"Darling Girls was an incredibly done, psychological mystery. From the first chapter, I was sucked in. The intertwining of the stories of the girls (both past and present) as well as the therapist conversations revealed a twisted story of an evil, manipulative foster mother and the impact on the kids in her care all while unraveling the mystery of the bones found at their home. Loved this one and definitely would recommend!

Great storyline With lots of twists and turns. I always enjoy your novel by Sally Hepworth. Love the mother-daughter dynamics. Great characters. Thanks so much for my advance copy

Sally Hepworth has consistently maintained a standard of excellence that continues with her newest novel, Darling Girls. I've read and loved every one of this author's books, but I think this may be my favorite to date. In this domestic thriller about three foster "sisters" bonded through a dysfunctional and heartbreaking childhood, the characters practically leap from the page they are so real. You can tell Ms. Hepworth really did her research on this one. Highly recommend this 5-star read.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.75

Darling Girls is a wild ride through past and present following three "sisters" who met while being fostered at Wild Meadows. Many years after they left they are called to return after a body is found and everyone whose lived there is under suspicion, especially the three 'troublesome' girls who called this place home, against their wishes.

I found this to be pretty quick and fast-paced to read. I did sort out some of the twists but it didn't make it any less enjoyable.

Overall a great read for anyone that likes suspense or Sally's past works.

Sally Hepworth can seriously do no wrong in my eyes. I have enjoyed the majority of her book and this one is no exception. Fair warning, this book has a lot of child abuse, so it was a bit heavy at times.

What I liked
Multiple POVs & non linear time lines
The characters were incredibly well developed and I connected with them immediately
A truly despicable villain that was all too believable
The last chapter, WOW jaw dropped

What I Didn’t
I did figure out some of the twists
Jessica was so infuriating and Phil deserves better – kidding. Kind of.

Three women return to the foster home where they lived and endured the craziness that was the woman who ran the home after bones are found under the house after it was sold and torn down. They relive their memories.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC!

Everytime Sally Hepworth publishes a new novel it goes to the top of my TBR

This was was no exception and had everything I love about Hepworth's novels.

The story rotates through a three person POV (past and present), as well as a mystery 4th "voice" in the threrapist's office. However it was never confusing or something that takes me out of the story.

As is typical of Hepworth novels, readers think they are reading a story that will wrap up nicely with a neat bow, only to be thrown off their axis on the last page and question everything they read before.

TW: descriptions of child abuse, drug use

What a gripping thriller!! My Darling Girls is a multi POV story following the past and present of three foster sisters and their evil foster mother. In the present timeline, bones have been found beneath their old foster house, bringing to light the terrible things that happened to them in the past. Full of twists and turns!

Sally Hepworth truly cannot write a bad novel. I enjoyed this one, as I have all of her previous books, immensely.

Another great book by Sally Hepworth! I was a bit confused in the beginning with trying to figure out who was talking to Dr Warren and how that fit in. It was a great twist, as was the ending.

Sally Hepworth has a way with writing psychological thrillers and I am here for it. Darling Girls is by far one of her best books. I loved the character development and the dual storylines. This was definitely a page turner which I managed to finish in about two days. If you are a thriller lover or want to try reading thrillers, give this book a go.

Alicia, Jessica and Norah have had it pretty rough, but they managed to move past their childhood and create new lives. Until one day when their childhood comes knocking on their door in the form of a police call. When bones are found under their foster home, all three girls are asked to come back to their old hometown for questioning. Will they be able to face their past or will they crumble under the gaze of the eyes that once striked fear in them?

TW: The book touches on topics such as child abuse and domestic abuse.

Darling Girls was just okay. There was enough mystery to keep me intrigued, but it wasn’t a page-Turner like I expected. I never read a book by Sally Hepworth, but she came highly recommended. I think I just had really high expectations for this book, and so it fell a bit flat for me. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin Press for this advance reader’s copy and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

The story alternates between our three heroine’s past and present; plus another character’s POV. Once I got past the triggers, this was a great mystery and thriller. I was hooked. I worried about the girls, I was furious with Miss Fairchild.

I cannot stand reading scenes of child abuse. It’s so hard to swallow but we have to give credit where credit is due because Sally Hepworth really portrayed the character’s struggles so vividly and viscerally.

The plot is so intriguing and no matter how much I wanted to stop—because I wasn’t sure if I can continue reading child abuse—I couldn’t put it down. It’s easy to read in spite of the triggers.

The characters are all interesting and their differences were clear when brought into focus. It’s also heart warming that no matter how different our heroines are, they had one goal in common: to stay together and keep each other safe. The antagonist, Miss Fairchild is so infuriating, cunning and conniving. These are proof of how well they’re written. Though the ending is satisfying, I found it a little rushed.

