Amazing read!
Couldn't put this one down right from the beginning.
It felt predictable until the very end, and I am loving the twist.
Always a fan of this author's work and look forward to more!

I will say the ARC had a large amount of typos and punctuation errors, which was slightly distracting at times.
Still a great read and highly recommend.

This book is a very slow burn, and while the ending was satisfactory (if a little drawn out), I have decided that Sally Hepworth isn't my favorite author. I didn't dislike this book, but it was really just okay for me...as her other books have been to me.

It details the lives of three girls who all lived the same foster house and consider themselves to be sisters. Each is flawed in her own way, but I did not find any of them overly likeable.

Overall, I can see why people would enjoy this (especially with the last chapter!), but it just wasn't for me.

Darling Girls follows three foster sisters who grew up with Miss Fairchild, a peculiar woman who should not have been charged with raising children. Then, bones are found under the house where they grew up and they are forced to confront their collective childhoods and their relationships. And Miss Fairchild.

A solid domestic thriller with well developed characters and no eye rolling is hard to find. Sally Hepworth is a sure bet that fits the bill!

I received as ARC from Netgalley. I have not read any previous books by this author so was going in blind. Glad I took the chance. Great book with lots of unexpected twists.

This was decent. There were a few things I didn’t enjoy and the ending/twist was pretty obvious. I know it’s uncorrected, but hopefully they’ll catch the many errors that were present.

"Darling Girls" was exactly the book I needed to balance out the heavy reading I was doing for work. Well-paced, interesting and unpredictable (but not unbelievable) characters, and a unique plot kept me turning the pages to find out how Hepworth would make it all make sense.

Sadly, one thing kept this from being a 5 star book for me. Unlike some of Hepworth's other books, the ending of this book felt very contrived. I kept reading, but I didn't believe in the possibility of the events.

Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for a free copy for review!

Sally Hepworth has written another fabulous book. “Darling Girls”grabbed me from the first page to the last.
Ms Hepworth weaves a sad tale of depravity, and abuse within the foster care system, and throws in a murder!
It’s a riveting book, with a giant twist at the end.
I highly recommend this book, and award it a 5 star rating
Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the advanced copy, in return for my honest review.

This was a great read! I truly loved the character develop of each of the darling girls. Their stories were heartbreaking with redemption and justice for each one.

I have read many of Sally Hepworth’s books. Always a good read and a surprise at the end. This was a hard one to read because it deals with child abuse. It keep me reading and a surprise at the end but not one of my favorites. I appreciate the privilege of the early read. I was excited to read it. Not a bad book, but just a hard subject. What can I say. A good book but hard to enjoy.

What can I say, I read everything this author writes.I was so thankful to see this on the net gallery read now list so thank you for giving me the opportunity.
Please 🙏 everyone read this book immediately.

I had to DNF this one. Just not for me.

Horrific child abuse and sexual exploitation. Too much for me to try to work past even if it is fiction.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

Thank you to the publisher #partner & Netgalley for gifting me an e-ARC!
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Darling Girls centers around 3 girls, Jessica, Alicia and Norah, who bonded as sisters growing up in a foster care home by a very abusive foster mother, Miss. Fairchild. Despite their childhoods, all 3 women have gone on to lead mostly normal lives. However Sally does a superb job of portraying the cracks that consistently resurface in the women’s lives due to extreme trauma they endured.

Now once again, their traumas are brought to life when all 3 women get a call from the police that they need to be questioned when the police discover human bones in their former foster home. As they travel back to their home of horrors, reluctantly, lot of old secrets get dug up and unsolved mysteries are discovered.

The chapters alternate between the past and present of each of the 3 women but we also get some bonus chapters of a mysterious character with her psychiatrist, which were my favorite as the reader isn’t clued in to that character is, until deep into the book. As with all Sally Hepworth books, Darling Girls also has an explosive ending that will make for great buddy read discussions.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Darling Girls follows three adult (foster) sisters as they confront their experiences in foster care and reckon with the discovery of human remains at the site of their former foster home.

I enjoyed the suspense aspect of this book, but at times it felt like too much was trying to be jammed in. As it got closer to the end, I wondered if it could all be resolved. It’s a quick read with unreliable narrators that you can get through in a weekend.

Alicia, Jessica, and Norah may appear ordinary on the surface, but their shared history runs deep, connecting them in ways that no one else can understand. The story revolves around the mysteries of their past, tied to their time on a farm with a foster mother named Miss Fairchild, a figure who's best left forgotten.

Hepworth's storytelling is a masterclass in character development and family dynamics. The sisters' struggles with identity, forgiveness, and the consequences of their actions hit home, leaving a lasting impact. The pacing is impeccable, with revelations unfolding like breadcrumbs, building tension and anticipation as the narrative progresses.

This novel is a compelling exploration of sisterhood, wrapped in a suspenseful narrative filled with unexpected twists. It's a story that not only entertains but also prompts introspection, making it a must-read for fans of contemporary family drama. "Darling Girls" has earned its four-star rating, and it's a book that will stay with me for quite some time.

This was such a good book and I know it would be even better on audio! I loved the dial timelines and multiple pov’s. The character development was also great. Multiple twists that I didn’t see coming!

Thank you St. Martin's Publishing Group and NetGalley for an arc of Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth. I loved this book. It is a great psychological thriller that explores a small town in Australia where bones were found buried under a house that was known for being a foster home to three girls. The story goes back in to their childhood and 20 years later when the discovery of bones occurs. The girls banded together as sisters and always have each others backs. But who's bones were discovered? Throughout the book there is a storyline of an adult talking to a psychologist, but you don't find out who it is until the end and it was not who I expected. This book is so good.

This was a fun read! Quite a few twists which kept me wanting to know more. I really enjoyed the different points of view from 4 different narrators although it took me a minute to keep them straight. The ending also felt a tad rushed, but glad all of my questions were answered - no loose threads.

Thanks to NetGalley for the early review.

Liked the past/present format but had a hard time reading about the foster care abuse---while, I know it's a real problem that hurts so many, I immediately tune out when reading about children, self preservation or something. I don't think SH can write a bad book, but this one just wasn't for me, which is a ME problem, so many other people are going to love it--especially the ending.

An incredible book! I loved the flashbacks between past and present and the multiple narrators. The dimensionality was such a treat and didn't take away from building momentum. I've read some of Sally Hepworth's books before and this is hands-down my favorite one. It has some of the classic elements she includes, like the past and present switching but this really levels it up. Highly recommend!!

Thanks to SMP & NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What can I say - I'm a sucker for Sally Hepworth. Each book seems to be a little darker than the last, and that's fine by me, although it seems that her fans who like just a tinge of nasty in their books are displeased {shrug}. This story is DARK - it deals with 3 sisters, fosters sisters rather than blood, but sisters just the same, as they have helped each other survive their foster mom, Miss Fairchild. Each has her own issues in the aftermath of this awful experience, and now that they are adults, they are pulled back into Miss Fairchild's orbit after human bones are found under the site where her house used to stand.

Miss Fairchild is basically a sociopath, and we get detailed info on what the girls (her "darling girls") are subjected to from her, both as individuals and as a group. It's not pretty and can be a little challenging to read. What really, really worked for me was the bond these women shared - they are all sorts of fucked up, but their sisters do not desert them and they support each other without question and unconditionally. If you have sisters, or siblings, you know how valuable this can be.

Is the story implausible? Maybe a little, but I have read FAR worse. The writing is excellent, and I will forgive a lot for good writing. It's no more implausible than anything we watch on TV.

In a sea of crappy, badly-written thrillers, Sally Hepworth continues to be worth the read.