It is beyond appropriate my first read finished in 2024 is by an Australian author, takes place in, and I am visiting Australia for the first time!
Many thanks to the publisher for my review copy…review to come on publication date!

An excellent, dark read! Couldn't put it down. So tense. I've enjoyed other Sally Hepworth's novels, and this one was just as good. Loved the girls. Thriller fans will like this novel. Great twists and reveals. When you think it’s one thing, it turns out to be another. I would definitely recommend this book.

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

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have always been told their lucky. As young girls they all foster children placed in the care of Miss Fairchild on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family.

But things aren’t always what they seem, and Miss Fairchild isn’t perfect. The three sisters escape one day, and thought they were free, but time has a way of catching up with you and now the sisters are catapulted back when a body is discovered. Are they witnesses? Or are they the prime suspects?

Sally Hepworth is one of my favorite authors. So, I was excited to see what she came up with this time around, and I was blown away.

I was a little apprehensive about getting the story from past and present points of views for three characters, but this was done so well, that it worked for me. I loved exploring the relationship between Jessica, Norah and Alicia. While they weren’t sisters by blood, they were sisters by circumstance. Found family can be stronger than real family in my opinion and that was the case here. The intricacies of the relationship between the three was interesting and well flushed out, it seemed realistic.

The characters were all well developed, and since we got the past point of view, we learned what shaped them into them into people they are today. They all have different issues and took different paths, and their back stories supported and built up the case for their present. I liked the little tidbits of information that were sprinkled throughout that just clicked when you read it about why each of them did what they did. It was also really interesting to read about their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, she was quite an interesting character.

While I had figured out one of the big twists of this one relatively quickly, it didn’t deter from my enjoyment. I don’t think that this is necessarily an edge of your seat thriller, that’s why I’d classify it more of a women’s fiction with thriller undertones. It’s well done, and entertaining, and it holds your interesting, it just isn’t super thrilling, and I was okay with that.

I will continue to be a supporter of Sally Hepworth and can’t get enough of her books. I anxiously await the next one.

Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press @StMartinsPress and Netgalley @netgalley for

This review will be posted to my blog, speedreadstagram.com around publication date.

3.5 stars for me. I enjoyed the varying perspectives and the different timelines, but much of this story was easy to predict well before it was revealed. Some of the scenes are hard to stomach and there are triggers for varying forms of abuse. Nevertheless, Sally Hepworth’s novels are always worth the time and this was no exception.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins for the arc.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are sisters. Not by blood, but they grew up in the. Same foster home under the care of Miss Fairchild. Their time with Miss Fairchild could be considered anything but a happy childhood.

Once they’ve grown up and have been living their own lives, they are informed that a body has been found underneath their foster home.

The story jumps back and forth between the past and present. We get the backstory of the girls’ lives under their foster mother, and then are brought back to current times to learn more about the investigation.

As per usual, my girl Sally KILLED IT (no pun intended) with this book. There are plenty of twists and jaw-dropping moments, right up until the very last page.

If you’re a fan of the thriller/mystery genre, this book is a MUST READ.

I have really enjoyed other books by this author, but I found this one was just okay. The story is about three young women who were foster children together in the home of a woman called Miss Fairchild (who, in my unprofessional opinion, was probably a narcissist). When the police find bones under Miss Fairchild's barn, the girls are interviewed by the police and the past they thought they had left behind comes back to them, as the mystery is investigated. I did find the character development quite good, which is always the case with Sally Hepworth's books, but definitely NOT always the case with psychological thrillers.

Hepworth’s books are always phenomenal! This one did not disappoint! The last page threw me for a loop!

Sally Hepworth has done it again! "Darling Girls" is a captivating thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish. As a devoted fan of Hepworth's previous works, this book exceeded my expectations.

The story follows Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, three foster sisters who grew up under the care of Miss Fairchild. Despite the seemingly idyllic setting of their farming estate, the author skillfully unveils the darker side of their childhood. Miss Fairchild's rules and unpredictability add a layer of suspense that keeps you guessing until the very end.

Hepworth's storytelling is impeccable, and her ability to create relatable characters is on full display. The foster sisters' journey from a fractured past to the discovery of a body under their childhood home is filled with twists and turns that had me on the edge of my seat.

If you are looking to add an amazing thriller to your Spring of 2024 TBR list, do not miss Darling Girls!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

My first thoughts upon racing through this book were WTF did I just read?!

This is my first Sally Hepworth novel, but it will NOT be my last.

The story unfolds with alternating perspectives through time. The three foster sisters have very distinct personalities and pasts. The past and present flip back and forth building a very compelling story. There’s also a mystery character delivering secrets to a therapist intermixed in the chapters. I was able to figure out the mystery character pretty early on, but was not expecting the final twist!
This book should maybe come with trigger warnings. It was such a fast read, it took a while to realize I was reading about some messed up situations.

