ugh i devoured this book. the twists were perfect and i literally hated the foster mother and how awful she was to norah, alicia, and jessica and how she tried to blame everything on everyone else. having kids makes it so hard to read stuff like this sometimes bc it makes me sad that some kids really are treated this way. i loved the relationship between all the sisters and how they were so different but just loved each other and clicked so well. i was baffled at the end and how well Holly played everyone. it made me hate her even more and i just wished they realized she was adding more lies to her lies. and i was even more baffled that she expected the girls to love her after what she did to them!!!! i just couldn’t believe jt. definitely one of the better thriller books i’ve read recently! 5/5
thank you St.Martin’s Press and netgalley for this e arc in exchange for my honest review!

4 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC,
Sally Hepworth is becoming one of my auto-buy/auto-read authors. I'll read anything she writes. Her stories never disappoint; they're always unique, fast-paced, hard to put down, and have amazing, well developed characters. This story had 4 main characters and each one was distinct with their own flaws and personalities which I really enjoyed.
Another thing I love about Sally Hepworth's books, and that I loved about this one is that while her stories deal with difficult topics, it's never too much for me to handle. I know this is something that changes from person to person, but for me specifically I find her books are the perfect balance of tense but not anxiety-provoking. I can enjoy what's happening in the story without being super drawn in or emotionally involved/triggered. That's a hard balance for me to find, so I really appreciate that.
I'd recommend this book for anyone who enjoys mystery/thrillers or stories about familes/sisters/foster families. I'd also recommend checking out Sally Hepworth's other books also! They never disappoint.

Darling Girls, by Sally Hepworth, kept me thinking. While I figured out some of the twists and turns, there were a few that I didn't. The story and writing were both so engaging; I finished the book in two days.
Definitely recommend for others to read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy; all opinions are my own.

Delivers all the twists and turns you'd expect from a Sally Hepworth novel, along with a terrific trio of central characters, complex characters, and emotional depths. Impossible to put down.

In her latest novel, Sally Hepworth takes us into the darker side of foster care.

Three inseparable foster sisters are called back to the town where they temporarily lived under the care of Miss Fairchild. Through flashbacks we learn the history of each of the girls and how that history has impacted them well into adulthood. Each of them is struggling in their own way because of past treatment. Secrets and deceit are prominent themes in this tale that is propulsive and at the same time, heartbreaking.
I was compelled to read forward from the very beginning, it was a page turner!

While the writing was intriguing, some plotlines didn’t feel right to me…. I understand it was all part of character development, understanding the trauma that the girls carry with them adds depth to the story, but it felt a little over the top.

All in all, a good read, just be sure to have a look at trigger warnings, a couple parts in the book were a little disturbing.

I was very disappointed in this one. Normally I love Sally Hepworth's novels but I think my problem with it was the multiple POVs. There are three foster girls (Alicia, Norah, Jessica) and the foster mom (Holly) and then an unknown patient talking to a psychiatrist. Add to that the dual timelines (past and present) that the whole thing was a chore.

I really didn't warm to the story at all, or find myself rooting for anyone.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I just could not get into this book. I ended up skimming some parts. I love a lot of her books, but this one wasn't for me.

This was my third Sally Hepworth book and I hope this is the book that finally gets more Americans reading her books, it was SO good! I loved the 3 girls (later women) in the story. They are so fully developed and I really felt connected to their struggles as adults and horror as kids. The mystery in this was great with a pretty shocking and well done twist at the end. If this is ever turned into a movie or tv show whatever actress who plays Holly Fairchild will have a great character to play. Definitely will be one of my favs this year.

Though I received an e-arc via NetGalley (thanks to the author and publisher) I also bought a hardcover from Book of the Month, glad I did it was worth the money!

This book was crazyyyy! I absolutely loved it though! There were definitely a lot of twists and some of them I could guess but others definitely had me shocked! This book held my interest the whole way through and I didn’t want to put it down! This would be such a crazy movie honestly👀 absolutely loved this book and the way it was told from all 3 sisters sides from the present and past but also told a side from Miss Fairchild talking to the therapist.

Lucky is a very subjective term. Starting with the end in this book’s acknowledgements, the author tells us about how she talked to many former foster children to write this book, and when they use the word “lucky”, it’s in a way most of us don’t. One person may be lucky that they were only sexually abused one time. One may be lucky because the physical abuse they endured didn’t leave permanent damage. One might have luck on their side because they managed to escape their torturers. Yes, luck is a relative term indeed.

Jessica, who runs a home organization business, Norah, a tough woman with a penchant for violence, and Alicia, a social worker, were at one time all residents of the Wild Meadows Farm. Miss Fairchild lived there and took in foster children who had nowhere else to go; quite a noble calling. These three girls had already been through trauma when they got to the foster home, but that trauma was “lucky” compared to what Miss Fairchild had in store.

The girls were forced to do manual labor, barely given enough to eat, weren’t allowed to leave the house alone, and so much more. They soon formed a sisterhood, and when they weren’t working, they were just trying not to make Miss Fairchild angry. Things get even more complicated when short-term foster babies start showing up at the house. At first, Miss Fairchild would dote on them, but she would soon lose interest and it would be up to the girls to take care of the babies’ needs.

