Sally Hepworth never disappoints! As soon as I received this ARC I hurried through the book I was reading so I could get to Darling Girls.

This story bounces back and forth between characters and the past and present to bring us Norah, Alicia, and Jessica. The three girls were foster children who grew up at Wild Meadows and quickly formed a sisterly bond. As adults, the girls are called back to town when bones are discovered on the land where Wild Meadows was. The girls are forced to come face to face with the childhood trauma caused by their foster mother Miss Fairchild. As we revisit their past, we witness how manipulative and abusive Miss Fairchild was to all three girls. Just when we think we know who the bones belong to Hepworth throws in her signature twist and we're back to guessing.

The way Hepworth develops her characters and injects dark humor into her stories is one of the many reasons she is a go to author for me. Her books are must reads. I flew through this book and am already looking forward to her next one!

Sally Hepworth’s writing just gets better and better. Darling Girls was captivating right from the beginning and held my interest the whole way through.

The characters (especially the sisters) were all well developed and interesting to read about. Each sister was unique in their own way. I loved how the sisters stuck together. I really liked the flashback scenes to the time spent with Miss Fairchild. I would have loved more scenes her, despite how awful she was.

I was a bit surprised by the descriptive final chapter, and I was not expecting it to be so dark,
Nevertheless, it was definitely a surprising ending to the book., and one I was not able to predict.
The scenes with Dr. Warren were also interesting. I really enjoyed Darling Girls and read it pretty quickly. Sally has won me over ever since reading The Good Sister.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I liked this book overall a lot. For a bit in the middle I felt like it was darker than I expected and what I signed up for. But in the end, the payoff was worth it and felt not entirely predictable. Overall, a great twisty thriller with endearing characters that are humanly flawed.

The premise of Darling Girls in intriguing, 3 sisters who grew up in foster care in Port Agatha, Australia, are brought back together when each gets a call from a detective letting them know bones had been discovered under their former foster home!
The 1st half is slow and difficult to follow due to the alternating timelines and POVs. Storylines finally congealed in the 2nd half, and wow, it got interesting!
That final twist was 🤌

Darling Girls is the 4th to 5th book I've read by Sally Hepworth. If you enjoyed The Younger Wife, you'll probably like DG. It has a similar flow.

I always enjoy books by Sally Hepworth, but this one was a bit different than the others I have read. I typically expect her books to be tense domestic thrillers, but Darling Girls is about three foster girls are placed together in the same foster home. When a crime from the past is uncovered they travel back to their old hometown to speak with detectives and learn more about the crime. The narrative switches back and forth from present day to the past, but it never becomes confusing. The story is tightly plotted and kept me guessing. My only caveat about this title is that there is a HUGE TRIGGER WARNING for child abuse of all kinds. Sensitive readers beware.

I loved this book! I read it all in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down. Though I figured out a few of the plot twists the ending had me shook! Another masterpiece by Sally Hepworth!

Can we ever escape our past?

The plight of foster children plays a significant role in the childhood of Jessica, Norah and Alicia. Each child enters the system in the care of Miss Fairchild and her home of Wildwood Manor. Miss Fairchild develops an unhealthy relationship with each girl as she arrives in her care and her twisted ideas cause the girls to for a sisterhood where each protects the others throughout their lives.

When old bones are found buried under Miss Fairchild's family home everyone is called in for a police interview about their time spent with Miss Fairchild. The nightmare unfolds as ecah relates their experiences.

Definitely a page turner!

Darling Girls was such a creepy mystery about a group of girls attending the same foster home. The story kept giving you more of the back story as you try to solve the mystery of human remains discovered at the foster home. Each of the girls are damaged in their own way from abuse they suffered while at Wild Meadows, which makes the mystery so hard to solve. Was it Miss Fairchild who committed murder, their foster mother or was it possibly one of the girls in her care?
Hepworth always spinning her dark fun into her mysteries! LOVED this one just like The Good Sister, The Soulmate or The Mother-in-Law.
Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for this advanced copy. My opinions are my own.

Another winner from Sally Hepworth! The character development was amazing. Three sisters united through their experience at foster care are asked to return after human remains are discovered beneath their former foster home. I loved the way the story was told from each sisters perspectives and went back and forth between now and before. Some things were hard to read surrounding child abuse, the isolation and mistreatment while they were in foster care but there were some heartfelt moments and comic relief to balance things out. The ending was very satisfying and there was a twist that I should have seen coming but I didn't.

Loved loved love. I love Sally’s book and this was no different. I loved the back stories intertwined with the present day. Typical Sally throws a curveball at the end— of course Miss Fairchild lied and she killed her sister (not her daughter). She was pretty horrible. I like how each girl got to live her true happiness at the end.

WOW WOW WOW. Thank you St. Martin’s Press for sending an ARC of this amazing book. I devoured this book as fast as I possibly could. I was sucked in from the very beginning and the ending made me go “ugh nooooo!” But in a good/twisty way. Sally Hepworth has now become an auto-buy author for me. What a great family drama story with incredible character development. Releasing 4/23/24, put it on your TBR list now so you don’t forget about it!!!

