Sally Hepworth is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I’ve been fortunate to receive ARC’s for her last 3 releases and all of them have been spectacular. This story, was no different. Set in Australia, the book focuses in the lives of 3 young women who experienced trauma at the hands of their foster mother, When bones are discovered underneath the old home, the 3 foster sisters travel to their former home to try and solve the mystery. I really enjoyed to interwoven story of the foster mother, the girls (past and present) and the unknown person speaking to the therapist. Lots of twists and turns in this one and I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a mew thriller.

Love Sally’s books! This one kept me wanting to read more to figure out what really happen. I definitely did not guess the twist at the end. I felt that it had a good amount of back and forth from past to present. Character development was great as I could picture each in my head. Would for sure recommend! It might even be my favorite Sally Hepworth book!

Oh, wow, what a dark and twisted story. A story about how someone gets away with being truly evil and leaving psychological disaster in her wake. You will be hooked from start to finish!!

Thank you to Net Galley for this ebook!

Sally Hepworth’s best book yet! I was so excited to be chosen to read this ARC. I love all her books and this one is now my favorite! I read it whenever I had a spare minute because I was so engrossed in the book.. A wonderful story of three foster sisters who survive an abusive foster home.. Great character development and a wonderful bond between the three of them. I loved the different POV’s and felt that the story flowed very well. It was different than a lot of books I have read lately which I definitely enjoyed. Excellent book!!! Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Sally Hepworth for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. I enjoyed every minute!!!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5 ⭐️'s! Darling Girls is a slow-burn suspense story that unravels into a thrilling and memorable book! Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are foster care children placed at Wild Meadows, a sprawling estate owned and run by Miss Fairchild. The trio form an unbreakable bond, and their story shows the strength of sisterhood and resilience of children. As adults, the sisters have done everything they can to forget Wild Meadows, but when the body of a dead child's bones is found under their old foster home, the girls are pulled back to Wild Meadows, eager to uncover the truth.

Darling Girls alternates between multiple points of view and timelines. We learn about the girls' time in foster care while a parallel plot line follows the investigation into the mysterious grave. The character development in this book is unmatched. From the unhinged Miss Fairchild to the neurotic Jessica, Hepworth expertly built profiles that are equally relatable and heart-wrenching. It is evident how much research the author put into this novel, especially when exposing a harsh light on the failures of the foster care system.

Admittedly, the story does move a bit slower than Hepworth's other novels. However, everything comes together in an unpredictable and eye-popping finale. If you are a reader who is quick to pull the "DNF" trigger, don't! I promise the culmination of this story is well worth the wait.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

WOW. This book was amazing! Easily my favorite Sally Hepworth novel. The short chapters, alternating POV, alternating time lines, and the TWISTS. I thought I had it figured out and boy was a wrong! The characters were fantastic written and I was absolutely enthralled with the storyline. What a captivating, exciting, domestic thriller.

Check TW for this one for sure:

Great Author, Great Story, Loved it more than her others. A great book for a lazy weekend afternoon for an escape. Thanks

Wow! Oh. My. Word. Sally Hepworth has done it again! What a twisty tale of 3 foster sisters and their narcissistic monster of a foster mother. Ms. Hepworth does a fantastic job of weaving a story to keep you right on the edge of your seat wanting more. This may be my favorite Hepworth novel to date!

An enthusiastic thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and the author for providing me with an ARC of this book. 

The publication date is set for April 23, 2024. Highly recommend!

Sisterhood!

Three girls from separate homes, all placed under the foster care of Miss Fairchild. To the casual observer the home and Miss Fairchild seem ideal. In reality, it was a house of horrors. Including but not limited to mental and physical (starvation) abuses that they all would endure.

In order to survive the nightmarish life handed to them they formed an un-breakable bond! Sisters forever! Together they were mighty.

Now as adults they’ve kept that bond alive, always vigilant for one another. They couldn’t be more different, but together they’re a force to be reckoned with.

After human bones are discovered under the aging foster home of Miss Fairchild, the sisters return as requested by the police. Maybe they’ll find some answers of their own.

Sally Hepworth writes a gripping, suspenseful tale that will keep you guessing to the end!
I kept predicting small pieces along the way, but not enough to put the whole picture together!

That’s the best! When you guess just enough to be proud of your detective skills but the author still slips one past you, keeping you humbled and in the dark for the overall picture. Like a cat toying with a mouse…and a recipe for the perfect thriller!

I’ve read and enjoyed all the books from this author and cannot wait for more!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.

Wild Meadows looks like the perfect bucolic foster home. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia end up there through various circumstances as children. Miss Fairchild is their foster mother who can quickly change her mood in the blink of an eye. The three girls become "sisters" through all of the psychological torment of the experience.
Flash forward twenty five years when the "sisters" are summoned back to Wild Meadows when human bones are found under the house.
Totally engrossing read as the story swings back and forth in time and is told from the POV of each girl.
This is my very first Sally Hepworth read and it will not be the last.

