That feeling when you were right all along...

I LOVED Sally Hepworth's last book #thesoulmate and couldn't believe my luck when I scored this #arc from #netgalley and #stmartinspress

On its own, this was a great read, but it didn't hold a candle to The Soulmate IMO. One of the reasons was the predictable ending. I'm always both excited and disappointed when I guess right. It doesn't happen often, and it's usually just a hunch not something I've actually figured out with my little grey cells 😜 but I do feel a bit let down.

There's definitely some hard things to read about child abuse in the foster care system. Not that I want to bury my head in the sand and pretend that it's all roses and puppies, but I really struggle with topics like that in the reading I do for pleasure and relaxation. Anyhow, Hepworth was able to convey the idea without a lot of focus or detail which I appreciated.

I definitely recommend this book for Sally Hepworth fans, and thriller fans in general, but don't go in expecting to find your soulmate - see what I did there? 😆

Synopsis:
From the outside, Alicia, Jessica and Norah might seem like ordinary women you'd meet on the street any day of the week. Sure, Jessica has a little OCD and Norah has some anger issues. And Alicia has low self-esteem that manifests itself in surprising ways. But these three have a bond that no one can fully understand. It's a bond that takes them back decades, to when they were girls, and they lived on a farm with a foster mother named Miss Fairchild. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild, and they thought they were free. But the reach of someone with such power is long, and even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When bones are discovered buried under the farmhouse of their childhood, they are called in by the police to tell what they know. Against their will, they are brought back to the past, and to Miss Fairchild herself.

This book was darker than anything I have read from Sally Hepworth and it absolutely devastated me!

I was shocked at the intensity and level of abuse this book had, but each little piece made up such a brutally compelling story of sisterhood and perseverance.

Three girls- Jessica, Norah and Alicia were all foster children of Miss Fairchild when they were teenagers, forming a fast and impenetrable bond. From outside, the live they shared in Fairchild’s home was one filled with love and contentment, but inside, it was a very different story.

Years after they were seemingly free from her grasp and her rules, they are brought back to where it all started when bones are found under the house of Miss Fairchild. While the three of them have stayed incredibly close, not one of those girls has ever truly repaired the damage done, and they are each dealing internally with issues.

Ultimately, this book was so powerful and so hard to get through. But I absolutely loved it.

This was a book that I was wildly excited to read...and it did not disappoint! I was hesitant going into it, because it all centers arounds children...and while I like a good thriller, I'd like the children to be off limits. Ya know? Well, the children were DEF not off limits and those darling girls grew up and found things out! I was captivated!

This book shows how the past shapes and changes us, and we can control how it affects our mindset...a legit make or break moment! Plus the sweet taste of revenge is ALWAYS a plus!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Publishing Group for the advanced readers copy of this book!

Five Stars!

Sally Hepworth knows how to write a story that has me constantly guessing and needing to know more. Her stories are typically unputdownable for me and “Darling Girls” was no different.

The bond between foster sisters Norah (“without a t”), Alicia and Jessica was like nothing I have ever read. I felt sad but happy that these fictional characters had, at least, each other while trying to navigate their foster home at Wild Meadows with Miss Fairchild.

I am positive I will continue to read whatever Sally Hepworth writes.

A tragic story which had many twists and turns that I had not predicted. The story kept me reading "just one more chapter". Darling Girls is about a foster care parent and the children left in her care. This portrays the bad side of the system and what could go wrong. Thoroughly enjoyed Sally Hepworth's writing style and how I was kept engrossed to the very last chapter. Excellent story.

A quick, well-written novel about three women who grew up in the same foster home as children. They form a life-long bond as sisters and are called back to their former foster home when human bones are found underneath the house.
Fair warning - there is a lot of child abuse in this book and detailed flaws of foster care. Miss Fairchild, the foster mother, is a difficult and disturbing character.
The story goes back and forth between past and present with the multiple POVs of the sisters (Norah, Jessica, and Alicia). All three sisters are still dealing with their traumatic childhoods.
An interesting twist at the end!
Recommend!

Thank you so much for the chance to read and review this book! I have read several books by Sally Hepworth and as very excited to see a new book coming out!

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth definitely gets 4.5 stars from me!

Darling Girls grabbed me from the very beginning! Sally made us love and feel connected to the characters from the start! You feel like you are experiencing everything with Alicia, Norah and Jessica.

