Woah... talk about twists and turns! Darling Girls is the story of three foster sisters whose childhood was far from perfect. The story jumps between two timelines - past and present and also goes back and forth from multiple POVs which got a little confusing. This story was quite entertaining. At times, however, it felt a little hard to follow, especially as the twists were unfolding (I had to pause and relisten to a few sections to connect the dots and fully understand what was going on). Overall, it was a great story that really emphasized the strength of family - blood or not - and it kept me on my toes throughout.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio, NetGalley and Sally Hepworth for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book had a lot going on to keep you hooked with past and present timelines and multiple POVs. With lots of viewpoints and twists throughout, it was still easy to keep up with everyone and kept me guessing to the very end.

This domestic thriller was compelling and was also a bit sad to see the lasting affects their childhood trauma had on each woman. Even more sad is the fact that there are children in this world who are used and abused in foster care. 💔

Overall, this was an engaging read, and I enjoyed the narration from Jessica Clarke. As always, I look forward to more thrilling stories from this author! Thank you, NetGalley, and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to listen and review this advanced copy.

Hepworth fans are in for a treat! Darling Girls was a solid thriller that had me gripped from page one.

This is the type of book that I feel is a great gateway if you’re a new thriller reader, but seasoned readers of the genre aren’t going to really surprised by the twists. Still a great read though. A lot of parts made me so emotional! Especially during the flashback chapters. I found every main character to be compelling, unique, and I loved their bond with each other. I think different narrators for each POV would’ve been helpful but this narrator has a pleasant, smooth voice and it wasn’t too difficult to distinguish who was who.

If audio is a format you enjoy, highly recommend the audiobook for this read.

Wow, this book definitely kept me guessing all the way to the end. If you’re looking for a psychological thriller that you will not want to put down or stop listening to, this is the book for you. I finished it in a little over 24 hours because I had to keep listening. Jessica Clarke did a great job of bringing this book to life. Sally Hepworth has done it again with a book that will keep you guessing and keep you on the edge of your seat.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book prior to publication.

This audio was fantastic! The narrator made this story flow! Fast paced and twisted, this psychological thriller is a mind bender.

Three girls are placed in foster care in the 90s. Their foster mother is supposed to bring peace and security but that isn't the case here.

If you have to choose, the audio is a great way to consume this story! The narrator has a smooth voice that carries well to both the male and female characters. I would absolutely seek out another story by this narrator!

I like this book. It was a tad hard to keep the sisters in check but it wanted to keep reading it! I thought i knew where it was going but i was wrong.

Thank you netgalley for this arc!

Sally Hepworth has done it again! I really enjoyed this book, the storyline, the characters and the narrator. The twist at the end was great! I have read a few of her books and enjoyed them all!

I could NOT stop listening. The intrigue. The suspense. These women! Gah!
So well done!
Three sisters from a foster home - now adults, return to their childhood home when remains are found. Secrets. Lies. Abuse.
I loved the friendship and support these women extended to each other but struggled with themselves. Very well done.

This was the second book by Sally Hepworth and I really enjoyed it! I loved the alternating POVs, and was intrigued by the mystery patient in the therapy sessions. I loved the bond between the sisters. Some parts were a little slower but overall I kept wanting to/listen more. Loved the twist!

Big trigger warnings for child abuse, especially at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first time reading a Sally Hepworth book and I enjoyed it. This was quite the page-turner and I finished it in a couple of days. However, if child abuse or such topics are a trigger then this one is not for you! I understand these things happen in homes and historically in foster homes but there were some grim scenes in this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced audiobook. I enjoyed the narrator, but the story has so many characters in it I would it hard to keep track.

Book Title: Darling Girl
Author: Sally Hepworth
Narrator: Jessica Clarke
Format: 🎧
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pub Date: April 28, 2024
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 368

I love a good audiobook.
I read this story back in November. I love this author but the story was so disturbing.
It kept me interested but it wasn’t enjoyable.

Since I already read this story, I was prepared for the disturbing parts. The narrator did a beautiful job in performing the characters. I did notice more nasty language than I remember reading – it is always more garish when I listen than when I read.

Twenty-five years ago Alicia Connelly, Jessica Lovat and Norah Anderson were foster “sisters”, and lived at Wild Meadows Farms a foster home (aka- House of Horrors) in Port Agatha. Today they seem somewhat like average women. True, Jessica is a bit OCD and Norah has some anger issues. And Alicia has low self-esteem. However they have a bond that average women don’t have it started when they lived on a farm with a foster mother named Miss Fairchild -who was cruel and abusive.

The three foster sisters all have flashbacks from their time at Wild Meadows.
Jessica is the oldest of the trio and arrived at the home when she was five years old; and in desperate in need of a mother’s love.
Norah is the youngest and was eleven when she arrived and always was violence as it seemed necessary.
Alicia is in the middle – a year younger than Jessica and a year older than Norah. She arrived when she was twelve-year-old as her grandmother was in an accident and her stay was only supposed to be temporary. Reading their back story was not a pleasant experience.
<The Housemother Holly Fairchild is wicked to say the least.

Now in their thirties the three women each receive a phone call regarding human bones found under the demolition site farmhouse at Wild Meadows (as they were building a new MacDonald’s.
The story is a wild ride of Past and Present; told in alternating POVs additionally a mystery voice of someone in Dr. Warren’s psychotherapy session. (However this person really isn’t a big mystery.)

This is my eight Sally Hepworth novel] the other seven I read were outstanding 5 star reads! I was expecting the same with this story!

