I loved this Rosemary's Baby inspired thriller! I'm very excited for the new season of AHS now! I would recommend this one to people who love this genre and are looking for a refreshing new entry!

DELICATE CONDITION by Danielle Valentine. So, okay. Wow! This book was unexpected. It has a beautiful cover but don’t let that fool you. This book is a ride and a half. Anna and her husband Dex have been struggling with infertility and have not been successful with IVF. Anna does not want to give up her dream of being a mother so they try IVF again. This time, it takes and Anna and Dex are over the moon excited. But, something isn’t right. Anna is having strange thoughts, hallucinations, weird symptoms. Is it in her head? Why doesn’t anyone believe her? What’s real and what’s not is what you will be trying to figure out. This book was unlike anything I’ve read before and I loved that. Now I can see why AHS is bringing this book to the screen. Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for approving my request to read this. What a ride. Buckle up!

Whoa, whoa, what a journey. This fast-paced, grueling book left me on the edge of my seat throughout its entirety. The longer the narrative goes on, the more desperate Anna gets and the more her pregnancy sounds... monstrous. She has common pregnancy symptoms, but many negative ones piled together at extreme levels. By the end, she seemed absolutely gaunt, ghostlike, and weak. Very weak.

But none of her doctors will believe her, neither will her husband! It's frustrating to read a book where no one believes the main character, but this was a whole new level. We see Anna struggle, but almost no one supports her, instead choosing to placate her and urge her to "take a bath." So many baths! There is nothing the reader can do, of course, to help Anna. Where could she go for safety? To find a doctor who would listen and treat her accordingly? I wanted to yell at her, "Just get on a plane to another state and find a new hospital!"

Generally, I don't concern myself with trigger-warnings or content warnings, but this is the one time I will say: trigger warning for pregnancy loss, pregnancy, and birthing. If you're unsure if this is a book for you, I suggest reading the author's afterward and then deciding.

Overall, this was a fantastic, edge of the seat thriller with a couple twists and an ending that I didn't predict. Thanks so the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy. As always, opinions are my own.

‘Delicate Condition’ is a page-turning thrill ride of suspense that is also the inspiration for the upcoming season of ‘American Horror Story: Delicate.’ We follow Anna as she goes through another round of IVF, which she had already done unsuccessfully a few times before, but this round finally takes. Anna and her husband, Dex, are beyond thrilled to finally have a baby, but once pregnant things begin to happen that start to worry Anna. Is she being followed? Who is leaving her messages? Who can she trust? And, is someone trying to steal her baby?

Delightfully chilling! After reading the synopsis for this book I couldn’t wait to read it. After starting the book, i couldn’t put it down! Told in different viewpoints and timelines this book has you wondering how all three will tie in together and then, eerily, they do to give you this wonderful read. Anna, who has recently become a famous actress, would give anything for a baby of her own. Through twists and turns you follow her on her pregnancy journey and try to figure out what is going to happen next, who to trust, what is real vs what is imagined. This was so much more than I expected! Well done!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley, Danielle Valentine and Sourcebooks for hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

Horror thriller dealing with a nightmare pregnancy.

After many attempts to conceive, IVF finally works for Anna Alcott and her husband, Dex. Almost immediately, things start going haywire. Anna is either completely mad, or she and her unborn child are in danger.

This was a crazy and overly long book that I can’t believe I actually finished. I was ready to chuck it in fairly early as there was way too much going on inside of Anna’s head. Very repetitive with all the symptoms and having to ask myself if this was another hallucination or if Anna’s perceptions were off the charts. I am not a horror fan and I found the narrative slightly ridiculous. I didn’t care about Anna, her pregnancy, or the underlying theme of how difficult pregnancy is and how awful men and doctors are. My experience as a mother and a nurse completely contradicts the premise within the pages that women are supposed to suffer during pregnancy and childbirth. Not only that, but it is insulting to those wonderful OB docs, nurse practitioners, and others who support pregnant women. If you don’t have someone like that, go look elsewhere. You are master of your own pregnancy journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-book ARC to read and review. I can’t recommend it.

This book was mega weird but I actually dug that. It was unexpected, intriguing, and did I mention mega weird? Y’all gotta read this!

Wow! This book is definitely one of my favorites I’ve read so far this year. There were definitely some scenes that were hard to read but this book was so good! I read it in two sittings because it just sucked me in and I couldn’t put it down.

