Oh Sally Hepworth.. you never disappoint. This book was amazing. Crazy and amazing! Definitely one of my favourites of their books. I HIGHLY recommend this.

Girls are sent to ne fostered b y Mrs Fairchild.. She is a mentally ill abusive foster mother. Secrets unfold and the foster girls are brought back together. Likeable characters and an interesting Australian setting. Howecer, the plot didn't really draw me.in.

Darling Girls is amazing! I couldn't put this book down. I am not surprised as Sally Hepworth never disappoints! The story about Jessica, Alicia, Norah is one that keeps you guessing and puts the spotlight on childhood abuse for foster children. Hepworth focuses on these women overcoming obstacles and being heroes meanwhile their bond gets stronger with whatever comes their way.

3.5 stars to Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth.

Many thanks first and foremost to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, Sally Hepworth for sending this ARC!

I think it should be said before continuing that this book has BIG trigger warnings. It should be noted that the entire book discusses child abuse (both physical and sexual), discussing the suspected murder of a young child, how said child was murdered, and also sprinkles in some mention of human trafficking.

While the book certainly brings awareness to child abuse happening in foster homes, I just think it is a tough read. I would say I was not the best audience for this book with a young child myself. There were times I was nearly in tears.

Darling Girls follows the story line of 3 main characters - Jessica Lovat, Norah Anderson, and Alicia Connelly. The story also includes inserts of "The Office of Dr. Warren, Psychiatrist" and his patient who remains unknown for a portion of the book. In addition, there are two timelines being discussed in the book (three if you want to include the patient and psychiatrist's sessions). Despite this, it was not confusing at all. The short chapters help to propel the book forward and I never felt a lull in the storyline.

In keeping this review spoiler free, I will just say what a HECK of an ending. Just when you think the book is done and all is resolved, BAM. One more chapter. I was able to guess who the mystery patient was, but not able to guess the circumstances of what brought about the sessions. I definitely did not guess the ending, which came at a big surprise.

I think overall this is a really good thriller and I would probably recommend it to others, I would just heavily caution about looking into the trigger warnings first before reading Darling Girls.

Stories about haunted childhoods always appeal to me, especially when they involve locations like the one in this book. It’s a foster home that was torn down revealing a gruesome discovery of bones buried beneath it. But unfortunately, the story wasn’t nearly as dark and macabre as I was expecting. Sure, the young girls were treated terribly when they lived there, but really, it could have been so much worse. Especially given the backstory of the owner, Miss Fairchild. The girls (Alicia, Jessica, and Norah) are now grown and have been contacted by the local police department where the foster home was located. None of the three want to return to that place, but they also can’t ignore the pull they feel to go back and finally put the past to rest.

The women are typically scarred by their early traumas – Alicia constantly puts herself down to prevent getting close enough to anyone else. Jessica is obsessed with organization and the need to please. Norah annoyed me the most, although I believe we’re supposed to empathize with her violent tendencies and use of sex as a bargaining tool. But she just comes across as a conceited jerk. The story is told in the present timeframe and in the past as the girls move to Miss Fairchild’s home one by one. When they escape, it’s abrupt and that’s it, that’s the end of the narrative in the past.

I think the very end is supposed to be surprising, but I would have been more surprised if that final twist hadn’t been revealed. But then it’s a bit illogical when comparing the girls’ pretty tame lives in foster care to how it could have been and should have been, with the ending taken into consideration. That sounds so confusing but should make sense if you’ve read the story.

So anyway, it’s a good book that could have been great if it was as horrific and lurid as you expect it to be. More mystery and thrills, less mildly unpleasant memories.

If psychological thrillers are your genre, then RUN, don’t walk to get this newest book from Sally Hepworth. Underscoring how damage done to children remains the baggage they carry into adulthood, while exposing the problems with the foster system, Darling Girls will haunt you long after you have turned the last page.

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are sisters, not bound by DNA but rather the rigors of their upbringing by their foster mother, Miss Fairchild. Years after leaving her care and aging out of the foster system, they are once again jolted back to their childhood when human bones are discovered under the farmhouse where they lived. The investigation leads into a surprise you won’t see coming.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an uncorrected digital copy.

Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I have been really looking forward to reading a book by Sally Hepworth and had several on my tbr pile, so I was super excited to get the opportunity to read one of her upcoming books. I was not disappointed. "Darling Girls" is about three very tight-knit adopted siblings who are called back to their childhood town because skeletal remains are found buried in their old foster home. They are then forced to confront their traumas and relive their childhood memories with the very irractic and unpredictable Miss Fairchild. I rated this read at 3.75 stars. I loved the way the story unfolded and found the character easy to invest in. I would categorize this as a slower paced psychological mystery. I would have rated this higher, but I felt that the ending and twist were too predictable, and where it seemed I should be shocked, I wasn't. However, that did not take away from the investment and attachments I had to the characters and their stories. Overall, I would recommend this book, but I would describe it as a cozy physiological read.