There were lots of twists and turns until the very end! I was very impressed with this book! I was very emotionally involved in the story and with the characters!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read and advanced copy of Darling Girls by Sally Hemp Worth.

Darling Girls tells a twisted story of three sisters Jessica, Norah and Alicia who as young children live with their foster mother Miss Fairchild. Each of the sisters has their own quirks and unique traits that the reader gets to watch develop throughout the story. As each character’s story is told in alternating perspectives you get a sense of how Jessica, Norah and Alicia are shaped by their past traumas and how they form a beautifully tight bond. I fond the dual story timeline to be gripping, engaging and a bit heartbreaking reading what each child went through in the foster care system and under Miss Fairchilds roof. As adults the three sisters now have their own lives but are still very bonded. A set of bones is found buried under their childhood home and all three sisters are called back to the foster home by detectives to figure out who it is.  I fount this book to be very entertaining and I could not put it down. The first part of the book was a slow burn for me but it definitely picked up mid way through. The plot and twits and turns were very well written. The last chapter of the book had my jaw on the floor! This is my second Sally Hempworth book and I am a total fan! I’d highly recommend this book to anyone.

If you’ve been around for any length of time then you know I love Sally Hepworth. She is the queen of a domestic/psychological thriller, and the biggest joy to follow on insta. I couldn’t wait any longer to read her newest, Darling Girls. It doesn’t come out until April, but I swear that you’ll want to get your pre-order in for this ASAP.

This follows three sisters - Jessica, Norah, and Alicia - as they are taken back to Wild Meadows, the foster home they all lived in when they were younger. Not only are they forced to relive the past, but also Ms. Fairchild.

Here’s what I loved -

✨ twist after twist

✨ dual timelines and multiple POVs - especially loved Norah’s perspective

✨ found family + the female friendships

✨ conversations around the foster system and being raised by an abusive/narcissistic foster parent

✨ the shock of the ending

This book is undoubtedly hard to read at times and some of the things that happen feel strange rate. Overall though, this was a compulsive read! I’m landing on 4.5 stars with this one.

Loved it!
This book is rich and multilayered. The characters of the three sisters are complex, distinct, and rich. I was enthralled. I loved exploring the relationships between these three sisters and how their bond developed from their shared experiences.
The descriptions of the three sisters' time at the foster home from hell are vivid and paced perfectly to keep you glued to the screen. I particularly enjoyed how the abuse wasn't obvious. It was more subtle and insidious in nature but no less harmful as a result.
I was fully prepared to give this five stars even as I approached the end thinking there really was no big surprise there. And then the author threw the twist at the end which made me sit up and take notice. I wanted to break out in applause!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC.

Darling Girls follows three foster children, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, in their adulthood and in flashbacks to their foster years. For years, these three were under the care of Miss Fairchild. Into adulthood, they learn a body had been found buried in the house. Thus begins the story…

Each foster sister is assigned specific character traits that they stuck to throughout the book. I wanted to see some growth. I also wanted to see any of them in therapy.

Alicia was my favorite sister. She decided to use her life as a way to help other kids in the foster system. She was relatable and sweet. However, she was raised by her grandma, who sores on her and loved her. Yet it took one comment from her foster mother to make her rethink her entire outlook on life. It wasn’t realistic. Norah was insanely beautiful but was explosive in anger. I couldn’t stand her and the way she used her attractiveness to get what she wanted. Jessica was the biggest mystery to me. My biggest issue? Why did she even have a husband? She treated him like he was a piece of furniture in her life.

I like feeling emotions when I read a book. It can connect me to the characters. In this case, it also made me forget the time so I ended up not being able to stop. Sally has a way with writing manipulative people that pulls me in every time.

I’ll absolutely recommend this to friends.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for my honest review.

The beginning had me hooked… the middle lost me for a bit… the ending seemed alright. THEN THAT LAST CHAPTER?! I loved that. I wish the whole story packed that same punch. Then again, maybe the ups and downs are what made it SO impactful.

The 4 main characters were well developed. I was truly invested in each, past and present. That can be hard to do with so many POVs! Impressive as always, Sally.

Sally Hepworth is an auto-buy author for me and will continue to be even though this book wasn't my favourite. This is a story of 3 girls raised in foster care and jumps between their childhood and adult lives. When bones are discovered under their old home, the girls must return home and dig up difficult memories that they'd rather forget.
As Sally does so well, this is full of twists and turns, but this one was a bit too dark for me. It has a lot of horrific child abuse that was difficult to read.

