Thank you so much to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, and Sally Hepworth for allowing me to review this twisty thriller. I love Sally Hepworth and highly recommend all of her books. She always throws me for a loop with the twists and turns in her books. This one, however, was a bit challenging for me to read due to some triggering details regarding child abuse. I am usually able to read most books with trigger warnings regarding this issue, but I struggled to get through this one in some parts. All of that did add to the character development and was impactful in the storyline, but I would have enjoyed it more without the graphic detail of some events. I still recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fast paced twisty thrillers and Sally Hepworth’s gripping storylines and writing. Just keep in mind there are trigger warnings and it might be good to skip a few scenes. Thank you again for allowing me to review this book.

I didn’t know what to expect from this book at first..but I was HOOKED. The ending had my mouth wide open!! I need more of these sisters in my life.

Synopsis:

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have long been told they are so lucky. As young girls, they were removed from family tragedies and placed into a loving foster home with a doting foster mother, Miss Fairchild. Their idyllic life on a farming estate provided them with an exclusive second chance at a happy life. Their childhood, however, was not as perfect as everyone thought it was because Miss Fairchild had rules and could be unpredictable. In a moment of fear and desperation, the girls break away from Miss Fairchild and hope to find respite in a new life. When a body is discovered under their childhood home, they find themselves thrust into a police investigation. But are they witnesses or suspects?

Review:

Let's start with what I enjoyed about the novel.

This is my first novel from Sally Hepworth, so I didn't know what to expect; however, I was pleasantly surprised. Her writing style is engaging and easy to read. She crafts believable characters who actually sound like sisters. The way the three women speak to each other sounds like how I talk to my sisters. There are moments of humor throughout and they flow into the sisters' interactions. Hepworth's writing style also shines through in the format of the story. The plot is told through past and present chapters from each of the sister's perspectives. While I found the past chapters more intriguing, I was interested in the present mystery plot.

While I read an e-copy of the book, the physical book is 361 pages. Even though it is a little long for a thriller, it reads quickly. Hepworth's writing contributes to the readability, but the setting and the foster family plot are interesting.



Now, for what I did not like. There isn't too much to say, but the mystery elements are not as twisty as I expected. I often hear about Sally Hepworth's books and their twists, but I did not find the twists to be very exciting. Don't get me wrong, the book is good, but I expected a little more.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and gave it 3.5 stars. If you are looking for a solid domestic thriller, this is it. If you are looking for a dark crime thriller like Karin Slaughter, you won't find it here.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher, I loved this book so much and I highly recommend. It’s a 4/5 stars for me!

Thank you, NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press, for this book's ARC! This was my first Sally Hepworth book and I was thoroughly impressed!!
We follow the lives of three adoptive sisters: Jessica, Norah, and Alicia. They have all been dealt their share of abuse from what they were told was the best place to be when needing a place to stay while family matters were taken care of. The reality was these girls were never going to go back to what they knew.
Miss Fairchild promised the girls a happy and fulfilled life but what happens behind closed doors or, in this case, a beautiful farm stays there. The girls are dealing with an unpredictable, manic woman who is constantly putting the girls in dangerous and scary situations. (Trigger warning: Child abuse) When the girls finally have a chance to escape the situation they go. Flash forward to the present each one of the girls is experiencing their day-to-day issues and coping with the trauma they endured as pre-teens. Each girl is completely different from one another yet they would do anything to protect and care for each other. While navigating their own lives they receive a call that a body had been found underneath the farmhouse that they grew up in. But whose body is it and how did it end up there?
The story goes back and forth between the different perspectives and from the past and present. You get to understand what is going on from all angles and understand more about what happened to these girls. Loved that!! I was rooting for these girls throughout the whole book and knew from the beginning they deserved a second chance at life.
As an educator, I will say it was hard to read at times about the girls as kids, my heart hurt for them. I actually wanted to punch Miss Fairchild straight in the face a few times or throw her in the pool myself iykyk! This story had many twists and turns I was not expecting and truly left me feeling uneasy in a good way. I absolutely love reading dark thriller novels and this one was not like the others I’ve read and I really enjoyed that! But seriously that ending had me hollering!! Looking forward to reading other books from Sally Hepworth!

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

You know those movies that have an extra scene after the credits? This book was like that. So STAY FOR THE CREDITS!

This fast-paced novel kept my attention throughout, and I was not prepared for everything that was thrown my way. In true Hepworth fashion, she explored relationships and what it meant to be family. The POVs were so distinct from one another, so it was easy to keep them straight. Most of the characters were morally gray, which I loved. Also, I found the bounce between present and past to be successful. It allowed the story to move at the perfect pace.

If you like stories about found families, strong female relationships, and psychological thrillers, this one is sure to be a hit for you.

