Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This was an excellent and fast read, perfect to get me out of my mystery slump I've been having lately! Three sisters (not by blood) raised in the same foster home face their traumatic memories and questions of the past when a body is found buried beneath the house they were raised in. I thought I had everything all figured it, but then the last twist definitely caught me off-guard. Twisted and compulsively readable. 4.5 rounded to 5 stars.

This is the best book I’ve read all year! This story grips you and you must know more and you MUST finish it!! I can hardly put into words how good this book is.

This is a suspenseful tale of three foster sisters (Jessica, Norah, and Alicia) and their complicated relationship with their foster mother. The girls remain “sisters” into adulthood but none of them have a relationship (or happy memories) with their foster mother, Ms. Fairchild. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia return to their foster home as adults when summoned by detectives after human remains were found buried under the house.

This story was told in a dual timeline with multiple points of view. The dual timeline was tastefully done and came together well at the end. In addition, the story slowly unfolded in a suspenseful/keep you hooked type of way. With every chapter we learned more and more. There were a few twists along the way, but the best/biggest was at the end. I think the final twist is what really bumped this book up to 5 stars for me. I actually want to go back and reread the story now that I know the ending to look for any hints/clues because I was SHOCKED. I thought I had it all figured out but NOPE.

Sally Hepworth is so talented and I wish I could live in her head for a day!

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth will be released April 23, 2024.

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me this ARC!

Alicia, Norah and Jessica are sisters in everything but blood, raised together in a foster home by an unpredictable carer, their adult lives marked by their trauma. When a shocking discovery is made at the house they grew up in they must travel back to where it all began to aid in the police investigation, only it’s unclear who exactly is a suspect.
I‘m definitely in the minority here because this book has overwhelmingly amazing reviews and I’m still trying to decide how I feel about it overall. As thrillers go, it was a fascinating and at times uncomfortable read. The subject content is very heavy and I think was more difficult for me than I had anticipated.
As always, Hepworth’s writing is excellent and the plot really felt unique. I loved Alicia the most out of the three sisters and found her POV to be the most touching.
There were several clever if predictable twists and a final reveal that felt a little improvised. The ending wraps everything up nicely although falls a bit on the unrealistic side. I’m giving this 3 stars for me personally but can definitely see where the 5 star ratings are coming from!

This was truly a brilliant thriller- I loved every page, audibly gasped frequently and despite the tough subject matter, found myself thinking about the plot when I wasn't reading. Undoubtedly Hepworth's best novel to date, I know it will be a massive success and I will be screaming about its genius when it is released. I do not want to summarize too much because of all the plot twists and turns, but believe me, it's a must read!

WOW! #darlinggirls is fabulous! SO many twists and turns, it was hard (but delightful) to keep up. I loved the relationship between Jessica, Alicia and Norah (with an "h") and how Ms. Hepworth finds the light in their darkness. The book feels like an ode to children who grow up in the foster care system, whether here or in Australia. The differing points of view are great, too, and the ending packs the biggest twist of all! Highly, highly recommend.

P.S. Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

Jessica was the first of the trio to enter Miss Fairchild's home as a foster child. Needy Jessica wanted to be loved and cherished by Miss Fairchild and would do anything to gain her favor. Manipulative Fairchild knew just the buttons to push with Jessica to cause the greatest anguish. That was one of Miss Fairchild's many talents, seeking out and finding a person's soft spot so that she would know where the most damage could be inflicted. After a few years, Norah was added to the household, so different from Jessica. Despite the hardness of Norah, after a life of being abused in various foster homes, Jessica finds she has a protector in Norah. Then comes Alicia to make up this trio of "sisters". The three girls must always guard against the next assault by Miss Fairchild, physical, mental, emotional, an assault is always coming but at least the girls have each other.

Eventually the girls escape Miss Fairchild's "care" and even twenty five years later they are a constant in each other's lives. They ARE sisters, as much as if they were born of the same parents. Their sisterhood was born through their time with Miss Fairchild and nothing can break it now. Twenty five years after the girls were able to leave the grasp of Miss Fairchild, a body has been found under the demolished old home and the three sisters much return to the town of their old foster home.

I enjoyed this story and the relationship between the three "sisters", but the child abuse was almost too hard to handle. Jessica (OCD), Norah (anger), and Alicia (low self esteem) still have so much to work through and even the idea of this trip can trigger all their issues. But maybe the past might just allow them to understand what happened back then, a time when their thoughts and memories were so distorted by their fear of Miss Fairchild.

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

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are girls with a troubled past who made a pact to be sister's while in foster care together. They have always stayed close and are rattled to get a phone call from a detective asking them to come to the station to answer questions about the possible identity of human remains found under the home they grew up in during their stay at Wild Meadows, the name of the farm the home was on. The story is told in alternating perspectives of the girls both in the past and present as the mystery of the body under the house unfolds. Each of the women are dealing with the troubles of their past catching up to their present and the plot centers on how they each help each other through the struggles they deal with.

