Darling Girls is the latest psychological mystery by Sally Hepworth that keeps the reader turning the pages.

The author’s previous book, The Soulmate, was a five-star read for me so I was very excited that St. Martin’s Press gave me an Advance Reader Copy of Sally’s most recent book.

This book publishes on April 23, 2024.

Darling Girls is told from different perspectives: Jessica, Norah and Alicia are all bonded together through sisterhood. These girls all had traumatic upbringings and were raised by their foster mother, Miss Fairchild. However, Miss Fairchild is a bit of an evil stepmother. She has strict rules that cause the girls to try to escape. One day, many years later, the girls hear about a body being discovered under Miss Fairchild’s home. This causes them to be the subject of the investigation and brings up many memories of the past.

The book alternates between the past and the present and the perspectives of the different girls along with the mysterious voice of someone at a therapy session. Although I did not find this confusing, I tend to enjoy books with fewer character perspectives/flashing back and forth.

The author did a great job executing the ending of the story and did an excellent job building anticipation. However, some of the parts with Mrs. Fairchild made me uncomfortable at times so I would make sure that you check the trigger warnings (such as child abuse). Additionally, some of these parts tended to slow down my reading and made this a four-star book for me instead of a five star book.

I do love this author and will continue to read anything that she puts out into the world. She has a way of crafting a suspenseful environment that keeps the reader guessing.

Thank you again to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and the author, Sally Hepworth, for gifting me this early copy of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an eArc copy of Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth.

Sally Hepworth is always guaranteed to pull me out of a reading slump, and I was in deep! I'm reading a lot of reviews that are upset for multiple reasons - depiction of child abuse, and how it didn't feel like other SH titles. The child abuse depicted in the story is not descriptive or in it just for the shock value, it adds value to the story, but everyone will have their own triggers, so be aware of that trigger warning.

The story is centred around three foster sisters who are called to return to their hometown when human bones are found under their foster house of horrors, as they participate in the investigation we visit multiple timelines that show us how these three became sisters through shared trauma.

I was hooked from the first chapter and finished the book in under two days, which is always a sign of an engaging read. A fast-paced read, with an unguessable ending, likable characters, and characters you will hate with a passion. I never skip a Sally Hepworth, but I think this is my favourite of hers so far.
WTG on being a Book of the Month Pick for April 2024!

What a phone call to receive.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia all received a call from a detective asking that they meet at their childhood home to discuss a discovery of bones under it.

Their childhood home was a foster home they lived in under the "loving" care of Miss Fairchild. In actuality, she wasn't loving. She was a task master and abusive.

We found out from each character in alternating chapters what went on at that house, and we then move to present day.

Miss Hepworth keeps you intrigued with the intense happenings from their childhood under the care of Miss Fairchild.

Present day was intense too as you will try as I did to figure out whose bones they were and what Miss Fairchild was planning to do them now when she showed up for questioning by the police about the finding.

Will you figure out whose bones they are?

Surprise after surprise - twist after twist - with the ending one being the best.

You won’t want to put the book down even though the chapters about their time in foster care are unsettling and upsetting.

This is Ms. Hepworth's best yet. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

In the book Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth we meet Jessica Alicia and Norah with an H three foster kids that come to live with Miss Fairchild at her home Wild Meadows for different reasons but all victims of her narcissism. They’re all grown and have different levels of success Jessica has a million dollars business Alicia is a caring loving social worker in Nora is a caring dog owner with slight anger issues. They put their life in Port Arthur behind them or at least they thought they did until the day they get a call from Detectives saying a small child’s body was found under the house. They all travel back to their childhood of horrible memories but are still not prepared for the secrets lies and coverups they were told involved in and will ultimately be responsible and putting an end to it. There is a humongous twist at the very tail end of this book that may not blow most peoples minds but OMG if it didn’t blow mine. I listen to the audible book with Jessica Clark narrating and she did a superb job I love books by Sally Hepworth and do believe this one is my favorite although this book covers a lot of emotional and psychological abuse the most acute child abuse is talked about in passing and isn’t really focused on I found this book humorous serious thrilling and well put together I absolutely loved it! I had the Kindle book as well and started reading it there but once I started the audiobook there was no question how I was going to finish I just want to reiterate what a great job the narrator did. I want to thank McMillan publishing and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This was my first book by Sally Hepworth and what I loved about this book is that I feel like it was quietly sinister. Throughout a majority of the book, I felt like I was just waiting for the big bombshell to drop. Obviously, you find out in the book description that there is an unidentified body found under the foster home but as the book develops, the mystery grows and grows.

Miss Fairchild is the perfect evil character. Before you start the book, you know that she is going to be evil. But, she tries to throw you off by seeming to be the most idyllic foster mother to Jessica. Think Miss Honey in Mathilda. And then she is very much not Miss Honey like.

The bond between the sisters was my favorite part of this story. They were brought together by terrible situations and continued to fight for each other against everything that got in their way.

This story, to me, was less of a thriller than I thought it would be. There was a mystery, for sure, but I didn't gasp when the resolution came around.

