Title: Darling Girls
Author: Sally Hepworth
Source: DRC via Netgalley (St. Martin’s Press) in exchange for an honest review
Publication Date: April 23, 2024
Synopsis: Goodreads
Purchase Link: Amazon

Other books by this author: The Good Sister, The Younger Wife, The Soulmate

Why did I choose to read this book?

This book was emailed to me directly from St. Martin’s Press without me even having to request it! Of course I was going to read it because Sally Hepworth has a way of reaching inside my brain, finding each and every one of my insecurities and fears, and ripping them out as I read them on the page. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press!

What is this book about?

This book explores gaslighting, emotional and verbal abuse, and the horrors of the foster care system. It’s set in Australia but Hepworth could really be writing about anywhere.

What is notable about this story?

This is the most horrifying book by Hepworth that I’ve read yet. Honest to Christ how does this woman know how to write manipulation so fucking well? Reading about Miss Fairchild and their foster home was like reading a horror novel about a haunted house. These three girls/women (the story is told in multiple POVs and between their past and the present) went through so much and even as adults people in authority weren’t going to believe them. WILD.

The handling of the trauma that each of the girls carried with them was so well done in the writing. I don’t know how to explain it but I really appreciated that I never viewed any of the women as their trauma/behaviors. Right from the start it’s clear that these are not behaviors that they chose for themselves, they are things they do to just get by and survive and in the end they just became a part of who they thought they were. THIS IS SO REAL. If you’ve never experienced the kind of abuse that is in this story I need you to know that overcoming that kind of psychological manipulation is a life’s work and some people never crawl out from under the weight of it.

THE ENDING TO THIS BOOK IS WILD HOLY SHIT – I’m not gonna spoil it but Hepworth had me right in the palm of her hand and I’m STILL salty about it.

Was anything not so great?

I probably shouldn’t have read this book, but I trusted Hepworth to give me an ending that helped me find closure (MOSTLY, again I’m still salty about it). Everything about this book is exceptionally well done: the writing, the plot, the character development and investment, all of it was well done. I was glued to the pages right until the end.

BUT if you’ve had emotionally or verbally abusive relationships, or perhaps grew up in a household that utilized these techniques to keep you under control, or if you’ve had firsthand experience with the foster care system but not in a good way, please consider this a HUGE trigger warning. I’ve had years of therapy and it still hit me in tender areas.

What’s the verdict?

Five stars on Goodreads. Sally Hepworth is a genius and no one can convince me otherwise. I hope St. Martin’s Press decides to send me whatever she’s cooking up next, because I can’t wait.

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