I received this ARC from NetGalley! All opinions are my own. Thank you, Netgalley for the opportunity to read this!

I'm on a psychological thriller kick, maybe it's the spooky season looming right around the corner - and this book did NOT dissapoint!

I loved this book!

The last chapter left me in shock and saying what just happened!? What a way to end a book and grip ahold of your reader in the best way possible!

This is my first time reading a Sally Hepworth book and I gotta say it was a page turner. It was hard reading about the abuse foster children go through but it’s a reality. This book is about three women who went through the foster care system and ended up in an abusive foster home with Miss Fairchild. They have a sisterly bond and after growing out of the system, 25 years later, bone remains are found under their childhood home in Wild Meadows. Now they must go back and relive the memories to figure out who the bones might belong to. This book is written in 3 different POVs but it’s pretty easy to follow, not confusing at all. That ending really got me.


Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange of my honest review.

When Jessica, Norah and Alicia are in foster care, they live with a monstrous mother called miss Fairchild. As adults the 3 sisters are still close, each trying to cope with their abusive childhood in different ways-anger, drugs, avoidance. When a body is found beneath the old foster home the sisters are asked by detectives to come home for questioning. From there the nightmare story unfolds. Told from different perspectives and dual timelines, this story has lots of twists. I didn’t figure out the truth until the very end. Trigger warnings… Child abuse, child, murder, mental health issues, drug abuse, issues, sexual abuse. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

I want to start out saying I LOVE SALLY HEPWORTH and was so excited to be able to read this eARC book from St Martin's Press. Thanks Net Galley and Sally Hepworth for this opportunity! This is a SOLID 4 star book for me! (I do not readily give out 5's).

Darling Girls is a book about three "sisters" who were raised in foster care, and their foster mother Miss Fairchild at Wild Meadows Home for Children. Fast forward many years later and Detective Ashleigh Patel is investigating the human remains discovered beneath the farmhouse at Wild Meadows. Every one of the women are suspects, and as the story evolves so do the atrocities and abuse that took place there. Who was responsible for the bones that lay beneath the old house?

Jessica, Norah and Alicia aren't REAL sisters, but after being raised by Miss Fairchild they all consider themselves as such. Early on, the reader is introduced to each flawed sister, and her problems. Ultra-successful businesswoman Jessica is extremely organized, extremely anxious, has attachment issues, and a prescription pill abuse problem. The gorgeous Norah, the middle sister, has a long history of assault and trouble with the law. Norah has her own relationship issues, and has quite the "dysfunctional attitude regarding sex" according to her therapist. Alicia, the youngest of the 'sisters' is a lesbian social worker who loves helping kids, but is grappling with her sexual identity and terrified to admit she is in love with Meera, her lawyer friend.

MIss Fairchild, the initially loving guardian in charge at Wild Meadows, has her own history of childhood trauma, and attachment issues. So which of the women, flawed as they are, was capable of true evil? Read and find out!

Don't miss this truly excellent page turner and check it out April 22, 2024! Please note that I received a complementary copy of this eBook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

If Sally Hepworth writes it then I’m going to read it. She’s one of my favorite contemporary thriller authors but for me this book was just middle of the road. Told from the past/current POVs of 3 foster children this book moves slow. The only thing that saves it is that the chapters are mercifully short but still, the plot could’ve moved along quicker.

The other let down for me was the lack of twist. Yes, the final chapter will have you screaming “WTF” but other than that there’s not a lot of drama in this book which is usually the point of a thriller.

Quite a compelling read - def a pageturner for a night of reading till the end. Three women with childhood bond and a foster mother like none I've read about before. Hepworth is a gifted writer and this latest is quite a good solid novel with dysfunction, no doubt, at the core. Reader will be enticed into these girls' past and present - good one!

This was probably my least favorite book of Sally Hepworth's in the last five or so years. I generally enjoy her domestic thriller-esque novels, but this one was a letdown. Early on in the book, there's a heavy focus on abused foster children, told from their POVs, which makes the novel slow-moving. If the novel had spent more time in the present day, with the adults, that would have been more enjoyable. The twists involved were predictable, except the final one, which felt like a last-minute 'gotcha!' that has been a bit overdone in the industry as of late. I'll still read her next book, but this one wasn't it for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!