This is definitely not an easy read if you've had fertility issues or a miscarriage and it certainly brought back some very difficult times when we were embarking on our own ivf journey.
The story captures some of the difficulties experienced throughout pre conception and pregnancy very well however and it was easy to identify with the main character Anna as she so desperately wants a baby.
The story quickly turns into more of a psychological thriller as Anna feels she is being watched and that someone has been inside her house and is threatening her pregnancy. As events spiral.and Anna experiences some extreme symptoms and cravings she becomes a slightly unreliable narrator. It was very hard to know whether the events were actually happening or were in her head. There were some clever twists and a very unpredictable ending with some supernatural undertones!
I found this a page turning, engrossing and original (if not disturbing) story. It is a clever mix of thriller, horror and mystery. Beware of the trigger warnings before reading though!!

This book comes with trigger warnings so isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea but I enjoyed reading it, even though the subject matter was largely about a difficult conception and pregnancy, IVF and some witchcraft. What struck me most was the injustice of the medical profession not being able to be more informative or supportive to couples trying to conceive and grow a baby. Something women have been doing since the dawn of the human race but yet we probably understand more about outer space than we do the inner workings of the female body. This is a book that will make you think.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

I read the blurb for this and had to request it. Then I found out it is possibly the baseline story to AHS season 12 so was even more excited to read it.

Anna Alcott is managing a new found fame as a leading actress while going through IVF for the baby she has always longed for. Finally pregnant after moved appointments, the feeling she's being followed and a break in where her scan picture is stolen it's like someone doesn't want to her to be pregnant.

When the doctors tell her she has miscarried she is devastated but back home the baby starts moving, yet no one will believe she is still pregnant. Not knowing who to trust Anna moves away with husband Dex to a remote holiday home to protect her unborn daughter. But as her symptoms become more and more strange and extreme she begins to wonder exactly what is growing inside her and will they both survive.

I read this in two sittings and would highly recommend.

Anna is desperate for a baby and is currently going through IVF treatment to hopefully become a mum one day. She's also just been catapulted into the public eye due to the success of a film she acted in, juggling her parenthood journey with work commitments. What Anna doesn't realise is how weird a pregnancy can actually get!

I definitely got creepy vibes from Delicate Condition, I'd put it firmly in horror. In the beginning I thought is was a little Rosemary's Baby crossed with American Horror Stories (there are 2 episodes that this story nodded it's hat to). But as we went into the story further I realised the true horror was with the treatment of Anna and how she is dismissed and gaslit at every turn. I got so angry at her treatment and it made me feel heard as I had a horrible pregnancy / birth experience.

There were a few red herrings within the action that sent me off in some bizarre directions and when the climax came it wasn't disappointing. Thanks for a fab read!

No spoilers from me for this page turner! Ana and Dee have been struggling with infertility and finally, finally, she's pregnant thanks to IVF. Oh, and her movie is doing unexpectedly well. And then,,,,,a miscarriage shakes her. But she feels something, something like a living child inside her, which no one else believes in. She's being stalked, there are weird things happening and....I'm not going any further, This does indeed have Rosemary's Baby vibes but Valentine has created an entirely new horror. She's got great storytelling skills. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, Great read.

First of all I would emphasise: do not read if you are pregnant or likely to be triggered by difficult scenes of miscarriage and childbirth. I was intrigued by the description of this book and to begin with I really liked it. However as the story went on it turned into supernatural horror, a genre which I do not like. My fault really as I should have taken heed of the reference to Rosemary's Baby on the description.

Anna is an actress on the cusp of real success. She's been nominated for an Oscar. However she desperately wants a baby and at last, after IVF, she is pregnant. At first all is well but then things start to go wrong. She misses appointments, loses medication, feels that she is being followed. These initially mildly disturbing things become more intense and sinister. Are the things happening to her real, is she being gaslighted or is it all in her mind?

