Another hard to put down book that is both thought and emotion evoking. As with her other books, Darling Girls is well written, well thought out, gripping, twist filled, moving and shocking. You won’t be able to put this down.

Three girls, Norah, Alicia and Jessica are placed in the foster home of Miss Fairchild. All seems fine to the outside world, but behind closed doors it is a nightmare. They suffered together under the highly unpredictable, extremely strict, and often cruel and abusive Miss Fairchild. When small infants were placed in Miss Fairchild’s care, the girls would take care of them and try and keep Miss Fairchild happy so they were not abused. The three girls figured that they needed to stick together to get through this. They formed an unbreakable bond. Now as adults they’ve kept that bond alive, always vigilant for one another. They still wondered what happened to the infants that they had to leave behind once they “aged out” of foster care.

The women, Norah, Jessica and Alicia are contacted by police when bones are found buried under Miss Fairchild's former home. Miss Fairchild and the sisters return as requested by the police. Maybe they’ll find some answers of their own. Could this be one of the foster children that was there before them? After all they did find clothes and toys with “Amy” on them in the basement.

Sally Hepworth wrote such a gripping and suspenseful story with this one, that it will keep you guessing until the end. THE END!! Oh boy, it got me. I could have never guessed.

A dark, poignant domestic thriller that follows three sisters grappling with news of a body found beneath their former foster home.

This was my first time reading Sally Hepworth’s writing so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Darling Girls was truly intense, dark and twisted. Hepworth has fantastic pacing, and she keeps the stakes high with flawed characters and well-timed reveals.

The story is told through alternating timelines and includes multiple POVs. The various perspectives were unique and dynamic. Narrator Jessica Clarke’s performance is spot on. I personally loved the Australian accent. I was able to easily follow the changes in character throughout the book.

This was an absolute 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦-𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳* with an explosive ending. I highly recommend checking trigger warnings as this covers topics that may be difficult for some readers.
𝘔𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨: 4.5⭐️

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
☑️ stories that examine past traumas and broken systems
☑️ dark, twisted thrillers
☑️ alternating timelines
☑️ multiple POVs
☑️ domestic thrillers
☑️ well-paced reveals and twists

Bonded by the trauma of growing up in the same dysfunctional foster home, Nora, Jessica, and Alicia, now have to face their past coming back to haunt them. The more we learn about their past and Miss Fairchild, the more we realize everyone has secrets.
When bones show up on the land of the farming estate where they grew up, none of the girls are truly surprised. However, there is so much going on and there are secrets upon secrets we (the reader) are not being told.
I thought this was a great page turner and really well paced. The girls try to keep their cool but each has their own level of trauma they are trying to deal with while they are also trying to manage their own mental health issues. This is a great summer, poolside read and one that should certainly be on everyone’s TBR list. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I cannot wait to dive into more works by this author.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

Thank you so much NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for the free audiobook.

Blurb:
A thrilling page turner of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder.

✨My thoughts:
I had a really good feeling about this one and that feeling was spot on! As soon as I saw sisterhood and murder, I immediately requested the audiobook from NetGalley. It’s ridiculously dark and twisted. I won’t lie… I was really upset over the psychotic foster mother because that is probably the nightmare of foster children. I’m sure of it because I felt sick reading about it, thinking this could very well be the experience of some foster children. I loved the audiobook and flew right through it. I ended up choosing it as an April BOTM choice and I am so happy I did! Darling Girls is out tomorrow, 4/23/24!

Happy reading 📖

Sally Hepworth, you have done it again! DARLING GIRLS may be my favorite yet! A story about found family, mental health, resilience, and healing—this books has some twists and turns and a dynamite ending…

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were brought together as foster children at Wild Meadows, a foster home owned by a single woman named Miss Fairchild. Unfortunately, Miss Fairchild was an emotionally abusive, malicious, and cruel foster mother. She knew exactly what each girl wanted most, and how to take it from them. After two years with Miss Fairchild, the three managed to break away and flee Wild Meadows.

It’s been 25 years since they freed themselves from Miss Fairchild. But when they learn that a body was discovered buried underneath the house at Wild Meadows, the sisters find themselves at the center of the investigation. The secrets held for 25 years may finally come to light, but will anyone believe them?

I loved it!!! Sally Hepworth has become one of my favorite authors. She crafts compelling plots, writes authentic characters, and is a master storyteller. She spins together stories that I don’t want to leave at the end.

Told in dual timelines, the book kicks off with the discovery of the remains beneath Wild Meadows. The foster sisters are all having difficulties in their lives. But the investigation takes precedence, and as they speak with police, they detail their years with Miss Fairchild.

Though the book is narrated by all three sisters, Jessica is at the heart of the novel. She was the first to arrive at Miss Fairchild’s home, and Jessica desperately wanted a mother. Miss Fairchild gave that to her, creating an unhealthy dependency.