Eventually, the sisters move on and start their own lives, but the trauma they’ve been through has followed each of them into adulthood. They’re all dealing with their own demons when detectives start calling. The Wild Meadows Farm is being demolished, and police have found human remains buried under the house. The three women travel back to the town none of them wanted to ever see again, and the investigation begins.

The story about this woman and the foster home is fantastic, and we also get a second story: throughout the book, we hear a woman’s confessions to her psychiatrist, and the mystery woman gives even more insight into the characters (who were all written flawlessly). This book is creepy and heartbreaking, but it’s also thrilling and easy to get invested into. 4.5 stars.

(Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Sally Hepworth and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

The synopsis for this book doesn’t give you a ton of detail and I think that’s perfect because this is definitely one where you want to go in blind! Even though I’ve enjoyed Hepworth’s books in the past and I saw great early reviews for this I think I had low expectations because I thought I knew what this story line would be. Boy was I wrong!

This was so so good. She did such a good job of maintaining this constant level of uneasiness that had me completely gripped. The story is told from the perspective of each of the three women, including in their flashbacks, plus an unnamed party’s therapy sessions. A less skilled author would have confused her readers but she differentiated each unique view in a way that added to the story.

Oooh and the ending was just 😲😲😲 If you read this PLEASE I need to discuss!! Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the eARC!

*Be aware going into this that childhood trauma and abuse play a large part in the story.

Hmmm, Sally Hepworth's books are always a hit or miss for me, however I will always give her books a try. Darling Girls was a miss unfortunately. I found the storyline difficult to follow and the narrator just wasn't for me personally. Excited to read more from Sally in the future!

“Sisters” Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were raised partly in a foster home that forced them to depend on each other. As adults, a set of bones are discovered at the site of their former foster mother’s home.

This book and plot was a little chaotic for me. I didn’t like any of the characters and didn’t find them redeeming (except maybe Alicia) after their experiences. I felt like a bombshell was dropped for one of the sisters and the others were just “okay” and moved on. I haven’t read many by Hepworth, but I did not really enjoy this one.

This was a fantastic read with some intense plot twists I would've never seen coming! I was rooting for Jessica, Alicia and Norah from the start and while I knew Miss Fairchild was clearly an awful human being I could have never imagined how deep it ran. A great small town thriller that I will be recommending to friends!

This book is such a wild ride! Nothing like I was expecting and just so enthralling! I was invested from page one and it didn't let up until the end!!

This story covers three foster girls who end up at Wild Meadows Farm. Each girl learns self-survival and then slowly reaches out to form a bond with each other.

Years later, a crime is discovered that will pull them all together again.

This is my fourth book by this author, and out of the four, one stood out: The Good Sister.

While this book held my interest, it didn’t stand out as unique and one that was hard to forget.

The chapters did include the points of view of each girl, which was nice. But some parts of their stories were interesting, and some, unfortunately, weren’t surprising since I’ve grown to expect certain treatment at these institutions.

As I rounded to the finish line, I was still curious but felt a little 𝓱𝓸-𝓱𝓾𝓶, 𝓸𝓱, 𝓸𝓴𝓪𝔂, 𝓘’𝓶 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓽𝔂 𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽’𝓼 𝓶𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓾𝓹 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓘 𝔀𝓸𝓷’𝓽 𝓭𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓷 𝓲𝓽. Then I put my Kindle down.

Not a remarkable story, but okay.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a chance to read this book before publication. I’m just late in reviewing it. Oops! It was available April 23, 2024.

A dark tale set in an atmospheric house where the lady of the house, Ms. Fairchild, has decided to bring in foster children for extra money. The problem is she is not suited to raise children especially the young girls who are the focal point of the story. Jessica, Alicia and Norah are like sisters although not related and their time in the home has shaped each of them. They each have struggles and when they learn that bones have been found on the grounds of the home, they can’t help themselves in returning to a place they hated. The story bounces between the stories of the girls, now women seeking to know themselves and what they need to do to move forward in their lives.

Sally... I don't think I've ever finished a book of yours and not be fully shocked by the end, even if I didn't like the book that much, you still shocked me.

Without giving too much away, I loved the POV's in this book. I wish the fourth one was a bit more clear at times- sometimes it got jumbled in with the flashbacks, but it was crazy how it all tied in.

Past that, you really get sucked into the girls lives- past and present ones. I loved how each one was different but the same in some ways.

Wow what a great book. It was a little slow but the ending twists were definitely worth it. It was such a gripping story and very well written. I really enjoyed the multiple POVs and past and present scenes.

This was my first book by Sally and I will definitely read more.

Thank you to @stmartinspress for the digital ARC and @macmillan.audio for the audiobook.
This was such a great read for me! I started it in the evening and stayed up until 2:30am to finish it because I couldn't stop reading. The POV rotates and there were great plot twists, some that I saw coming and others that I didn't.
I'm not a fan of gory murder stories, but I enjoy domestic thrillers and this was such a good one.