Overall, a really good story. I would recommend this to mystery-lovers.

This book quickly sucked me in with its unique plot, multiple POVs, and suspenseful nature. This was my first Sally Hepworth read and it did not disappoint!!

The story alternates between four perspectives (Jessica, Alicia, Norah, and Miss Fairchild). It flashes back to the past, detailing Jessica, Alicia, and Norah’s time as foster children under the “care” of Miss Fairchild. It does a good job at discussing the psychological turmoil of abuse, the power of manipulation, and complicated relationships.

For the most part, it held my attention, but I did find parts of the story to feel a bit repetitive. Overall, a unique read! I look forward to checking out other works by this author.

Huge thank you to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the ARC and ALC! All opinions are my own.

Generally speaking, I rate most thrillers I read as 3 stars. They are entertaining while I am reading them, but they tend to be formulaic and very rarely ever surprise me. That is not the case with Darling Girls. This was a propulsive read from beginning to end. Jessica, Norah and Alicia are all very flawed characters as adults, but you feel for the children that they were. The story is told in chapters that alternate between the 3 girls’ POV as well as between the present and the past. While I am giving the book 4 stars overall, I would like to award the final chapter 5 stars. It absolutely shocked me and I never even saw it coming.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Darling Girls. Go place your pre-order now. Place a hold at your library. Do whatever you need to do to get your hands on this book.

Good for fans of The Night Swim, The Night She Disappeared and The Guest List.

I always look forward to Sally Hepworths new books. This did not disappoint! Page turning and exciting every step of the way. I enjoyed more than some of her more recent books and will be recommending to friends.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review**

“A thriller page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder” indeed!

Sally Hepworth has been a hit or miss author for me in the past, but I’m so glad I gave her another chance because I ended up really enjoying this upcoming release! I’m not sure how to best describe the genre of this book…it was less thriller and more fast-paced literary mystery. This story follows Jessica, Norah, and Alicia – three former foster children and sisters by choice. They previously lived together at Miss. Fairchild’s foster home. An idyllic home on the outside, the same can’t be said for what went on within the home. Miss. Fairchild was an incredibly cruel and unpredictable foster mother towards her young wards. They were eventually able to escape the home and continue to be incredibly close in adulthood, but the shadow/trauma of their time with Miss. Fairchild continues to follow them and effect them in different ways. When human bones are found on the site of their former foster home, the three are called back to the site and are forced to face their trauma head on. Told in alternating timelines (“present day" and "before"), the three are put to the test to solve the mystery behind the mysterious remains.

This had me completely captivated from start to finish. The characters were so flawed and dynamic. Despite having some shared experiences, it was very interesting to see the way the three women coped differently with their trauma. The mystery itself was very slow burn, and I genuinely didn't expect this to take the turns that it did. And that ending?! I was GAGGED.

The only reason why I didn't rate this 5 stars was because the pacing/intrigued dipped slightly in the middle for me. Otherwise, this was such a solid read! I’m definitely excited to pick up more books from Sally Hepworth going forward.

This book deals with a ton of heavy themes/content, so I will include a list of CWs after release day!

Oh wow!! Sally Hepworth always delivers!This was so engaging yet disturbing!

Darling Girls is about three young ladies who grew up in the foster system. They were taken away from their family tragedies and sent to live with Miss Fairchild. They were told that they were so lucky to live with her, but were they really? All of the disturbing events of their childhoods come out after a body is found buried under their foster home. Maybe they weren’t so lucky after all.

I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

It's possible this is my favorite Hepworth yet!!!

I wasn't sure where we were going with the "Darling Girls" and thought I had it figured out but nope, sure didn't!

Definitely a stand out on my shelf!

🏡 T W I S T E D T U E S D A Y 🏡 featuring “Darling Girls” by Sally Hepworth!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

3 foster children turned sisters have always been told just how lucky they are. They were all taken in by their charming foster mother Miss Fairchild and lived in a beautiful farmhouse called Wild Meadows that offered them everything that they needed for a wonderful life. But this house could be a house of horrors at times because Miss Fairchild had strict rules and did not like being crossed. She could be nasty, manipulative, sinister and vindictive at times and she knew how to psychologically torture the girls when she didn’t get her way.

Finally the sisters band together and flee from Wild Meadows, never to see Miss Fairchild again … but forever haunted by what went on in that house. Now decades later, bones have been found underneath Wild Meadows and the girls are called in for questioning. Whose body could be underneath the house?? And will they have to come face to face with Miss Fairchild again?!

This book had SO many layers to it, and not only was it hauntingly beautiful, but disturbing to its core. The evilness of Miss Fairchild towards these poor girls who have suffered so much loss and trauma is so dark and twisted! It is heavy, gut wrenching, emotional and distressing! But most importantly it is VERY powerful and sends a message and I loved every second of it!

Thank you kindly to @sallyhepworth @stmartinspress @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on April 23, 2024!

@sallyhepworth has done it again with this dark thriller

Thank you @stmartinspress for my #gifted eARC!

I’ve loved all of Sally’s books, so I’m not surprised that I loved this one too!