When Norah arrives, everything changes. Miss Fairchild is cold and cruel, emotionally abusing and isolating both girls. Jessica responds by trying to be perfect. Norah is much feistier. Alicia arrives last and had a happy childhood. Miss Fairchild sees Alicia as spoiled, and restricts her access to food and comfort. Alicia learns to doubt her own worth.

I found all three sisters to be compelling, flawed, and loveable characters. Norah is the star of the book, with a dry humor that adds levity. At it’s core, this is a book about sisterhood, found family, mental health, abuse, and healing.

Don’t expect Hepworth to let these women off the hook just because we love them—Hepworth is unafraid to give her characters authentic storylines, and she does this boldly and without apology.

One of the best books of the year for me, and it may be my favorite of Hepworth’s yet!

Sometimes I struggle with audiobooks narrated by an Australian actor. Something about their accent (which is lovely) and the cadence with which they speak is more subdued than I’m used to with American narrators. While they have lovely voices, I often find myself struggling to pay attention. I felt the opposite of that about Jessica Clarke’s narration of Darling Girls. Her tone was expressive, vibrant, and perfectly captured Norah’s dry humor and Jessica and Alicia’s more emotional voices. I highly recommend the audiobook for those who enjoy listening to a book!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for my copy. Opinions are my own.

Sally Hepworth tells a touching story of sisters that shows what family is and what happens to the most vulnerable people in our world. But these three sisters, brought together through their horrible experience in Foster care, prove to be the most important people in the world. Darling Girls describes every women in the story remembering their childhood. It’s sad and touching and ultimately hopeful.

This is the most enjoyable Sally Hepworth title I've read so far! Twisty, twisty, dark and misty. The narrator does the storyline justice, and the characters are flawed in a most understandable and "best" way to combine to make their found-family work really well and keep the story--told in two timelines--pushing along. I listened to this title on a roadtrip that I very much needed a distraction from, and the storyline was perfect to get lost in, pull your hair out, and root for the protagonists. I'll definitely be recommending this one to others.

My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to preview this title in exchange for my honest review.

Jessica, Alicia, and Norah grew up being told they were lucky, and they are because they had each other. All three girls were placed at a country farm, Wild Meadows, to be fostered by Miss Fairchild. The loving Miss Fairchild has rules and can be very unpredictable. As each new foster arrives the situation at Wild Meadows grows more tumultuous. Finally Jessica, Alicia, and Norah escape Wild Meadows and Miss Fairchild or so they thought. Years later a body is found under the home on Wild Meadows and the girls must venture back to Port Agatha and to the place they left behind all those years ago.

One of the most devious villains I have ever had the pleasure of reading! "Darling Girls" is a twisting tale that will leave you guessing up to the last minute. The ending of this book left my jaw on the floor. This book flips between the girls time at Wild Meadows and the present time. Out of the three sisters Norah is my favorite, she is wild, unpredictable, and really knows how to stand up for herself. I also really enjoyed that each of the girls had their own little side story going on during the main plot. This book has so many layers, each one pulling readers in. The narrator, Jessica Clarke, was the perfect person to narrate this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I don't know what Sally Hepworth does when she writes her books, but after reading Darling Girls, I can confidently say that she's got a magic touch!
In Darling Girls, Sally Hepworth takes heavy topics like abuse, grief, and drug abuse, and finds a way to mold them into a story of found family, sisterly love, and overcoming past trauma in search of a fulfilling present and future.
This story focuses on the past and present of three female characters, all of which are written with unique personalities that find ways to endear them to the reader. These characters are flawed, frustrating, and can break the heart of the reader, allowing for depth and emotional connection to the story.
There is a mystery discussed throughout this story, but Hepworth has created such compelling characters, that the mystery doesn't need to take center stage. Don't get me wrong, the mystery is interesting and I desperately wanted to figure it out, but her characters really and truly shine, which I think says so much about Hepworth's talent.
This audiobook for this story was fantastic! The narration was so well done and I felt that it pulled me even further into the story.
I would highly recommend this book to those who enjoy mystery/thriller, but also to those to a looking for well done characterization and character development.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

I received a copy of this in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

I don't read a lot of thriller / suspense books these days, but for some reason, this book caught my attention a lot the last few weeks.

I really did like the idea of the plot line here. 3 sisters who shared a rough foster home with a horrid, abusive foster mother. This and other things have obviously caused them to have extensive trauma.
They eventually find out that bones were found under that foster home. The rest of the story is based around that.

I liked that the story bounced between the past and present. For me, that really helps break up the story and help me stay engaged with longer books.

Overall, the book about a 3.5-ish for me. But I rated up to a four.

