This one was a good domestic thriller. These sisters have lived through a lot in their lives but what happens when the past comes back to haunt them. What happened all those years ago? Now the sisters must revisit the worst time of their lives to figure this mystery out.

Narration by Jessica Clarke was very well done with so many characters.

I liked this one and would recommend it if you like family drama buried memories and secrets!

3 stars

I received this audiobook from the publisher Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

Foster sisters who share a troubled past, closer than close except for the secrets the could destroy them. This one was high suspense with all the feels. I literally could not turn it off. The narrator did a masterful job. The bad "guy" was sufficiently awful. The ending delightfully twisty at the same time as it provided a fair measure of closure. Bravo. Highly recommended.

I listened to the audiobook, and at first it wasn't holding my attention but I stayed with it and I'm so glad I did. Jessica, Norah and Alicia have always been told how lucky they are being raised by a loving foster mother. Miss Fairchild is anything but loving!, she's mean, cruel and abusive. They weren't lucky at all. Now years later they all struggle with issues and and are still haunted by Miss Fairchild. When a body is found under the Fairchild home, they are summoned back to their painful past, and might be prime suspects. A gripping and twisted story that didn't disappoint. A great summer thriller.

Thank you MacMillan Audio

Dawnny Ruby
Novels N Latte
Hudson Valley NY

Told from three darling girl POVs, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, this book is set in both the present and the past. The characters are realistically flawed and I found them easy to like. I especially loved their sister bond! Their upbringing with their foster parent, Miss Fairchild, is sad and scary. TW: child abuse. Bones have been found at the site of the house they grew up in and now the sisters have been called back to the town of their childhood in order to help the police figure out just who the bones belong to. I found the police investigation to be completely unbelievable and while I enjoyed the overall story, I didn't find it to be very exciting. That being said, the ending got me. Way to go Sally!

I read the physical book and I also listened to the audio book. I'm giving this book 4 stars based on Jessica Clarke's fantastic narration which brought all of the characters to life. I enjoyed the audio version far more than the print version. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my copy of this audio book in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately I was not able to listen to this one before it was archived, but still want to get to it sometime. I’ve heard great things about it. Giving it 5(hopeful) stars.

SISTERS, SECRETS, LOVE, AND MURDER... Sally Hepworth’s new novel has it all.

This hashtag made me want to read the book and I’m glad I did!

The audiobook version of Darling Girls was phenomenal. I loved the foster sisters in this book and how they cared about each other then and now as adults. The mystery was good too. I couldn’t figure out the twist! Listen to this one! It’s good!

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review..

This is my second Sally Hepworth and I thoroughly enjoyed this! I loved the twists and pacing. I enjoyed this book the entire way through and was also blown away by the ending. I am a sucker for past and present chapters- multiple timelines are my favorite and this was done so well! I can't wait to read what she writes next!

This was my second read from Sally Hepworth and I really ended up enjoying it! I had been taking a hiatus from thrillers/mysteries and this book made me remember why I enjoy it! I really loved the twists and the unexpected ending! I think the audio could have worked with having different narrators for the sisters but I still really liked Jessica Clarke's narration.

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

This was my first novel by this author, and I don't often read this genre, but I'll definitely be reading more of her books! I felt invested in the individual stories of each well-developed character. Three grown women struggle to build productive lives years after surviving their time with an abusive foster mother. When a murder investigation takes them back to her home, their reflections on the past serve to explain how they became the women they are today. There are plenty of twists that keep the reader guessing (and one of mine was right!), but the story of foster care gone wrong will linger.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5 Stars
Happy pub month to Sally Hepworth and Darling Girls! Thank you to Sally Hepworth, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this book for an honest review. Additionally, thank you to St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this book for an honest review!

📅 Tuesday, April 23, 2024 is the pub date for Darling Girls. 📅

Darling Girls is a twisty adventure…part mystery, part thriller, and everything psychological. The book opens with multiple phone calls to several young women from a detective stating that an investigation has been opened to look into the excavation of human remains. For Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, trauma from their childhood resurfaces because they are asked to return to the estate and hometown in which they spent many unhappy years under the care of Holly Fairchild.

Ms. Fairchild was known in the foster care system as a reliable and loving caregiver with strong maternal instincts. She owned a spacious home that accommodated several young girls for various amounts of time over the years. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia became sisters that would literally do anything to protect each other and although their idea of love is a bit skewed, they prove time and time again that they love each other dearly.

