Darling Girls is a thriller that gives a glimpse into the horrific abuse of a foster home and the three women changed by it. Alicia, Jessica and Norah are sisters but not by blood but choice. First came Jessica, then Norah, and finally Alicia to the foster home of Miss Fairchild. The story is told in alternating timelines featuring all the main characters in the past and in the present. Miss Fairchild is revealed to be a monster who abused the girls that the effects are still prevalent in the current lives. When a dead body is discovered under their former foster home, the girls must return to talk to the police as the past is finally brought to light. The ending contains that extra twist that this author loves to add to the mix to make a page turning, hard to put down roller coaster ride of emotions. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

I absolutely tore through this book so fast, I LOVED it. Darling Girls tells the heartbreaking story of 3 foster sisters and their struggles in adulthood as a result of their upbringing in foster care at the hands of their foster mother Miss Fairchild. Who we mostly hate, and then question, but ultimately still hate. I loved that the author developed each character and their backstories individually as children and as adults. It really added to the overall story. But the TWIST AT THE END THOUGH. I couldn't believe it! I ate it up though, it was the picture perfect ending, albeit awful and heartbreaking, but you are left thinking "yeah, that tracks."

Sally Hepworth does it again! While this wasn’t my favorite by her, it was still stellar. The research Sally does to make her characters come alive really shows and I love the dynamic that she creates between the characters. Awesome book with great twists!

Three young women with sad, challenging backgrounds. A Mrs Trunchbull like character and a buried body make for a psychological thriller.

Do you expect anything but a fantastic book from Sally Hepworth? Me neither. This one did not disappoint (of course).

Slow burn suspense that alternates between past and present of three girls entering the foster care system. Things are not always as they seem, which these girls soon learn. The story then switches to present day as they return to the house in which they spent several years of their lives.

The ending was ✨ perfection, of course. Highly highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for an eARC of this highly anticipated book coming out next year!

And I will say right now, this is my favorite book of hers. It is centered around 3 girls that grew up in foster care. It goes back and forth between the past and present as a dead body is found beneath their old foster home.

The author takes great care in really highlighting the tragedy of foster care, the heartbreak, the bonds, the isolation, as well as the mental health responses as they grow up and age out. 💕

The twists were nice, not over the top or unbelievable. I really really enjoyed this one!

Another Sally Hepworth hit!

I love that with a Hepworth book you know what you're getting yourself in for, but there's always room for a surprise. Even though I guessed the twists fairly early on, I was still hooked in and page-turning. The story centres around three girls who were in the foster system and must now confront their past. The subject matter isn't a light one, but Hepworth is respectful while maintaining that element of mystery.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.

•Darling Girls 👧🏼•

📚Genre: domestic thriller
🤔Rating: 🍺🍺🍺(3/5)
#️⃣ of pages: 368
👯‍♀️ read if you like: family drama & suspense, multiple POVs, unreliable narrators
⚠️TW: child abuse, death of an infant
🗓️Publishing Date: April 23, 2024

👍🏼:
•love alternating timelines
•the ending was a nice twist to wrap everything up!
•kept me intrigued

👎🏼:
•I figured out most of the twists very early on, except the very last one
•didn’t love any of the characters really & didn’t feel connections to them. I love that it was told in multiple POVs but I just didn’t connect with them
•slow start IMO

Overall…
This is one of my favorite subgenres and it just didn’t do it for me. It got better as it went on, but wasn’t one that will live in my mind. The abuse and childhood trauma was a little hard to read at times. It took a while to get me super interested & didn’t feel like an “unputdownable” book (definitely a made up word LOL). It did pick up the last 30-40% and surprised me at the very end.

Special thanks to NetGalley for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review!

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3.5 ⭐️

Anything Sally Hepworth writes automatically takes the top spot on my TBR list!

This book has an intriguing and unique premise. The vivid descriptions made me feel like I was right there with Jessica, Alicia, and Norah at Wild Meadows.

The flashback chapters had me on the edge of my seat, genuinely concerned for the girls' well-being.

Spoiler Alert!
However, I must admit that the final chapter from Miss Fairchild's perspective left me slightly disappointed with the ending. I was confused why she attempted to adopt Amy #2 years later, especially considering her intense jealousy towards Amy #1, which ultimately led to her death.

2.5 stars

We have the traumatic story of a foster home and three girls that end up there.
Although they are mistreated and abused, they decide to stay where they are as they were afraid, with good reason, to be sent somewhere worse (especially since some of them have been in worse places already).

The story is told from two standpoints, the past and the present.
There is a little twist half way through that made the book drop a notch and from there onwards it kept going down.

