“𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲.”

After hearing that this book was being adapted for the latest season of American Horror Story, I wanted to check out this “feminist update of Rosemary’s Baby.”

Danielle Valentine creates a growing feeling of tension between Anna and Dex trying for a baby through IVF, Anna’s eventual pregnancy, and the never-ending feeling of being watched. It’s a slow burn suspense that brings you down a road full of paranoia, with a major Rosemary’s Baby vibe - it’s hard not to wonder whether what Anna experiences is reality or in her head. Valentine highlights how hard infertility and pregnancy can be on a relationship, and also gives an eerie look at how difficult healthcare for women can be, especially when they aren’t taken seriously. There was repeated advice to “just take a low dose aspirin” as the cure for all of Anna’s concerns of what was happening to her body, both humorous and incredibly true. The horror vibes were just right for me, with some truly creepy scenes. There were a few parts that were a bit repetitive and the pacing was slightly off, but overall this story is compelling and tense.

Delicate Condition is story of motherhood, desperation, gaslighting, grief, and doubt. The trigger warnings should be paid attention (one part was very difficult to read and I’m not trying to become a parent), but Valentine has crafted a compelling glimpse into trials and tribulations of the pursuit of motherhood. Thank you to HarperCollins Canada & NetGalley for the ARC!

This was the best thriller I have read in a long time. It leans more towards horror. I loved it. I just kept turning the pages.

3. 5 Stars

***
Anna Alcott is desperate to have a baby with her husband. In between IVF treatments she is working as an indie actress, whose latest role has garnered Oscar attention. Anna is also becoming increasingly disturbed by her appointments being changed on her, her treatments being left out to be destroyed, and online bullying and harassment. The stress is almost too much to bear, until finally she receives the best news she could have hoped for, a baby. But, early in the pregnancy she ends up at the hospital in terrible pain. She is told she miscarried, but then why, days later, does she feel her baby moving? Is it real, or is something more sinister growing inside of her?

This book kept me interested throughout, with a few twists I did not see coming. I did figure a few things out, but it was interesting how things conspired to work against Anna and her pregnancy. The funny thing is that this book is the basis for the next American Horror Story installment, but I found it to be not scary at all. It was much more of a mystery, thriller, with moments that were strange. The scariest parts had to do with pregnancy in general.

I loved the stories that were riddled throughout of women from the past, all experiencing something similar to Anna. A few I might have preferred over this actual story. It helped create context, gave background into pregnancy and the history of the suffering endured. That those who are pregnant are often talked over, ignored, suspected of hysteria, hidden away, or prescribed the same thing over and over. Bed rest and advil. As though pregnant people do not know their own bodies, do not feel their own pain.

Anna was being pulled on all sides and no one seemed to really consider her comfort and safety. Her job was an interesting choice, as it spoke to the lack of privacy that celebrities must endure with their fans, with social media, with the online community in general. Once you are famous there is no going back, people believe they have rights to you and your life. This effectively opens Anna up to possible harm to her and her child, to torments from those online saying she should not be a mother, to her location being shared. She also had to deal with press and appearances due to her being recognized as a possible oscar contender.

Meanwhile, her husband, oh boy, decided to isolate her from her supportive social circle, claiming it was a good idea to leave the city. A person going through pregnancy needs as many of their personal friendships to be available to them as possible, in case they crave a kind and caring ear that would bring them comfort in a time of unknowns. Pregnancy is beautiful, but also terrifying and risky. People are just expected to know how to carry a child, to know what is happening to their bodies, to accept this is how they must live. They are expected to trust their doctor for everything, when maybe their doctor does not always have the right answer or does not listen closely enough to the patient.

This book was good, but I would not say it was my favourite thriller ever. I liked how the ending was handled, though maybe there could have been more to it, but I did liked the route it took. I felt it reshaped the narrative of Rosemary's Baby (with the cult fear) into something altogether new and strange. It felt more rewarding this way, Anna having gone through all she did and the ending coming together as it did. It felt almost like a reckoning for all of the trauma that centuries of medical mistreatment has laid on people with a womb.

This book is the definition of “I loved everything except the twist”. The last 10% of this book brought it from a 5 star down to a 3 star read because I felt it came out of left field and didn’t make any sense with the rest of the story. It seemed like the author just added it in for fun and not because it works.

This book left me feeling incredibly disturbed. It's been a while since a book has had that effect on me, so you can imagine the intensity of the content. The novel is incredibly creepy, and right from the beginning, I was captivated by the story. I have a soft spot for thrillers/horrors that involve pregnancy and motherhood, such as The Push, The Perfect Child, and Just Like Mother. The horror surrounding these themes genuinely frightens me, and this book was no exception.

