I usually enjoy Sally Hepworth's book but this one fell flat for me. And that was the word I'd use to describe this "thriller"...flat. The mystery was flat. The characters were flat. The big reveal was flat. There was so much potential in the story and characters. It was a great premise (foster sisters abused by their foster mother and are called back to the town where they lived as kids to answer questions about bones found under their house) but I felt like nothing ever really happened. And the big "reveal" at the end was so strange, and then it just...ended. A few things I did like: I really liked the way the author wrote the different timelines. I can't put my finger on why I liked it so much, but I thought it was very well done. I also especially liked that one of the sisters becomes a social worker to help kids just like herself who get lost in the system.

This book was so captivating and the mystery/thriller aspects seemed new, like nothing else I have read before. I enjoyed having multiple characters POV and the ending was not disappointing for me at all. Sally Hepworth always has a great story in my opinion!

I'm not sure this author is for me, unfortunately. I've tried a few and they just never hit the mark for me, but I know many others love her books. Thank you NetGalley and the author for an e-ARC of this book!

I loved the dual POVs and the portrayal of the foster care system. I think the author did a great job discussing that and how the system is not always rainbows and sunshine. This book is pretty dark and discusses trauma that kids in the foster care system face and how that leaks into their adult lives.

I unfortunately just found myself a little bored in this story and that's why I rated it a 3 star. I can see how many people will love this book, and I think the author did a great job, I just struggled keeping my interest.

Ooohhh this was so good and gripping! I could not put this gripping thriller down!!!! I loved this so much. I absolutely am addicted to Sally Hepworths books. This was a 6 star read.
I just reviewed Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth. #NetGalley
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Sally Hepworth is always a fav of mine, but I will warn you this is a really disturbing read, moreso than any of her other books - in my opinion. Darling Girls is a gripping and haunting exploration of the enduring impact of a shared trauma. Alicia, Jessica, and Norah are their seemingly average woman whose connection runs deep, back to the days when they were girls living under the strict rule of their shared foster mother Miss Fairchild on a remote farm.

The book made me think about how you might act in a traumatic situation, how far we'll go to keep our secrets, and how the bad things that happened to us in the past can still affect us. As the story goes on, we see that the past can come back even if we try to forget it.

5 stars!!! Without a doubt, Sally Hepworth's best book. Somehow her books keep getting better and better. I was sucked into this book right from the beginning. I thought I figured the ending out so many times but nopeeeee.

I loved the focus on foster care and how Sally tried to portray it in a real light- it's not always rainbows and this book does a great job of relaying that. This book was phenomal and a must read if you love Sally Hepworth. If you don't love her - this is the perfect book to start!

I was given an Advanced Reader Copy by NetGalley for an honest review.

A huge thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. This book had so many strengths. The split perspectives really tracks the pace of the book and it was good at revealing the plot and mystery chapter by chapter. I really enjoyed the differences of the "sisters" and the ways they each had a relationship with their foster mom. Their own trauma was fascinating and honestly I was creeped out the whole time by the mom (for good reason).

Any Sally Hepworth fan will not be disappointed! Great read.

Another Sally Hepworth winner! Hepworth is quickly becoming a must read author for me. I love her characters and she is able to craft an excellent tale. I love love loved this one!

This was fine! It reads quickly and keeps you guessing until the very end, but it also has a lot of heavy/triggering content and some tropes I don’t like in the thriller genre.
I enjoyed getting to know the three sisters and cared about them. I didn’t dislike this book, but I also didn’t love it. If you are comfortable reading something with this topic, and you’re looking for a very fast-paced short chapters thriller with present and past timelines, you may like this one!
CW: child abuse (many different kinds), drug abuse, and more

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Family can mean many things to many different people. For Norah, Jessica, and Alicia...family is forever, regardless of where they came from. Miss Fairchild brings the three girls into her home at Wild Meadows. As a foster mother, her job is to guide, nurture, and protect. Miss Fairchild is the exact opposite of a good foster parent.

The book toggles between present day and the past for each of the girls. We follow their journeys and how the events that took place have shaped their lives.

Alicia, Norah, and Jessica are survivors. Miss Fairchild was a super unlikeable character. Her treatment of the girls was hard to swallow.

Sally Hepworth has done it again! It may be my new favorite! I could not put the book down as I was so invested in it! Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this arc!

