A good thriller novel for those looking for something more domestic. I loved the psychiatrist interludes and the way the story was structured. The characters were well developed and interacted well. The bits in the past were a bit hard to read because of the tough subject matter.

I love a good psychological thriller and Sally Hepworth delivers. This one is my favorite of the ones I've read.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to review in exchange for an ARC.

Three girls, held together by their bond through Foster Care under the care of someone who shouldn't be given the opportunity to be. They're called back to their homes 25 years after leaving foster care due to their caregiver's bones being found. I would tread lightly as it does talk about child abuse and that could be a trigger for some readers.

This book is written from multiple POVs, but it is easy to follow and quick! I was not ready for it to end.

Propulsive but somewhat predictable, the dark themes of this book emerge rapidly, with enough intrigue to keep me hooked but not quite accomplishing that big twist I’d hoped for.

Told from multiple points of view and timelines, mystery is built through unreliable character narration and emerging backstory. The story focuses on three very different foster ‘sisters’, now grown up with new problems, but all sharing a difficult upbringing at the home of their foster mother, the main antagonist.

The storyline does uncover some very disturbing scenes which may be triggering for some. They did add to the build up of tension but I never really felt a sense of peril for the characters.

I’d recommend this book as a page turner in its own right can be an enjoyable past time but if you need payoff in your mysteries and thrillers, look elsewhere.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for the opportunity to review this book.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to read this book as an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Just when Jessica, Alicia, and Norah thought that they would never have to think about their childhood home again, the three sisters received a phone call from the police forcing them to revisit their past. This book portrays the lifelong effects these ‘sisters’ experienced due to the emotional and physical abuse they underwent while living with their foster mother. I loved hearing the different perspectives and did not expect the ending. That last chapter - wow! I would definitely recommend this. Great character development and very well written.

4/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A psychological thriller focused on three girls: Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, and their horrendous foster mother Holly Fairchild. The three girls formed and intense bond (they would say even closer than biological sisters) when under foster care. Twenty five years later, they must deal with the aftermath when a body is found underneath the Wild Meadows house where they grew up.

This story alternates between different POVs as well as past and present. Sometimes in books this can be difficult to follow, but Sally Hepworth did so seamlessly. I have so much love for the sisters. I was so confused reading the parts with Dr. Warren for the longest time, but that confusion kept me reading. I devoured this book and did not see the twist coming. One of the best books I’ve read this year and one of my favorite thrillers ever!

I received this ARC from Netgalley and St Martin’s Press - Thank you!

I have read several of Sally’s books and have enjoyed some and DNFed one. This one was my favorite by far. It caught my attention from the very beginning and didn’t let go until the end - which was tough since I started on a flight leaving for a vacation where there wouldn’t be a whole lot of downtime for reading!

I sometimes lose interest quickly when reading this genre but that was certainly not the case here. It was well written, easy to follow and had great character development. I don’t always like changing POVs but in this instance I found it a great method of storytelling and keeping attention. There were just enough twists to keep the reader guessing and just when I thought I had it figured out I realized I was very, very wrong!

Another great book by Sally Hepworth. Three foster sisters, very different, but close because of their traumatic childhood in a foster home together, are forced by the police to return to the town where their foster parent, Miss Fairchild used to live because bones have been found buried under the old farmhouse. This ordeal reawakens bad memories for all three of them as they try to work out who the bones belong to.
Chapters are the perfect length, the book keeps you reading right until the end when you're not sure you want the book to end because you're enjoying it so much.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sally Hepworth for the opportunity to read this book. Darling Girls has multiple POVs, combined with the “then and now” writing style AND another narration going on, all at the same time. Jessica, Norah and Alicia are three foster girls (Darling Girls) under the care of Miss Fairchild, a childless, unmarried woman with a large home, lots of land and seemingly a heart so ready to love Jessica(the first girl to arrive). We read the POVs of the arrival of each girl (First Jessica, then Norah, and finally Alicia) and the experiences of each, throughout the beginning of the book. The book begins with a phone call twenty five years after leaving this foster care experience, one that will turn the girl’s worlds upside down. Jessica receives the first phone call from a detective on a case. Bones have been found underneath Miss Fairchild’s home, the home where the girls were fostered. (The home had been recently torn down.) All three girls are asked to come back to the town to assist in the investigation. The book describes in great detail, each girl’s arrival, time spent at the home and the abuse they experienced. It also shares with us the sisterly bond these girls formed. This bond continued throughout their lives. The blurb states, “In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild”. This is not entirely true and the reader is none the wiser after the girls finally go to the principal to report years of abuse at the hand of Miss Fairchild. Where did they go? What happened to Miss Fairchild? We have no idea what happens to them. We are only left with the scene of the girls in the principals office. I wouldn’t call this a “breakaway”. The story then picks back up in the present and stays there. It appears none of the girls know whose bones those might be but they do fully cooperate with the detectives throughout the investigation. To share any more would be giving away spoilers. The narration, the events that transpire and people who join in the story, both old and new, make this story sensational. The twists, deception and outcome of Darling Girls is remarkable. A true psychological thriller. TW: forms of child abuse and neglect.

This was a really hard book for me to read as a mom of two little girls. There is a central theme of child abuse and neglect.
The book has a dual timeline with foster girls going from present to past to retell their trauma in a foster care home. In present, the police called the girls after finding a body under their previous foster home. The police believe it was from the time when they lived in the home. In the past, it is going through their trauma to discover who's body was found.
The book was addictive, but fairly predictable. I did consider DNF'ing a few times because I find it very difficult to read book about children getting hurt.
If you're a fan of Sally Hepworth it's definitely worth a read, if you're triggered by child abuse or drug abuse I'd skip this one.