Despite the unsettling subject matter, I loved the plot, and I'm excited to see how it will be adapted for TV as the inspiration for the next American Horror Story season. There's no doubt that it will make for an entertaining show!

Delicate Condition is as creepy as the cover suggests.

Anna and her husband, Dex, have been trying to get pregnant for some time now. Between managing IVF treatment and her acting career, it’s a lot to keep track of. Lately, she’s been late for appointments and misplacing crucial medicines, even though she’s usually so meticulous. She begins to suspect someone is trying to interfere with her treatments.

When Anna finally gets pregnant, these interferences escalate but no one, including her husband, believes her. Still, they retreat to the Hamptons, only for things to take a more sinister turn.

This books starts as a psychological thriller but eventually morphs into horror. It’s a heart-pounding read where you’re not sure what’s real and what’s not.

For the most part, it was an addictive read. The dark themes were well-done, though the ending was mildly underwhelming.

It explores doctors and men not believing women, gaslighting, and labelling women as hysterical.

If you get squeamish, prepare yourself because things become downright grisly. However, if you can stomach it, this is well worth a read.

Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

🥂 PUB DAY review featuring “Delicate Condition” by Danielle Valentine 🥂

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Anna Alcott is struggling to get pregnant while going through IVF and maintaining her public image as an actress who is predicted to win an Oscar for her most recent movie.

But strange things keep happening to her … her doctor appointment times get mysteriously changed in her personal calendar, her medication keeps getting left out when she knows she put it in the fridge, and she receives cryptic messages warning her not to have the baby! SomeTHING sinister is trying to prevent her from getting pregnant . WHO is messing with her?? And WHAT is her womb trying to tell her??

NO WORDS 🤯🤯!!! THIS BOOK!!! I had no idea what I was getting into when I started this book! The upcoming season of American Horror Story is inspired by this book and it is going to be a PHENOMENAL season! If you love AHS, The Push and Rosemary’s Baby, then this one is for you! It is DARK, haunting, emotional, uncomfortable and incredibly CREEPY 🫣

Thank you kindly to @harpercollinsca @daniellevalentinebooks @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases TODAY!!!

Anna is desperate to be pregnant at the same time as her Hollywood star is rising. Her desire to be a mother at the same time as being convinced that someone is stalking and messing with her leads to a miscarriage and the unbelievable truth that she’s still pregnant.

That’s all the info I’m giving you with this one but the twisty turns this book took was both page turning and yet uncomfortable. What I believe the author was going for…

3.75 ⭐️ and a huge wish to see this on the screen because I feel like this is one of those rare cases of a movie/show being better then the book.

Creepy psychological thriller. Had horror vibes. Anna is an expectant mother, went through IVF to have this child. There are forces at work trying to stop that from happening. Sinister forces. Great job at keeping me guessing. Really flew through this book, devoured in 2 days. Did not see that ending coming at all. Love books that keep me guessing. This book was so dark at times it had me putting more lights on. Making me think twice about my spouse and what he’s doing.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and the author for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[arc review]
Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Delicate Condition releases August 1, 2023

3.5

<i>“The things that made you lucky could also be the things that made you suffer.”</I>

Our main character Anna, is an actress who has been nominated for an Oscar award, and is also going through an IVF journey with her partner, Dex.
This story is tense and propulsive from the get go. With mishaps like incorrectly scheduled doctor appointments, forgetting to put prescribed drugs in the refrigerator as stated, or missing important phone calls, we start to wonder if Anna’s pregnancy is being sabotaged, whether she has a stalker, or if it’s just a case of an unreliable narrator.
Interspersed throughout are brief chapters from distantly connected accounts of women ranging from the years 1648 to 2018, but just how connected is all of this to Anna?


<b>spoilers</b>

This had so much potential to be a five star read, but lost me around the 70% mark once the cheating, witches, and satanic cult plotlines were brought to light.
The body horror elements in conjunction with the pregnancy was something I was highly enjoying, but I felt like the cult aspect went too far outside of the scope of what I was originally expecting.
Also, why would Anna call her friend Siobhan as she was going into labour, if Siobhan recently relapsed with cancer? Unless it was all faked or a lie? If so, that’s highly insensitive…

I did like the inclusion of a trans side character going through IVF, as well as the discussions on how Black people were and still are unfairly treated in regards to pain scales and overall racial discrimination.

I do think this should have a supernatural/magical realism tag added on goodreads, otherwise it’s misleading by omission.

Eager to see how this will be received once it’s adapted for Season 12 of American Horror Story.
(current expected cast: Emma Roberts, Kim Kardashian, Matt Czuchry)

cw: body horror, animal gore, graphic miscarriage, cults/witchcraft, cheating, gaslighting

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to review this book.