This book wasn't really for me. It is very well written and there were parts when I thought I really liked it but the supernatural element is something I like to avoid. There were a lot of characters who were left undeveloped such as Adeline, Anna's husband's first wife. Having said that I did like the ending and this redeemed it in part for me. Overall though, I wasn't wowed, Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Definitively not what I expected, it`s a supernatural Rosemary`s Baby type of book.
Not my type of book so not for me but if you like supernatural book it`s a good one.
It did keep me reading wondering who was the baddy and where it was going as the plot points at everyone.
The ending was a bit unbelievable.
To me it didn`t show lack of sympathy from Drs during pregnancy as the ending suggested.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC

Finally! A book without outrageously absurd twists!! Everything flows together much more naturally and you can slot the puzzle pieces in as you go along. The biggest mystery for me was whether or not it was going down the thriller or horror route but it definitely has a foot firmly in both camps. My preference is usually a slow burn, character driven story and even though this is more of a foot on the gas pedal style of storytelling, I was still very entertained. It was a lighter, easy read despite some important subject matter in there and I’d recommend this for fans of Weyward and Rosemary’s Baby.

I also think it’s important to read the authors note afterwards - it will absolutely ring true if you have had any kind of experience on the reproductive health front.

Wow, this is a disturbing book and I nearly gave up reading it because parts of it were making me scared and jumpy - I am a sensitive soul who never reads or watches horror lol.

I am glad that I persevered and finished it though, because it is a good and twisty story and more importantly, I think it is a book with a lot of interesting things to say about how society and the medical profession downplay the very real difficulties many women experience with regard to fertility, pregnancy and childbirth.

Having said that, I cannot say that I particularly enjoyed my reading experience. Some of the things that happen to Anna are both horrifying and harrowing and I hope they do not linger in my mind. The supernatural aspect with her thoughts and cravings are bad enough but we also have graphic descriptions of the IVF process and labour which make me so glad that I have never had the least desire to have a child. I had no idea that IVF is so painful and horrible - surely there must be a better way? I cannot begin to imagine why women put themselves through this.

In the afterword the author says that she hopes that women recognise some aspects of their own experiences in the book and that society, men and the medical profession change how they treat women and specifically female health issues and we can only hope that this happens.

This is a timely book given that we are now starting to understand that medicine is not gender neutral and is very much developed by men for men with very few doctors trying to understand that women's symptoms are not always the same as men and women and men react differently to drugs.

Although I did not "enjoy" the book as such, I feel that I have certainly benefited from reading it.

DELICATE CONDITION


Like a mix of both Stephen King and American Horror Story, Delicate Condition was a beautifully, dark novel.

Reading the synopsis of this book I knew I had to read it. And I was not disappointed.

Fantastically written with a fast pace it exceptionally blended between the thriller and horror genres, whilst still managing through thoughtful dialogue to deal with sensitive issues in pregnancy such as childbirth and even miscarriage.

Thank you #Netgalley and both the author Danielle Valentine and the publishers for my E-arc of #DelicateCondition giving me the opportunity to read this outstanding novel, in exchange for my honest review .

A superb novel an highly recommend.

I’ve recently enjoyed quite a few books relating to pregnancy and so the synopsis definitely intrigued me. I would say the pacing is a tad slow and the chapters in between will make very little sense until the end of the book. I did enjoy the book overall but I would say the genre this turns into towards the end isn’t really my sort of thing but I’ve no doubt this will be a well received book and this is just my personal preference.

Thanks to netgalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4⭐️

I’ve been picking up some great vibes on social media for this book, so was excited to check it out for myself. It’s listed as women’s fiction / mystery thriller.

Anna Alcott is in the public eye as an actress, the story follows her journey through IVF. Anna is desperate to become pregnant but increasingly suspicious that someone is trying to ensure that never happens.

Bullet points for Delicate Condition
📕unique storyline that ventures away from the ‘norm’ so you need to be open for something a bit different.
📕features IVF and may contain triggers for some
📕innovative plot

The storyline is innovative. It has 2 time lines, one historical which provides context, and is minimal. It’s very difficult to talk about this book without spoilers. It has so many unexpected twists and turns that kept me engrossed, it took a direction I wasn’t expecting, but I didn’t find it went overboard with it.

