Darling Girls was a thrilling, edge of my seat, fingernail biting read for me. I could not put this down and read it late into the night. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen, then Sally threw in one of her famous twists and I was completely shocked.
I liked how the story slowly unfolded and was told from each characters point of view and perspectives. The story went back and fourth so that each of them could tell their own story.

If I could sum up Darling Girls in one word, it would be GASLIGHTING. Domestic thrillers are Sally Hepworth's specialty and once again, she nails it. Told from alternating perspectives in alternating timelines and locations, Darling Girls really boils down to the importance of sisterhood. I truly loved Alicia, Jessica and Norah -- despite wildly different upbringings and personalities, the three of them had an inseparable bond. Even with the alternating timelines, this was a fast-paced thriller, with an arguably pitiable villain. Simply genius!

SYNOPSIS:
- Alicia, Jessica, and Norah are all foster kids. They forged a lifelong bond after they ended up being placed in the Miss Fairchild’s dysfunctional, abusive, and volatile home.
- Years later, the women still are close and are sisters by choice. Bones are unearthed under Miss Fairchild’s home, and the trio receive calls from a detective.

MY THOUGHTS
- Sally Hepworth has done it again. She has quickly become one of my favorite authors.
- I couldn’t put this book down, and I stayed up late reading it.
- Hepworth shines at character development, and she does an impressive job making the main characters relatable, flawed, likable, complex, and real. I loved seeing how the foster care system, as well as the placement in Miss Fairfield’s home, impacted each of the women.
- The story alternates between present day & the past, and both timelines are equally evocative.
- Multiple POVs (Jessica, Norah, Alicia, & a patient’s session with their psychiatrist)
- Well-plotted with lots of twists
- Top-notch writing
- Fast-paced
- Quickly got invested in the characters

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Another gem by Sally Hepworth. Excellent character development. Finished this one in under 36 hrs.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. It will be published on April 23, 2024.

One thing about me - if Sally Hepworth writes it, I am going to read it. I absolutely devoured this one. Like seriously I could not put it down. Hepworth's books are always engrossing and quick reads. This wasn't my favorite of hers, but was still a solid book. I will always recommend a Sally Hepworth book!

Sally Hepworth is a go-to author for me so I was so excited I got to read this early.

This story was told in the past and present from the POV of three sisters, Jessica, Norah and Alicia, who grew up in foster care with Miss. Fairchild.

The character development was so so good and I couldn’t help but root for and love these three sisters. The last half of the book I could not put down so I stayed up way too late and devoured it.

Thank you so much NetGalley for the e-ARC of Darling Girls, I can’t recommend this one enough!

Darling Girls is dark and at times disturbing and revolves around three girls who grew up together in the foster system in the same household. Bonds are formed because of this, and they consider themselves sisters to the end. The horrors that go on in the house are heartbreaking and when the book moves forward 20 some years, much of this is exposed. This book will keep you on edge right till the end.

Great book!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one! This book had a bit of everything!! It had great suspense, action, murder, mystery, intrigue, a fantastic who done it, abuse, mental abuse, gas lighting, revenge, great plot twist and many crazy twists and turns! The storyline was so very interesting and had me glued to my Kindle! I highly recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Sally Hepworth does is again! "Darling Girls" is full of suspense and will keep you on the edge of your seat - don't be surprised if you finish this in one sitting!

This is my second Hepworth novel, and I truly enjoy her storytelling. It’s more mysterious with little sprinkles of thrill. Told from three (with a fourth every now and then) points of view, each alternating between past and present. The sad reality of foster care and the corruption that likely happens. I enjoyed the bond between the sisters, and each one of them was easy to root for. Overall, really enjoyed this.