Thanks to the publisher, I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Find a comfortable reading place and plan on being there for awhile once you start Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth. I read it in one day; once I started I was absolutely hooked. The story centers around 3 non- biological sisters who bonded for life during their time together in foster care at a place called Wild Meadows. Twenty five years later the reader meets Jessica, Norah and Alicia; each deeply affected by their time at Wild Meadows under the care of the volatile and impetuous Miss Fairchild. Each has received a phone call from a Detective informing them that remains have been found under the house, and requesting that they come to Port Agatha to be interviewed. The reader is taken on a journey to and from the time they were in care to the present. . I was captivated by what the girls experienced, and how it affected the women they became. Darling Girls is an extremely well crafted novel, and an extremely compelling read. I highly recommend it. 4.5 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of Darling Girls, yet that in no way influenced my review.

“You’re lucky to be coming to this home.”

I keep writing and rewriting my review because while I don’t want this story to sound too dark (it isn’t), I DO want to convey how deeply affected I was. Darling Girls was my first novel by Sally Hepworth and it won’t be my last!

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are foster sisters who have a tight bond based in shared childhood trauma. Their foster mother Miss Fairchild is a calculating and insidious malignant narcissist. She reminded me of an evil Mrs. Hannigan. I could picture Miss Fairchild stumbling around drunk, lipstick smears on her face, singing Little Girls. (IFYKYK)

Twenty Five years after they broke free of their foster mother, the sisters are forced to revisit the past when bones are found underneath the house they lived in. Whose bones are they? How long have they been there? Are the sisters suspects? The perspective of each sister shifts fluidly from the present to the past as we learn how they came into each other’s lives. There’s also a creepy anonymous narrator woven in via visits with an equally creepy psychiatrist.

Sally Hepworth’s ability to create characters of incredible depth and psychological complexity is astounding. The sisters each have unique challenges as of result of their traumatic pasts, such as addiction, lack of impulse control and self loathing. There are moments of levity and humor too. I particularly enjoyed the bedtime jokes and couldn’t help but chuckle. I laughed, I cried, I cheered them on and I celebrated their courage. I had no idea I would feel so connected to each of these women AND their younger selves. I wanted to jump in and be the fourth sister! (I don’t have siblings.) This is a testament to Hepworth’s talent.

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are fierce, loyal, intelligent, kind and protective. They continue to work through their demons together. This story of resilience, sisterhood and family got me in all my feels and I still have book hangover. Family doesn’t have to be blood relation; we can choose our own.

⚠️The acknowledgments were so heartfelt and poignant it moved me to tears. This story contains potentially triggering subject matter and material but it’s also an area that’s needs light shed on it.

Thank you Sally Hepworth, St. Martin’s Press and NetGallley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Sally Hepworth delivers an edge of your seat story with lots of twists and turns. The characters are real and believable, and the story is realistic. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Big Sally Hepworth fan and I think this might be my new fave by her. Loved how the story was told, loved the main characters, loved the surprise twist at the end. Can’t find anything I didn’t like about this book. Would absolutely recommend

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC: Darling Girls is a twisty psychological thriller/mystery about three women who formed a family after being raised in an abusive foster home. They return to the area when bones are found under the home, and they are both witnesses and suspects. All of the women have been scarred by their experience and their former foster mother manipulated them and the system to the point that they doubt their experiences, yet they have bonded into a real family that supports each other. The book is well plotted and the story moves quickly. Despite the heaviness of the topics, there is humor. There are twists that I didn't expect. The three women and the babies who cycled through the toxic foster home find some resolution, but the author doesn't downplay the horror that they experienced and the lasting trauma--her afterword is illuminating.

▪️foster home
▪️found family
▪️childhood trauma
▪️psychological
▪️whodunit/who is it

OKAYYYYY what a knockout of a psychological mystery this one was. following Norah, Jess & Alicia who were raised in foster care, and the warfare they endured during their time. this is on the darker side for Hepworth, and was so incredibly well written. highly recommend.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for review!

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia consider themselves sisters. As adults, they have been summoned back to Port Agatha for an investisgation. The girls decide to travel together and face a secret from their past. Police have found some bones under the Wild Meadows house that used to stand.

The three ladies used to live together as foster children at Wild Meadows. Their "mother," Ms. Fairchild treated them badly and they have a story to tell. As the story unfolds, the reader finds that each girl has some major trauma to deal with from her childhood.

Hepworth delivers the story in her usual style. Each chapter is a different character. The reader finds out how each girl grew up and came to live at Wild Meadows. Personally, this is not my favorite Hepworth book. I found the story a little slow to develop. By the end of the book, everything unravels and the reader is able to piece everything together. I found the middle of the plot slow and somewhat boring.

4.5 stars rounded up

Wow! I’ve read several Sally Hepworth books and this one is another great one!

Just when you think you’ve got the plot figured out, the story shifts. A great read, good twist and characters that made me want more

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Darling girls was an incredibly fast paced twisty thriller that I couldn’t put down. At the heart of the story we have 3 girls who were in foster care together and have stuck together since. Having this “found family” aspect along with the thriller was perfect for me. I loved every minute, but especially the end!

I thoroughly enjoyed Sally Hepworth’s last novel The Soulmate and her latest was even better. I am so impressed with her characterizations of Jessica, Norah, and Alicia. I was fully invested in each character’s experiences and fate. I love a novel with complex, strong, fully realized female characters who support each other and Darling Girls is exactly that.

I enjoyed reading this book, but I don’t feel like it’s going to be rememberable. It did keep me engaged and I enjoyed the experience, but I’m afraid if someone asks me about it next week. I won’t be able to tell them what it was about.