Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth was a technical 5 star read for me, but officially a 4.5 star rating.

Three “sisters,” Alicia, Norah, and Jessica, grow up in foster care, and were placed with Miss Holly Fairchild. Jessica is the first to arrive, and she and Miss Fairchild develop a strong bond. Miss Fairchild means everything to Jessica, and pleasing her is Jessica’s first priority. When the other two girls come along, Miss Fairchild immediately starts treating Jessica differently, and the whole environment of the home becomes straight up abusive, but Jessica’s feelings toward Miss Fairchild prevail.

Fast forward 25 years, the house they grew up in has been torn down and human bones have been found underneath! The mysteries that follow, including WHO the bones actually belong to, has us (and the police) asking lots of questions. As Jessica, Norah, and Alicia travel back to Port Agatha to cooperate with the investigation, we learn about each character through changing character perspectives, including past and present perspectives of each character. I love books that flip between characters view points, I think it makes a book so much more interesting, and when done well I think it is such a great way to give readers a deeper understanding of each character, and why they do the things they do.

Included in the rotation of perspectives this story is told from, is one character’s weekly psychiatrist appointments, and the story that is told through the meetings. This is really what brought this book from a potential three star read, to a five star read for me. I LIVED for these segments of this book. Nearing the end of the book, I was SHOCKED to find out whose therapy sessions I was actually reading though, and there are two scenarios that could have happened here:

1. Without going back and rereading, it could have been clearly stated who was attending these sessions, and I could have somehow simply overlooked this. I REALLY thought they belonged to a different character, and was VERY confused when I found out I was wrong.
2. This book is just THAT well written, where it didn’t say and I just kept on reading anyway, filling in the blanks in my head myself without even noticing.

Either way, the shock value of finding out I was wrong about whose trauma I was reading about had a huge impact on my overall opinion of this book and how much I enjoyed it. I feel deep down, that scenario 2 is true, but if it wasn’t intentionally written this way, it should have been. When I realized whose story I had been reading, so much clicked into place, yet there were STILL twists even after that. It was so so good. I can honestly say I was really surprised by then ending, and I didn’t really understand what exactly was happening until the last pages. I mean that in the absolute best way possible.

Straight through the very last page of this book I loved the character development. Sally Hepworth did an incredible job of keeping the identities of the three women completely separate from the others, while also showing the bond and loyalty that is created to one’s chosen family despite those differing backgrounds and life choices. I also found her writing style really easy and interesting to read. I chose this book as my April book through Book Of The Month Club, and had otherwise never heard of Sally Hepworth, but I just know she is about to become one of my favorite authors. I really loved this book, and the more I read it, the more I loved it. Now writing about it, I just want to tell anyone who loves a thriller, or who has an unconventional family life, to read this book. I feel like anybody could relate to some part of this book.

As for my rating: the storyline, the character development, Sally Hepworth’s ability to write this in so many perspectives, with time travel, and still maintain an easy to follow story — all five freaking stars. My problem with this book was her editor. In the first half of the book there were at least three really easy to locate errors, including a random “c” on one of the pages. I just feel like the editors did Sally’s writing such a disservice, and I’m upset about it on her behalf. It felt more like reading an ARC than an actual published novel. I have still given this five stars on Goodreads, though, as they require a full star rating, and there was no way I was rounding down!