This thriller had you questioning the truth about three foster sisters throughout the whole story. After bones are found underneath the house they were kept in, their stories unravel about their terrible foster mother mother and her treatment towards them. Just when I thought I had it figured out, there was a new twist! This is an easy two day read and just wait for the last chapter !

This is the first book by Sally Hepworth and I LOVED it and will definitely be checking out her others! Lots of dept the the characters and wonderful character development throughout the book. I didn't really know where the book was going but feel the author did a great job tying everything in at the ending. 4 stars.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley, for the arc!

I read DARLING GIRLS in a day because Sally Hepworth has written another wickedly captivating tale that I could not put down. The book blurb draws you in, but then you read the first page and are done for - goodbye all your time until the book is over. It was always "one more chapter" for me because the switching narration between Jessica, Norah, and Alicia in the present and past was so fascinating to tell this strange tale that I needed to know more. And then suddenly, it was the middle of the night, and I finished the book. I would say oops, but I wasn't sorry. Besides being impressed by this weird tale overall, I loved the distinct voices of each character. As I read, I could hear them in my head. Not only the three in the present, I could hear a difference when they were younger - more naive and less jaded with life, yet still that same person. It makes me curious as to how the audiobook will sound! If you are looking for a good suspense novel that keeps you on your toes, this will be my new go-to rec!

Three foster sisters bonded by their past revisit their foster home after hearing a child’s body was found buried there. They relive growing up as foster kids and the impact on their lives. Secrets are exposed. Definitely a good read with well developed characters and plot.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to rate and review this title.
This book was such an easy read. I immediately was engrossed in the story. Each character is complex and keeps you guessing. The mystery aspect was very well done and really got me in the end. I highly recommend

This was a good book, it's told in a present and before timeline with an unknown person in one of the timelines. Alicia, Norah and Jessica were all at one time in their youth foster children, they spent various periods of time together under the care of Holly Fairchild. Holly starts off with Jessica, and they appear to get along, though Ms Fairchild is very task orientated, things have to get done, and for Jessica this means doing chores everyday. When money gets tight, more children are brought in, Norah and Alicia, then babies and toddlers, the original three are tasked with looking after the ones that come after. In the present timeline, the three have stayed close after their time in foster case and are contacted by police from the town where they used to live. The house is being torn down and during the process small bones have been found and do they know anything about that? They go back to the house which brings up memories, some good, some not so good. This was a good book, though I did find the situations the original three went through to be somewhat repetitive, they were constantly being punished for the smallest of infraction. The unknown person is revealing her childhood to a psychiatrist, and she has a dozy of a story to tell. The ending was a bit of a shocker. Thanks to #Netgalley and #St Martins Press for the ARC

This is my favorite Hepworth book so far! So many twists and turns, everything I thought I had it figured out I quickly realized I was wrong again! It goes between a present and past timelines, and has multiple characters POV which add to the drama. It does have multiple cases of child abuse, so be aware if that is a trigger for you. Overall a great read, one I would certainly recommend to my friends! Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and author for a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review of this book!

This book was horribly wonderful! The dual timeline was seamlessly integrated and not at all choppy, which allowed you to see what actions in their child book attributed to their dysfunctional adulthood. I several times screamed at the book for someone to care about the young characters which was both frustrating but also seems pretty true to real life in the foster system. If I was to recommend this to someone with the least words I would say it was “modern day ‘Annie’ but darker and set on a farm”. Miss Fairchild gives major Miss Hannigan vibes🫣🥴.

Special thanks to the publisher for the advanced review copy

This book had me on my toes the entire time. If you thought who did what- you will be very surprised at the ending

I love Sally Hepworth’s books and was delighted to receive an ARC for her newest one. Darling Girls is a different Hepworth book, with the focus on a body buried under an old foster home. Norah, Jessica, and Alicia are adults now, but they grew up there, under the insidiously abusive Miss Fairchild. Their time in the foster home traumatized each of the women to the degree where she has serious issues as an adult.

Darling Girls trades timelines so we can journey back to the foster home and see the abuse and the way the girls grew up and gives us the present day timeline where the investigation is underway—and throws in a woman speaking to what may be the world’s worst therapist.

While at its core, this book is a whodunit, it’s really about the failures and successes in the foster system. It’s about sisterhood. It’s about the long lasting effects of trauma and the insidious nature of emotional abuse. A little predictable, but that’s fine—it’s not a book that’s trying to hide the killer or the stalker for the reader to figure out. Highly recommend—3.5 stars rounded up.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.