and I thought a few of the twists were predictable. Overall it was still a great thriller filled with suspense and drama.

I definitely recommend this book, especially if you love a suspenseful and slow burn thriller.