Anna’s character has so many layers, throughout you’re left wondering if she’s very switched on with her paranoia, or mentally ill.

I don’t think this book is one for women undergoing IVF, your hormones will be giving you a hard enough time already.

It gets full marks for being innovative, and for the execution of the storyline which sounds totally positive, so I’m not sure why this one didn’t resonate with me more. I enjoyed it, and would recommend it especially if you enjoy something a bit different.

Wow!! This was not what I expected - literally couldn't put it down as I had no idea what was going on

Anna and her husband Dex are going through IVF treatment but sadly Anna loses the baby and has a miscarriage. But just a few weeks later, during a bourbon filled night, she's convinced she feels something moving inside her

Another scan reveals that she is in fact still pregnant and is delighted! However, there are some very strange going on's through her pregnancy and she has no idea who to trust.

She's not sure If she's being paranoid but feels as if she's being followed, worried her food is being poisoned and finds dolls of her placed around the property they are staying at

What I found interesting was how woman are treated by the medical staff and almost gas lighted in believing their pain was not that bad - "what would it take for our husbands and doctors to take our seriously?"

"The tendency to assume that women can't be trusted to accurately convey their symptoms comes from the historical diagnosis of 'hysteria', which was once thought to be a medical condition said to only affect women"

Creepy, haunting and addictive read!!

A gestation thriller!

(This review is based on a free review copy from the publisher via Net Galley UK)

This is a well-written and generally well-thought-out novel with an interesting surprise ending. It describes a nightmare pregnancy during a winter which seems to go on for so long that the setting might be Narnia rather than the Hamptons. That cost it a star, I’m afraid: I know it’s about the way that perceptions change during pregnancy, but a pregnancy supplies a certain timeline and the season doesn’t seem, to the reader, to turn with that timeline. It may be alright in the author’s original plan, but so much of the book happens in winter that it seems eternal.

The other troubling thing is that, until the surprise ending and explanation is reached, it’s hard for the reader to tell whether the pregnant heroine is being stalked by strangers or at least gaslighted by her husband, or if she’s delusional and hallucinating. This isn’t a crime for which any writer can or should be “cancelled” but it carries rather more risks in the real world than most of the things writers are being cancelled for these days. The whole point of stalking and more especially gaslighting is very often to get the victim declared mentally-ill and, most especially delusional. Either to discredit them in court (especially a divorce court) or for someone connected with the stalker to seize control of the victim’s financial affairs. There’s not a stalker in the known universe who wouldn’t be pleased to confuse women’s (or men’s in some cases) experience of being stalked or gaslighted with delusion, hallucination or some allied psychosis. And even when the novel’s fairly startling conclusion is reached, the necessary delineation between abuse and hallucination is not quite there.

This book has some interesting things to say, but the two deficiencies significantly dilute what is good about it.

**Listened to the audiobook as well as following along with the electronic copy**

Firstly, I have to state that this book is missing some severe and dramatic trigger warnings! Trigger warnings for miscarriage, abortion, traumatic birth and other themes along these lines.

This book had me gripped, and I had no idea where this book was going. The audio book's narrator was so good at keeping me on the edge of my seat. This book spans genres, and because of this there was a real feeling of unease, and not knowing what was going to happen next.

I felt a little let down by the ending, but the journey towards the ending was so worth it!

Half way through I learned this book was the basis for the next season of American Horror Story. It couldn't be more perfect for that show. Sick, twisted and witchy, Delicate Condition will gaslight you right till the last page.

Anna Victoria Alcott has it all. An up and coming Hollywood career, a loving husband and a beautiful home. There's only one thing she doesn't have; a baby. When she finally falls pregnant from IVF, Anna thinks all of her dreams have finally come true. Unfortunately, this is the beginning of her worst nightmare. Anna is patronized, coddled and downright lied to throughout the entire pregnancy, with even her own husband trying to convince her the strange occurrences were all in her head. By the end, she (and I) had no idea who to trust and I felt my own ovaries shrivelling up and dying. I was just waiting for some Rosemary's Baby style demon to come clawing out of her and the nightmare would be complete.

