Thank you to Sally Hepworth, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for an eARC of Darling Girls in exchange for an honest review!

To start - I want to say that if you are sensitive at all to child abuse/neglect (mostly mental) this is not the book for you.

This book pulled me right in. I love psychological thrillers and while I might not necessarily categorize this book as a thriller, it is definitely psychological. From the get-go, the author throws all the main characters into suspicion and so many scenes are designed to draw the focus to one character or another that you can never really tell who committed the crime or even if it was a group effort. I think that sometimes authors struggle to keep the mystery and not divulge too many secrets. Sally did a wonderful job of diverting the reader's attention until the big reveal.

I really enjoyed the characters within this book. The sisters were all super flawed and made so many mistakes, but in the end were pretty likeable. Miss Fairchild was perfectly hateable. I did actually enjoy some of the side characters the best, though! They were all good influences in the lives of people who had struggled growing up.

The pacing of this book was really well done as well. I liked how the author took her time to explain the stories of Jessica, Norah, and Alicia. She did a wonderful job explaining their relationship and how/why they grew so close. They made the best out of a terrible situation and their love for each other was truly unconditional.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it kept me guessing until the last minute. 4/5 Stars.

I received an Advanced Listeners Copy courtesy of MacMillan Audio and NetGalley. This was my first Sally Hepworth novel, but it won’t be my last! This book hooked me right away and I devoured it in no time. I especially enjoyed the bond that the sisters had and how they had each other’s backs no matter what. The audiobook was very well done and I appreciated how easy it was to follow which sister was talking and whether it was in the past or the present. I highly recommend this!

4.5 stars

I usually enjoy books from this writer, but this upcoming novel felt particularly strong to me. After (in my opinion) a slightly slow introduction to the book, the plot picks up and stays intriguing until the conclusion. I liked and appreciated the sisters, the ending to their stories were satisfying, and the ultimate conclusion to the book was not one I saw coming, which was fun as well as surprising. All in all, this was a twisty, emotional story with multiple perspectives and facets, all of which tie together nicely in the end.

Jessica, Norah and Alicia have an unbreakable bond. Growing up under the foster care system, these three lived together till they were in 14. Not bound by blood, but their experiences they are sisters through and through. Their foster mother Miss Fairchild looks the part of the doting mother. But, what goes on behind closed doors? This book is full of tangled secrets and the destruction left behind from keeping them.
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THOUGHTS:
Sally Hepworth always creates well developed characters. She is thoughtful in creating plot points and adding subtle clues throughout her books with twists that always keep me guessing. I’m a huge fan of her books and was so excited to receive an early copy of this one. I really enjoyed the elements of found family and the bond between these women. I devoured this book. It’s a bit sinister, a bit sad, and always invoked hope. I loved it. Definitely one to pre order. Hope to see you on your again Sally.

Also loved the audio of this one!!

I started this book before bed one night and couldn’t put it down… I finally had to stop reading when my eyelids refused to stay open, and then I finished it the next morning. This is such a good and creative psychological thriller that captivated me from the very beginning.

Told from different POVs through the book, the mystery centers on three women who grew up in a toxic and psychologically abusive foster home and are called back to the area when human remains are discovered under the property during an excavation project. These women are strong but deeply flawed and still suffering from the trauma of their childhoods, but one thing they have to show for their horrible upbringing is their unwavering commitment to one another - they consider themselves sisters in every sense of the word.

In addition to multiple POVs, the story is told in a few different timelines - the past, which was when the girls were kids, the present when they are dealing with the shocking discovery, and an unknown timeline/narrator during which an unnamed character is talking with her therapist. Believe it or not, this bouncing around didn’t feel frustrating one bit; in fact, I really liked being able to compare the timelines and characters in this way. I will say that I did not care for one of the sisters (Jessica) at all in the beginning of the book, but I totally came around to her and genuinely loved all three of our protagonists.

This book invokes some pretty heavy themes and imagery when it comes to children in the foster system, so definitely google the trigger warnings if that sounds like it might be a problem. But if you love psychological thrillers with some murder and secrets, this book will be right up your alley! I really enjoyed it and am thankful that I got to both read and listen to the ARC as both versions are awesome!

