I have to be honest.... I requested thos book because I had begun watching the AHS season (kind of) based on this book. That said, I definitely found the book much more interesting. I appreciated the obvious social commentary, as well as the mix of horror and exploration of grief, resentment, etc. I really, really enjoyed this book, and have been recommending it like crazy. Can't wait to see what she writes next.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this book but was pleasantly surprised! The story follows a woman and her husband who have been doing IVF, desperate for a baby of their own. Lots of chaos and madness ensues that will leave you questioning everyone and everything. It took me a while to figure out if she was an unreliable narrator or if something much more sinister was at play. Fair warning, it does venture into witchcraft and science fiction, just in case that’s a trigger or not your thing.

"Delicate Condition" by Danielle Valentine is an absolute must-read for fans of suspenseful and chilling narratives. A contemporary twist on "Rosemary's Baby," the storytelling is superb, with writing that flows effortlessly, making it an engrossing page-turner. The enigmatic mystery surrounding the main character's experiences is expertly woven into the narrative, keeping you on the edge of your seat and hungry for more.

“Nearly everyone on this planet was welcomed by the sounds of a woman screaming.”

Delicate Condition is being marketed as a feminst Rosemary’s Baby, and I can see why. But at an author event, Danielle Valentine said she liked to think about it more like what if Alien was about pregnancy? And I think that’s a wayyyyyyyyy better way of describing what unfolds.

The horrors creeps out very slowly, making them feel even more sinister. It feels like a traditional thriller until it isn’t. But as these horror elements build up, you’re confronted with the very real life horrors of the medical system and how it treats women.

Our MC Anna fights tooth and nail to get people to listen to her about what her body is doing. But time and time again she’s shut down by her husband, friends, and doctors. It’s infuriating as hell and what’s even more heartbreaking is seeing how this treatment has persisted over the years through various chapters in different POV that also slowly hint at what could be going on.

If I’d had the time I could’ve binged this in a couple sittings. I was eager to find out what was going on and who I could’ve trusted the entire time and who I couldn’t. It’s very easy to see why AHS picked this to base their season off of. It’s dark, culty, and a great addition to the good for her category.

This book was really good. What started out as a psychological thriller eventually morphed into a gruesome horror story. As someone who had three kids, the creepiness struck deep, and as someone who has been a doula for individuals going through IVF, the details are spot on. Definitely check trigger warnings! This story will not be suitable for all, but if you can get past them I highly recommend it! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

The premise of this one was intriguing and I loved this author’s YA horror series, so I was definitely hyped for this book. I think this is the author’s first adult horror novel and I thought this book was pretty good and creepy. There are many triggers in this one, so be sure to look them up before reading.

This book was interesting but it took me forever to get through. I felt like the pacing was a little slow and didn’t really pick up until the end of the book. I love the author’s writing though so I’ll definitely be reading more from her.

3.5 stars

A terrifying horror novel about one woman's pregnancy. Anna is willing to do anything to conceive. She and her husband have already tried IVF several times, and this one seems like it might be their last chance. Of course, just as the pregnancy progresses, Anna's most recent acting role catapults her into the limelight. At the same time, strange things start happening involving the pregnancy. Does Anna have a stalker, one who is trying to stop this pregnancy? Or is it something even more sinister? Anna knows something is wrong, but she keeps getting written off as a hysterical woman. Will Anna be able to find the truth and survive this pregnancy?

This was quite scary. Not sure it was the best choice at my current stage in life, (trying to conceive)... At every turn, Anna is discredited. There are still so many unknowns with pregnancy. It seems like every experience is different, and even if you think something is wrong, you may not be believed. So that's scary in a realistic way, never mind the true horror elements that begin ramping up as the story progresses. There were a lot of unexpected twists and turns, and only one that I really saw coming. It's dark and emotional. Anna is a relatable protagonist who you truly feel for. Worth the read as long as you're prepared for some dark and creepy content.

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

Delicate Condition is a book that was already on my TBR, but when I learned that the new season of American Horror Story was based on it I knew I wanted to read it sooner rather than later. I’m so glad I did because this exceeded my expectations in more ways than one.