Thank you MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for an early release of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, Sally Hepworth does it again. This is close to the top for one of my favorite books written by her. I listened to most of the book on audio and loved it. The suspense in the writing was amazing. I loved how quick the chapters were because it felt like I was flying through the book even though I mostly listened to it. AND THE ENDING! I was not expecting that twist. This was a great book that many could probably finish in one sitting. I would highly recommend it to mystery and thriller lovers.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for an ARC of Darling Girls!

This was my first Sally Hepworth read, and it certainly won’t be my last. This story was so gripping, smartly written and kept me guessing until the end!

I listened to the Audiobook version of this book. It did not affect my opinion on it.

Actually, I really liked and enjoyed this book. I believe this is the second book by this author I read, and I always appreciate a great story and a great narrator.

I loved getting to know the three girls in this story, the dynamic of their relationships, the darkness of the story, and how we can see the trauma unfold. A very engaging book, and again, I absolutely loved the audio version.

Thank you MacMillan Audio and Netgalley, for the Advanced Free Listeners Copy, in exchange for an honest review.

Jessica, Norah and Alicia grew up together in foster care. Their foster mother appears to be a loving kind woman, but appearances are deceiving.

Now many years later a surprising event has happened at the home they were in. This brings the women back together.

Told in a then and now format. The girls lives and experiences are slowly revealed as the story unfolds. Each of the girls gets a voice as well as an additional unknown voice.

The women each have trauma from their childhood. It was interesting to see how that manifested in their adult lives.

I was gripped from the start and kept coming back to the book as soon as possible. I couldn't wait for the mystery to be solved.

I alternated between the print and audio book. I preferred the audio over the written book. Jessica Clarke did a fantastic job narrating.

I loved this one! So many different emotions!

Thanks to netgalley and Macmillian Audio for the arc.

This was typical Sally Hepworth. She can be relied on to turn out a solid, engaging, soap opera story that doesn’t require a lot from the reader.
This one follows three “sisters” who shared a foster home, and an unbalanced, abusive foster mother as adolescents. Now as adults, each sister has her own childhood trauma that she’s struggling to deal with; this is exacerbated when they learn that human bones are discovered buried beneath the foster home they lived in.
The story goes back and forth between the present and past; I preferred the flashbacks when the girls were younger, but it was all pretty good. Closer to three and a half, but rounding up to four stars.
Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this #arc of #darlinggirls by #sallyhepworth in exchange for an honest review.

Speechless…. I’m utterly and completely speechless after finishing this book. I loved the narrator and kept the normal 1x listening speed to thoroughly enjoy it! I thought I had it figured out what had happened and who did it, only to be completely surprised at the end.

I have really enjoyed Sally Hepworth’s work and was excited for the opportunity to secure an advance audio copy of her latest. She is a master of the psychological thriller genre, and if you are intrigued by dark stories, this might be her darkest yet.

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are three former foster children who consider themselves sisters, bound by their experience living with a nightmare of a foster mother, Holly Fairchild. They are so bound by this sisterhood, in fact, that they don’t tell as much about her abuse as they probably could to their caseworkers as their fear of being split up is worse than what they live with. Told in a then and now timeline, the three now-women return to the home to assist in a police investigation when bones, which appear to belong to a small child, are found under the house.

Not only do the bones bring up many old wounds the women thought they had left behind, we start to unravel a mystery of why Miss Fairchild was so damaged herself. As usual from Hepworth, these are well-defined characters who carry the scars of their childhood in a variety of ways, and it’s interesting and rewarding to see how they do and don’t confront them and where the mystery of the bones lands. The ending is absolutely chilling.

I have also ordered this in hardcopy from Book of the Month and look forward to sharing it with my book club friends. Thank you #MacmillanAudio, #NetGalley and #SallyHepworth for the advance listen!

I loved the relationship building between the girls in the story. Their lives have been quite devastating but they stood together while it all played out. Although secrets come out that affect every girl and may not shine them in a good light they still hold each others hands and rise above it all. this story was like a puzzle where we pieced together the parts to create a whole in the end.

Darling Girls will delight fans of twisty stories. The set-up: three girls lived at an abusive foster home and became virtual sisters. As adults, they are still struggling with their childhood experiences when police contact them individually to let them know that human bones have been found on the grounds of their foster home and that they want to speak to each of them.

As with all the other books by Sally Hepworth that I’ve read, this one takes place in Australia - this time it’s in Melbourne and a fictional small town a few hours away by car.

I listened to the audiobook on a long flight and it definitely kept my interest. There are lots of twists and turns and we get to hear from each of the girls as well as from the foster mother, Miss Fairchild. The best thing about the story for me was the amazing friendship the three girls/women developed and held to over the years. They were each other’s support system.

Lovers of psychological thrillers will eat this one up. I thought it was well written but I have gradually realized this genre isn’t my “jam.”

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. Jessica Clarke did a fine job with the narration of the audiobook. All opinions are my own.

This book had me on my toes until the very end. The characters are very well developed and the storyline with the then and now following did not confuse me as many other novels have.