This was the second book by Sally Hepworth and I really enjoyed it! I loved the alternating POVs, and was intrigued by the mystery patient in the therapy sessions. I loved the bond between the sisters. Some parts were a little slower but overall I kept wanting to/listen more. Loved the twist!

Big trigger warnings for child abuse, especially at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first time reading a Sally Hepworth book and I enjoyed it. This was quite the page-turner and I finished it in a couple of days. However, if child abuse or such topics are a trigger then this one is not for you! I understand these things happen in homes and historically in foster homes but there were some grim scenes in this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced audiobook. I enjoyed the narrator, but the story has so many characters in it I would it hard to keep track.

Book Title: Darling Girl
Author: Sally Hepworth
Narrator: Jessica Clarke
Format: 🎧
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pub Date: April 28, 2024
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 368

I love a good audiobook.
I read this story back in November. I love this author but the story was so disturbing.
It kept me interested but it wasn’t enjoyable.

Since I already read this story, I was prepared for the disturbing parts. The narrator did a beautiful job in performing the characters. I did notice more nasty language than I remember reading – it is always more garish when I listen than when I read.

Twenty-five years ago Alicia Connelly, Jessica Lovat and Norah Anderson were foster “sisters”, and lived at Wild Meadows Farms a foster home (aka- House of Horrors) in Port Agatha. Today they seem somewhat like average women. True, Jessica is a bit OCD and Norah has some anger issues. And Alicia has low self-esteem. However they have a bond that average women don’t have it started when they lived on a farm with a foster mother named Miss Fairchild -who was cruel and abusive.

The three foster sisters all have flashbacks from their time at Wild Meadows.
Jessica is the oldest of the trio and arrived at the home when she was five years old; and in desperate in need of a mother’s love.
Norah is the youngest and was eleven when she arrived and always was violence as it seemed necessary.
Alicia is in the middle – a year younger than Jessica and a year older than Norah. She arrived when she was twelve-year-old as her grandmother was in an accident and her stay was only supposed to be temporary. Reading their back story was not a pleasant experience.
<The Housemother Holly Fairchild is wicked to say the least.

Now in their thirties the three women each receive a phone call regarding human bones found under the demolition site farmhouse at Wild Meadows (as they were building a new MacDonald’s.
The story is a wild ride of Past and Present; told in alternating POVs additionally a mystery voice of someone in Dr. Warren’s psychotherapy session. (However this person really isn’t a big mystery.)

This is my eight Sally Hepworth novel] the other seven I read were outstanding 5 star reads! I was expecting the same with this story!

The audiobook did not include Ms. Hepworth’s acknowledgements so I was glad I read it as it made it clearer as to why she wrote this story.
She tells us about her research. She spoke with women who were raised in foster care. Also points out that although there are villains but for every villain there is in foster care there are hundreds of heroes- helping children who are living in this failed system.
Sisterhood and friendship are definitely a part of this story and I know abuse and other trauma a child experienced can follow through adulthood.

Ms. Hepworth is still one of my favorite authors she is an amazing story teller.

I want to thank NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for this early audiobook..
Publishing Release Date scheduled for April 28, 2024

Sally Hepworth at her best. A story of three women who shared time at a foster home that wasn't always the most loving. They are brought in on investigation after the bones a young child were found under the house they used to live in. Through conversations with police officers, conversations with each other and a conversation with a therapist, the story unravels in a way that keeps you guessing. The three women call each other sister after the bond they have shared growing up in foster care and they each have their own problems resulting from the trauma of their childhood. Great story, great characters, and an ending that I did not see coming. Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Jessica Clarke who does a fantastic job! I highly recommend the audiobook if that is of interest to you!

Jessica, Norah and Alicia remain "sisters" many years after they each entered foster care with Miss Fairchild at Wild Meadows Farm. Despite each woman entering foster care for different reasons and from different circumstances, the 3 women banded together to survive the psychological, mental and physical abuse handed out by Miss Fairchild. As adults now and very co-dependent, the 3 women are contacted by the police as a body has been found under the remains of Wild Meadows Farm.

Told in alternating timelines and by each of the 4 women, as only Sally Hepworth can do, this is a wild ride! Its faced paced and action packed! Each of the adult women have developed coping mechanisms for the abuse that they suffered and the story is well written.

Highly recommend!!

I loved the narration for Darling Girls! It’s always nice to hear different accents. Sally Hepworth’s books can be hit or miss for me. This one was more of a miss but I’m sure most people will love it. I felt it jumped back and forth in time too much. The abuse in the book was difficult to get through, but I appreciated how she was unblinking in her descriptions.