Will being reunited again unveil more than the hidden memories of the past? Could one of sisters kill someone without the others knowing? Are they all covering for one another? Will seeing Ms. Fairchild again break the glue that has kept them strong over the years?

If you’ve read books by Sally Hepworth in the past, you’ll enjoy her newest book! It will keep you guessing. When you think you’re on the right track, additional information will be shared that throws you off the trail. Sally wrote a story with a compelling plot and characters but the ending fell flat for me. Some portions of the ending seemed a tad forced and far fetched. It wasn’t as congruent as I would have liked to the rest of the storyline.

⚠️Trigger Warning: Child abuse. Verbal, physical and emotional. Resurfacing of childhood trauma.

4.5 ⭐ rounded up- thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio/ St. Martin's Press for the audiobook and e-book arcs of this novel. This was such a fun psychological thriller to read- I definitely did not want to put it down. Short chapters and multiple character perspectives are my favorites! I also enjoyed getting the multiple different timelines. I loved the bond that the sisters had from growing up in a foster home together while still each having their own personalities. This book took some wild turns and definitely kept me guessing. I didn't want to put it down! I only wish we might have had different narrators for the sisters in the audio version.

This book was a great mix of intrigue and mystery with relatable characters. The story telling with multiple perspectives and timelines was enjoyable but at times a little hard to follow. I can see it being a great mini series though!

While initially I found the ending unsatisfying, once I got to the very end I felt it was a lot more satisfying

I was not expecting that ending!!! OMG?! This book does not disappoint. I was gripped from the beginning. A must recommend. Thanks the net galley for the early read.

This was given to me by NetGalley to listen to and I really enjoyed it. It started a bit slow but got really good fast! Three girls went to live with a foster mother that wasn’t the best person to care for them. When they grew up, they found out some things about this home and the people involved and it is shocking.

This book follows three former foster sisters who grew up in an abusive foster home. They've all done their best to try and forget about their childhoods and move on. But they're forced to remember when they're contacted by police about human bones found at their former foster home.

This was an emotional, psychological thriller. Sally Hepworth consistently writes 4 star reads/listens in my opinion. If you've liked her previous books you will love this one too.

Thank you netgalley and Macmillan audio for giving me an advanced review copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. (

I would like to thank Netgalley for this AudioBook

I unfortunatly had to DNF this book at about 55% not because the book or the Narrators are bad but because I found myself having a hard time keeping up with the story via Audio and kept having to rewind to previous chapters. I will be picking this book up to start again on kindle so that I can actually read it since I was enjoying it and the story was very interesting.

Darling Girls is a captivating page turner about a three sisters made family by tragic circumstances, and brought back together as adults to face their traumatic childhoods head-on. Very well written and twisty.

This was exactly what I was expecting/looking for. Good, but not great. Sally Hepworth's books are always quick and easy to follow on audio. I enjoyed the multiple POVs, dual timelines, and sisterhood aspect of the story. I was hoping for a better execution as it was a bit underwhelming and had a lot of potential.

Thank you, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this alc!

Thank you to @stmartinspress, @netgalley, & @macmillan.audio for the advanced reading and listening copies!

Oh. My. God. I’m not entirely sure what I read but what I do know is that everyone else should also read this (& I mean this in the best way possible).

But let’s start from the beginning. The story is about Jessica, Alicia, and Norah. 3 girls within the foster care system that wind up at Fair Meadows under the care of Miss Fairchild. In this story we’re given the present day where the 3 girls have gone back to Port Agatha because a body has been found under Wild Meadows. The other part is “before,” where we’re given a look at the childhoods of the girls while at Wild Meadows. This story had everything - from the psychological workings of sisterhood, found family, the foster care system, and the meaning behind nature vs. nurture. I found myself getting emotional towards the end as I felt truly attached to all 3 girls. In college I minored in Psychology and I found this book brought me back to why I loved it in the first place. I don’t want to give anymore away because everyone just needs to pick this up TODAY. Just know that the ending blew my mind and I promise it won’t let you down.

Thanks to @macmillan.audio, I was able to continue listening while commuting to work. Narrated by Jessica Clarke (whose accent is phenomenal), I found myself entranced by her voice as it portrayed the story and location in a way I didn’t think possible.

this book was such a wild ride! great read and was very entertaining. I would definitely recommend you read this if you love a domestic thriller!