Oh boy… this book was so incredibly hard to read, but I could not put it down. If I didn’t have responsibilities needing my attention I would have finished it in one sitting. As I said though, it is very hard to read about the abuse without throwing my book (kindle) across the room in frustration for the lack of help those girls desperately needed. And the ending… THE ENDING!!!!!! 🤯🤯🤯

Holy moly this book was great. Just loved the dynamic of the sisters and their story. And twists!!! Just when you think you know what is going on!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this book, with my honest review below*

Sally Hepworth has written a page turner filled with tension and trauma in Darling Girls. Following three foster sisters, now grown, we revisit their past and upbringing with Miss Fairchild, who ran Wild Meadows, their foster home while solving a mystery in the present of a body found under the since destroyed home. Throughout the novel you get to know each sister (my favorite being the feisty Norah) and how trauma shaped them as well as the psychology of a major player in the novel.

I enjoyed this book, both for the depiction of the good and bad of foster care (foster parents with the right intentions should be honored by everyone, and I’m glad the book focused on them as a counterbalance to foster parents with more selfish intentions) and its suspense as we learn more about the mystery of the body. The closure at the end was well done, and the final twist came out of nowhere but made perfect sense for the character it focused on. With excellent writing, I would recommend this for readers of this category and beyond.

WOW!!! Just wow with the surprises in this story. I loved how this story was told in both present day and in the past. The way it flipped between the two just left me in suspense and it let the story unfold perfectly! I thought I had it figured out a few times, but nope! This one will truly have you guessing until the very end. The last chapter totally got me!!! I highly recommend this one as a MUST READ!

Thank you to the publisher for a Netgalley.

Wow. This was intense. Every time we flashed back to the past, you got a tightening in your stomach knowing that something terrible was going to happen to these kids. So please go in knowing there is a lot of child abuse. I personally did not think it was graphic or overly violent, but it was a lot of psychological abuse.

The story of our three women is an interesting one. I found all three of them to have interesting current lives and learning how these foster sisters became true sisters was really well written. Darling Girls was an absolute page turner.

Darling Girls will be a great Summer thriller to read! It took me a while to start reading this book as I had others on my list to get to, however, when I started, I couldn't stop. I would sit down for a specified amount of time to read and read much longer because I was enjoying following the plot twists and turns that will keep any lover of a good mystery engaged up until the very end.

Sally Hepworth's story catches up to the lives of three very different foster sisters in their mid thirties. First, is Jessica, a type-A owner of a home organization and makeover business. Jessica seems to have it all. But her tightly crafted faced begins to chip away. Jessica's marriage is lackluster and she may have some skeletons in her closet.

There is also Norah, who is beautiful and feisty. She runs a company taking placement tests for people and has a long history of issues with the police. Norah has a long string of dates that she meets on apps, usually for free handy work around her house. She loves her dogs, but is not interested in a serious relationship.

Finally, we meet Alicia, a social worker who helps place foster children in safe and loving environments. She is big hearted and earnest, but cannot sustain a long term loving relatiionship. In fact, she hasn't even tried.

The sisters are close, but the bedrock of that closeness is shattered when a body is discovered underneath the foster home they grew up. Their foster mother, Ms. Fairchild appeared loving and kind to outward people, but was strict and exacting. The sisters are pulled back into memories of trauma and abuse. While they are witnesses and working with the police, are they also suspects?

As mentioned before, I kept reading on, as I was on the edge of my seat. I don't want to give too much away, but Sally Hepworth produced a real page turner. I hadn't read her before, but would definitely read her again. I see her as contemporaries with Alice Feeney, Greer Hendricks, and Liane Moriarity (another Australian writer like Hepworth).
So if you enjoy those writers, give Sally Hepworth a try!

Triggers: Child abuse, substance abuse, assault, murder, mental health issues.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this. Was I able to piece together the plot as Hepworth took me along this twisty ride? Yes, but that didn’t take away from me enjoying the story.

Hepworth has a way to draw you in from the beginning. The writing style is so easy, bingeable and suspenseful. I’m a big fan of her backlist. This is classic Hepworth in her prime.

I loved the suspenseful multiple POVs this is written in, giving background on all three sister’s experience: past and present.
The ending is absolute chefs kiss!!

Miss Fairchild fosters children in her home and can only describe her kids as darling girls. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were saved by Miss Fairchild, or so they think. Miss Fairchild is strict and scary at times. The girls escape and years later are questioned by detectives about a body found underneath Miss Fairchild’s house. But whose body is it? Suddenly the darling girls become suspects.

Multiple POVs and timelines always make for an interesting read. Fast-paced thriller that kept you on edge the entire time!

Honestly, this is my favorite Sally Hepworth novel to date! Thanks to Net Galley, Sally Hepworth, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC! Pub date 4/23/24

I enjoy Sally Hepworth's books and "Darling Girls" is no exception. The book goes between the present and the past. Three girls, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, end up in foster care of Miss Fairchild. The farmhouse looks like a beautiful place to stay but not everything is as perfect as it seems. To survive the rules and abuse that Miss Fairchild inflicts on the girls, they form a tight bond of sisterhood that goes into the girls adult lives.

The novel explores the foster sisters' past, revealing that their time in Miss Fairchild's care was far from idyllic. The rules in the house and the mental abuse builds tension until the girls finally have to breakaway. Their shared past and the different experiences of each girl reaches into their adult lives.

When a body is found at the farmhouse, the girls are forced to go back. The story has a mystery around who was found buried at the farmhouse. Are the girls suspects? Did Miss Fairchild kill a foster baby? There is a good balance between the past and the unfolding mystery of the present.