This is my first book to read by Sally Hepworth. I enjoy having the past come in throughout the book instead of having it all within the first chapter. This helped keeping me guessing as to what really happened. Caution, this book does have abuse in it.

Three foster girls that grew up at Wild meadows Farm, form a bond that is as strong as if they were biologicals sisters. This was bonded by their past struggles and survival of what they had been through together.

Bones were found under the farmhouse at the Wild Meadows Farm. Come to find out, it happened while the girls were there. The question is, were the girls involved or were they the ones that buried the body there. Maybe the main question that should be asked is, what really happened to the girls while they were at Wild Meadows Farm.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and author Sally Hepworth for the advance reader.

Dear Ms. Hepworth has done it again. Another edge of your seat, thinking you know what is happening when...oops, you don't story. So good is this story of foster girls living together and becoming "sisters" forever. Thinking they know everything going on and have figured it out, out comes an almost different life. Brilliant and so easy to be wrapped up and engrossed in this story. Thank you #NetGalley#StMartinsPress#DarlingGirls

I would say overall this was a good thriller! I thought the plot of the girls being adopted and growing up in the same foster home was different and interesting. And I also loved the relationship and bond they created. With that said, I felt like there were some common themes in some other thrillers like crazy female characters, abuse-being locked up, verbal, etc. I wanted a bigger twist but I did really like the last few pages and wasn't expecting that. I am always a fan of Sally Hepworth and I will always support her new books.

As bad as I feel about giving not so good reviews about authors I love, I feel it’s my duty to give an honest opinion for getting this ARC. This book just never grabbed my attention and I struggled to get thru it. None of the characters were really that likesble, or maybe it was just me not getting into the book at all. To me it just didn’t take off and grab my interest may be different for others tho.

I hate to say that I stopped reading this book because I just couldn’t get into it. I used to devour this authors books but I noticed that I felt this way about her last book as well. However I reluctantly finished that one.

I know there’s gobbs of readers out there who love and appreciate unrealistic fiction. “I have enough real life issues & I look forward to unbelievable stories” or some version of that.
I’ve seen it said time and again.
And hey, more power to ’em!

But I’m thinking maybe I’m broken…🥴

Fiction or otherwise, I have a huge hang up when it comes to implausibility. If I can’t believe what I’m reading, if it all feels forced and/or fake, that sucks the pleasure right out of my most favorite thing in the world: reading.

While there were some parts of this book that were very tragic, hard to read and that sadly happen IRL daily, the majority of Darling Girls I found completely absurd and heavily convoluted.

I hate to admit I nearly DNF’d a couple of times. Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me.

That being said, I do greatly appreciate Netgally and St. Martins Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 4.23.24.

Holy cow this book was good! It gripped me from the beginning and I was unable to put it down! So many twists and turns, and I didn’t see any of them coming. This was a perfectly crafted story of suspense, family, trauma, and an unbreakable sibling bond. I’m still kind of speechless from the ending. I wish I had it in hardback to share with all of my friends. Instead, I will just highly recommend it.

It was the service dogs for IBS for me 🤣

This book is NOT funny, but I am.

In all seriousness, this book touches on some really heavy stuff. Yes, this is a thriller and it does in fact have a few twists (the last one sure was a doozy!) but it also had strong elements of female bonding and how far you will go to protect the ones you love.

I was envious of the bond that was shared between Alicia, Jessica and Norah. Although they weren’t biologically related they shared something so special, DNA could never compare.

In true Hepworth fashion you will think the book is over and she’ll slip in one major, earth shattering twist that will leave your mouth agape.

Gosh, I really do love this little lady!

Congratulations to Hepworth on yet another sure to be bestseller!

Thank you Sally Hepworth, NetGalley and St Martins Press for allowing me the opportunity to read and review prior to the big release in exchange for an honest review! This one was extra special as I am a huge fan of Hepworth!

It would be criminal to give this book less than 5 stars ! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Teaser :

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. DARLING GIRLS asks the questions: what are we capable of when in a desperate place? How much can we hide the demons inside us? And can the past ever truly be buried?

I always feel immensely guilty when I dislike a book that generally has really high reviews. But I shan't lie! This one didn't work for me. It was fine... Didn't love the writing or the characters as both tended to be flat and not very engaging. BUT that doesn't usually bother me in a mystery/thriller if the plot and the ending are good. I was bored though :( It picked up a bit at the 75%, but not for long. It weirdly was both a quick read but also felt like I was dragging myself through it. And the ending just didn't hit.

I really wanted to like this one!!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book! I am a huge Sally Hepworth fan, if her name is on it, I will read it! In this book we meet Jessica, Norah, and Alicia who are lucky that they get to live at Wild Meadows Farm with the loving attentions of their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, or at least, that's what everyone keeps telling them. Behind the idyllic exterior of both the farmhouse and Miss Fairchild lies secrets and cruelties that forever alter the lives of these darling girls.

The story is fast paced and culminates in a, for me, somewhat lackluster ending. I am pleased with the endings the girls got, but I felt Miss Fairchild got off a little too easy in a twist that has been used in many other books that I have read. This is probably my least favorite of Ms. Hepworth's books, mostly due to the intense subject matter, that should come with trigger warnings.

I did, however, appreciate the story and will recommend it to library patrons that I know would enjoy this.

TW: child abuse, sexual assault

A solid domestic thriller by Sally Hepworth. Mrs. Fairchild gave me the chills and you feel for the three girls and what they went through. I enjoyed the multi twists at the end.