Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth is dark, with secrets and the most unlikeable character! It is a mystery/suspense novel set in Australia that will have you visibly flinching.

The main characters in the story are Jessica, Norah, and Alicia who are sisters, connected in an unconventional way. They bonded in the foster care system at young, formative ages. Their foster mother, Miss Fairchild, reminded me of a Stepford Wife.

The story is told in dual timelines, with multiple POVs. This moves the story along and keeps it interesting, as a mystery reveals itself when bones are discovered under Miss Fairchild’s home years after the girls are grown.

It is a difficult story to read at times because of how the girls were treated. The story highlights many of the failings of the foster care system, and the author’s note is a must read and provides some insight to her motivation for the story. So reader know thyself. If you have specific triggers, do some research before diving into this novel.

I thought Darling Girls was fairly well done, and I have to round up to 4 stars because of the suspense and twists and gasp worthy moments.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the electronic advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was sooo good! First of all, short chapters!!! This story is told in 3rd person narrative through the perspective of 3 “sisters” who all lived in the same foster home together and were subjected to various levels of abuse and trauma. (Check the trigger warnings). There is also a 4th unknown perspective that is not revealed until the near end. The book rotates between two timelines, one during the girls time in the foster home and the other is present day when they are called back to Wild Meadows after the house has been demolished and human bones are found. Each girl has a unique perspective and it was interesting to see how each girl handled the trauma and abuse and how that manifested in their current adult lives. Sally Hepworth did a great job with the character development of each girl.

This was my first Sally Hepworth book, but if this is typical of her writing style, this won’t be my last! I was captivated from the first page and this could have easily be read in one sitting! There is a pretty shocking twist at the very end that I did not see coming!

I haven’t read a thriller this good in a while. Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.
This one comes out next week and some have already gotten it early as their Book of the Month. Move this one up on your TBR, you won’t be disappointed!

The only thing that kept this from being a 🤩/5⭐️ read was that the different characters were hard to keep straight at first. Even though each character was so unique in personality and behaviors, it was hard to switch back and forth at first between the 4 different narrators. But I round up on Goodreads and NetGalley so this 4.5 becomes a 5!

I loved this one! I enjoyed the multiple POVs from the three darling girls and Mrs. Fairchild was one sinister character. Just when you think you have it all figured out Hepworth unveils another twist to make you gasp. Hepworth is a must read for me always. I love the style of her writing and the intensity of the plot. She also does great sister relationships.

Add another thriller to your must read list for 2024! This one was such an addictive ride for me. I was hooked right away, the storyline propelled itself quickly, and the twists were just right.

The three sisters brought together through the foster system were each unique but they complimented each other so well. I was rooting for them so hard! I like the past and present perspectives as that helps understand how their trauma influenced their current selves and the story. Lots of trigger warnings in this one!

And if you're someone who wants an absolute bombshell in the last couple pages (think The Silent Patient if you've read it), this one is a doozy!! Makes your head spin a bit! I hated the character but loved the twist!!

The end of this book will catch you off guard.

Plot -
Three foster sisters escape a house of horrors as children, and it comes back to haunt them as adults. Jessica was the first to be adopted by Ms. Fairchild, back when things were good and she was Ms. Fairchild's "Darling Girl," but things begin to quickly deteriorate when Norah and Alicia join the family. The book was told in the present with flashbacks to what the girls had to endure as children. They are forced to relive their past when a body turns up under the home they grew up in.

Thoughts -
This story had me hooked from the very beginning. It is told both in dual timelines and three different POVs, which sounds like a lot, but it was so easy to digest. It was fun and fast paced and kept me turning pages to find out more about the girls' past. As I got close to the end, I was starting to get disappointed. I thought I was going to get a really well written story with no plot twist. It felt like one of those thrillers that just unfolds, but boy was I wrong. I did not see the twist at the end coming, and it was a good one.

I highly recommend both the physical book and audiobook to any fun, fast paced, popcorn thriller lovers.

I'm sorry - what.  I actually think I feel a bit sick after reading this book.... so obviously it's a 5 star read for me.  I cannot drop a single spoiler, but this book made me emotions run the gamut from grief to horror to shock to some sweet moments - all of these made me want to cry for both good and bad things.  Sally Hepworth makes you think you are going down one story path and once you say okay I know how this is going to go -wham bam - no you don't.  I was lulled into thinking this was a horrible but unremarkable story at the beginning and now I am left reeling.

Lots of trigger warnings for child neglect, endangerment and abuse (you can tell by the summary). I usually stay away from those (I have 2 kids and am SOFT when it comes to anything thing happening to them), but I went for it anyway and am so glad I finished this in under 24 hours because that's all I had in me.

“When no one pays any attention to you, you can hide quite a lot.”