This is my second read by Sally Hepworth and was much darker than The Soulmate. It gave me the same grim unsettled feeling as 'The Push' by Ashley Audrain or 'Then She Was Gone' by Lisa Jewell.

The story is told through the POVs of three sisters (Jessica, Norah, and Alecia) who grew up at Wild Meadows foster home. A body was found under the house and the sisters are plunged back into facing their past as detectives interview them for clues. What happened at Wild Meadows? It's a heartbreaking story of survival.

Hepworth does an excellent job showing inside each characters headspace. I felt connected to all three sisters and it was a rollercoaster of emotion. There were a couple parts plugged in that made me LOL and I appreciated them so much for breaking up some of the tension. This is a heavy story dealing with topics ranging from child abuse, neglect, and addiction.

The narrator of the audiobook Jessica Clarke did a wonderful job capturing emotion. Her voice and tone for Miss. Fairchild was perfection.

I received an advanced review audio copy from Macmillan Audio via NetGalley. I am leaving an honest review voluntarily.

Jessica, Norah and Alicia grew up in a foster home and consider themselves sisters into adulthood. When each woman gets a call from Detective Patel, they are asked to relive the trauma that they experienced as children to assist in solving the mystery of a body found under the foster home. As the book alternates between the current lives of the women and their traumatic past at the hands of their foster mother, secrets are revealed and the police begin to question whether they are victims or guilty.
I have really enjoyed this author in the past and found this thriller to be equally entertaining. All three of the women were flawed in different ways, presumably because of Miss Fairchild’s abuse. Miss Fairchild was wacky enough to make the story even more interesting and the twists were surprising but not over the top. It was interesting to hear her story by means of therapy sessions and I liked this creative touch as an addition to the main plot. Nicely wrapped up in the end. The audio narration was very well done and easy to follow with the shifting POVs.

I binged this audiobook in a day! What a treat to listen to when you are craving a fast-paced thriller. I love Hepworth and her writing style. She lures her reader and grabs us for the most wild ride.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.


This might be an author that is an auto read author now. There are multiple povs and timelines that come together nicely with twists and all.

Rating: 4/5

Dear Darling Girls,
You were deliciously twisted and very dark. I was completely drawn into the twisted lives of Norah, Jessica and Alicia. I desperately wanted to know about their pasts, and the source of all of their defense mechanisms. I loved how flawed each of them were. I wasn't overly surprised that one of the narrators was Ms. Fairchild, but I was appalled at the fact that despite the terror she inflicted on all of the poor children who were entrusted to her care. It is so difficult to read about the horrors of the foster care system and how many holes there are for children to fall into.

Another fantastic thriller by Sally Hepworth! Jessica, Norah, and Alicia became like sisters when they grew up as foster children in Miss Fairchild's house, and they all come back years later when the house is demolished and a body is discovered. We gradually find out, through flashbacks and multiple points of view, that Miss Fairchild was not the perfect foster parent she initially seemed to be. And there are some sensitive topics in this book.. all of the girls went through family tragedies which led them to be placed in a foster home, and some trauma may have occurred afterwards as well.. I kept going back and forth on what I thought actually happened! The story had a lot of surprise twists that kept me guessing right up until the last page.
The audiobook narration by Jessica Clarke was really well done, she did a great job of distinguishing between so many different characters.

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Somehow every book by this author is my new favorite! Wow this book was twisty and twisted! I couldn’t put it down. These characters were so well written and complicated.

Terrific narrations!

Sally Hepworth was a new author for me, but now I plan to read all of her back list! Darling Girls is a story that depicts friendship, hardship, loyalty and the search for love. resilience, From the very first page, the reader is drawn in and connected to the lives of three young foster girls who are struggling to survive.

The story centers around the lives of Jessica, Norah, Alicia and Ms. Fairchild the girl's foster mother. Ms. Fairchild is their foster mother who was in it for all the wrong reasons, money. The girls are determined to stay together as sisters and be the only family they have ever known. The story goes from present time to back when the girls where children. A devastating discovery is made where the girls once lived with Ms. Fairchild and they all are thrown back into a time they wanted to forget. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole thing. I could not finish this book fast enough to figure our the mystery. No spoilers here, but do yourself a favor and pick this book up as soon as it comes out. 5 stars and highly recommend!