This was another wonderful story by Sally Hepworth who is one of my favorite authors. Her stories never disappoint and always leave me guessing until the very end. This was a solid 4 star read with a well developed plot and characters. The character development took some time in the beginning of the book. There were moments I found myself bored trying to get through all the back stories leading up to the point the plot begins to pick up pace, but once it took off I really enjoyed the storyline and seeing how the mystery of the bones unfolded. It really is a tragic story that is somehow able to have a happy ending despite the loss and abuse. Great job Sally Hepworth!

Sally Hepworth is always a must-read! This one just may be her best yet, and ALL are super-good! The story is a little darker than normal, but that didn't bother me at all. Everything is based around the stories of 3 former foster girls, Norah, Alicia and Jessica. Though not sisters by blood, they are bonded as sisters through their shared horrors at the hands of Ms. Fairchild, their former foster Mom. They are now damaged adults, and a body has been found under the Fairchild house causing them to make the journey back. Who is it? What happened? I will leave it at that so not to ruin anything for anyone else. I enjoyed the voice of each girl/woman, and it seemed like each short chapter ended with some big aha moment! Just the way I like it! Can't wait to see what this author does next!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Sally Hepworth and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.
I will post my review to Amazon, Instagram and other retail and social media sites upon publication.

If you enjoy thrillers, this is your book! The Soulmate was my first experience with Sally Hepworth and I thought it was just ok. Darling Girls blew me away. Told from the perspective of three foster sisters who would do anything for each other, we learn of their childhood growing up with a troubled, abusive foster mother. This was a gripping, quick read that was surprisingly emotional for a thriller book.

Thanks for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

GREAT BOOK. AN INCREDIBLE THRILLERS FULL OF TWISTS YOU WON’T SEE COMING, IT WILL KEEP YOU UP TILL YOU FINISH IT-

4.5 stars
this is definitely my favorite Hepworth so far! if you've read her stuff before, even though her books are usually categorized in the mystery/thriller genre, you know she tends to go light on the mystery in favor of focusing on the characters and their motivations; with Darling Girls, she actually gets more into a mystery element than usual but without forsaking character depth.
we follow 3 adult sisters who find out that a foster home they grew up in as children has revealed human bones buried underneath, and they are called in as suspects. the hauntingly dark backstory of the girls being raised in the foster home was so well written, and reminded me a lot of another great book from this year, <i>Strange Sally Diamond</i> . I feel like it's best to go into this one only knowing the basics, because the way Hepworth directs the story is fascinating. definitely be advised of triggers related to abuse though, I think this is the heaviest book I've read from her so far.

One of my absolute favorite authors. She never disappoints. I have recommended this book and many of her others to friends and family to read.

I love how Sally Hepworth tells a story. She is amazing at keeping the reader engaged with her audience. A+ on this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book for an honest review.

I adore Sally Hepworth. I have read and will read everything she writes. Sometimes her novels don't completely work for me, but this one did for the most part. While the story itself is a bit bogged down with one character's POV, I understand why it was included. However, I wish that character's POV could have remained in the third-person perspective. Switching to the first-person perspective really pulled me away from the reading experience, and I struggled to want to jump into the next chapter after finishing it, even though I really enjoyed the other characters' POVs. Regardless, this story is entertaining and dramatic and completely original. I enjoyed this and think a lot of readers will as well.

I have enjoyed all the author’s previous books. So happy to get an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley.
I really enjoyed this story.since the beginning of the story I was hooked. It is a page turner for sure.. The ending caught me off guard! Wow! What a twist! This book will not disappoint. A must read.! I highly recommended it!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Having enjoyed the author's previous work, I was thrilled to receive this ARC and it didn't disappoint. A story set in multiple timelines and perspectives, it is about 3 women who grew up together in foster care with a narcistic and abusive woman. The story was extremely compelling and the characters were well-developed. There were some surprises along the way, which I thought worked well.

I definitely recommend this book to those who like the psychological suspense genre.

I really enjoyed this read. I loved the different points of view, and it had a wonderfully surprising twist at the end.

Three foster sisters, now troubled adults, are forced to confront a horrific past when bones are found on the property of their childhood home. This is an unsettling psychological thriller that had me reading into all hours of the night. Each sister is given her own voice, both past and present, and I found myself becoming more and more invested in their stories. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense and mystery.

Those darling girls may have been foster sisters but as far as they were concerned, they were sisters. Together they survived the years in the care of their crazy foster mother. When bones are found buried under the house where they lived with their foster mother, their lives start to implode with memories that they had pushed into the far corners of their brain. Sally Hepworth does it again with a twisted psychological thriller that had me reading into the night.

Since the beginning of the story I was hooked ! , this gave me Hansel and Gretel vibes haha . Throughout the story I found myself really hating Miss Fairchild and surprisingly I hated Jessica too . In my opinion I think Alicia was the most likable character, not sayin Norah wasn’t . But Alicia had the better morals and judgment by helping children in need and using her childhood trauma experiences to succeed. Lastly the ending !!!!!!!!!!! I never saw it coming . It really caught me off guard WOW! what a twist .