This book is like a roller coaster. You strap in. You’re ready. You hear that clink clink clink and you rise. And then it lets you go and you’re in a free fall.

Read this if you enjoy reading about:
🔹A villain that you LOVE to hate
🔹The bonds of sisterhood
🔹Mother daughter dynamics
🔹Long buried murder mysteries

The audiobook is absolutely fantastic as it is set in Australia so the accents are *chefs kiss*. Fantastic. Just utterly fantastic!

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and Sally Hepworth for the #gifted ALC and ARC.

👉🏻To outsiders, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are considered fortunate, saved from tragedy and raised by beautiful foster mother Miss Fairchild. However, looks can be deceiving- Miss Fairchild was unpredictable, unstable, and emotionally abusive and the girls suffered tremendously. Even as adults, the ripple effect of their childhood lingers.👈🏻

🤫Many years after they have left Miss Fairchild’s home, a body is discovered and the three women find themselves under suspicion. Due to their upbringing, they start to question themselves as they recall strange occurrences that happened during their time at the farm. As the case continues, the past and present intertwine as trauma is uncovered and the sisters navigate the secrets of their past.🤫

✨The story is told from multiple perspectives, including one mystery voice who is undergoing trauma/psycho therapy. I found it to be more of a mystery than a thriller, so a little slower than I had anticipated, but I was still anxious to see how it all resolved. The twists and turns kept me going and I have to be honest I was not prepared for the ending!✨

🙏🏼Thank you @stmartinspress for my copy! #DarlingGirls by @sallyhepworth is out 4/23!!!🙏🏼

I enjoyed Darling Girls for the most part. It took me a little bit to get into it but it got better as the book went on. Overall, an okay book for me. The twists weren’t particularly shocking or anything but it was a fine book.

Darling Girls follows three foster sisters who are summoned back to the house they grew up in after some bones are found buried underneath the house.

While this book focused a lot on the abuse and trauma the sisters went through with their foster mother, I never felt that it was too dark or heavy. The three sisters were unique in the ways they came into the foster system, the things they had been through in the past, and how being in the foster system, specifically with Miss Fairchild as their foster mother, really shaped them into the people they are in the present time. I enjoyed the bond between the three of them, and I found the relationships between each of them and Miss Fairchild to be very interesting as well.

I flew through this. I was very intrigued from the start, and it was truly such a page turner. I did not love the very end, however, and would have been satisfied without the last chapter.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for a review!

Oh. My. God! This book was something!

I devoured this book. The characters and storylines kept me interested from the very first chapter.

I will say, I hope there might be trigger warnings listed in the final version. I knew what the story was about before I read it, but even I felt a little uncomfortable at times. Unfortunately, without the tough elements in this books, the story would not work at all. It was a page turner with a lot of twists.

This book is not for anyone who has suffered any form of abuse, whether it be physical, emotional, or psychological. I also would not recommend it to anyone who might have been in the foster system at any time.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. Darling Girls is out April 23rd.

I have enjoyed Sally Hepworth’s previous books, but that did not prepare for me this one. I listened to about a third of the audiobook before I had to binge read the second two thirds. I’m never great at waiting but it was impossible with this one. I think this one punched me a little harder because I am a social worker and this is about the layers of trauma foster kids have to survive. I mean it’s also a domestic thriller and mystery about who the dead body under the house was, but it was eerily accurate about foster care and the pitfalls. The book alternates perspectives as well as timelines. When Norah, Jessica, and Alicia were young they were in foster care together at a home that looked perfect from the outside. It was on a farm and even had a swimming pool, but it also came with a foster mother who was difficult to please and creative with discipline. The three sisters (found family not biological) all get calls from the police with a request to return to that town after a body is found under the demolished house. With trepidation they return to try to find what happened but are they witnesses or are they suspects?

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of the ebook and the audiobook for review. I enjoyed getting to know these characters and follow along with their current and past lives, ultimately leading to information about what was found at the house they grew up at. All characters were flawed yet not totally unlikable.

Jessica, Alicia, and Norah were foster children with Mrs. Fairchild for many years, growing close and bonding over their upbringing. They remain close in adulthood despite not staying together once they left Fairchild’s care. All 3 lead imperfect lives today and are brought back together when they receive calls from a detective related to a crime that has been uncovered at their former foster home.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth is a dark yet compelling book about 3 women that grew up in the foster system and now as adults are called back by the police to return to the home they escaped from. Told in multiple POVs and with alternating timelines, this is a story that could've been easily confusing. But Hepworth weaved each characters' story with the next one with an ease that left me in awe. I was gripped from beginning to end and loved each flawed character and their journey.