In conclusion, “Darling Girls” is very captivating, a little traumatizing, but solid overall. Sally Hepworth is becoming an instant read for me!

Loved the premise for this one! Three foster sisters are thrust back into their life 25 years ago after a body is discovered under their foster home. Unfortunately, this was very hard to read. The abuse that they endured was awful and I do not enjoy reading that type of material. The weird quotations throughout the book also took me out of it. I didn’t see the ending twist so that was a plus. Overall, not my favorite. 2/5 ⭐️

I got this authors debut in a Goodreads giveaway and thoroughly enjoyed it. This book i also thoroughly enjoyed, however I did find the beginning a bit slow. I read 50% in one sitting and the other 50% over the next two day. By the end I loved the main 3 girls. I felt so happy where their stories ended up.

That ending twist I did NOT expect at all. That was crazy.

Darling Girls was a very impactful novel. It focused on three women, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, who 25 years ago endured an abusive foster care situation under Holly Fairchild’s care. Miss Fairchild herself is a very sociopathic and narcissistic individual, somehow continuously dodging any social workers catching wind of the way she treats those under her care. Content warnings are very important to consider, and include child abuse, child neglect, drug abuse, abuse within foster care environments, issues regarding adoption, and mental illness. I thought Sally Hepworth did a great job telling this story, though at this moment it is just an ARC. Character development was great for most characters, the plot was so thoughtfully built. My criticisms would be that sometimes there were lulls after big plot turns, slowing down the pace. I also felt a little let down by the focus of Norah’s backstory revolving around the Kevin situation; it did not seem applicable or relevant to developing her character. Also, what we ultimately find out about Jessica, I understand the ultimate forgiveness from her sisters but given the deep and decades-long dishonesty, there really should have been some anger or some indication of “we are going to really have to work through this”. Beyond that it was great, one of her best novels. Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC!

When I get a Sally Hepworth novel it immediately goes to the top of my TBR pile and this is a solid 4 star read.

The novel is told from four points of view —

Holly Fairchild – the malevolent foster mother who finds more and more ways to manipulate and terrorize her young charges.

She relies on the girls not only for help but wants the money she will receive for fostering them!

Jessica - in the novel she is the first child that comes to live with Ms. Fairchild. She is very young, aged 5, and is easy to win over. Jess is desperate for attention and love and she thinks that is what Holly is offering! AT LEAST AT FIRST!!

Norah - Norah is 11 and has been in many foster homes throughout her life. She knows a thing of two about how to handle Miss Fairchild. WILL SHE HELP HER “SISTERS” WHEN SHE’S NEEDED??

Alicia is 12 years old and is supposed to be a short term foster - her grandmother is in the hospital recovering from an accident. She is sweet and shy but is quickly included in the trio!

Alternating Voice – we have a mystery voice that belongs to someone who is at a psychotherapy session. Creepy and mysterious, I enjoyed these chapters a lot

These three thought they were free of Ms. Fairchild and their entire childhood, though they remained close friends.

UNTIL A CALL THE FROM THE POLICE - HUMAN REMAINS HAVE BEEN FOUND UNDER THE HOUSE AND THEY ARE ALL SUMMONED BACK TO THAT DARK PART OF THEIR LIVES.

I enjoyed the Author’s notes which include the ways that she researched the book! The theme of sisterhood and friendship is woven throughout the novel. Childhood trauma can follow a person through adulthood and manifest in many ways!

This would have been a 5* but I thought there was a lot of repetition of the days spent under Ms. Fairchild’s care. It slowed the book down a bit.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Three grown women who grew up in the same foster home and consider themselves sisters are called back to the house where they were fostered because the remains of a human body were found on the property.

This was my least favorite book from this author whose work I have really enjoyed. I think the issue is that there were a lot of flashbacks to the abuse in the foster home and it just wasn’t subject matter that I was interested in reading about. The way it all came together at the end was interesting and the end was good, but it took me too long to get there because for much of the book I wasn’t interested in picking it up after I had put it down. Regardless, I really like this author and look forward to her next novel.

This story was the perfect amount of mystery and intrigue. I was invested from the very beginning. I love when a story gets told completely with no loose ends. Perfect ending to a book that had flying through the pages.

Darling Girls felt like a departure from the normal Sally Hepworth domestic thriller. The rotation between the three person POV, as well as the flashbacks to the threrapist's office took me awhile to fall into, but as the story progressed and secrets were unfolded, the differences between the three sisters and Miss Fairchild became more distinct. In usual Hepworth fashion, readers think they are reading a story that will wrap up nicely with a neat bow, only to be thrown off their axis on the last page and question everything they read before. I think each sister received a nice, full character arc without any loose ends, but I would have loved to get some more insight into the relationship between Jessica and Phil, as well as Scott Michael's role in the entire plot.