Darling Girls tells the story of 3 young girls in an Australian foster home run, Wild Meadows, run by Ms. Fairchild. It is told in alternating then and now timelines, giving each main character a voice before and after the event that pulls them all back together.

25 years after leaving Ms. Fairchild’s care, the Darling Girls are living relatively productive lives, or so it seems. Mostly. Ok, Norah is a problem. The characters are flawed and their flaws are shown almost immediately. The author highlights those flaws and motivations and shows how each was a product of their origins.

This was an engaging and enjoyable read. The story unfolds slowly, using the alternating timelines. I enjoyed the opening and ending chapters and how they balanced the story. I love it when a book's title is revealed/explained in the telling.,

The characters felt a little flat and a couple of the interactions required a rather large suspension of belief but overall, this was a good story.

I enjoyed the narrator; crisp, clean narration. I always appreciate when a book set in a county like Australia is voiced by someone with an appropriate accent.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for Arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

First off, I love Sally Hepworth, but this one is different with its focus on child abuse and neglect. Hepworth still kept me listening with the short chapters and different perspectives and timelines, but I did find it harder to digest. Miss Fairchild fosters/abuses her “darling girls” in the past timeline, and in the present the girls are called into question when bones are found below the house of their foster home years later. I found myself just wanting to listen to one more chapter to get answers all the way up to the end.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth was such a captivating and wild ride of a psychological thriller! I couldn’t stop listening to it!

Every aspect of the book made you feel something; sadness and love for the children, who despite their horrible upbringing, bonded and really became sisters over. Mrs. Fairchild, their foster caregiver, was a horribly nasty person and you just couldn’t help but LOATE her! Nothing short of awesome writing and character development can make you feel this way!

The ending…. I didn’t see it coming! Completely taken by surprise! It was a great book all together!

The author did a great job of shining light on the flawed side of the foster system. That being said, I would preface with there being trigger warnings of mental, emotional and physical abuse and child neglect.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

Sally Hepworth knows how to write a psychological thriller. Every time I pick up one of her books I finish it in a day or two. I want to get to the end, but don’t actually want it to end!

There were many things I liked about this book. The sisters bond…I love how they all had each other in their difficult upbringing. The evil villain…Ms. Fairchild. You can’t help but truly hate this woman. And just the story itself. Unfortunately for many foster children, they experience similar things to the 3 children in this book. I like how the author kept the story believable. And the best part, in my opinion, was the ending. It solidified my opinion on one of the main characters and really shocked, I definitely didn’t see that ending and it was perfect for this book.

The narrator did a great job with this audio.

***Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC copy in return for an honest review***

Thank you for allowing me to listen to this audiobook as an ARC.
OMG what a ride. I flew through this one as I could not put it down!! As usual, another amazing book by Sally Hepworth. I have loved every single one of her books and this one for sure is right up there along with all the others. Excellent story and you can tell that the author conducted research about the foster system!
The characters are well described and built up with the back and forth in the 2 different times. I felt like I was there in the story with them and could picture everything in front of me. Great character selection for all of them. I especially loved the ending as no stone was left unturned and the reader didn't have to wonder about what happened to any of them. And of course those twists and turns. Fascinating and totally unexpected! Excellent audiobook, 5 🌟

WOW I had no idea where this one was headed but I was so glad to be along for the ride!!!

I loved the sisters and their devotion to one another. I thought that was a very nice touch from Sally, because there are so many foster kids without allies.

I thought I had the ending figured out and then there were a few twists that gave me total whiplash!!!! I enjoyed this one, but it isn't my fave from Hepworth.

A compelling story that pulled me in. I liked how the author told the story from each girls perspective.
I was surprised by the ending.. although I probably shouldn’t have been.

Darling Girls focuses on three foster "sisters", who grew up together for a couple of years at Wild Meadows foster home in Port Agatha. They are all grown and living their not so best lives, when they each receive a phone call 25 years later from a detective about the discovery of human bones on the site of Meadows Hill.
All three of the women who are so close they call each other sisters, go back to Meadows Hill to be interviewed by the detectives on the case. Jessica, Alicia, and Norah all have flashbacks from their time at Meadows Hill and with their cruel and abusive foster mother, Miss Fairchild. It's a mystery who the bones could belong to, because as children no one ever believed them and they were gaslit for years.
This book was a very good portrayal on the life-long lasting effects of being raised by an abusive, narcissistic foster parent/ parent. There was also a good character study done on that of Miss Fairchild, and how she was able to manipulate everyone around her.
I highly recommend reading this book, as the twists and turns were plentiful!!

