“Darling Girls” by Sally Hepworth dives into the lives of 3 girls who were all placed in the foster care system. The girls feel as close as sisters but years later when a mysterious set of bones are found under the home they were brought up in their bond will be tested. Things aren’t always as they seem when secrets are kept. This book will have you dying for more.

This was my first Hepworth novel and I loved it! It was twisty and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I liked the different perspectives and the ending was kinda nuts!

WOW! Sally Hepworth does it again! This was a wild ride and Miss Fairchild is a serious piece of work, a liar, and a terrible person! This was a great read and I was hooked from the beginning! I can't wait to read her next book!

Mystery, murder, and drama will keep readers turning the pages of Sally Hepworth’s suspenseful new book, Darling Girls.

After individual tragedies occur when they are children, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are sent to live with a ruthless foster care mother named Miss Fairchild. Due to poor treatment and fear, the “sisters” flee their foster care home. Years later a body is found under the foster care home and the police contact the sisters to question them.

What’s to love:
💕 Dual timelines
💕 Multiple POVs
💕 Found family
💕 Secrets about to be revealed and what people are willing to do to prevent it

Thank you to @netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I have read almost all of Sally Hepworth's books now and I loved Darling Girls!! This book had me guessing until the end with twists I never saw coming.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are sisters by circumstance. They were all rescued from the dire circumstances of their biological families and raised by their foster mother, Miss Fairchild. But the upbringing they experienced was unlike what everyone thought it was. They are now traveling back to the home where they were raised because a body has been discovered.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read and review Darling Girls audiobook.
Three foster children are brought back to the town where they were raised in foster care. Bones were found under their foster home after it was demolished. They must dig through their past, that they’ve tried to forget, to help with the ongoing investigation.
This book was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. The characters were very well developed and likable. The narrator was wonderful and fit this book perfectly. From beginning to end I couldn’t stop listening to this book. There were unpredictable twists and turns throughout the book. This is my first book from this author and I can’t wait to read more of her work. Read this book, you won’t be disappointed!

It was an interesting book. I like the emphasis of abusive foster care system, and internalized trauma that adults carry because their venerable childhood was shattered. Especially when foster parents put more efforts into keeping façade that actually caring for children. Here there was interesting psychological portrait of three foster sisters who survived abusive and narcissistic caregiver. My main problem with this book didn't come with its concept, but rather with lack of depth. I felt like the author pushes boundaries, but enough to brush them gently like with feather and then just move on, instead staying there for a moment and explore what this actually mean. And I understand, that we as an audience to this story, should come to some conclusions on our own, but because of that the ending came out to be shallow and nonsensical. Overall this is yet another companion audiobook to keep you engaged but just enough to have you doing something else in a meantime, otherwise you get bored super quickly.

Oh, Sally Hepworth. Not typically a thriller gal, I end up reading thrillers if they're by her. Darling Girls was a bit slow to start and, to be honest, I had no clue where it was going until the very end. I found the ending satisfactory and enjoyed the mystery, but my favorite part of the story was the relationship between the sisters, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia.

The sisters are not biologically related but became sisters during their time with foster mother Miss Fairchild, a seemingly loving, but abusive woman. When they finally broke free of Miss Fairchild, they thought they were free of her. Years later, detectives come knocking, letting the sisters know that bones were found under the house they spent so many contentious years.

The audio was engaging. I love listening to thrillers because it's like a true crime podcast. A winding mystery, this thriller keeps you on your toes and wondering what twist will come next. I enjoyed it!

Love, love, LOVED this one! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was perfect with voices and inflections. The dynamics between the characters was interesting and I loved the twisty webs of plots woven into each other. Highly recommend!

Darling Girls was an addicting suspense novel. The nail biting twists and turns paired with the multitude of narrators caused this book to be a real page turner. If you’re looking for great twists and wit, this is the novel for you.

Great listen! Told from multiple points of view which always makes for good listening. Be aware of trigger warnings. Solid 4 stars

This little gem needs no introduction. Released last year in Australia, it’s now been released in the US.

SISTERS, SECRETS, LOVE, AND MURDER... Sally Hepworth’s new novel has it all.

Three girls, all from the foster system end up living together at Wild Meadows, a farm run by Miss Fairchild. There, they develop a sisterly relationship tying themselves to each other with a bond stronger than a blood. After discovering a body was found under the house they were raised in, past and present collide as they come to terms with the brutality of their upbringing.

Ahhh, Sally never lets me down and Darling Girls is no different. A little darker than her previous books but with the familiar twists and turns and sharp focus on families and women as we’ve come to expect, with another stellar domestic thriller. Ooh, and an ending that’s simply mind blowing! 🤯

If you’re after an unputdownable book that’s easy to read and transport you away, grab this one - you won’t be disappointed.