I started this book and couldn’t stop. The storyline moving between the characters and past/present kept me interested from the beginning.
Three girls in a foster home quickly become sisters as they navigate their current living situation. Fast forward…a call from an investigator brings up a mystery from the past that the sisters must face together.
Loved it! Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest review.

Enjoyed the journey, the narration was fantastic, and the characters were solid. I do wish I had a physical copy of this one to refer back to as the audiobook version had me frequently asking myself “is this who xyz?”

There are plenty of trigger warnings (child abuse, negative foster conditions and experiences, etc.) but this look into The sisters and their bond, born out of shared trauma, was written so well.

I really appreciate that their commitment and love for one another never waned, despite biology, as other books typically miss the mark here, in my opinion, implying that non-genetic families will never be as strong as biological families. I don’t know Hepworth’s personal story, but I also commend her for using positive terminology (like “biological parents” instead of “real parents”) as this is a personal upset and cringe for me in most every book that includes families created out of adoption.

Thank you to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of Hepworth’s latest!

Wow! That's all I have to say! This book was amazing! It had a strong start and was nicely paced. All throughout the book I felt as if it was a solid 4 but the ending immediately took it up to a 5 for me!
Jessica, Alicia, and Norah are three girls who were rescued from family tragedies and placed in foster care, living with Miss Fairchild, their now foster mother. Jessica was taken in by Miss Fairchild at the young age of 4 and everything seemed so perfect. Miss Fairchild treated Jessica as if she were her own daughter.. up until another foster child came along- Norah. Norah was a wild child, even into her adult years. Once Norah showed up, Miss Fairchild instantly started treating both girls terribly. (Abuse triggers in this book.) Not too long after another foster girl arrived- Alicia. Throughout their years of living with Miss Fairchild they've experienced an intense amount of abuse, both physically and mentally. As unfortunate as it was, they did gain a sisterly bond from it.
25 years later the girls are contacted by the police in regards to a body found buried underneath their old foster home. The girls knew how abusive Miss Fairchild was to not only them, but to the babies she also housed. For me, this point was when the book peaked to 5 stars!

I enjoyed this book, I loved the multiple POV, and I appreciate how the author gave us both past & present events, helping us get to fully understand the characters.

Spoiler (but not really a spoiler) .. I just feel the need to say Miss Fairchild is truly mentally unstable. She's nutty, and it added so much umph to this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for this amazing read!!

Darling Girls showcases how the bonds of sisterhood can survive the most treacherous of conditions. Hepworth shares the stories of three sisters and the formative years they spent at Wild Meadows with their abusive foster mother. Enough information was omitted throughout the story that I understood the general premise of the story, but there were hazy pieces that didn’t click into place until the twists and turns unfolded at the end of the book. This was a wildly horrible tale about the tragedies that humans can endure and the importance of family, chosen or given, to survive those hurdles.

Thank you to NetGalley.com for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook!

I was so excited to receive from NetGalley.com an advanced audiobook of Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth who is one of my favorite authors. The audiobook is narrated by Jessica Clarke. She has such a pleasant voice, and did an exceptional job altering her voice for the many female characters. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook.

Darling Girls is a psychological thriller that tells of the relationships between three girls and their evil foster mother (she reminded me of Joan Crawford/Mommy Dearest). It bounces back and forth in time from when the girls were living with their foster mother to present day where bones have been discovered in the home where the girls grew up. Did they have anything to do with murder? You'll have to read this gripping book to find out!

I can't wait to read another Sally Hepworth book and will definitely be on the lookout for more books narrated by Jessica Clarke.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC (advanced reader copy) which comes out April 23rd. Solid mystery and a sad story of things that can happen in foster care. This is my third Sally Hepworth book, and she is proving to be a solid author :).

I liked all the little twisty lies in this story. I have taken a liking to SH's books. This is probably at the top of the list. I would've loved to know more about Miss. Fairchild. It definitely shows the effects your upbringing can have on you. If you're a thriller fan, you won't be disappointed.

A psychological mystery with a villain you'll love to hate? Check! Jessica, Norah, and Alicia grew up together at Wild Meadows. Though the bond they've forged together is stronger than that of sisters, they've tried to put the past (and all of its painful memories) far behind them. But when a body is discovered on the property, the three women must return and face their former foster mother, Miss Fairchild, who was in turns loving and volatile. No one believed the girls the last time they spoke up. Are they being called back as witnesses, or suspects?