A highly suspenseful, unpredictable, and gripping novel about sisters, secrets, and childhood trauma. There were twists and turns throughout with an unexpected ending!

Thank you Netgalley and McMillan audio for this ARC

Jessica, Norah and Alicia are foster girls rescued from different family situations and placed with Miss Holly Fairchild at Wild Meadows farm in the 1990s. The book goes back and forth between past and present, it showed how they came to have such a tight bond. The reader is drawn in to read about what happened to the foster girls before and while they were at Wild Meadows.
Years go by before they get a phone call from police about a body found under the house. The questions that rises, do they know anything? Did they do it?

This is the first book I have read by Sally Hepworth and she kept me on my toes. It was wonderfully twisted, dark and I was horrified to read about the torment the girls went through and made me call my mom after I was done just to tell her I love her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc in exchange for my honest review!

TW: Language, sexual assault, anxiety, depression, abuse, gaslighting, drug addiction, child sexual abuse, violence, death of child, rape, unwanted pregnancy, sexual blackmail, domestic abuse

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life.

But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?
Release Date: April 23rd, 2024
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 368
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Liked the characters are sisterlike and their bond
2. Hooked on the story
3. Author does a great job describing the pain and sadness of being a foster child

What I Didn't Like:
1. I hate Norah
2. Narrator licking their lips on the audiobook
3. Ending rambled on too long
4. Some parts feel repetitive

Overall Thoughts:
The countless interruptions while the police were trying to tell Norah what they found.

This book touches on a lot of sexual assault for Norah, but author does a great job at skirting the subject without going into too much detail.

When they were older I loved how they made fun of one another. Absolutely sisterlike.

Holy crap my mouth dropped when Mrs. Fairchild said she threw the baby against the wall. I didn't expect that. She made that whole story up.

Final Thoughts:
This book was insane. Just when I thought I had it figured it out it pulled the rug from under me and then pulled another rug from under me.

Mrs. Fairchild was absolutely horrible. The whole time you keep thinking how could such a bad person exists for the sake of it, but here she is. The way she treated the kids though - gross.

I didn't care too much for the ending because it felt like this huge build up to something but the ending felt rushed. You knew Mrs. Fairchild was behind it too. Then Mrs. Fairchild says it was she child she was forced to have with her stepfather when she was a minor, but is that as far as the investigation would go when a baby is found? Wouldn't they give her an exam to see if she even gave birth, so they know if she's telling the truth? Plus if she killed her sibling why was she so sweet with the other babies for a little bit even none of that happened? I don't like when authors hinge a whole character development on one detail and at the ending we find out that wasn't even apart of their personality.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martins Press for the ebook, and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook. All thoughts are my own.

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are sisters with an unbreakable bond. They grew up together in the same foster home at Wild Meadows. Jumping from the past and present you learn of the abuse these girls suffered from Miss Fairchild and the affects it’s taken on each girl. Years later they learn a body has been found under the home they grew up in.
Do the girls know who it is or were they involved in what happened? Are they suspects?

The book ends with a twist that shocked me!! Darling girls is a gripping and twisty tale of the dark side of foster care. I recommend this to anyone looking for a dark thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc in exchange for my honest review!

Darling Girls captivates readers with its compelling narrative and intricately woven plot. I found myself thoroughly engrossed in this gripping thriller. The storyline is meticulously crafted, keeping readers on the edge of their seats throughout. Hepworth's skillful storytelling and adept characterization make it easy to become a fan from the very first read. With "Darling Girls," Hepworth demonstrates her prowess in the genre, delivering a riveting tale that leaves a lasting impression. I eagerly anticipate delving into more of her books, knowing that each promises an equally thrilling experience.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have read several novels by Sally and have enjoyed them all! She writes gripping,
suspenseful tales that will keep you guessing to the end! Another perfect thriller!!!!!
Jessica, Norah, and Alicia were all orphaned as children in the 1990s, and eventually they were all placed in foster care at Wild Meadows Farm. Under the cruel control of Miss Fairchild, the three girls bonded together until the day in their early teens when something so terrible happened that they were finally able to escape. 25 years later, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia each have their personal struggles rooted in that past trauma, but still think of each other as sisters. And then they each get a call from the police that bones have been found under Wild Meadows Farm-bones that may date back to the time they were there with Miss Fairchild. So now they are forced to go back and face their past, and Miss Fairchild, as they and the police try to piece together what really happened 25 years earlier....
It was hard to read about the abuse, the crimes at the foster home, and the horrible way they were treated by the foster mother!
With thanks to NetGalley, and especially to Pan Macmillan for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