This novel delves deep into the themes of pregnancy, motherhood, and the complex landscape of navigating women's healthcare. The insightful social commentary added a layer of depth to the narrative, and I found myself completely engrossed in the story.

What truly sets this book apart is its spine-chilling portrayal of pregnancy loss and the entire pregnancy experience. The inherent vulnerability and stress that come with being pregnant are explored in a manner meant to send shivers down the reader’s spine, with elements of horror and tension reminiscent of Rosemary’s Baby. The notion of an otherworldly presence growing within a woman's womb became truly terrifying.

The main character Anna and her husband Dex stood out as they navigated the challenges of their IVF journey, serving as a commendable example of a couple facing these trials. While the supporting characters were decent, I hoped for more character exploration and a sinister twist in the final plot. Nevertheless, I appreciated how Valentine wrapped up the story. It was different from my expectations but ultimately satisfying.

While this may not be the most hair-raising horror novel, its thought-provoking messages make it a compelling read. I would recommend this book with the caveat that readers should be aware of potentially triggering content.

I loved this one! This one is in my opinion super graphic when it comes to miscarriage but I feel like as long as you know it going in you should be ok. Loved that I didn’t know who to trust or what to believe.

Rounded up from 3.5.
I'm not sure what to say about this book. It was definitely creepy and wild. I went into it expecting a thriller, in my opinion it's more horror than thriller. With that said, I also couldn't put it down. I just had to find out what in the world was going on. It did not disappoint. Just wow.
Thanks to netgalley the publisher and author for the chance to read this advanced copy.

Anna Alcott is desperate to become a mother. She went to great lengths to have a baby. Finally after months of intro fertilization she becomes pregnant. Someone behind the scenes is doing everything to make the pregnancy result in a miscarriage. Anna suffers a miscarriage but later begins to have pain and feel movement. People think she is losing her mind but in the end she delivers a healthy baby. This book will have you on the edge of your seat.

I think there’s a direct correlation between my reading of this book and my increased stress levels.

From the beginning, this book established a dark intensity that had me genuinely scared for what was to come.
If I had to choose one word to describe the majority of this book it would be: Gaslighting. From the beginning Anna is ignored and talked down to, and then the people around her try ti convince her that her experience is not right, not the way it is. The book spends a very long time (maybe too long?) on medical gaslighting, never believing her even when physical signs are obvious.
One strong element of this story is its ability to make you question everything. Who can be trusted? Who is on Anna’s side and who is working against her? What is really happening to her? Are her own memories real or are they hallucinations? It’s a mind game that she won’t fully understand until the very end. But that ending is dramatic and eye opening.

Danielle Valentine warned readers that this could be difficult for people who ever plan on having children in the future, but I am happy to say that it has not totally scarred me. Although a warning is wise as this book covers a multitude of bodily horrors involving pregnancy and childbirth.

Anna Viktoria Alcott has been striving for success as an actress for over twenty years and now that she has been going through IVF treatments stardom is finally in her reach, but so is motherhood and at thirty-nine she knows her body cannot afford to wait any longer if she wishes to conceive and Anna has already had two unsuccessful attempts with IVF so the time must be now and they are very difficult and painful procedures plus being nerve wracking waiting to see if they work.

Soon, Anna finds someone hacked her phone and calendar disrupting her schedules and dr. appointments, then someone breaks into her apartment moving things around and she also spots someone following her whenever she goes out! Her husband (Dex) downplays her fears and says it's paranoia probably a side effect of the strong hormones she's taking. When Anna finally becomes pregnant she begins to experience bizarre cravings and hallucinations that seem so real she's unsure that they are really visions and not truly happening to her. Also, she has such tremendous pain at times and the doctor (one of the US top leading infertility specialists) informs her a little discomfort is normal in pregnancy but she feels like something is tearing her insides apart at times and the doctor just seems to blow her off and tell her to be a good little pregnant woman and eat well, exercise and get plenty of rest (every time she reports her horrid experiences).