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
A thrilling read about three girls who bonded after being foster children with Miss Fairchild, What a life they had with her as she was had many moods and was unpredictable . When they thought they had finally escaped her and were free- bones were found in the basement of Miss Fairchilds? How did they die? Meeting with the police brings back a past they wish to forget!

Netflix announces, “Get ready for another twisty domestic thriller from Sally Hepworth.

No less than Liane Moriarty says, “ Sally Hepworth writes compelling, compassionate novels with characters you come to know and love. She is one of my favourite Australian writers.”

I agree with both of these blurbs. Sally Hepworth books are must reads for me. And this truly is her “twistiest” domestic thriller. Three sisters, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia tell their part of the story in alternating chapters. They loved and cared for each other when they were young and they still need each other now. They aren’t sisters by blood- they became sisters when they were placed in the same foster home. They went through a hideous ordeal together as children, and as adults they continue to truly love and support each other.

This book’s plot is amazing, “Twisted” is the word for it. The girls’ foster mother was twisted, their adult lives are twisted, and they receive twisted news about a baby’s skeleton found in the dirt underneath their foster home.
But their story is also told with grace and compassion.

I couldn’t put this book down. I noted that other reviewers agree. Dark, disturbing, yet with enough humor and love to balance the evil, this is an amazing book. You won’t know how it really ends until the last page.

Although this book presents a very troubled foster mother, and serious problems in the foster care system, the author clarifies at the end that 99% of the people involved in foster care are caring and dedicated. I highly recommend this book. Thanks to NetGallery and the publisher for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

I find myself having a hard time writing this review. This is the 4th book by Sally Hepworth that I have read. One I hated and two I loved, well this one is both. I have really liked the style of Sally's writing in her other books but this time I found it disjointed and at times too raw. The subject of the book is much to do with the dark side of foster care and its effects on children. This was a challenging subject to read about for, me. Plus some of the sex descriptions I felt were over the top and didn't add to the story. Those are all personal traits and may not bother you.
The upside is the story itself is good, really good. The characters are well-written and even if you don't like them you want to know more about them and the reason they are the way they are. The incredible bond between Norah, Jessica, and Alicia is worth the read alone. They describe themselves as stronger than biological sisters and I can see that in the story. I want to thank Netgalley, St. Martins Press, and Sally Hepworth for an ARC of this book. This review is my thought and mine alone

I loved this book! At first I thought the subject matter, foster care, was disturbing and I wasn’t going to enjoy it, but boy was I wrong! There were alternating narrators as well as now versus ten time frames for each chapter and mixed in was one unknown person’s consultations with a therapist thoughout the entire book. Sally Hepworth made so many twists and turns through out the book and just when you thought you had it figured out, a new twist was thrown at you. The momentum of the book built rapidly and the ending was spot on! Another great read from Sally Hepworth. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC of Darling Girls! I’ve already recommended it!

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are sisters but not in the traditional sense. They actually grew up together in a foster home. They came like real sisters by overcoming some tough treatment at the hands of their foster mother. Years later and all grown up they receive a call from the police about a body found under their old foster home. They are asked to return to the city of their former home to speak to the police and answer some questions. Whose body is it and how did it get there is a mystery.

I have been an absolute fan of the authors last few weeks and couldn’t wait to read this one. Unfortunately, it was somewhat of a let down. The author did an amazing job of setting the background of each character and really focused on building each characters story. I also liked how the chapters switched between the sisters POV’s and changing storylines from past to present. However, I didn’t find a lot happened throughout the book. The book did unravel in a fast paced and exciting way and I was surprised by the very end. Overall, a good read that many will enjoy

My second book by Sally Hepworth, and I definitely see why her books are such big sellers. The plot is riveting, the characters are endearing, and the pace zips along. The style isn’t the smoothest (chapter transitions are especially rough, and often jarring considering the subject matter), and parts of the ending are a bit too quick (and, for me, concerning in ways they’re not meant to be). But as far as thrillers go, those aren’t dealbreakers, and I’ll definitely pick up this author again. A comment that doesn’t impact my rating: lots and lots of formatting and spelling errors, even for an ARC.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital advanced reader copy in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

3.5 stars out of 5

Thank you to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for an eARC of this highly anticipated book coming out next year!

And I will say right now, this is my favorite book of hers. It is centered around 3 girls that grew up in foster care. It goes back and forth between the past and present as a dead body is found beneath their old foster home.

The author takes great care in really highlighting the tragedy of foster care, the heartbreak, the bonds, the isolation, as well as the mental health responses as they grow up and age out. 💕

The twists were nice, not over the top or unbelievable. I really really enjoyed this one!

Sally Hepworth does it again! I couldn't put this one down, and the twists kept coming up until the end. This is a great peach read, pool read, or cuddled on the couch read.

What a great thriller from Sally Hepworth. A bit of a departure from her usual domestic thriller, Darling Girls focuses on three women who were once in the care of a horrific foster mother and how they all come together 25 years later to pick up the pieces of their lives and help solve a crime.

I found the characters, writing, and story so compelling, in a genre that is often rife with plot holes and cheesy metaphors.

Highly recommend this one. Thank you so much to the publishers and net galley for the arc.