Sally Hepworth does it again! She weaves an amazing story but the very end was a gut punch. I did NOT see that coming!

Darling Girls ✨

Another great book from Sally Hepworth!! I really enjoyed the Soulmate earlier this year so I was super excited to pick this up!

I was a little wary at first because I don’t always love books with more than two POVs but I think this is an example of multiple POVs being done really well. The characters are all so distinct so it’s easy to quickly be able to differentiate between them. It was such a unique plot line and I really appreciated reading about all the varying experiences of kids being raised in foster care. I also appreciate the gray morality with most (if not all) of the characters.

The chapters were quick and there were so many cliffhangers that I just had to keep reading and couldn’t put it down 😂 For most of the book I thought this was going to be a 4 star read but the ending gave me CHILLS and turned it into a 5 star read.

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

Book: Darling Girls
Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Domestic thriller
Publication date: April 23, 2024
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was my first Sally Hepworth book and it will not be my last! I was invested from the get go. I loved learning about Alicia, Jessica and Norah and how they ended up at Wild Meadows. There was the perfect build up, the right amount of twists that kept me needing to read more and more. I had no idea where the story was going and was completely shocked with the ending! There was a perfect mix of then and now and the characters story's were wrapped up perfectly at the end. I would highly recommend Darling Girls and cannot wait to read more by Sally Hepworth.

Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin Press for the ARC!
Darling Girls comes out on April 23rd, 2024 and I highly recommend picking up a copy!

Trigger Warning: sexual assault, child abuse, drug abuse

Sally…. You outdid yourself! Sally Hepworth has been an auto read of mine for a while now so imagine my excitement getting my hands on an ARC.

However, this one is dark. Dark like The Push. So if anything in those trigger warnings makes you a little uncomfy I wouldn’t recommend. This is an amazing thriller that, for the most part, kept me guessing. I slowly figured out where it was going but never had it truly figured out.

Strong ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
I adore Sally Hepworth’s novels- she is an amazing writer and the character personalities she creates as well at the plots she weaves are honestly incredible.

This book was hard to read at parts (trigger warning: child abuse) but though it was hard is was necessary to help you “know” certain people in the story. It also helped to make certain aspects of the plot more satisfying in the end.

Jessica, Norah, and Alice work through their past as foster children at Wild Meadows. They’re forced to confront what they went through when the body of a child is found under the home while it’s being demolished. As they grapple with their past and present issues they find out things aren’t always as they seemed.

I didn’t want to put this down once I started and I highly recommend this book just like I have all her others.

Thank you to NetGalley for this free uncorrected digital copy.

Very interesting story that I feel is a lot like another book that I read a few months ago, which kept popping into my head the whole time. Girls from an orphanage are called back to town for questioning when the house is demolished and a body is found.
The mystery of whose body it is and the final reveal surprised me. The relationship between the girls was well written as was each sisters personality.

I really enjoyed this! It was suspenseful and full of twists that I did not expect. It has alternating timelines and multiple POV’s, despite this, it was not hard to follow and only captivated me more.

I was rooting so hard for the three sisters and for anything good to happen to them. Reading about their backstory was a little painful and hard to take at times. But this was a great mystery with really creating twists!

I absolutely loved this book! I am a huge Sally Hepworth fan & was so happy to read this early! The storyline, characters, short chapters-I couldn’t put this one down. Definitely recommend!

“Darling Girls” is Sally Hepworth’s latest effort and lovers of both her work and domestic thrillers in general will not be disappointed.

I have been a fan of Sally Hepworth since her very first novel, and honestly, there were parts of this novel where I could not stop shivering--with horror or anticipation, I am not sure! The focus of the novel is on three women that grew up in the foster system under the harsh treatment of their foster mother. Years later, they return when they are contacted by a detective. Bones had been discovered under the foster house where the women had received such heinous treatment.

The reader learns each of the women’s stories—from both past and present. I found that each of the woman had her own unique voice and the shifting of timelines and POVs was not at all confusing. I did find this story exceptionally darker than Hepworth’s last work. The ending a bit twisted, but overall, if you want to be kept guessing, you will enjoy this book.

Four out of five stars.

Thank you the Sally Hepworth, NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel.

5⭐️

Alicia, Jessica and Norah has worked hard to leave what happened at Wild Meadows behind them. They’ve tried to come across as normal, well adjusted women who had a normal childhood. But they all know their childhood was far from normal. The three girls grew up in a foster home owned by Miss Fairchild.