Anna feels lost and alone but she will do everything in her power to protect this baby within her and as time goes on she knows right from the beginning that someone doesn't want this baby born. (but who and why?) Anna's symptoms continue to worsen, the visions are getting violent and the cravings are savage and gruesome and she just might be indulging in these cravings so she can't even trust herself anymore! Will she ever make it to the end of her pregnancy? Will she find out who has been stalking her from the beginning? Is her doctor involved in a conspiracy to take her baby? Can she even trust her best friend or publicist anymore? What about her husband? What role does he play in all of this? Regardless, Anna will die before anyone tries to stop her from having her baby even if there is something very, very wrong with this child inside of her because sometimes she thinks it might not be altogether human but it doesn't matter because it is Anna's baby and it will be born!


First, I have to say "I loved This Book"! In many ways some might think this is reminiscent of " Rosemary's Baby" and it does have those vibes at time in a much current, updated version although there are many twists to this wonderfully blunt and gruesome (at times) story that are completely unique to the writer "Danielle Valentine". I enjoyed everything about this novel. The storytelling and writing just flowed from one situation to another and the tension of not knowing what was really happening with Anna drove me crazy where I couldn't put the book down. This was a truly frightening story with brutal savagery and eerie, creepiness taking place from beginning to end. The feminist touch was wonderful and I believe many women will be able to relate to many of her experiences as doctors who have downplayed any of our own troubling symptoms when we felt there was something not right with our pregnancies and symptoms and would just brush us off without giving us anything for our pain or concise answers to our questions. I, for one know well that happened to me with one of my pregnancies and also the birth of my beautiful daughter but I felt I was truly butchered at the time and His response: "These things sometimes happen so just do as I say and don't worry about it". The ending also had an exciting and unexpected twist. There was not one dull or boring part to this fantastic book. I can't wait to read more from this author!

While watching AHS " Delicate" I am enthralled so far how the show is following the book although I'm sure it will probably take it's own horrific spin in a few more episodes! I highly recommend not missing out on this crazy, good book!

Warning! If you are pregnant right now or planning to become pregnant this might not be the time to read this horror story because it just might influence your thinking or possibly give you non-stop nightmares!


I want to thank the author " Danielle Valentine", the publisher "Sourcebooks Landmark" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this
fabulous horror story and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given rating of 5 HORRIFYING AND SAVAGE 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!

This was trippy. I loved the multiple view points woven throughout of the other women and their experiences. Anna was a well fleshed character, and while I’ve never been pregnant I felt like the descriptions given of her different symptoms and behaviors were spot on- to a certain point. We have to suspend some disbelief, but I was both appalled and intrigued as I read. Women’s bodies are a marvel. Reading this was like watching someone slide into madness while also knowing they’re not mad to begin with. Definitely needs a re read as there were so many layers. Also so excited to see this was adapted for American Horror Story! While reading it felt like so many scenes were so cinematic.

This book was absolutely a fantastic and creepy book and was such an easy read! I loved how it blended the real world with paranormal forces and all of this mixed with horror. My favorite part of this book was the overall creepiness. I didn’t know who to pin as a good person and who wasn’t. The more the narrator was affected by delusions and paranoia, the harder it became to trust her either. I felt as if that was an interesting twist to the plot.

If you are a fan of American Horror Story, then you will love this book! After all, the new season is based on it!

This was a quick and twisty read, and I never knew which characters I could trust. I definitely got some Rosemary's Baby vibes while reading this one! It was a dark and pretty weird story, and I really enjoyed it!

TW: Infertility and miscarriage

Thank you @netgalley, @bookmarked and the author for the gifted earc of this book!

TW: Language, infertility, cancer, death of parent, miscarriages, mention of abortion, cheating, gaslighting, toxic relationships, gory scenes, animal deaths, death of spouse

***SPOILERS***
About the book:
Anna Alcott is desperate to be pregnant. But as she tries to balance her increasingly public life with a grueling IVF journey, she starts to suspect that someone is going to great lengths to make sure 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.
Release Date: August 1st, 2023
Genre: Horror
Pages: 432
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Love the cover
2. Writing style is good
3. The idea of the book

What I Didn't Like:
1. The tone
2. I've already read this
3. Did not get the vibes of The Push from this book
4. Ending was unimaginative

Overall Thoughts:
I was pretty nervous starting this book because it's being compared to The Push - I HATED that book. In the end I choose to just give it a try and maybe it would be more like Rosemary's Baby.