Yet another winner from Sally Hepworth! Darling Girls is about Alicia, Jessica, and Norah, who were foster children together with Miss Fairchild on a farm. The POVs switch between the three ladies now and when they were children in foster care. There is also a POV of someone who is meeting with a counselor, but we don't find out who that is until near the end. At first, with Jessica, Miss Fairchild is a doting foster mother but her persnickety moods soon take over. The girls are expected to keep a very clean house and eat very little as she is attempting to keep up appearances. Now that they are adults, the farmhouse is being demolished to become commercial property. They found bones at the site and the sisters were requested to come talk to the police about their time in the home. As more of the girls' time at Wild Meadows is unraveled, it is easy to see how Miss Fairchild's abuse has led to the problems they are facing today.

I absolutely LOVED this book - it's twisty, unfortunately realistic, and has tons of humor sprinkled in. The character development is amazing and the bond between the sisters is extremely deep. Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital reviewer's copy of this thrilling book in exchange for my true opinions.

Sally Hepworth has done it again! I always fly through her books as soon as I can get my hands on them and I was so excited to receive an ARC of 'Darling Girls'.

Jess, Nora and Alicia are found sisters that spent formative years in the custody of Miss Fairchild, a single young woman who appeared to be a wonderful foster mother on the outside, but caused hell for each of the three girls for years.

25 years after they were removed from the home, they are unwillingly dragged back into the past when the police find remains buried underneath the farm house. As they try to ascertain who is buried there, they interview each of the girls about their experiences in the house -- descriptions that are disturbingly cruel.

I loved each of these characters and how they processed the events of their past -- certainly with many different hurdles and unhealthy coping mechanisms but the bond between them was beautiful nonetheless. An excellent thriller that so clearly shows how complicated family can be. Highly recommend if you like this genre!

Darling Girls is a absolutely fantastic read. Jessica, Alicia, and Norah’s stories coupled with the mystery of what happened at Wild Meadows made for such a compelling story; I haven’t read anything quite like it. The darker and uncomfortable moments balanced with the emotional tug you feel towards the girls made for a great mix of plot and well developed characters. It is a great read until the very last chapter, which I have found to be so rare these days. I truly couldn’t put this down. It busted me right out of my reading slump. Darling Girls is one of the best domestic thrillers I’ve probably ever read and I highly recommend adding it to your tbr list!

I loved this one more than I remember loving Hepworth’s more recent novels. The setting and premise were very unique to me and I really enjoyed that about this book. Great read and easy to pick up too!

5 Stars!
LOVED!

Jessica, Norah and Alicia have an unbreakable bond. Growing up under the foster care system, these three lived together till they were in 14. Not bound by blood, but their experiences they are sisters through and through. Their foster mother Miss Fairchild looks the part of the doting mother. But, what goes on behind closed doors? This book is full of tangled secrets and the destruction left behind from keeping them.
•
THOUGHTS:
Sally Hepworth always creates well developed characters. She is thoughtful in creating plot points and adding subtle clues throughout her books with twists that always keep me guessing. I’m a huge fan of her books and was so excited to receive an early copy of this one. I really enjoyed the elements of found family and the bond between these women. I devoured this book. It’s a bit sinister, a bit sad, and always invoked hope. I loved it. Definitely one to pre order. Hope to see you on your again Sally. 💜

DARLING GIRLS is a domestic suspense mystery by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth. Having really enjoyed her previous novels, I was anxious to start this novel.

In this novel the focus is on the system of foster care and its effects on the lives of three women: Jessica, Norah, and Alicia: linked as sisters by their childhood where they lived on a farm with a foster mother named Miss Fairchild who raised them at Wild Meadows.

Novels
The Secrets of Midwives (2015)
The Things We Keep (2016)
The Mother's Promise (2017)
The Family Next Door (2018)
The Mother-in-Law (2019)
The Good Sister (2021)
The Younger Wife (2022)
The Soulmate (2023)
Darling Girls (2024)

This is my review of Darling Girls.

The three sisters are all different yet bonded together. Jessica has a little OCD and Norah has some anger issues and Alicia has low self-esteem. It's a bond that takes them back to when they were girls, and they lived on a farm with a tough foster mother named Miss Fairchild who had rules not to be broken.

