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A review by serahlunareads
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
4.0
This was my first experience with Sally Hepworth, and it likely will not be my last! I was hooked from the first chapter. I found myself quickly attached to many of the characters, and the story was fast-paced and easy to follow along with. All signs pointed to an excellent thriller. And in many ways, it was. Unfortunately, there were a couple of things that took away from it, but it was really enjoyable overall.
I loved the characters. That’s not necessarily to say that they were “lovable” as most were pretty flawed, but they were exceptionally well developed and interesting, and their interactions and relationships with each other felt real and intriguing. It’s hard for me to enjoy a thriller when I don’t care about the fates of the characters, and that definitely was not a problem with this book.
I struggled a little with the subject matter, particularly the traumatized foster children and the abuse that they suffered. I know this is a realistic part of the foster care system, and it’s heartbreaking. I’m not faulting the book for it, I actually think it’s an important topic to bring awareness to, but I think it’s worth a warning. It was pretty difficult to get through at times.
The ending was where everything went wrong for me. The final chapter of the book seemed like it was added simply for the sake of a shocking plot twist, and I didn’t think it was done well at all. It felt like a quick, cheap addition. The concept was fine, but I really think it could have been integrated into the story in a way that benefited and lifted up the plot, but it instead fell very, very flat. Without that ending, I likely would have rated this even higher.
Regardless, I really enjoyed my time with this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for an advanced reader copy. All thoughts opinions are my own.
I loved the characters. That’s not necessarily to say that they were “lovable” as most were pretty flawed, but they were exceptionally well developed and interesting, and their interactions and relationships with each other felt real and intriguing. It’s hard for me to enjoy a thriller when I don’t care about the fates of the characters, and that definitely was not a problem with this book.
I struggled a little with the subject matter, particularly the traumatized foster children and the abuse that they suffered. I know this is a realistic part of the foster care system, and it’s heartbreaking. I’m not faulting the book for it, I actually think it’s an important topic to bring awareness to, but I think it’s worth a warning. It was pretty difficult to get through at times.
The ending was where everything went wrong for me. The final chapter of the book seemed like it was added simply for the sake of a shocking plot twist, and I didn’t think it was done well at all. It felt like a quick, cheap addition. The concept was fine, but I really think it could have been integrated into the story in a way that benefited and lifted up the plot, but it instead fell very, very flat. Without that ending, I likely would have rated this even higher.
Regardless, I really enjoyed my time with this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for an advanced reader copy. All thoughts opinions are my own.