I never trust husbands when it comes to these books.

I think it's so interesting the things people are willing to go through to have a child of their own. No judgement but some of the stuff seems so extreme. I think its so odd that when Anna is asked why she goes through everything for a child it's not even an option to maybe adopt a child. I know there are issues surrounding adoption but like she makes out like there is only a) have a biological child or b) live with her husband and dogs - no in between. Is this what people really think when they can't have kids?

So one of my pet peeve in books is women that don't eat. They go days and days and keep forgetting to eat. This book also does that. It's been days since she ate and when she ate it was just some cookies. So skip to her going outside and smelling food and she says "I was actually hungry." Like it's so insane to think you'd be hungry after not eating for so long. It makes me feel like authors are encouraging women to have eating disorders and starving yourself is so normal.

Sigh. It's following Rosemary's Baby with the drinks and someone in her apartment.

Didn't understand the point of the different storylines from different time periods. What was the reason of them other than telling us that women have struggled to have children and even not have kids.

What what what Dax was cheating.... Seriously well yeah he was. Anna being the last person to know this.

I thought this was a horror? It's feeling more like a thriller.

Has this author never gave birth? You don't get to turn off the pain. She's able to do so much in the middle of her contractions. It's not just pain every so often.

The ending was very lackluster. Very underwhelming. The witches weren't trying to harm her they wanted her to get pregnant and join their coven. They just went about everything in the most questionable ways.

Final Thoughts:
The book wasn't bad. It just honestly made me want to reread Rosemary's Baby. That's a masterpiece.

This book is just meh. Rosemary's Baby makes you feel frantic and so exhausted for her. There's a tone that makes you feel so hopeless and helpless. This book does not give you that. This book is just existing. I never felt on the edge of my seat scared for Anna and frustrated about what was happening to her.

Recommend For:
• Fans of witches

IG | Blog

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Full disclosure, I’ve read many of Danielle Valentine’s YA novels (under the name Danielle Vega), her Merciless series being one of the most popular ones. So, I was curious what this author would do in an adult horror novel. I also was curious to read this because the new season of American Horror Story, a series that I really love and watch every year, is going to be based off of this book – and I wanted to read the book prior to viewing the series.

This book explores many things that deal with womanhood and motherhood, and the craziest thing is that what one would think are the horror elements, aren’t really as terrifying as the true elements of the novel. I think I was more horrified by the amount of physical pain and stress the protagonist submitted to during the IVF treatments than when she began having strange cravings (and when I say strange – the cravings are pretty brutal). The men in this novel are mostly trash – so it’s no surprise that they didn’t take any of Anna’s concerns about her body seriously.

This novel is full of twists and turns, and I liked the direction it went rather than going for the tired trope of “evil baby.” I am very curious to see how this book will be adapted in AHS: Delicate and hope that they keep Valentine’s powerful message.

I recommend this book to those who love feminist horror novels that subvert genre expectations.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

If you go into this book knowing it is not scary and not a horror in any way, you may not be as disappointed as I was. Knowing this was being developed for American Horror Story, I thought it would be pretty creepy. Boy, was I wrong. The book was well written but I would describe it as a domestic thriller at best. Married couple Anna and Dex are desperate for a baby and are currently undergoing IVF treatments. Weird things start happening to Anna. Is she being stalked? Is she having a breakdown? All questions are answered by the end. Overall, I was pretty disappointed in this one.

I love Danielle Valentine writing as Danielle Vega. The Merciless series is one of my top YA horror recommendations. This, however, didn't quite hit the mark for me. Perhaps because it was so hyped up as the new AHS season's basis. That truly took away from the experience for me, which is no fault of the author's. Overall I found it a little unbelievable and long-winded. When people start touting it as a feminist updating of Rosemary's Baby, I guess I just expected more.