The book begins in the present, twenty-five years later, where each sister receives a call from a detective to inform them that Wild Meadows had been demolished and human bones had been discovered beneath the farmhouse from their childhood. They are asked to return to tell what they know. Against their will they return to Wild Meadows and Miss Fairchild.

The chapters alternate between past and present timelines of three women and how their past trauma shaped their present day lives.

The strength of this novel lies in the exceptional skill of this author’s character development. Each woman is different and easily pictured with their own set of baggage.

Can the past ever truly be buried?

Many thanks to the author , St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my digital copy.

I love me a Sally Hepworth book and I was really excited to get this ARC to review. I felt in this one it was less about the who dunit or the big twist that the end like her other books and more the buildup to the emotional trauma that had been endured. It was a very enjoyable and quick read and it does keep you at the edge of your seat and you become emotionally invested with all the characters. What i did not get was the book cover : Revenge is Sweet .. I would actually not say this book is about revenge at all. I would use the words atonement, reckoning and karma before that one. Also Miss Fairchild was a fascinating character. I Wanted more of her psychiatry sessions, her insights and that skewed perspective made the book.

One of my favorite authors. So excited to get a ARC for her newest book. I love the character development of the three sisters and the slow building suspense. Started and finished in one day because I couldn’t put it down.

Really liked the strong women who are also supporting the main women including Det Patel and the two smart attorneys.

Sally Hepworth is the queen of domestic suspense and telling heartfelt stories about family, sisterhood and love. Her new book Darling Girls is one of her best! Thank you St. Martin's Press for the arc. 

In Darling Girls, the story is told from the perspectives of three sisters who were in foster care together. We get their stories from when they were children, and also now when they are adults. They all experienced trauma and cope with it in different ways. The villain in this story is their foster mom, Miss Fairchild, who took the girls in, but instead of showing them love, messed them up. A portion of the book is told from an unknown character while meeting with a therapist. I guessed who it was pretty quickly, but there is a twist in the end that I did not see coming. I loved it!

I highly recommend this one (and all of Sally's other books!).

Sally Hepworth gets it right every single time. She had me with The Soulmate but Darling Girls was truly a five star read for me. I loved the multi character perspective as well as the past and present storyline. Jessica, Norah and Alicia all have their past that led them to Wild Meadows and Miss Fairchild. However they weren’t expecting the horrendous situations they find themselves in. Luckily, they survived alongside their sisters to adulthood. When the past comes creeping back, the sisters will be faced with horrors of their past they couldn’t have imagined. I also thoroughly enjoyed the perspective with the therapist and ultimately not knowing the characters identity until the end. The plot keeps twisting right to the end.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Creepy and unsettling, this Australia-based read is part domestic thriller, part mystery, and all dark foreboding as the story weaves an ominous path through the trials of three adolescent foster family charges.

As each girl suffers domestic tragedy and is “lucky” enough to find herself sequestered in Wild Meadows Farm, a foster home in the 90s - a picturesque white farmhouse with a wide porch, shutters and a pool - they have no idea what exactly is in store for them. Beginning, ending and completing revolving around the wavy, golden haired Miss Fairchild, who is as sinister and atmospheric as any matron encountered within the pages of a gothic noir read.

Jessica, the first of the three girls to arrive with Miss Fairchild, is vulnerable, conscientious and a people-pleaser. Traits which, unfortunately, set the stage for her own long-running and heartbreaking personal trauma. Norah (with an ‘h’), is tough as nails and given to violent rages, none of which, however, will make her stay with the despotic Miss Fairchild any easier. Alicia, who has thus far only experienced affectionate care is suddenly flatly and unequivocally unloved, or even, unliked, by her new carer, and faces her eleventh year in a setting that will likely be the undoing of her entire self-worth and identity.

Flipping across two timeframes, (the girls’ childhood, and then twenty-five years later) and interwoven with a mysterious twisty subplot that gradually becomes clearer, the plot moves at a rapid (almost too rapid nearing the end) pace.

An absorbing and disquieting read, I couldn’t put this one down, and only partially guessed the completely chilling ending.

A great big thank you to #Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.