Jessica, Norah, Alicia are the 3 women that grew up together in the foster system as sisters in Miss Fairchild's home. From the outside, their home and Miss Fairchild could be perceived as them being lucky. But their lives were anything but ideal. They learned to live with what they were given, even if it was troubling and quite sinister. The one thing they did have? Each other. Now as adults, they are asked to return to a time and place they thought they left behind to find answers that the authorities are looking for. But are they the innocent bystanders that may have answers? Or are they the guilty party?

Hepworth always amazes me at the way she writes women and captures the essence of a captivating domestic suspense with twists that are creative, but really fit her characters. Initially, I thought when I began the book and was getting the multiple POVs, I was going to be confused. But the way the story was laid out and how we got to know the women in the past and present, it made each character flawed, yet real and relatable.

I did have a hard time reading about what each girl experienced in their past, but it also showed their strength and their resilience along with their connection they had with one another. Believe me, it wasn't easy to read, but it was those moments that forged those girls together for life. Knowing the bond that connected them in the past kept them close together into adulthood was the one positive thing that came from their time in the foster system.

Despite the difficult subject matter, I did enjoy the characters and how they evolved over the course of the story. There was growth for each one and all in different ways. But I did initially show some confusion at the end of some chapters that included scenes from a patient and psychiatrist. What started as confusion led to a twist that was pure genius. It was so darn troubling, but it put the whole story together with an epic ending that smashed any inkling of what I thought of each character and how it was going to connect each and every piece.

This book is definitely slow to build, but it will keep you on your toes. Each piece of the suspenseful puzzle will lead you to an epic ending that is masterfully done.

Oofff! What a read! Sally Hepworth definitely wrote a thrilling story!!

I have such mixed feelings on this book. All hanging in the ending of the story.

I love a story with an unreliable narrative and feel like I caught on early that the story would unfold differently than how it was portrayed to be, however there was lots to the ending that caught me by surprise.

I appreciated the deep sisterly bond, the unraveling of the foster babies and their identities.

I did find the ending very difficult to read. And would definitely advise TW:child abuse and drug/substance for those who may have some sensitivity to such subjects.

I wanted to rate higher than a 3⭐️, however the somewhat graphic ending bumped it down a star in my opinion!

I did a mix of reading and listen (I really appreciate the advanced copies) as it kept me flying through the book that much faster. I feel like the narration was great. Loved the Australian accent!

Thank you for the early access. Would definitely recommend!

Well written mystery that focuses on three sisters in foster care in a difficult living situation. I will say, the only reason this book isn’t 5 stars is because I wish there was a content warning for abuse and child death.

Sally Hepworth has done it again.

Darling Girls was just a perfect Hepworth book. I loved the differing POVs, the past and present storylines. It made the book interesting and had me turning pages quick to figure out what all was happening.

I enjoyed that Jessica, Nora and Alicia were flawed but not unlikeable. And they weren’t unreliable narrators which is a nice change in thrillers. They knew what had happened to them and were gaslit into thinking otherwise. I trusted those girls with my life.

There are so many twists and turns in this book. And while I thought I had figured out the major twist early on, she adds one POV at the end to turn my world upside down.

As a big fan of Sally, I was thrilled to get my hands on this. In her typical fashion, Sally creates a unique cast of characters who you are never sure who to root for. While this wasn’t my favorite novel by her, I read it as quickly as my life commitments would allow due to the suspense. Sally is always an auto buy for me!

After recently reading The Soulmate, I was super excited to read Sally Hepworth"s new book Darling Girls and it did not disappoint!

This is the story of Jessica, Norah (without a T 😊) and Alicia who grew up together as foster children in a farmhouse called Wild Meadows with Miss Fairchild, their evil, narcissistic foster mother. The experience for each of them is slightly different but equally horrible and they develop a bond and become sisters not by blood but by love. Years later, they must return to the town where Wild Meadows is located when human remains have been found under the house. The story is told from the point of view of each of the three sisters and a mystery narrator.

My heart went out to all three sisters. Jessica becomes the organizer, the caregiver who looks out and supports her sisters but can't take care of herself. Norah is so smart and so beautiful but her anger issues get the best of her as a child and later as an adult and she is in constant trouble with the law. Alicia becomes a social worker with a huge heart but doesn't know how to let herself be loved.

There are definitely mysteries and twists but the beauty of the writing and the excellent character development makes this story so much more compelling than a typical psychological thriller. This was absolutely a 5 star read for me!

Thank you so much to netGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book which will be published on April 23, 2024.

Thank you net galley for the advance copy of Sally Hepworth DARLING GIRLS. It was awesome. The story centers around three girls that spent a couple of years together in the same foster home and their experiences while living there. The story goes back and forth between present day and what happened while they lived there. They kept in contact into their adulthood and when a body is found at Wild Meadows they make the trip back together. There were quite a few twists in this novel as is typical of Sally Hepworth novels. Personally, I think her books keep getting better and I am already looking forward to the next one.