Whilst I felt for Anna and her struggle to maintain reality, this was severely dragged out. It just didn't need to be over 400 pages long. I felt like I was reading for 9 months. There was a lot of inner monologue that felt repetitious and I found myself skimming over parts that I was sure I'd read before. I saw the ending coming but it wasn't any less shocking.

First of all: whoa, that was intense! Goodness me, it’s a good thing I read those final 100 or so pages in the morning or I wouldn’t have slept all night!

To me, Delicate Condition felt very much like a Rosemary’s Baby for the 21st century, with the same eeriness, the same mystery, with the same central question: is-this-delusion-or-something-dark-and sinister-at-work?

For me, the thriller and horror aspects stand out, but Delicate Condition also offers an insightful and thought-provoking look at pregnancy and all its challenges, including difficulties to become pregnant in the first place, and the not always appropriate attitude of husbands and friends, as well as healthcare professionals.

Delicate Condition holds its cards incredibly close to its chest. Where would this story take me? I didn’t have the foggiest. And let me tell you, it was EXHILARATING! Of course we know the narrator, Anna, is at least somewhat unreliable, she is having hallucinations after all. But just how unreliable is she? Are we to believe her husband, her doctor, her friends, is she losing the plot? Or is she more in tune with her own body than she even dares to believe herself? Has she become entangled with a Satanic cult, or is she just having a tough pregnancy? Is she pregnant with a who? Or with a what?

Yikes, what a story! It starts on the slower side, but then the tension ramps up and meanwhile, I was kept in the dark, pondering all my questions. If work and life in general had allowed it, I would have binged it in a day. As it stands, I had about 20% left and promised myself I would start my day off by plonking myself in a chair and reading until I knew what was what. Which is exactly what I did, and what a perfect start to the day it was!

Delicate Condition is a suspenseful thriller with quite a bit of body horror involved and I just gobbled it up all the way to its satisfying conclusion. Recommended!

Read courtesy of NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

It was an okay novel. It combines a gripping plot with a slightly too didactic tone of "I'm raising consciousness here" (perhaps it would work better for someone who has never read a pregnancy memoir, but I've read several so the tone of disbelief at details of biological discomforts didn't quite work for me). I mostly enjoyed the historical interludes (although some of them feel unfinished). My two main complaints are 1) that it felt a little by the numbers (medical professionals igoring symptoms? check. Husband mansplaining? Check. Obligatory disclaimers about privilege? Check.) and 2) that the ending didn't really pack the kind of punch I wanted it too, and if I was to be honest - the horror was so mild. There's stalkers and abuse and monsters and cults in this and I've read scarier pregnancy stories on reddit.

That said, it's competent, cohesive and I'm curious about the upcoming TV adaptation.

Many years ago, before I'd decided I absolutely did not want to have children, I went through years of trying and failing to conceive. It isn't something that affects me now but for anyone who is upset by this topic I strongly recommend you do not pick this novel up.

The suffering Anna endures through her IVF conception is so well written, I fell hard for this fictional character, her pain is heart wrenchingly tangible.

Valentine leverages the hormones and medication involved to give us an unreliable narrator. Written in first from Anna's perspective, all the reader can really know is what Anna experiences.. or atleast believes she is experiencing.

There is a lot of blood, a lot of trauma and some surprisingly gory scenes to behold in Delicate Condition. As is often the case with such stories I found myself wanting to reach in and slap the men in this novel, only this time the women aren't trustworthy either!

Valentine breaks up the present timeline with multiple third person accounts of women from a vast range of time periods experiencing the same bizarre symptoms Anna has encountered.

My one disappointment was the gift wrapped ending. I've never been one to enjoy a 'years later' epilogue, I'd have preferred to end with the ambiguous fever dream finale to leave us wondering... was it real?

Read it and see for yourself! I recommend to anyone comfortable with the material. A solid, creepy thriller that I raced through on a rainy Sunday.

First of all trigger warning for miscarriage and fertility issues.
What a dark dark story but I really enjoyed it . I found it both disturbing and fascinating in equal measures . The story weaves seamlessly.
Not for the lighthearted!