Jessica, Nora, and Alicia are sisters, but they aren’t actually related. They grew up in the same foster home and remained dedicated to one another once that home could not longer house them. Now, they are adults and a body has been found at their old foster home. The three women have been called back to the place they suffered as children.

Told from the perspective of all three women, this book is super fast-paced and dark. Plus, all three women are so different from one another. It was great to see all their stories woven together.

This is a dark book and is probably darker than Sally’s other books.

I found myself speeding through this story, and it will definitely make my favorite thrillers shelf.

Out April 23.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#litbylillireviews

Thank you to the publisher for the early release copy in exchange for a review. I was excited to get this ARC as I always enjoy Sally Hepworth - her novels really stick with me and I end up thinking about them long after finishing. This novel really grabbed me from the beginning and drew me into the story quickly. The three sisters are very different but all broken in various ways. I recommend this book - the story moves quickly and has a few surprises to keep you guessing. I look forward to the next Sally Hepworth!

I loved this book. I've never read anything that involved foster kids. The pacing was perfect, it wasn't to slow where the story kind of dragged but it also wasn't so fast that the characters and the plot couldn't be fully fleshed out. The formatting of the story was great. dual POVs and dual time lines. Its not none stop action where the main character(s) life is in immediate danger but its fast paced and easy to get through.

We Follow these three women who were being fostered by the same foster mom. She is awful to them. we follow each of their POVs. Its dual time line past and present. in the past we follow each woman as they were growing up is this house and how each of them ended up in foster care. in the present the women receive a phone call that a body has been found under their former foster home.

👩‍👧‍👧 Darling Girls - Sally Hepworth

4.5 ⭐️ - A slowww burn but so twisty, unexpected, and worth it. There were lots of times during this one where I simply just didn’t know where it was headed. Something felt predictable and then, bam! next twist.

This one had short chapters, changing POVs, and overlapping storyline - a few of my favorite things. I enjoyed the growth of each sister and the bond they formed over time. Toward the end, I thought we were getting a bland finish, but Sally hit us with the biggest twist in the last few pages. Definitely worth the read. Sally Hepworth is now an auto-buy/auto-read author and she doesn’t disappoint. Definitely keep your eyes peeled for this one hitting shelves on 4/2!

This is definitely my favorite Sally Hepworth book I have read so far! The story hooked me from the first page and at times I felt really sucked into the story and unable to put it down.

From the first page we have an unknown person talking to Dr. Warren psychiatrist. Having that additional unknown piece while still being able to see the exact conversation was so intriguing.

We also get the three girls, foster sisters, perspectives in past and present and that adds a nice layer to the book to keep you really sucked in to the book.

The thing holding back Darling Girls for me was the lack of character development I felt got put into Jessica, Norah, and Alicia. They almost felt flat and stereotypical for a thriller book. I wanted something more, and to see more of a sisterly bond between them since this was something the book was really centered around.

I also did guess some of the things in the ending and I was sad I wasn’t super shocked at the end. Maybe I just overanalyze books too much.

Overall, this was still a great psychological thriller, with so many moving parts that you will stay interested the whole time. I never felt too confused by what was happening which is what a lot of thrillers tend to do for me.

I would recommend reading this when it comes out!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

*I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

4- (minus) is my rating …
Generally I like anything from this author. This took some time getting into. It read much more like a YA novel, of which I’m not much of a fan. Teen angst is not entertaining to me. This is presented from various points of view, mainly with 3 girls bonded by foster care and becoming sisters of the heart. Much of this is heartbreaking and disturbing and probably very common. Still hard to read about it.

There are chapters that begin with a visit to a psychiatrists office by some undisclosed patient of his who describes a difficult childhood of abuse and manipulation. Who the patient is does eventually get disclosed and is detrimental to the plot line, in fact her whole story is.

For me it got better in the last half and the ending was indeed a shocker. I was however relieved to end it as it seems there has been an overload of mental illness news everywhere, even in the soap I watch. It gets depressing and leaves me feeling motivated to move on to lighter reading material, the likes of Emily Giffin, Rachel Hanna, or Debbie Macomber.

For physiological mystery fans, this may delight. My thanks to the publishers via NetGalley for the e-ARC of which I give my honest review.

I did not care for this one at all. The subject matter was too dark, and I actually ended up not finishing it. I usually enjoy Sally Hepworth, so I will look forward to her next one.

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are the luckiest girls, or so they are told. After family tragedies, each was given a second chance at a happy family, living on a peaceful farm with a loving foster mom. Yet, the foster sisters' childhood was far from idyllic, though no one ever believed them. When a body is found buried on the farm, they soon find themselves prime witnesses and possibly prime suspects.

As usual, Sally Hepworth delivers a well-plotted page turner. Miss Fairchild proved to be a perfectly aggravating villain, fully despicable in her child abuse but clever enough to conceal everything at first glance. I was thrown by several of the revelations and loved the push-and-pull of the then and now timelines. Although the thriller obviously shows the worst scenario of foster care, Hepworth balances that out with a wonderful portrayal of Alicia as a social worker.