Delicate Condition was a strange read for me. I read the description, and it sounded interesting - but once I got reading, and especially towards the end, it became less and less like what I had expected. Described as a thriller, I really wasn't prepared for the more supernatural elements, and I would honestly call this more of a supernatural horror than anything else.

This book had a lot of characters, and it did really help with keeping me guessing who was responsible. I had an idea in mind pretty quickly, but it kept changing as I read on, and I think I had suspicions about every person in the book at some point. My one complaint is that some of the characters are just let go, and there is no circling back to wrap up their stories (I'm thinking Kamal, here, who we just randomly got rid of).

This book touches on a variety of difficult topics, and I appreciated the trigger warnings right at the start. There is a lot of thoughtful content around women struggling with fertility, and the ways in which our medical systems do not take women's concerns, physical pain, or emotional pain seriously.

Overall a decent read, but be prepared that it might not be exactly what you expected!

Thank you to Harper Collins Canada, the author and NetGalley for my copy of this book.

I appreciated the trigger warning that was given before the story started so I was prepared mentally with the story. I think I might not be the correct target audience for this as I am not a mom nor am I pregnant. I think this factor led me to not enjoy the book much. The start and end of the story - I enjoyed it. I found myself captivated. But the middle part - I found it dull. I felt like it dragged on too much. Also the different POVs? I did not see any relevance to of those to the story. It just made it more confusing. The mix of genres were also a bit overwhelming. I really thought I was going to have a straight up domestic thriller but what came out was a mix of everything that I found did not work well. Delicate Conditions and I did not work well but I will still check out this author's work.

Delicate Condition was a gripping story from start to finish. Telling the story of Anna and Dex a couple desperately wanting to start a family, we get dropped down into their IVF journey and follow along as things go from bad to good to...worse.
The twists kept me guessing and turning the pages and I flew through the book to find out what lay at the heart of what was going on with Anna.
Please find attached my spoiler free youtube review for a more in-depth review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZIlW7mWe2Q

I really enjoyed this book! The plot line was novel and gripping.

The main character, Anna, is an actress who has recently become prominent in the public sphere. After trying to get pregnant for ages, Anna attempts IVF. However, bizarre events start happening. It seems like someone doesn't want Anna to get pregnant.

Anna finally becomes pregnant, but soon thereafter is informed that she suffered from a miscarriage. Anna is absolutely devastated. However, she quickly becomes convinced that she is still pregnant. Is it her mind at play? A way to deal with grief? Or is something that is completely out of Anna's control going on'?

This book also deals with complex issues, including miscarriage, infertility, marriage, and grief.

There were so many crazy twists and turns! I loved how disturbing it was and kept me on the edge of my seat. I honestly couldn't put it down. I ultimately ended up deducting a star as the "final twist" was a bit disappointing to me. without spoiling the book, let's just say I thought it would be something different. This final twist/reveal took away from my overall satisfaction with the book. It was still really good, but I would have preferred a different ending.å

Thank you HarperCollins Canada, HarperCollins Publishers, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.)
*********************************************************
The Push meets The Silent Patient combined in a gripping thriller that follows a woman convinced a sinister figure is going to great lengths to make sure her pregnancy never happens—while the men in her life refuse to believe a word she says.
Anna Alcott is desperate to be pregnant. But as she tries to balance her increasingly public life with a gruelling IVF journey, she starts to suspect that someone is going to great lengths to ensure her pregnancy never happens. Crucial medicines are lost. Appointments get swapped without her knowledge. And even when she finally manages to get pregnant, not even her husband is willing to believe that someone's playing a twisted game with her.
When the increasingly cryptic threats drive her out of her Brooklyn brownstone and into hiding in the cold, gray ghost town that is the Hamptons in the depths of winter, Anna is almost at the end of her rope.
Then her doctor tells her she's had a miscarriage—except Anna's convinced she's still pregnant, despite everything the grave-faced men around her claim. Could it be that her mind is playing tricks on her? Or is something more sinister at play? As her symptoms become ever more horrifying and the sense of danger ever more present, Anna can't help but wonder what exactly she's carrying inside of her...and why no one will listen when she says something is horribly, painfully wrong.

This book gave me serious Claire and Sun from "Lost" vibes in the dark side of pregnancy come to life on its pages. The book is spooky and downright weird but in an excellent way: it sucked me in and I read it in one fell swoop. The characters were wonderful to spend time with and I was sad when the book ended as I wanted MORE. Highly recommended to people who love ethereal books that will creep them out.