This book was great! I loved that it was a different type of thriller than I am used to. One of my favorite parts of reading a book is finding out where the title came from, and this one did not disappoint. Sally Hepworth is becoming one of my favorite authors and I can’t wait to add this to my shelf when it releases!

Thank you for this book from Net Galley for review.. This book was super good and I devoured it in just a few days (well technically it was longer but only because of the holidays) Darling Girls had me hooked from page one and I did not want to stop reading. I really enjoyed this story and the characters and I was so curious to find out about Wild Meadows and whose bones were found.
Another thing I really liked about this book was the short chapters which made it for a quick read. This book is told between two different timelines as well as multiple POV's between the three sisters that lived on Wild Meadows with their foster mother Miss Fairchild.
I definitely recommend reading this one if you want a great thriller where you need to know the answers kind of book!!
Be sure to check this one out in April 2024!!!

I was worried about descriptions of abuse when I started this novel, but they were manageable for me. I flew right through it as I usually do with a Sally Hepworth book. Lots of questions about who the narrator was kept me reading!

Witnesses? Or prime suspects? Three sisters are raised by their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, who is a loving, generous woman (to those outside) but things are very different in their home. When a body is found under their childhood home, the secrets they kept are at risk of being revealed. I enjoy all of Sally Hepworth's novels, and this one was right up there with my top Hepworth titles.

Sisters by circumstance if not by blood, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were all saved from unfortunate situations and were lucky enough to be placed in the foster home of Miss Fairchild on her beautiful farm estate. All was not as it seemed in the farmhouse though. Miss Fairchild was a strict taskmaster and could turn on the girls in the blink of an eye. When they finally escaped no proof of wrongdoing could be found. Years later, each girl deals with her problems and scars in their own way, but they are always there for each other. Their lives are thrown out of control when a body is found at the old house. They are called in to give statements, but are they witnesses or suspects? As the story unfolds you hear the tale of the past and present from the various characters and will be left guessing until the very end. I guarantee you will be shaking your head in disbelief at the conclusion of this twisted tale!

Sally Hepworth never disappoints!
Three adult women who spent years in the same abusive foster home are forced to revisit their past as part of an investigation after the remains of a child are found buried under the house they lived in.
As the mystery unfolds the reader is given a disturbing look into the dark, twisted foster mother’s psyche, all the children endured under her care, and the resulting damage that follows them into adulthood.
From there we are taken on a roller coaster ride where everything is questioned and everyone has a secret .
This was a well crafted suspenseful psychological thriller with unexpected twists right up to the end.

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Sally Hepworth never disappoints - this is another great mystery and family drama! The characters are well developed, and you can really sympathize with Jessica, Norah and Alicia and Miss Fairchild is truly an awful woman. I liked the relationship between the sisters and how their story was told. Thanks to NetGalley for the digitial ARC.

I loved the ending of this book—the twists near the end are fantastic and the resolution to the story of each character was satisfying. However, the subject matter can be hard to take. I consider myself to be fairly well-adjusted and able to read without being triggered, but child abuse is disturbing. The protagonists are three women who became sisters when raised together in a care home. The dual timeline switches between their upbringing with a foster mother who psychologically abused them and when, as adults, they learn that human bones have been discovered buried under that house. There are also records from a therapist’s sessions with a woman who was abused as a teenager (but she is not identified until the end). In the end all of the pieces fit together. Like Sally Hepworth’s previous books, the pace is quick and the storytelling is engaging, but the subject matter here is not for every reader. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

I always get excited when I come across a new novel by Sally Hepworth and Darling Girls did not disappoint. Trigger warning: child neglect and abuse is displayed. The "scenes" weren't graphic per say, but it was very heart wrenching and may be a trigger for some readers.

I loved the bond and sisterhood that was formed between three foster children/women. I usually am not a fan of multiple POVs, however Sally Hepworth made everything very cohesive. I'm all for thrillers and mysteries, and Darling Girls hit every aspect. The ending had me speechless.