Huge thanks to @macmillanaus for an early copy 💌 and the wonderful team @macmillanaudio for the totally immersive audiobook 🎧 read beautifully by Jessica Clarke 😍

If you don’t follow Sally you should! Currently in the US to promote Darling Girls for its recent publication, her stories are hilarious. One of the most down to earth Aussie authors showing the world how she travels … one funny step at a time - and she’s a snack! 🤩😂 #snackgate #laundrygate #iykyk

I wanted so much to like this but I found myself a bit confused at times. Also, at one point I just truly lost interested it took a while to finish it. Perhaps reading it would've been better than audiobook. I wish the author much success with this book.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Darling Girls was a WILD RIDE! I loved it so much! The audio was fantastic!! The book was incredible and it was one of the best thriller books I have read in long time! Let’s start by saying, screw you Miss Fairchild. She is one evil, evil person. If there is one MESSED UP character, it is her! Wacked. I’m not sure I have too many more words for her. She angers me. 😅 The foster girls, Norah, Jessica, and Alicia had all of my sympathy. No one believed them and I knew growing up, they would have issues. Being brainwashed their entire life, they were continuously told they were the lucky ones. Their entire life was a lie.

I enjoyed the dual timeline a lot. It was easy to follow back and forth. After bones to a child were found under the home the girls grew up in, they were thrown back into their past. Does anyone believe them or is this finally their time to find revenge?

This is a multi-layered story focused on three foster sisters growing up on a farm estate under the care of Miss Fairchild. Years later, a body is discovered buried under this estate and the 3 sisters are interviewed, reopening old wounds and revealing hidden mysteries about their time with Miss Fairchild. Amongst the variety of confessions lies the real truth, but you will have quite a ride to endure to sort through this tangled, tragic tale. Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio for the complimentary audio!

This book is out NOW!

This is my 3rd Sally Hepworth and probably my favorite of them. There were so many layers to this and it kept you guessing until the very end. I think it good have been shortened a little bit as the middle dragged.

I had thought it was going to go one way but it ended up going another. We got a peek inside the past lives of these characters and learned what it was like growing up in the foster care system and how it shaped them for their future.

The narrator Jessica Clarke was great but I did find it challenging with her having to do all 3 point of views. I wish we would have gotten other narrators for all the girls. I think it would have helped to distinguish the characters more.

Overall I really enjoyed this!!

3.75

I loved Darling Girls. Sally Hepworth always delivers with rich characters and dark, dreamy suspenseful plots. Darling Girls is no exception as she tells the story of the girls in their foster home in the past and what they learn in the present. It had some good Aussie flavor and delightful characters. Great book!

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth is a thriller that follows three foster sisters: Jessica, Norah, and Alicia. The story alternates between then and now, and also cycles through different narrators. Honestly, this book overall was a difficult listen for me, but let me focus first on what I enjoyed.

I loved the narrator of the audiobook; she brings emotion and believability to her reading of the story. I loved the relationship between the foster sisters, who are very well-developed characters. I loved reading of the bond they formed as children in a foster home and the support and encouragement they showed each other. In the present, they each have a separate story simmering in the background, which was probably my favorite part of the book.

Now, for the bad news: this book is filled with abuse. All the abuse. It is everywhere; it is not possible to skip over it or skim through it. So, while I enjoyed these characters and the overall story, Darling Girls wasn't really the right book for me.

I have read and enjoyed Sally Hepworth before, and I know I will be back for more Sally Hepworth in the future. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia spent several years together at the same foster home in Australia. Though not biologically related, they consider themselves sisters. A woman named Miss Fairchild raised them. Many years later, the body of a child is found under Miss Fairchild's home. The police want to interview the women to see if they know anything about this child. How much do they know and what secrets might they be hiding?

I enjoyed this story, though not as much as some of Sally Hepworth's other novels. This one was more of a study in psychology and human nature than a page-turning thriller. The audio narrator, Jessica Clarke, was enjoyable to listen to.

Note: There are trigger warnings for child abuse.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a review copy of Darling Girls.

This thriller is expertly crafted, well paced, and downright addictive. While there are twists and turns, I didn’t find them too over the top. The characters are believable and complex—from the three foster sisters who are the main characters to the antagonist in the form of their foster mother.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints spanning past and present, which could have been confusing but wasn’t! I love stories told this way, and this one was particularly engaging for me—even as it was completely horrifying at times.

Jessica Clarke’s audio performance is truly compelling, and she deftly renders the various characters so that they are identifiable without making them caricatures.

Full review posted on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6430857936