The writing is good, the stories are compelling and heartbreaking. Sally Hepworth knows how to keep the reader interested and captivated. I can honestly say that for the most part, this is a page turner.

But the last part of the book and the ending was very disappointing for me.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book and I am looking forward to read the next one by Sally Hepworth!

Loved this perfectly paced thriller/mystery about chosen sisters who must confront their evil foster mother and uncover the truth about what really happened when they were girls.

This book made me anxious - every section about the girls as children made me so worried about what was going to happen to them (even though I knew they grew up and made it through their foster child years safely) because Miss Fairchild was such a monster. And the twists keep coming in the story about their adult lives, as things start to unravel and old secrets come to light, and we get to know each of the girls (and their former foster mother) more. This was such a wild ride and I really enjoyed it, even when it made me a little stressed!

Jessica, Alicia, and Norah have been running from their collective traumatic childhood as fast as they can, but it has finally caught up to them. This is a fast, propulsive, gripping read that is able to really hook the reader with its highly fascinating subject matter: foster children abused at the hands of a sociopathic narcissist who presents as kind, high-functioning, and loving to the world. Broken down but still standing, now-adult foster sisters Jessica, Norah, and Alicia each cope differently with their trauma, but via chapters from their child and adult POVs, as well as POV chapters from their foster mother from court-mandated therapy, finally the girls and the police are able to weave together all the information to solve the mystery of the bones under the house (sort of). It is clear to the reader almost instantly that Miss Fairchild is the real deal in terms of her sociopathy and abuse. She is diabolical, a villain you love to hate, and one who ultimately reads as chillingly realistic. Thank you to NetGalley, this is a 4.5 star read for me that I am happy to round up to a 5.

Let me start by saying as a huge Sally fan…she DID NOT disappoint. After not enjoying The Soulmate as much this book was so refreshing. In true Sally fashion she touched on family dynamics but at a different angle by jumping into the beauty and the downfall of the foster system.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were brought together as sisters 25 years ago while growing up with their wicked foster mother Miss Fairchild. Miss Fairchild has a way of loving them, making them feel so welcomed, but punishing them in the worst ways.

The girls are brought back to confront their past when human bones are found buried in the ground of the home they grew up in. Who does the bones belong to and how did they get there?

This book will have you intrigued from start to finish. All 3 girls have their own issues all rooting from their upbringing and the further you go into the story the more you understand them and who they are. The story is told from all 3 of the girls POV alternating from past to present which I always can appreciate.

No matter what you think you know or have figured out, you don’t! The ending was *chefs kiss*! I was able to finish this within 24 hours of starting. Expected pub date is April 2024 so add this to your TBR pile. Thanks to NetGalley for the ACR version!

This was excellent and had so many twists. I never expected the ending. The way that the book detailed a foster child's life and showed that even this situation was not the worst to be encountered is heartbreaking. This is an excellent read and is emotionally charged. It does have some potential triggers about infant death/ murder.

My favorite Sally Hepworth book by far!!! This was so good, I couldn’t put it down. It was dark, twisty, and a face paced familiar thriller

This is absolutely my favorite book by this author thus far. The story follows 3 sisters who are forced to delve back into their past in the foster care home that nearly broke them. They’re pulled back, when they receive news that a body has been found there.

I read my first Sally Hepworth book earlier this year and loved it so I jumped on the chance to read her latest thriller! Darling Girls is the story of three foster children who bonded and became chosen sisters during their time with Miss. Fairchild, their abusive foster mother. When human bones are found under their childhood home years later, the three sisters return to find out what happened...

This was a heavy read...one that took me a while to finish because I could only handle a bit at a time. There are themes of childhood abuse, mental abuse and gaslighting and dealing with childhood trauma. I found this book to be one that kept my attention and also kept me guessing until the very end...which I didn't see coming at all.

If you've loved Sally's books in the past, you're going to love this one too!

First off, I’d like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my review. Sally Hepworth’s thrillers always draw me in, but there was something especially addicting about Darling Girls. The novel begins and you think you have a good idea on what’s coming. Suddenly, as the story progresses, the reader is no longer sure who to believe. The author gets her story across with just the right amount of detail and cliffhangers. Overall, highly recommending this to fans of thrillers when it comes out in April 2024! 4.5/5 stars!

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth was one of the better books by her. The subject is disturbing but the story stuck with me, It caught my attention with the first chapter and kept my interest until the end. It was well written with great character development. The changing point of view was helpful in this story. There were just enough twists to keep the reader guessing and when I thought I had it figured out there was another twist.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my review copy of this book.