I loved the various portrayals of strength in each of the three women, and how they ultimately dealt with the conclusions provided. I enjoyed the turns taken where ~someone~ was talking to a therapist, but it was clear that <i>something</i> more was going on. I appreciated how even the well-meaning characters were, in the end, flawed people who failed and ultimately fed into Miss Fairchild's narrative. I would read this one a second time in hard copy when it comes out!

Sally Hepworth’s BEST NOVEL YET!

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are sisters. Well, not biologically, but they were raised in the same foster home, which made them closer than most sisters. As far as everyone could tell, they were rescued into a loving foster home, with an angelic foster mother. Their lives couldn’t have been better to everyone on the outside. Until human remains are found under the home, and everyone starts to question, was this the foster home from hell? Or the foster children from hell?

I loved this page turner! I was so captivated by this story and Hepworth truly knows how to draw you into these characters. The character development was *chef’s kiss*. It was an absolutely un-put-downable audiobook that had me guessing until the very last chapter. If you need a good thriller, GRAB THIS ONE!! SO GOOD!!!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this audiobook!

Darling Girls is told from the voices of three foster sisters - Jessica, Norah and Alicia, along with the Dr. Warren, the psychiatrist. The sisters are now grown and telling this story from present day and from the past when they were girls growing up with Miss Fairchild on her beautiful farm, Wild Meadows. All three girls grew close living with Miss Fairchild, as they needed each other living with someone like her.

As adults they find out a dead child is buried under the home they grew up in, and they think they know who the child was and fear being accused of this child's death. They lived in fear throughout their childhood and even as adults.

Hepworth tells a twisty tale that kept me reading and listening to the very end and appreciate the background in her Author's note in her Acknowledgements Page. However, there are some cringey moments and plenty of triggers of the horrors that children go through in this story. Like the author, I hope every child is loved and cared for by their family, foster family or adopted family, but also know that there are plenty who aren't cared for as they should be.

The author, Sally Hepworth, will be at Fabled Bookshop in Waco on May 1 and I look forward to meeting her after having read a number of her books!

My thanks to Net Galley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillian Audio for advanced copies of the e-book and audiobook. I really enjoyed Narrator Jessica Clarke who I assume is Australian. I loved her accent and telling of this story!

I was beyond excited to have the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of Sally Hepworth’s newest domestic suspense thriller Darling Girls and I was not disappointed. This novel was a solid 4.5 star read and one I thoroughly enjoyed. I finished in two sittings and could not put it down. The story was well written with plenty of twists and turns to keep you enthralled until the very end. Jessica Clarke did an amazing job bringing these characters to life. I highly recommend everyone read Darling Girls when it is released on April 23, 2024.

Thank you Macmillan Audio, author Sally Hepworth, and NetGalley for this Advanced Listening Copy.

This is unfortunately a DNF for me. Made it to 50% and I really struggled to get there.

Thanks for the advance copy

Oh, Sally Hepworth, your wickedly twisted mind never disappoints! Darling Girls lures in you from the opening sentence and puts you into a stranglehold until the very last secret is revealed. Like all of Hepworth's books, you think you know what's happening only to find yourself picking your jaw up off the floor. In my opinion, this book is right up there with The Good Sister which is a benchmark for me in the psychological thriller genre.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia grew up in the foster system; all residing at Wild Meadows in the care of Miss Fairchild. Their time at the farm house is not idyllic and the girls bonded as foster sisters to escape the new traumas inflicted on them. Now adults, the sisters are forced to confront their past when bones are discovered buried on the grounds of their former home. Each of the sisters is grappling with the effects of their individual and shared traumas. When the police call them in to answer questions, it is uncertain whether they are seen as witnesses or suspects.

This book is packed with secrets. lies, suspense, and a mystery to be solved. Overlying it all is love and devotion among the sisters. They are each other's fiercest protectors and will sacrifice anything to protect each other. Hepworth delivers a home run with Darling Girls. The narrative navigates between past and present telling a captivating and cruel story. The unwinding gives the reader insight into the characters while bringing the reader to the stunning conclusion. Sally Hepworth weaves a tale with precision and empathy. Her characters are fully realized and deeply flawed - and you won't soon forget them.

Jessica Clarke does a phenomenal job of bringing the characters to life through her outstanding narration. Her talent allows the story to slowly unravel while giving each of the sisters a clear and distinct voice. Brava for a terrific performance!

Darling Girls will be released on April 22, 2024. Mark your calendars. It's a must read. If you are not already a Sally Hepworth fan, you soon will be!

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.