Sally Hepworth's Darling Girls was another fresh thriller for 2024! The story was fast paced and enjoyable, and I really appreciated a mystery/psychological thriller with a happy ending for the complex characters.

4 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


We all hear horror stories about the foster care system. Thankfully, not all homes are horrific, but in Darling Girls, we meet a woman who cares for her foster children in a frightening way.

Jessica ends up at Wild Meadows after the death of her mother. Miss Fairchild seems so welcoming and kind and loving. At first. Miss Fairchild is obsessed with a clean home and perfect children. Once Jessica starts school, the shine of Jessica gets a bit tarnished, as Jessica becomes friends with other children at school.

In comes Norah. A very angry, troubled foster child who has seen the worst of the system. Then Alicia, who was to be placed temporarily while her grandmother heals in the hospital. For these three, the life at Wild Meadows truly does become awful, as Miss Fairchild finds their deepest fears and uses them.

When the girls become adults, they carry these fears with them, which shapes their personalities. And when they are called back to Wild Meadows, they don’t know the best way to cope with what’s to come.

Sally Hepworth writes compelling human dramas that show both the best and worst of the human psyche. Through her characters in this novel, we understand how easily a child’s spirit can be shaped and broken. Wild Meadows truly was a clean house of horrors.

Quick read. Excellent story. Would recommend!

This was an intriguing story, I didn’t think it was a “thriller” or a “suspense” book, I would consider it a mystery. The story of 3 girls and their story at a foster home, what they endured while under Miss Fairchilds care. What seemed like an idyllic situation from the outside, was actually a horrific experience on the inside. The girls in her care endured physical and mental abuse from a narcissist, gaslighting care giver. The life they lived had these 3 non-biological girls band together, and act like true siblings to keep themselves as safe as possible. The story starts with the foster home being demolished so a McDonalds can be built on the lad, while they are digging for the parking lot, a set of bones is discovered …. Whose bones are they? And how did they get there? The girls think it’s Miss Fairchild, Miss Fairchild blames the girls, while others suspect a neighboring sex offender could be to blame. Step one is determining the age of the bones, and who they belong to, so the right person can be put to justice. Within this story, you are also privy transcripts of a “patient” and their psychiatrist … who is being interviewed? (You’ll find out about 50% in). It’s a beautiful story, about the girls, and how they have stuck together, protected each other, even with what they have endured. The who, what, and why left me angry, the twists at the end magnificent.

I have mixed feelings about Darling Girls. I liked the mystery and suspense of the book. I especially loved the short chapters - they helped move the story along and also made the hard chapters *a little* easier to swallow. I had trouble connecting and feeling much of anything for any of the characters beyond Alicia. The writing also felt uneasy with certain chapters being a lot cheesier than others (a confession and a some of the relationships come to mind). Overall, it was an okay read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

The perfect bingable thriller! I am reading SLOW these days, but I sped right on through Darling Girls.

Three sisters were rescued from seperate tragedies and raised as sisters in the foster care system. They met while in the care of Mrs. Fairchild (spoiler alert: she’s nuts!).

The girls are all grown up when they receive news that a body has been found under their old foster home. Old secrets and lies come back to haunt everyone and it’s a wild ride.

Wickedly twisted, the perfect domestic suspense novel!

Three not-related-by-blood sisters, bonded through the foster home where they grew up, have secrets to hide. But, when a body is found, everyone is suspect. Their lives are turned upside down, and they come face-to-face with the horrible foster mother who raised them.

Their entire childhood was a farce, and no one would believe the truth, regardless, so they learned to cope the best way they could, and coping is what they do best. They have to face the past and uncover the truth, no matter the repercussions. Even if it threatens their current lives and future with loved ones.

The twists and revelations as the story progresses will leave you on the edge of your seat, and the final outcome may leave you with your mouth hanging open in shock.

Couldn't get enough of this truly brilliant story.

Sally Hepworth has a way of writing books that are just so readable. Her stories just flow and you quickly find yourself immersed in it. Darling Girl did just that for me.

It’s about three sisters who return to their foster home when a body is found underneath the house. Sounds interesting, right? Like I said, her stories just sucks you in

I love reading each sister’s POVs and the mystery character. It’s pretty easy to guess who that person is but the twist?! That one I didn’t see coming.