Miss Fairchild had strict rules and a temperament that could change at the drop of a hat. In a moment of bravery, the three girls went to authorities and got away from Miss Fairchild and they thought they’d never have to think about Wild Meadows again. But then the property was sold and when the house was torn down, human remains were found. And Alicia, Jessica and Norah are forced to talk about what happened behind those closed doors.

Sally Hepworth has became a go-to author for me so when I got the chance to read this early I was beyond ecstatic! And she didn’t disappoint! This is the second release in a row that’s a five star for me.


I appreciate how much research and sensitivity she puts into each book. Darling Girls primarily focuses on the foster care system and the lasting effects of being raised by a narcissist. I feel like this did a good job of capturing a lot of experiences of foster care-the good and the bad. The three girls personalities as adults perfectly captured how much a person’s childhood effects that.

I also really liked the therapy sessions scattered throughout the book and I liked trying to figure out who was actually attending the session.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this ARC to me!

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth is a story about three girls who become sisters because of the horrific circumstances they endure during their tenure at a house of horrors foster home. This story twists and turns and I was utterly captivated.

OMG. This was not a typical Sally Hepworth read and I was actually quite nervous as I began reading....the storyline had me freaked out that something awful was going to happen every time I turned the page. It was so good I devoured this book in 2 days. I liked how you didn't know who was in session with the therapist until the end (even though you could work it out about half way through) it keeps you guessing. Great book.

DARLING GIRLS
BY: SALLY HEPWORTH

3.75 stars rounded up!

I thought long and hard before deciding if I wanted to read Sally Hepworth's newest novel called, "Darling Girls." I had good reasons for my mixed feelings and while reading my first impression was to ask myself: "What have I gotten myself into?" This particular novel in my humble opinion is probably my favorite of hers by far because it tackles some difficult to read at times subject matter. I was quite uncomfortable at times reading about the child abuse inflicted to the the children who are placed into Foster care with the antagonist, Miss Holly Fairchild. So beware before deciding to read this if you're up for the disturbing, realistically portrayed abuse and cruelty perpetrated on young, impressionistic minds by the Foster mother. I liked the ending so overall I thought it worth the one sitting read which while upsetting has depth and illuminates the traumatizing, long lasting effects of being exposed in youth to horrific living situations.

The novel goes back in time to the harrowing and unpredictable actions that three young females placed in Miss Fairchild's care to explain why these three adult women are struggling in the present. I did like that these three females who weren't biological sisters formed an enduring bond that resulted in them considering themselves sisters deeply caring for each other. All three of them are supportive of one another, but display emotional scars from their exposure to their narcissistic Foster mother's self-serving and insensitive poor treatment.

Jessica who was the first and the youngest to be placed with Miss Fairchild exhibits an obsessive compulsive need towards perfection as a grown woman. Although she is the only one out of the three women to be married, her husband feels that she puts her two sisters needs ahead of his. Jessica organizes homes and steals her clients Valium prescriptions for her anxiety. Norah who was the second child fostered by Miss Fairchild is angry and physically abusive leading her to have trouble with the police and courts. She had violent tendencies as a child and hasn't overcome them in adulthood either. Alicia was the third to be placed in Miss Fairchild's Foster home which was supposed to be temporary. She had a loving, nurturing grandmother who Alicia expected to be reunited with after her grandmother recuperates in the hospital after a bad fall. Alicia is a case worker in the Foster care system as an adult.

The three sisters are notified that they need to return to Port Agatha, Australia which is a two hour car ride from where they currently live in Melbourne to answer questions in an investigation by three detectives. There have been bones discovered which were buried on the property where they lived in Foster care with Miss Fairchild. Whose bones are these? Was somebody murdered? Who is the murderer? You'll have to read this to find out.

As I said this is my favorite of Sally Hepworth's novels because it illustrates how damaging childhood experiences lead to self sabotaging choices that can be life long lasting if they aren't dealt with. Interspersed with the past and the present are short chapters of an unknown character that is meeting with a psychiatrist. I liked the ending of this so it elevated this suspenseful and character driven novel to 3.75 stars. This made me feel that I was glad that I read this unsettling novel, although I do question how it most likely takes years of self examination and hard work to overcome self destructive tendencies in adulthood that is the result of childhood abuse by a care giver. I cautiously recommend this after deciding if you are willing to be able to tolerate the insidious emotional cruelties that you'll be witnessing done to innocent children. It does make you think and this is one I'm not likely to forget.

Publication Date: April 23, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley, Sally Hepworth and St. Martin's Press for generously providing me with my eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#DarlingGirls #SallyHepworth #StMartinsPress #NetGalley