Sally Hepworth

This book follows three former foster sisters who grew up in an abusive foster home. They've all done their best to try and forget about their childhoods and move on. But they're forced to remember when they're contacted by police about human bones found at their former foster home.

This was an emotional, psychological thriller. Sally Hepworth consistently writes 4 star reads/listens in my opinion. If you've liked her previous books you will love this one too.

Thank you netgalley and Macmillan audio for giving me an advanced review copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. (… (mais)

Darling Girls
By Sally Hepworth
Published by St. Martins Press
4/23
3.5*

Sally Hepworth always has a good story to tell and her newest is no different. The story focuses on Mrs. Fairchild and her relationships with her foster daughters. Over the years she fostered many, but the story centers around the eldest three and another younger child that cannot be accounted for.

I feel I must disclose my state of mind in reading this book. I was post surgery and on pain pills, so each chapter featuring a foster child had me guessing at who and what happened. I also had a bit of trouble keeping track of the girls.

By the time I got near the end of the book, I had my theories, which were close but not on target. I loved the surprise, twisty ending.

Many thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to recommend this to readers and give my honest review.… (mais)

This one starts out very promisingly. A couple has recently moved into a house by a sea cliff, after experiencing some sort of difficult times. But they quickly find out why they got a house in such a beautiful spot so much cheaper than expected: the cliff has a reputation as an excellent place to commit suicide. Would-be jumpers repeatedly show up, but fortunately the husband turns out to be very good at talking them down. Until one night he goes out to talk to a woman on the cliff, and through the window his wife first glimpses him standing way closer to her than he usually does, then looks out again to see the woman completely gone and her husband with his hands outstretched as if he just possibly might have been pushing her. And then later it turns out he knew the woman...

So, yeah, I was intrigued, and all ready to settle into a complicated story in which this guy's secrets would be slowly revealed, with lots of tension around the question of whether or not the lady actually jumped.

The slowly revealed secrets are here, but imagine my surprise when right after the cliff incident we start getting scenes from the POV of the dead woman's ghost, and immediately and rather anticlimactically learn the answer to the question of whether she deliberately jumped. Which, admittedly, doesn't tell us what actually did happen, but I found it weirdly deflating (not to mention just plain weird), and never recovered the pleasant sense of tension I felt at the beginning.

And without that... Well, it turns out I actually really just didn't care about these people and their secrets, and infidelities, and mental health issues, and horrible business dealings, and unbelievably poor decisions, and repeated reflections on just much they really, really, really, really love each other. Like, at all.

Rating: I'm giving this one a 2.5/5. Part of me feels bad rating it that low, because I'm sure this novel will be someone's jam, but it's definitely not mine, and I'm not feeling very generous after having just spent 300+ pages in these characters' very uninspiring company.… (mais)

Fern and Rose are twin sisters. Fern is likely on the autism spectrum, as she is awkward in social situations. She works at the local library. Her sister Rose looks out for her. Rose protected her after an event when they were young, which resulted in the death of a young boy. Now, Rose tells Fern that she is unable to have a child, so Fern decides to have a baby for Rose. Fern has met Wally (Rocco Ryan) who is living in his van. Wally is also awkward, but is a genius software developer, having created and sold a program he wrote for lots of money. Fern and Wally fall in love, but Rose interferes. Rose and her mother have a fraught relationship, and when odd things happen, Fern begins to wonder if she should trust Rose.
Intriguing look at psychopath!… (mais)