Zoom! That’s what you will do as soon as you hit page 1 of this book. Sally Hepworth grabs you and does not let you go with this masterpiece. The twists and turns of this book were like no other that I read this year and kept me guessing right up until the end.

I loved the duel time line because just as you thought something would happen the cliff hanger in that chapter literally left you hanging.

This is a definitely must read book for everyone younger (YA)and older. The writing style flows so well. Can’t wait to read the next masterpiece from this author.

Thank you to Sally Hepworth, St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC! Can’t wait to add this one to my shelf!

This book was great! Some good twists and turns. I figured out the plot pretty early but still had some unexpected thrills!

Another great book from Sally Hepworth. This time it's about three foster girls who are placed with an abusive, sadistic foster mother. They are able to survive and all three are leading reasonably productive lives of so it seems. Everything comes crushing down when the bones of a child are found twenty five years later under their former foster home. Written in past and present and from each girls view, we slowly find out who was buried under the house. Crazy twist at the end.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC, I was thrilled to read this book.

Another gripping book from Sally Hepworth! She is so good at character development and unique stories. She delivers again in this twisty thriller! This book has domestic abuse involving children, which is hard to read. I couldn’t put it down up until the very last page.

This was a suspenseful domestic drama that had me completely drawn in. Three foster sisters who bonded together in an abusive home. All three women carry scars from their childhoods, leaving them unable to fully move on with their lives. When bones are found under their old foster home it opens up a million questions. Who’s bones? What happened to them? Who hid the body? Are the sisters bonded so tightly by murder?
I loved how this book gave each sister’s perspective and alternated between past and present. The twists in this book are insane. The final one had me shocked. Some parts were hard to read and my guesses as to what could have happened had me putting down the book to take a break but this was such a gripping story, I needed to know the ending. I’m very glad I pushed through and was wrong in my guesses.

Sally Hepworth does it again. I am very honored to have been gifted an early reader copy of this book and I devoured it. It took a few short chapters in the beginning of the book to get to know each “sister”. Ms Hepworth has such a way that enables us to feel as though we have always known each character. The three girls, Jessica, Norah and Alicia bonded when they were young girls and lived with their foster Mother on a farm. Without giving too much away, Miss Fairchild who fostered the girls seemed to have a hidden agenda. The book has a great twist at the end. Just read it.
A special thank you to St. Martin’s Press for trusting in this retired senior who very much enjoyed this book.

I enjoyed this book but struggled with the child abuse aspect. The ending especially ended up being too much for me.

Sally Hepworth is always a must-read for me. Darling Girls is amazing!

The story is told from a few different viewpoints which as a reader I truly enjoy. Mrs. Fairchild is a compassionate, single foster parent who selflessly takes in vulnerable young girls." The first we meet is Jessica, who has been with Mrs. Fairchild from a baby. Things were going great for Jessica until she didn't live up to Mrs. Fairchild's standards and Mrs. Fairchild began to bring in more children, Norah, Alicia, and others. The girls find that Mrs. Fairchild isn't who everyone thinks she is. The story flashes back to when the girls were young and then forward to the present day. Something brings them back to Mrs. Fairchild's house and they have to relive all of the trauma all over again. I did not see this one coming!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy.

I enjoyed this story and read it in a day, I found the storyline interesting, yet a little predictable. It kept my attention and I liked the characters. The ending had a good little twist.

Sally Hepworth is the queen of psychological thrillers! I cannot put her books down once I start one. Darling Girls takes place in a small Australian town, Port Agatha, alternating between two timelines: present day and the 1990's.

Over two decades ago three foster girls find themselves in the care of foster parent, Miss Fairchild, a narcissist living alone on her family's large farm. The girls, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia all have very different stories and personalities, but they eventually become friends out of necessity, and soon they bond as sisters. What they endure at the hands of the foster care system is appalling and the author finds a way to write about their experience without allowing the reader to turn away.

Present day finds the girls grown and still as close as sisters when each woman receives a call from a detective from Port Agatha asking them each to come in for questioning right away because their old foster home has been demolished and bones have been recovered. Each woman is now dealing with her own crisis internally and what lies ahead for them in Port Agatha will only add to their burdens.

This is not a light story, yet Hepworth infuses humor throughout and I even found myself laughing out loud a couple of times. She creates characters the reader can really root for. or loathe Her books are a perfect intersection of plot-driven and character-driven writing. As always, Hepworth adds a good twist at the end. Pick this one up if you like a fast-paced book that has excellent character development, a touch of sarcastic humor, and twisty turns.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.