I would recommend reading "Darling Girls". Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy. #NetGalley #DarlingGirls #SallyHepworth

Another winner by Sally Hepworth! I loved this book and it kept me on the edge of my seat. It follows 3 foster sisters who remain close in adulthood despite their upbringing and foster mother. But when news hits that a body was found under their childhood home, they must confront some old demons.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel!

This was another great read by Sally Hepworth! So hard to put down and it kept me guessing until the very end!

I have read books by Sally Hepworth before and this one did not disappoint. Jessica, Norah and Alicia all end up in the foster system and they are placed with Miss Fairchild. Jessica has been there the longest. She loves Miss Fairchild and has a hard time when Norah comes along. Alicia comes after and is under the impression she will only be there temporarily. These girls come to depend on each other as they deal with the unpredictability of their foster mother. She has very strict rules and she punishes the girls by using their fears. The girls get away from her by reporting her and they never knew what happened to Miss Fairchild.
This book really made me sad, mad and happy all in one. When a body is found on the estate, the girls are contacted by local police to come in for questions. Sally Hepworth throws in other characters throughout the book and it leaves you questioning whose body is it. If you like books that will leave you wondering what will happen next, this is the book for you. I really enjoyed it and will recommend we purchase for my library.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for allowing me to receive this book as an arc.

Alicia, Jessica, and Norah grew up in foster care. They wee sisters, bonded by trauma, not blood. Miss Fairchild, their foster mother at Wild Meadows publicly radiated an image of a loving parent, but behind closed doors manipulated and abused them. Twenty five years after their time with Miss Fairchild, police found a body buried where Wild Meadows used to be. Alicia, Jessica, and Norah must confront their pasts to find out the mystery.

The novel kept me reading. I wanted to follow each secret, each twist, each turn. The sisters' personalities were well developed, and each dealt with their traumas in a unique way. Sally Hepworth emphasized their bond, and she wrote relationships that were believable.

Fans of domestic thrillers will enjoy this book. I plan to recommend it as a browsing title for the library.

This was an intense thriller that kept me guessing - i enjoyed the dual time periods and the added intrigue that brought to the story. Propulsive and satisfying!

Sally Hepworth once again delivers with Darling Girls, a thrilling novel about three foster sisters. There are plenty of twists and uncomfortable moments as their stories unfold. Each chapter reveals more about the foster girl’s backgrounds and that of their young foster mother. The narrative of their traumatic experiences leads to a satisfying conclusion. I also think this one would be well done as an audiobook.

Look for this page-turner on April 23rd! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this complimentary ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Three foster (non-biological) sisters, who are now adults, are called back to their childhood hometown after human bones are discovered under the house in which they grew up with their foster mother. Secrets from the past and present abound. There is anger, sorrow, and anxiety in the air mixed with love, determination, and hope.

This is another solid Sally Hepworth novel. She expertly moves between the past and present and alternating POVs. Twisty, as expected, with some twists that were obvious but a couple that took me by surprise.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the early e-book.

Another amazing book by Sally Hepworth! Jessica, Alicia, and Norah are raised together in a foster home so they have an unconventional sisterly bond. When bones are discovered under the foster home the women go back and search for the truth.
The characters are so well written and the plot is carefully crafted. At times this book is hard to read because of the subject matter but I didn’t want to stop reading.

I love Sally Hepworth. This story was very intriguing to me, particularly the “before”. This was an interesting take on the darker side of what can happen in foster care.

Another win from Sally Hepworth!!! Darling Girls is the *perfect* thriller, mixed with mystery, and curious elements that kept me guessing the entire book. It’s a bit of a sad story to begin with, and as it unfolds there are definitely some gut-wrenching parts, but it all comes together beautifully by the end.

The story of 3 sisters, Norah, Jessica and Alicia unwinds as their past becomes part of their present. A police investigation takes them back to their hometown, a place they never imagined they would return to. Diving back into their childhoods brings up unexpected feelings, and leaves the 3 women trying to sort out what led to the investigation into their previous home.

I did not expect the ending at all - it was only something I started to piece together in the last maybe two chapters. It was super fun reading and trying to piece bits together as the story went on.

I would absolutely recommend this one if you’re a mystery/thriller reader!

5.00 stars
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TW: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Addiction, Death of a parent.
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My jaw is currently on the floor after reading Sally Hepworth's latest work. In Darling Girls we follow three sisters (Jessica, Alicia, and Norah) who grew up together in a foster home under the care of Miss Fairchild. From the outside the farmhouse looked like any other building, but on the inside as sinister as could be. The three sisters endured a lot during their stay with Miss. Fairchild, leaving them with trauma that flutters into their day-to-day lives. Although our sisters are flawed I enjoyed the way they were written, and appreciate that they weren't perfect on paper.

The first half of the book sets us up for a thrilling second half that will have you on the edge of your seat! The farmhouse is the last place any of them planned on revisiting. That is until human remains are found under the house and they're called in to tell the police what they know. Their time with Miss Fairchild is one they chose to no longer think about, not since the three of them finally asked for help and were removed from her care. The story is told from multiple POVs from the sisters and we also flip between the now and then. I enjoyed watching how the girls interacted with Miss Fairchild in the present after everything that happened all while my heart broke for Jessica who still fell for her manipulation.

The plot picks up in the second half as we start to tie all of the strings together and figure out what happened and who the bones belonged to. The twist at the end was one I would have never guessed, part of it you can piece together but the final line of the book had my mind blown.
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I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martins Press, and Sally Hepworth for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This book will be published on April 24th, 2024.