Looking for a domestic thriller with dual timelines, multiple unreliable narrators, and a focus on the trauma foster kids endure? Then this is a great pick for you!
This book focuses on three foster sisters, bonded together forever by the treatment they endured at the hands of their foster parent, Miss Fairchild. Over the course of the book, we learn that Jessica was the first girl to live at Wild Meadows, then was joined by Norah, and later Alicia. The three are terrified of Miss Fairchild and her unpredictable moods, but they’re more terrified of being separated and sent to new foster homes.
In the present day, local detectives are trying to determine the identity of the body found beneath the Wild Meadows home. The three women are asked to return to the small town to be interviewed. As the interviews progress, we get more and more answers about their pasts. As detectives start pulling answers out of the women, it gets harder and harder to know who to believe.
With a balance of character-driven plot and slow-building suspense, this book kept my attention. The slow-burn feeling had evaporated by the last quarter, and I was racing to the finish line, desperate for answers.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

this is a slow, unraveling, mystery puzzle whose pieces come together through the pages.

I absolutely love a good book that gives us things in bits and pieces. Telling a story in current person, but also giving flashbacks of past stories. All of which come together to tell you not only the characters journey but also their own story of who they are & why they make decisions that they do.

I had never read a Sally Hepworth novel. It was recommended to me by a friend & I was so excited to see it offered as an ARC in NetGalley. I was enthralled! I read it in a few hours because I desperately needed to know the full story of the sisters, the body Found during the excavation of their old home, and the WHO of it all!!

Sally keeps you guessing until the last page. I closed this book with a shudder.

Hopefully the final release copy has a trigger warning at the beginning because there are discussion of child abuse. Sexual abuse of a child in general story telling “like this happened to me” as well as verbal & emotional abuse. Additionally topics of growing up in the foster home are discussed heavily as that is a big premise of the bits & pieces of the story. As well as how they become “sisters”.

i truly enjoyed the slow burn. The calculated way the story unfolds. The characters are well developed, the plot well thought out & honestly genius! I loved it. More than that it’s a true twist of heartbreak, love & healing. Not to mention an ending I didn’t see coming!!

i look forward to reading more in her catalog!

shoutout to NetGalley & St. Martins Press for the ARC!

THAT FINAL TWIST THO!!!!! Darling Girls is told in the form of a now and then format that alternates in the chapters. Alicia, Jessica, and Norah are three foster sister who met at the Wild Meadows farming estate where Miss Holly Fairchild is the picture-perfect foster mother. However, Miss Fairchild can be cruel and unpredictable. The girls find themselves trying to survive until one day they make a break from Wild Meadows. They hope they'd never have to deal with Miss Fairchild or Wild Meadows again. Fast forward to the present and the three girls are now grown adults, just trying to live their lives until news that human bones was found under their old foster home at Wild Meadows. The three girls must now return and face their shared past.
Sally Hepworth is known for weaving family/domestic drama into her twists and this might be her best novel yet. Sometimes I find domestic dramas boring and predictable but this was super easy to keep reading and kept my focus the whole time. The twists were not super predictable but not outlandish which I appreciate, as it makes the story more relatable and believable. The chapters written from the girls' perspective is written using third-person point of view but there is also an unknown female first-person point of view that takes place in a psychiatrist's office, which is an interesting choice and somewhat unique. I will say this story is not for the faint of heart in that there is multiple depictions of child abuse, so if you are sensitive to that you might want to skip this one, otherwise, highly recommended!

Well, THAT was an unexpected and delightful exercise in keeping my composure while turning the pages as fast as I possibly could. There were times during my read that I laughed out loud, gasped like a horror movie watcher and asked aloud "what happened?!?" The multiple perspectives were effective and each character was compelling and impossible to forget. The book seamlessly flows through each sister's chapters, past and present. The author masterfully tells this story of three girls all but broken by the foster system, and what ultimately happened at their foster "home". What should be a place is respite was sadly nothing more than a place to sleep and eat (if they were lucky that day). I loved every page of this book.

This might be one of Sally's best! I loved the creepy tension throughout the book. The last few pages are just fire and I loved how it concluded. I stayed up late reading this one as I needed to know how everything was going to turn out. A binge worthy read for sure!

I didn't hate this book when I started it. I was actually very interested, even though child abuse is not my idea of a good time, even when it's pure fiction. But oh boy did I hate it at the end.

What a truly disgusting way to end a book that is written for entertainment. It's not clever, or new, it's just incredibly heartless and upsetting. I can read a lot of dark things without it getting to me, but this one was so obviously for shock value.

Two stars because I liked a lot of it. I just can't get over any human who can write those words down and publish them in good conscience.

Darling Girls is a twisted dark story of 3 foster children who forge an unbreakable bond as sisters. Jessica, Norah and Alicia all grew up at Wild Meadows, the home of Holly Fairchild, their foster mother.
Told from the viewpoints of each of the sisters now grown adults who come back to Port Agatha to wrestle with the demons of their past and the horrors that they endured at Wild Meadows. Sally Hepworth writes a gut wrenching story of foster care gone wrong.
I found myself wanting to keep reading at every turn to find out the truth behind what happened at that house. Fast paced story telling with brief chapters from every view kept me reading well into that night.
Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.