I don’t usually gravitate towards horror but I was super intrigued by the premise and decided to give it a go - I am SO glad I did! I could not put this book down. I loved the characters, the ending, and the overall message. I felt like i was rooting for Anna from super early on in the book - Danielle Valentine did a really excellent job of capturing emotions. As a note, I would probably classify the genre of this book more as a psychological thriller than horror - but if you’re a fan of either, I completely recommend picking this up. Thank you to net galley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What an incredible book! I ate this book up and I didn’t want it to end. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

⭐️: 3/5
⚠️: Fertility Issues, Loss of Pregnancy, Explicit Language, Curses/Witchcraft, Stalking, Violence, Unstable Romantic Relationship, Cancer, Death, Stalking

*This book was received as an ARC. This review is voluntary.*

*Sighs* This book was underwhelming. I don’t know if it’s because I truly don’t care for any sort of pregnancy trope or if I expected so much more after reading How to Survive Your Murder. Obviously, this book was more for an adult audience, not a YA horror/thriller novel. However, I assumed the same nerve racking, book throwing, yelling at imaginary character vibes would follow suite in this novel. It was extremely well-written! Let’s not get that confused. The plot was solid, very few continuity issues. The characters are well developed and have their own flaws that make them believable. BUTTTTT…the FMC is just so…whiny. And, SPOILER, the infertility group was witches the whole time?!?! Lead with that! That would’ve made it so much more intriguing. All in all, pregnancy tropes just aren’t my thing. However, this is definitely written well and should be given a chance!

Word of advice: Do not start this book before you go to sleep or unless you have a good chunk of time available to devote to it, because believe me, you will not want to stop. Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine has rocketed up my list of favorite thriller reads of the year, thanks to its gripping narrative and unexpected plot twists that had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

The story follows actress Anna Alcott, who enjoyed a moderately successful career in her youth. Now in her late 30s, she is preparing to settle down with her new husband Dex to start a family, but unfortunately, infertility had other plans. After wrapping up work on her latest project, an indie film called The Auteur, Anna decides that the time has finally come to seek help at a fertility clinic, one that comes highly recommended by friends. However, during their latest round of IVF, The Auteur unexpectedly becomes a runaway hit, and suddenly, Anna is faced with the possibility of being nominated for an Oscar.

Years ago, the opportunity would have been a dream come true, but now Anna only has her sights on getting pregnant—and the obsession might even be starting to affect her senses. At first, it was the missed doctor appointments, though she could have sworn she entered the dates and times correctly into her calendar. Then came the misplaced bottles of medications crucial to her IVF cycles, almost as if someone was deliberately trying to sabotage her pregnancy journey.

Things only get worse when Anna eventually gets her positive test. One day, someone breaks into the house while she is sleeping, and creepy dolls are left on the beach where she frequently walks. As desperation mounts and the stress becomes more than she can take, Anna starts having terrible symptoms and can’t stop worrying about her baby’s safety even as she wonders if she might be losing her mind.

From the very beginning, I was seized by the uncomfortable truths of human reproduction. In my experience, most books for expectant mothers paint a halcyon, glowing picture of pregnancy (“Your baby is now the size of a sweet potato!”) while failing to depict that what happens between conception and birth is a harrowing process where so many things can go wrong. Heck, even trying to conceive can be a monumental struggle, as it was for Anna Alcott. In a true test of my squeamishness, the author does not shy away from any of the messy, painful details as she describes her protagonist’s experience with IVF and then, later, her experiences with a difficult pregnancy. For this reason, Delicate Condition has the potential to be a highly distressing read for someone who is pregnant, struggling with infertility, or has experienced miscarriage. Reader discretion is definitely advised.

Personally though, what set this book apart for me was its main character, whose every emotion came to life with depth and complexity. Even though I had relatively textbook pregnancies with my kids, as a naturally anxious person, I was paranoid and worried every day, and seeing those fears magnified a thousand times in Anna, my heart just broke for her.

The novel’s pacing was also an example of masterful balance and control, never letting up for a second while still being careful not to overwhelm the reader with too many developments. And while this book has been compared to Rosemary’s Baby, quite honestly, I feel the comparison is neither accurate nor fair. Delicate Condition certainly deserves to stand on its own since there are some elements it tackles differently, and other areas where it does things even better. Best of all, there was plenty of psychological depth to the horror and suspense, both of which increased gradually over the course of the story, building up to multiple revelations until the grand finale left me in a state of complete shock.

Finally, this isn’t actually my first book by the author, who has published YA titles under her name Danielle Vega. However, compared to the YA horror novel I’d previously read by her, which was rather run-of-the-mill and unadventurous, Delicate Condition is a whole other kind monster—a dark, vicious, and unrelenting one. At the same time, I loved the sophistication and boldness of the writing and narrative, and if this is what I can look forward to from the author’s adult fiction in the future, then sign me up for more.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!! 💖

4.5⭐️ Listen, I am the biggest Rosemary’s Baby fan and when I heard this book was coming out I was SO excited but also a bit scared. But wow did I love this!!

