Well . I read Darling Girls!
I genuinely have more to say about this than what went into my initial posted review on storygraph so maybe I'll just dive right in. This thoughts-dump style post has spoilers!
I thought Sally's writing style was so interesting and unique. This is my first novel by Sally Hepworth and I'm glad, from what I have heard from previous reviews of her other books, that she has dipped into the thriller genre finally. Her mixed point of views paired with her dual timeline between past and present is fascinating.
As a reader, I almost began to feel gaslit with each shift and twist. There became a point where I recognized that I was beginning to draw conclusions and make inferences that, every time, were proven wrong as new information came to light, and at that point I realized that nothing I was being shown was worth trusting because I knew there would be something else that came and undermined anything I might theorize. And as a reader, that was so cool to have happen. At no point did I feel comfortable in what I thought was happening. At no point did I think that I knew what to expect. And after a certain point, I felt like there was no way I could solve the mystery and had to relinquish my own control.
Major plot spoilers commence here!
The very ending of the novel however is what caught me most off guard. Through the whole story, receiving bites of Miss Fairchild's childhood through the lens of an anonymous therapy session was both harrowing and intriguing, and I found myself aching for more of those bits specifically, even going as far as to look ahead to see when the next one showed up in the story. But what I didn't expect was for her to drop, in the very final four pages, that that her entire, full story of abuse was made up. Totally faked. All lies.
It made me quite literally have to set my phone down and stare at a wall for a while.
And in reflection, it makes me think back to how Sally Hepworth's writing style feels like you're being gaslit in real time. Miss Fairchild fooled everybody, most especially the reader. It was absolutely astonishing. In this sense, it leaves me feeling an equally astonishing range of emotions. Through out this entire novel, I began feeling myself defend Miss Fairchild. As someone who has gone through abuse, I could see what would lead her to act the way she did due to abuses suffered during such a volatile and vulnerable point in her life.
And then, having that all ripped away right at the end, I could feel myself resisting that. I could feel myself thinking there was no way. There was no way someone could be that cruel, right?
It's all such naive thinking.
What a fascinating book told through equally fascinating vignettes with each character.
rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
final thoughts: 10 of Swords Reversed
Read my posted review below or on storygraph!
The most fascinating part about Darling Girls to me is not necessarily the story itself, but moreso how Sally Hepworth utilizes her writing not as a way to tell a story, but instead as a tool for leading the reader in a direct direction of her own creation. The reader is given information in which they can draw a conclusion of their own, but that conclusion is constantly undermined by brand new information almost as soon as their conclusion is drawn. In her particular style of writing, it fully feels as though the reader cannot trust themselves or the information given, and that heightens the experience of reading through Darling Girls.
In this way, Sally Hepworth's story is not just one about weaving together a tale for the reader to enjoy, but we are actively put within the investigative role, and behind the scenes, we know even less than we thought was the case. Much like how in art, an artist will utilize leading lines and negative space that gives the viewer a forced, cramped perspective and leads us in a specific direction, Sally's own writing does the very same: in Darling Girls, forced perspective is combined with unreliable narrators centering the mystery right through to the very end with a surprising, demented, and disturbing twist ending within the very last pages.
An absolutely delightful read the entire way through with distressing situations that made me cringe in horror.
Thank you Netgalley, Sally Hepworth, and St. Martin's Press for this arc!
Darling Girls is a new release by Sally Hepworth releasing on April 23, 2024!
A soft note: at the time of accepting and reviewing this arc, I was unaware of the collective efforts on the boycott of St. Martin's Press. Support authors and workers demanding equity demands and fair pay, as well as people from marginalized groups. In response, this review will remain unlisted until boycott efforts are recognized.
This post has been made public after the collective efforts of the boycott received a response from St. Martin's Press.
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