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Super quick read through three foster sisters present and past perspectives. The author does a wonderful job keeping you on your toes as the plot unfolds. All three sisters have their own trauma and ways of “dealing” with it as they confront their foster mother in present day.

Thank you to @stmartinspress @macmillianaudio & @netgalley for the ARC & ALC of Sally Hepworth’s latest!

I flew through this book on audio in TWO spurts! The emotion in how the narration was done, by Jessica Clarke, definitely kept me intrigued!

Told in alternating points of view & switching between the past and the present, Darling Girls focuses on themes of sisterhood, family dynamics, foster care & challenging upbringings. Situations occur that prompt the characters to have to revisit what they endured as children in foster care, under the care of Miss. Fairchild.

I enjoyed this book - as it kept a good pace, which is so important with thrillers! It also gave lots of detail and really set the ground work for the relationship between the main characters. The depth that Hepworth gives to her characters is profound & really helps readers to wrap their heads around the dynamics that come in their interactions & sisterhood.

With twists, turns & even twistier characters, Darling Girls is a combination of thriller and mystery, making it bingeable & entertaining to listen to!

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth might be her best book yet.

"Jessica, Norah and Alicia grew up on a farm estate. Their foster mother, Mrs. Fairchild, had rules and punishment if her rules were broken. The girls managed to get away and never saw her again. Now a body has been found buried under the house. And the police have questions..."

This story is told through multiple POVs and dual timelines. Hepworth gets you invested in every sister and yelling at Mrs. Fairchild. As adults, each sister has something they struggle with - almost as if they're anti-heroes. There's also a separate POV that Hepworth doesn't reveal 'til near the end. I like to see characters grow and change.
Jessica Clarke does a nice job with the audio, especially with the number of different voices.

There's are several surprises and twists at the end. And one big one at the very end (you won't guess it)

Great story from Hepworth.

Three "sisters", raised in a foster home together, get called back "home" when a mystery unfolds in their former home. This twisty novel changes points of view and timeframes every chapter, yet every character is so well-developed that it is not at all confusing or hard to follow. I loved this Hepworth audiobook! Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

When human remains are found at the site of a former foster home, three sisters are forced to return to the town and revisit their childhoods living with Miss Fairchild.

This was a fun ride as we learn about Jessica, Norah, and Alicia’s experiences with chapters that alternate between their perspectives and past and present. We see how awful Miss Fairchild treated them and how each processed their own traumas. The story keeps you guessing about what really went down at Wild Meadows all those years earlier, and questioning if the sisters are hiding something.

If you like complicated family dynamics, good character development, and some shocking twists, I’d recommend picking this up. I really enjoyed the audiobook narration by Jessica Clarke - she did a great job delineating between the characters so it was easy to keep track of whose perspective we were getting.

4.5/5 (rounded down)!!!!

Anytime Sally Hepworth announces a new book, it’s going straight to the top of my TBR list.

“Darling Girls” is a story of three foster sisters, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia, who form an unbreakable bond in the face of Miss Fairchild, their cold and calculated foster mother. Miss Fairchild ran Wild Meadows with an iron fist and lacked compassion and care.

On the outside, Wild Meadows appears to be the best place for the three girls; they should be so thankful to be rescued from the tragic circumstances they came from, but what lies beneath the surface of the façade of the home is far more sinister. Hepworth slowly peels back the layers to reveal that their childhood was far from a fairytale. Miss Fairchild’s rigid rules and unpredictable behavior marked their lives in ways they still don’t even fully comprehend.

Twenty-five years later, the sisters are called back to Port Agatha, a highly stressful and unwelcome occurrence, where a body has been discovered under the home they grew up in… but how did it get there? Who is responsible? Are the girls being regarded as key witnesses to a crime, or are they themselves the prime suspects? Could it be their two-year-old foster sister Amy, who the girls doted on that suddenly disappeared one day as if she had never been there at all?

