This book sat in my to-be-read pile for way too long and I don't know why. Pregnancy related horror and thrillers are right up my alley and reviews compared this one to Rosemary's Baby, a novel that I absolutely loved. Actress Anna Alcott is desperate to have a baby and realizes that time is running out, that she and her husband might have waited too long. When their latest round of IVF results in a pregnancy, she and her husband are thrilled. When she has a miscarriage, they're devastated. There was no heartbeat on the ultrasound. There was so much blood in the hospital room. But she can still feel her unborn child moving inside of her. Pregnancy leaves woman vulnerable and the author absolutely captures that. Anna has been missing appointments and making mistakes with her medication. She's being stalked and receiving warnings about a cult of baby stealing Satanists. And, despite what the medical professionals say, she's still pregnant. I loved this one.

Not my cup of tea. While I typically enjoy thrillers the paranormal aspect threw me for a loop. It seemed the book was headed in one direction and took a sharp right turn 3/4 of the way in. Had it happened earlier I may have ended up DNFing.

Actress, Anna, and her husband, Dex, after struggling with rounds of IVF are finally, ecstatically pregnant when her life is soon threatened by a stalker in “Delicate Condition,” by Danielle Valentine.

Nothing and no one is as they appear in this haunting novel of life, love, power, regeneration, and revelation. With hints of Rosemary’s Baby, as well as whiffs of the burning times from Salem and before, Delicate Condition keeps readers guessing until the very end. Then they are left breathless, wondering, and awestruck.

As others have noted, there is nothing Delicate about this novel. It grabs hold with gripping teeth and wicked talons for the entirety.

I’m probably going to read Delicate again just to see what I didn’t pick up on the first go. It’s that much of a mind bender.

For those of you who love everything esoteric, jump in, the water is great. I was like the proverbial frog boiling. My warm bath was so soothing that I never realized that the water was boiling until I was crispy cooked. If I say more, the surprises will be spoiled. Trust me. I never saw the end coming!

JoyReaderGirl1 graciously thanks NetGalley, Author Danielle Valentine, and Publisher Source Landmark for this advanced readers copy for review.

I was excited but this just didn’t hit the mark for me. I know so many people who loved it, it just wasn’t for me and that’s okay.

Wow, this book was dark! It delves into the complexities of motherhood, identity, and the dark secrets that can lurk beneath the surface of seemingly perfect lives. There was lots of suspense and emotion, and I loved it! This is a must read if you love psychological thrillers!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I could not put this book down! There were so many twists and turns and it keeps you guessing until the end!

Honestly it might be closer to 5, but I’m ruminating. As a mother myself, reading this was as unsettling as it was vindicating as far as the full faceted pregnancy experience is concerned. From the medical gaslighting to the foreign feeling of your own body to the partner telling you to calm down to the feeling like you’re losing your mind (and your hair and your teeth and your nails) I felt seen in the displaced rage and confusion. I spent most of the book confused myself.

These are purely stream of consciousness thoughts i am typing here - I literally just finished the book - so I don’t know if this is helpful or not but I really liked this one. CWs for gore, animal related violence (I don’t know how to explain it without spoiling it) and pregnancy related trauma (miscarriage, IVF, etc.)

I’ll come back when I finally “calm down.”

“Come on, you’re okay, whispered a familiar voice in my head... This isn’t so bad; calm down… With all the willpower I had left, I forced that voice to just shut up. I was tired of pretending I wasn’t in pain. I was tired of being strong just because it made things easier for everyone else. I was tired of calming down.”

Ehhh this was a weird book and the turn it took towards the end was…a bit much 😵‍💫 I’m not sure if I will watch the tv adaptation, but maybe it’d be better?

"If you leave your trash outside overnight, you don't blame the bear who comes by and rips it open, drawn by the smell. You blame yourself." This is a story about desperation- the intense longing that some women have to procreate.

The latest American Horror Story season is based off this book, and did an amazing job adapting it for the screen. I committed a reader's sin by watching the show before reading the book, but I'll argue that in doing so, I received an apt companion to the story and it only enhanced my understanding and enjoyment of it. This has been compared to Rosemary's Baby, but I would also garner that it's akin to the sinister plots Dario Argento films. Like Suzy Bannon's dark path in Suspiria towards accolades in dance, Anna Alcott's determination for a child leaves her vulnerable to ominous forces.

While the cult-like and conspiracy theory-driven atmosphere will leave horror fans happy, the bigger picture here is all about the opposing views women face in real life when it comes to motherhood. Ever more relevant due to recent legislature across America, women face so many obstacles and attitudes when it comes to issues of conceiving. If it's not done the traditional way and/or issues are revealed along the way, it's the woman's fault, and she should bear the consequences.

Sometimes those you trust the most are not what they seem, and this book has many plot twists that will have you on the edge of your seat! There's also the theme of, "You can't have it all" that plays throughout the book as Anna's career is on the rise. One quote about that stood out to me- "The things that made you lucky could also be the things that made you suffer." There are a few differing things from the TV show, but I was happy with both the book and show.

Anna suffers a lot before and during her pregnancy.
She had to undergo IVF and then was told she’d lost her baby. I wasn’t sure for the first half of the book what was reality and what was Anna’s paranoia.
Then as the answers started rolling in I felt revulsion for one of the characters, I,should’ve known.
It’s an intense novel about the angst women experience to become pregnant and then to deliver.
This book is intense so expect a roller coaster ride..

Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine. Pub Date: August 1, 2023. Rating: 4 stars. I did not know what to expect from this novel because this is not a genre I typically read, but I felt this was a good novel to tiptoe into the horror realm. A famous celebrity is undergoing IVF treatment and trying to get pregnant when she eventually does. But she has ups and downs throughout the pregnancy that the reader has to really clue into to determine what is fake and what is true. Themes of infertility, miscarriage, female hysteria, women's rights and mental health are all encompassing in this novel. I felt the author did a fabulous job with navigating tough but important subjects. I would definitely recommend this novel. Thanks to #netgalley and #sourcebookslandmark for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I will admit, I read this in anticipation of the new American Horror Story season, though I didn't end up watching it because allegedly it was terrible. The book, however, was NOT terrible, I'm happy to say. I didn't see the twists coming! It will probably be a little difficult to read for anyone who has suffered a pregnancy loss, so be aware of that, but overall, very creepy and a good read!

I originally selected this book to read since it was the premise for the new season of American Horror Story. I am a huge compare books to movies/shows type of person so I was excited for this to come out As with anything related to the television show, there are tons of trigger warnings for it, including miscarriage, pregnancy, stalking, etc. I can definitely say the book is never what you think, when you think you have it figured out there are twists every which way which i really enjoyed. I have yet to watch the show as I just finished the book, but I can definitely see AHS playing the story out and how it most certainly gives the vibes of it. Aside from it being related to the show however, when I read the Author's Note at the end, I grew a while new respect for her and the book itself. She talks about why she wrote the book and mainly how women are often ignored and brushed off by doctors and family with their medical issues, particularly pregnancy, but are often not believed and many can take years to diagnose trying to find medical providers that will believe their situations/pain levels. I myself am one of those women and I REALLY appreciated this author for her view on this stigma and addressing how women are just perceived to be strong and able to bear pain like no other.
I highly recommend this book and cant wait to check out more from this author as well as compare the show!

Anna Alcott is an actress whose career is just starting to bloom, just as she is going through a very difficult IVF process. She gets the feeling that someone is trying to stop her from getting pregnant. When she has a miscarriage, she is heartbroken, but then she realizes she is still carrying a child. Then the nightmares truly begin. Who is stalking her? Who is telling her the truth? Can she trust anyone around her?

I really liked this book, despite the body horror, despite the triggering pregnancy failures, gaslighting, fertility treatments and pregnancy frankly nightmares. But horror is a mirror and it highlights something true about our experience—there is something terrifying about pregnancy which anyone who has gone through it or tried to go through it or lived with someone going through it can attest to. Recommend!

Very left of center and different from what I thought it would be. Dark and mysterious but also thought provoking. It had me guessing til the end.

This book was absolutely incredible! Press has drawn a line between this novel and The Silent Patient which is very accurate. I was in a book hangover after reading Verity by Colleen Hoover and this novel really helped me dive back into reading. The story follows a woman through a difficult pregnancy that’s made more difficult by sabotage, other worldly forces, and crazy characters. Or is it?

If you need a book that you can’t put down, this is it!

There's been a glut of pregnancy/childbirth horror lately (fitting, given how gnarly birth and pregnancy can be) and Danielle Valentine's novel fits easily in this genre. Delicate Condition charts the experiences of a young actress named Anna as she undergoes IVF and struggles to conceive a child. Though the novel is chock full of nods to genre expectations (Rosemary's Baby, anyone?), Valentine takes things in an unexpected and powerful direction. This was a fun thriller and I recommend it to anyone who loves feminist body horror and is looking for a quick, scary read.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

Very quick read, but derivative and often silly. The great ending doesn't redeem the rest of the book.

What’s your opinion on authors having various pen names?

I never put much thought into it until I read Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine.

I had this book through @Netgalley and never prioritized it. Every time I’d go to read it my head would say “no you need to read a book you own first” and it kept getting pushed back on the TBR. Finally I had enough and I bought it physically so I would get to it sooner. I thought for sure it would be a book I’d love so it would be worth it…. Little did I know this author is actually Danielle Vega, the same author of The Merciless. A book I said, I’d never read the author again…. Whoops.

❤️Review❤️

The only thing I knew about this book was that it was dark and had to do with having a baby so it was easily triggering to some readers. Most of the book I was finding to be just fine. I never found myself super invested but no real red flags. Then I got to the parts that are why I didn’t like The Merciless. It got so gruesome that I was twisting in my stomach. It was churning and I’m shocked I didn’t throw up. I felt like I was looking away from the page praying it would be done soon. If you liked the gruesome level in Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison, you’ll probably fine, but I just couldn’t stomach it. I was going to at least give the book 3 stars because I get what the author was trying to do, but like I said in a previous post I rate on enjoyment. I didn’t not enjoy being so sickened so I’m going 2 stars. I was not the right audience for this book.

2 stars! ⭐️⭐️

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What makes this a horror is that it's so real. I've talked to a number of people who have felt "ghosted" by the medical system here in the US and that's what makes this novel poignant. And so, so scary, especially if you've been pregnant. Loved it.