I went into this novel blind, and I'm glad I did.
Thank you NetGalley, Sally Hepworth, and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth is a dark and riveting exploration of resilience, abuse, and the enduring strength of female bonds. Alicia, Jessica, and Norah, survivors of a sinister foster home run by the manipulative Miss Fairchild, find themselves forced to confront their haunting past when bones are discovered under their former home. Hepworth masterfully navigates the psychological scars left by abuse, seamlessly weaving between past and present to deliver a story that is both chilling and engrossing. The characters, particularly Norah's blend of sarcasm and vulnerability, come to life on the pages, and the suspense build culminates in a shocking revelation that elevates the novel to a five-star rating. Despite the challenging themes of abuse, Darling Girls stands as a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the enduring power of connection, making it a must-read for fans of psychological mysteries and domestic thrillers.

Sally Hepworth’s latest involves three foster sisters that met at their abusive foster home. I enjoyed this book. There were some colorful characters & the story was interesting. The different points of view were cohesive & easy to understand.

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martins Press and Sally Hepworth for an advanced copy of this book

This was a great book!
This story follows the lives of three women when they were little and lived in a foster group home.
Although not blood related, these women remained close and viewed each other as sisters. This book explores so many topics that make you feel for children in the system. Unfortunately, these girls experienced abuse and neglect at the hands of their foster mother, Miss Fairchild. One point that really resinated with me was when the social worker would say “you are lucky to be placed ….” “You are lucky etc…”. Nothing was “lucky” about being put into the foster care system. This book brought all the characters together during an investigation about bones found years later under the very house they all lived. The mystery will be solved and the author keeps us wanting more to know what truly happened. It wraps up nicely in the end. Great great!
Thank you netgalley for the eArc for my honest review!

Jessica, Alicia and Norah were foster children at Wild Meadows under the care of psychopathic Ms. Fairchild. 25 years later it is torn down and they get a call from police because a body has been discovered. This was a wild read and I was totally gobsmacked by the ending. Thanks NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC that will be released April 23, 2024!

Alicia, Norah, and Jessica are haunted by their past in foster care under the watch of the cold, horrible Miss Fairchild. Now, a secret has been unearthed that threatens to bring up that past.

The characters in this book are more than likeable, something that can be hard to come by in the thriller genre. I almost wanted a darker book with darker twists, but I found myself just happy that the characters didn’t have to go through a dark twist.

The final twist though - that was so dark and twisty in a way that left me wanting so much more. It took a 3/3.5 star read (for me) and took it to a 4 star.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Creepy!!! Just wait til the end!! Compulsively readable. Jessica, Alicia, and Norah grew up together in foster care and consider each other sisters. Now they are adults, but still close, and have to deal with some issues from their past, mostly dealing with their foster mother. Some hard issues (abuse, abandonment, etc). Well written. Thank you to St. Martin Press, Netgalley, and Sally Hepworth for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was by far one of my favorite Sally Hepworth reads. It kept me on the edge of my seat from page one. I enjoyed all the different perspectives and timelines that Sally was seamlessly able to integrate throughout the book.

LOVED this one! Sally Hepworth does it again. Throughout the whole story there’s an underlying hum of what is going to happen and she does not disappoint with the twist. I highly recommend this book!

Amazing! This book absolutely hooked me in and I could not stop reading it. Anytime that I had to put this book down I was absolutely devastated because I just HAD TO KNOW everything that was going on! I loved the then/now timeline as well as the psychiatrist sessions. And the ending. The twist. OBSESSED.

I couldn’t put this book down! A fascinating, if troubling, look at three girls who struggle in a foster care experience. Displaced, looking for warmth and acceptance in a new environment, what could go wrong? Plenty! Told from both present day and the past perspectives, building toward a strong ending that kept me on my toes right until the end. Highly recommend.

I am a Sally Hepworth Super Fan. I have read and recommended everything she has written. All of my friends have read all of her books and I have gifted them and lent them out more times than I can count. Her latest is no exception, to me, it felt a little darker than her others, but it was incredibly well done and I obsessively read it and got little else done until I finished. I cannot wait until her next book comes out.