It seems that the girls (and Miss Fairchild) are the only ones to know of Amy’s existence; although Miss Fairchild claims Amy was never there when the girls went to the police with abuse allegations (twenty-five years prior).

Interwoven are transcripts of sessions with psychiatrist Dr Warren… but who is the patient? Is it a victim of Miss Fairchild’s neglect and abuse or another being entirely?

Alternating between past and present, and through the POVs of the three sisters, we’re taken on a journey of secrets, lies, and murder. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia all have scars to bare, still deeply embedded in their minds and spirits. Oh not to mention a HUGE TWIST at the end you will not have seen coming.

“Darling Girls” will leave you frantically turning pages, or in my case frantically putting in my headphones any chance I could get. Hepworth seamlessly creates a chilling, tense atmosphere through flawed and complex characters and their own unique journeys.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s audio for my ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this audiobook.

Set in Australia, mostly Melbourne, this is a smart, suspenseful, and very well-written story about 3 intensely-bonded sisters with only 18 months separating their ages. They do not share parentage, but a harrowing two years in the care of a foster mother, Holly Fairchild, who took them in as young children. Jessica was the first, welcomed with great, instantaneous love and affection after her mother’s suicide left her completely alone at the age of 4. But Miss Fairchild, as she insisted on being addressed, wanted Jessica’s unfaltering devotion. When she began to make friends, the child fell from grace, and suddenly the picture-perfect (though scarily obsessive) mommy found subtle ways to manipulate and torment a little girl who was desperately afraid of abandonment. Jessica had to be the perfect child.

Next came Norah, who was taken in to Wild Meadows, the rural property Miss Fairchild has inherited, when Jessica was about 10. Norah, whose drug-addicted mother had overdosed before her eyes, was known for her violent outbursts in the many homes she had passed through. The fact that her violence was in response to the abuse she received was of no consequence to social workers. Norah was at first a challenging project for Miss Fairchild. But as the latter quickly became aware of her obvious shrewdness and teaming up with Jessica to foil her, she, too, became a victim of emotional abuse. Terrified of the dark, she was locked in the basement for hours.

The last to arrive, and from a very different background, Alicia was, if anything, the least damaged of the girls when she arrived as a « respite » case because her grandmother, who had raised her, was in hospital. Resenting the girl’s sunny personality and—at first—lack of fear, Miss Fairchild instantly hated her and set to work to undermine her hopeful confidence. The girls were always hungry and virtual household slaves. Used to being indulged, Alicia was damaged by deliberate withholding and deprivation.

In the present, where the story begins, Jessica is a highly-driven owner of a successful home organizing business, with a lovely home and a patient and kind husband. Phil does not seem real to me. He unquestionably accepts that her sisters must take first place in her life. She pays little attention to him. He notes that ‘something is off’ with her, observes some serious signs, but says nothing. This ´non interference’, he later explains, was his way of showing support. Phil is a shadow-husband, and his utter sweetness is both unconvincing given Jessica’s obvious neglect and unforgivable, given his awareness of where she was headed. I don’t know why he’s in the novel, unless it’s to show a variety of dysfunctional relationships. Beautiful Norah uses and abuses men, while Alicia, a social worker dealing with children, can’t commit to the relationship she wants with a female lawyer. Their problems at least are explained. He has no back story.

The story introduces a mystery at the start, whose nature and context are explained by the three sisters in flashbacks told in their three POVs. Without revealing the plot, after many years away from Wild Meadows and their psychotic foster mother, they are called by local police. Bones have been found under the house, which is being razed for something as mundane as a McDonalds. They have to return, entirely unwillingly. Secrets are revealed, memory gaps are filled in, missing pieces are found.

One of the major secrets involves ´the babies’, yet they seem to be dredged up haphazardly toward the end. Miss Fairchild is chillingly drawn. Anyone who has dealt with a narcissist can see that she is a textbook case. But her level of narcissism actually takes her into the borderline personality category—the hardest mental illness to treat. There are a few remarkable twists and turns in this novel, and the ending is at once believable and not believable. Finally, Jessica Clarke is an excellent narrator, giving each of the many characters their own « voice. » her rendition of Holly Fairchild makes her both charming and chilling, exactly as the author intended.