Some may think it’s too close to Rosemary’s Baby, but I disagree. This holds it’s own as the commentary on womanhood alone was so spot on! It’s fast paced. Strange stuff starts happening right off the bat. There are parts where it gets plain weird in the best way possible. Loved how everything shakes out. Also surprisingly enjoyed the inclusion and clips of other women’s stories throughout.

The suspense is there. Def a bit creepy. I literally said “wtf” out loud at one point it had me so shook!

Can’t wait to watch AHS!!

I love this authors young adult books. So when this one came up to read I jumped on that train so fast I didn't even pack a bag. However, once I started reading the book everything that I loved about her other stories just weren't there. For me this story was bland and somewhat confusing and well boring for the most part. I miss the dark and exciting tales she did for The Merciless and The Haunted. Where was this in this book I have no idea.

This book wasn’t what I was expecting — it was even better! First, I really liked the protagonist, Anna. She was the perfect mixture of vulnerable and resilient. I also thought the book was suspenseful from start to finish, and I really didn’t see any of the twists coming. Additionally, the ending felt unique to the horror genre. However, my favorite part of the story was the commentary on female medicine, and how our pain is often brushed aside or chalked up to hysteria. I recommend that everyone add this to their TBR right now!

Delicate Condition details the journey of Anna, an actress, and her husband, Dex, as they strive to conceive through in-vitro after experiencing infertility. Anna believes the doctors when they tell her she miscarried, but then she begins to believe that maybe she is still pregnant. Is she hallucinating or is she right, that something is happening inside her body that is both frightening and exciting? Mysterious happenings also confuse the situation, as she begins to think someone is out to harm her and her possible pregnancy. Woven into the story are stories throughout time of women in pregnancy, childbirth, loss, and after birth, with hints of mysteriousness as other women assist them in their times of need. I do think that if those stories had some conclusions for each, at the end of the story, this book would have been a 5 star for me. As a person who has experienced multiple, traumatic miscarriages, I was concerned about reading this book. However, the author wrote this from a place of experiencing loss and birth and the medical establishment's often dismissive reaction to women's real and often urgent concerns. Her observations are experienced by many, about motherhood being exciting but also a time of being out of control of what is happening inside your body (a little creature is in there moving!) as well as being unable oftentimes to control the situations medicine places on us also. It is also often a time without definitive answers and having to wait to find out the outcome. A book that kept me reading, with a satisfactory and interesting conclusion.

Anna's IVF is finally successful, but something is horribly wrong. It seems she has a stalker after some strange altercations, and her appointments are being changed without her knowledge.

Anna decides she needs to get away for a while, but unfortunately, her problems have followed her. When it seems as if she's lost the baby, Anna's symptoms worsen and become terrifying. What's wrong with the baby?

This book is crazy and truly frightening. Everything that Anna goes through is so vividly portrayed. I sincerely felt for her, especially when it seemed like no one believed her, and her fears were brushed aside.

There was so much tension all the way through. I couldn't put it down. I had to know what was happening.

Delicate Condition is a fantastic and cleverly crafted thriller. A perfect dark a twisty read for the upcoming spooky season.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Delicate Condition follows the story of Anna Alcott - an actress who is desperate to have a baby. As Anna goes through IVF treatments and pregnancy, she starts to have the feeling that there is something darker interfering with her attempts to have a child.
I got invested in the story rather quickly and devoured the rest of the book after that. It's a spooky read. It's an emotional read. It's a mystery. It's a work that challenges how women are treated - by the medical field and by others - throughout the process of pregnancy and fertility treatments. In short: I really loved this book.
Also, don't skip the Author's Note at the end of the book. It's definitely worth the read.

Thank you NetGalley for this advance reader copy, for my free and voluntary review. A great novel with just the right amount of suspense. I was enthralled from the start and couldn’t put this book down. Intense moments abound and a great ending!

This book was quite an experience! Incredibly suspenseful, perfectly paced and totally immersive, this one grabs you pretty quick and doesn't let go. This is going to be super triggering for anyone who has experienced problem pregnancies or miscarriages. There are some scenes here that are just incredibly harrowing. I had to take breaks just to take a breath! This is obviously an homage to Rosemary's Baby and that;s ok. It does a great job of updating a classic. The gaslighting was disturbing, and the characters were relatable, making this a terrifying read.