This just fell short for me. A whole lot of nothing happening until the last few chapters. It's not that it was bad necessarily, it's just not one that I could see myself recommending to my followers

Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are three girls who grew up in the foster care system at Wild Meadows. They were so lucky, they've been told. But all wasn't as it seemed, and they finally broke free until bones were discovered under the house. Who was involved? What happened?

I enjoyed this story, but it was DARK. Please look up triggers before you go into this profoundly sad story.

Sally Hepworth brings another page turning psychological thriller in Darling Girls. Even though I was able to fairly quickly determine the answers to the mysteries in the novel, the character development and individual stories given by each sister kept me wanting to read (or rather listen to this audio book) nonstop. She truly knows how to bring a feeling of real life to each character and the narrator did an amazing job. Loved it and will recommend it.

Sally Hepworth has done it again! 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.

Alicia, Jessica, and Norah bonded during their time living in their foster mother, Miss Fairchild's home. All came there under different circumstances and quickly bonded, forming lifelong bonds. They suffered together under the care rule of the highly unpredictable, extremely strict, and often cruel Miss Fairchild.

When they left her home the three of them thought they were free. But she was always there in their memories, their nightmares, and in flashbacks. They have all carried with them what they experienced in Miss Fairchild's home, whether it be low self-esteem, anger issues, anxiety, relationship issues, etc.

The three women are contacted by police when bones are found buried under Miss Fairchild's former home. Sometimes the past refuses to stay buried. Sometimes, you can create physical distance but not emotional distance from troubling events. Sometimes, going back to where it began is the only way to move forward.

This was such a gripping and well thought out book. I felt for Alicia, Jessica, and Norah. I loved that they always had each other's back and had such a tight bond. I felt so much for them during this book. I appreciated how Hepworth showed the strength of their relationships with each other.

I found myself fully invested in this book from the very beginning and found it hard to put this book down. I wanted to know about the bones, how they got there and whose bones were buried under the house.

I found this to be a suspenseful and shocking read. I enjoyed reading the POV chapters and learning more about each character. I also enjoyed the therapy sections and did not know initially who was talking to the therapist. This book does discuss the mistreatment and abuse of children, and it may be a trigger for some, so please be aware of this.

*The audiobook version of this book was well done and the narrator did a great job.

Gripping, well written, shocking, well thought out, and hard to put down!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this audio book.

Jessica, Norah (with an H lol), and Alicia were rescued from different family backgrounds at a young age and all placed into the same foster home. But, their now picture perfect life was not all that it seemed. Among everything they endure, they vowed to stick together. Eventually, they decided enough was enough and that they had to break free. Now, 20-ish years later, human bones are discovered under the house they grew up in and the sisters are forced to confront their past. But are they witnesses, or suspects?

This one was already on my list so I was thrilled when I got the email to listen to it. It was definitely a 'page-turner' and I couldn't stop listening. The very end left me in utter shock! There was great character build up and the narration was excellent. This story is told from multiple (then/now) points of view from the three foster sisters and a mystery person to be revealed at the end. Check content and trigger warnings before reading.

ARC review, thanks for the advanced copy, Macmillan Audio! These are my own thoughts & opinions.

The SHOCK I felt at the ending of this book 🤯 I pride myself on being able to see the twists at the end of thrillers/mysteries, but I definitely didn’t see this one!

The book takes place in Australia & follows 3 foster sisters and a mystery person who is later revealed with a then/now setup. Not much else can be said without giving away the plot unfortunately. But this book was phenomenal & I won’t be able to shut up about it now 😂

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