The audiobook did not include Ms. Hepworth’s acknowledgements so I was glad I read it as it made it clearer as to why she wrote this story.
She tells us about her research. She spoke with women who were raised in foster care. Also points out that although there are villains but for every villain there is in foster care there are hundreds of heroes- helping children who are living in this failed system.
Sisterhood and friendship are definitely a part of this story and I know abuse and other trauma a child experienced can follow through adulthood.

Ms. Hepworth is still one of my favorite authors she is an amazing story teller.

I want to thank NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for this early audiobook..
Publishing Release Date scheduled for April 28, 2024

Sally Hepworth at her best. A story of three women who shared time at a foster home that wasn't always the most loving. They are brought in on investigation after the bones a young child were found under the house they used to live in. Through conversations with police officers, conversations with each other and a conversation with a therapist, the story unravels in a way that keeps you guessing. The three women call each other sister after the bond they have shared growing up in foster care and they each have their own problems resulting from the trauma of their childhood. Great story, great characters, and an ending that I did not see coming. Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Jessica Clarke who does a fantastic job! I highly recommend the audiobook if that is of interest to you!

Jessica, Norah and Alicia remain "sisters" many years after they each entered foster care with Miss Fairchild at Wild Meadows Farm. Despite each woman entering foster care for different reasons and from different circumstances, the 3 women banded together to survive the psychological, mental and physical abuse handed out by Miss Fairchild. As adults now and very co-dependent, the 3 women are contacted by the police as a body has been found under the remains of Wild Meadows Farm.

Told in alternating timelines and by each of the 4 women, as only Sally Hepworth can do, this is a wild ride! Its faced paced and action packed! Each of the adult women have developed coping mechanisms for the abuse that they suffered and the story is well written.

Highly recommend!!

I loved the narration for Darling Girls! It’s always nice to hear different accents. Sally Hepworth’s books can be hit or miss for me. This one was more of a miss but I’m sure most people will love it. I felt it jumped back and forth in time too much. The abuse in the book was difficult to get through, but I appreciated how she was unblinking in her descriptions.

I started this book and couldn’t stop. The storyline moving between the characters and past/present kept me interested from the beginning.
Three girls in a foster home quickly become sisters as they navigate their current living situation. Fast forward…a call from an investigator brings up a mystery from the past that the sisters must face together.
Loved it! Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest review.

Enjoyed the journey, the narration was fantastic, and the characters were solid. I do wish I had a physical copy of this one to refer back to as the audiobook version had me frequently asking myself “is this who xyz?”

There are plenty of trigger warnings (child abuse, negative foster conditions and experiences, etc.) but this look into The sisters and their bond, born out of shared trauma, was written so well.

I really appreciate that their commitment and love for one another never waned, despite biology, as other books typically miss the mark here, in my opinion, implying that non-genetic families will never be as strong as biological families. I don’t know Hepworth’s personal story, but I also commend her for using positive terminology (like “biological parents” instead of “real parents”) as this is a personal upset and cringe for me in most every book that includes families created out of adoption.

Thank you to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of Hepworth’s latest!

Wow! That's all I have to say! This book was amazing! It had a strong start and was nicely paced. All throughout the book I felt as if it was a solid 4 but the ending immediately took it up to a 5 for me!
Jessica, Alicia, and Norah are three girls who were rescued from family tragedies and placed in foster care, living with Miss Fairchild, their now foster mother. Jessica was taken in by Miss Fairchild at the young age of 4 and everything seemed so perfect. Miss Fairchild treated Jessica as if she were her own daughter.. up until another foster child came along- Norah. Norah was a wild child, even into her adult years. Once Norah showed up, Miss Fairchild instantly started treating both girls terribly. (Abuse triggers in this book.) Not too long after another foster girl arrived- Alicia. Throughout their years of living with Miss Fairchild they've experienced an intense amount of abuse, both physically and mentally. As unfortunate as it was, they did gain a sisterly bond from it.
25 years later the girls are contacted by the police in regards to a body found buried underneath their old foster home. The girls knew how abusive Miss Fairchild was to not only them, but to the babies she also housed. For me, this point was when the book peaked to 5 stars!

I enjoyed this book, I loved the multiple POV, and I appreciate how the author gave us both past & present events, helping us get to fully understand the characters.

Spoiler (but not really a spoiler) .. I just feel the need to say Miss Fairchild is truly mentally unstable. She's nutty, and it added so much umph to this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for this amazing read!!

Darling Girls showcases how the bonds of sisterhood can survive the most treacherous of conditions. Hepworth shares the stories of three sisters and the formative years they spent at Wild Meadows with their abusive foster mother. Enough information was omitted throughout the story that I understood the general premise of the story, but there were hazy pieces that didn’t click into place until the twists and turns unfolded at the end of the book. This was a wildly horrible tale about the tragedies that humans can endure and the importance of family, chosen or given, to survive those hurdles.

Thank you to NetGalley.com for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook!

I was so excited to receive from NetGalley.com an advanced audiobook of Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth who is one of my favorite authors. The audiobook is narrated by Jessica Clarke. She has such a pleasant voice, and did an exceptional job altering her voice for the many female characters. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook.

Darling Girls is a psychological thriller that tells of the relationships between three girls and their evil foster mother (she reminded me of Joan Crawford/Mommy Dearest). It bounces back and forth in time from when the girls were living with their foster mother to present day where bones have been discovered in the home where the girls grew up. Did they have anything to do with murder? You'll have to read this gripping book to find out!

I can't wait to read another Sally Hepworth book and will definitely be on the lookout for more books narrated by Jessica Clarke.