I loved everything about this book! It had such a bizarre quality about it, really interesting and at the same time it was really twisted. The basis of the story is a traumatic subject for many people and everything that surrounds the story comes right back to this trauma, it's a really unique exploration of the grief surrounding infertility and miscarriage, a spiralling nightmare and some of the more gruesome scenes are going to be staying with me for a long time!

Pregnancy has long been romanticized in popular culture, with decades of images of expectant mothers gliding happily through their days with little change outside of their wardrobe required of them. Recent media has gone some way towards showing the harsher reality of just how difficult the experience can be, but it still generally glosses over the worst parts. Not so in Delicate Condition, the adult debut by YA author Danielle Valentine. Here, she uses the trappings of a paranoid horror story to bring to light the myriad traumas women can experience at every step of the process of creating life, and the ways in which those charged with guiding them along the path can so thoughtlessly cast their concerns aside.

Struggling actress Anna Alcott hadn’t thought herself the type to want children until one day she found that she was. Of course, it takes more than a desire to be a mother to become one, and she has been struggling to conceive with her husband, Dex. Now suffering through rounds of IVF while also experiencing a late career breakthrough due to critical acclaim for her role in a small indie film, she begins to notice odd occurrences and suspicious people around her and can’t help but wonder if perhaps someone is trying to prevent her from giving birth. Of course, no one believes her, not even Dex, but she becomes more and more convinced that she’s right.

That Winter she heads into hiding at a friend’s home in the Hamptons, with her husband and new bodyguard in tow. While there, she suffers a traumatic miscarriage, the cause of which can’t be explained though a suspicious woman was inside the hospital before it occurred. Now despondent, Anna heads back into hiding, only to then feel symptoms that she might still be pregnant after all. Her situation becomes increasingly strange as she continues to be disbelieved, and she fights to determine what is happening to her and to her possibly still-present baby.

This is a harrowing read, that continually layers on the tension to almost unbearable levels. Those who’ve experienced pregnancy for themselves will likely find the book especially relatable, but many of us can understand the feeling of being dismissed despite knowing that something is wrong. This is easily one of the scarier novels I’ve read in some time while also a searing indictment of our current healthcare system, in particular in the ways it ignores women’s suffering. The author doesn’t pull any punches, so those with traumas around pregnancy should probably steer clear, but for everyone else this will easily rank as one of the best horror novels of the year.

Well done creepy factor. This story tugged on my heartstrings as a person who has experience with infertility and the desperation that one feels. It also has a creepy factor and does a great job of maintaining suspense right up to the end! Can't wait to see the screen version on AHS!

Wow.! This book went in a direction I never would have guessed. Completely engrossing, I had to know what was going to happen, couldn't put it down! I mean, it was weird, but I like weird. 😊

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

It took me quite a while to complete this book. I will say it is triggering for women with children. Graphic descriptions of pregnancy and others made even the toughest stomachs drop. I did enjoy the supernatural aspect of the novel as it progressed. I found myself questioning what was happening and never could predict the next event.

This face-paced novel had me on the edge of my seat! It's giving American Horror Story meets Twilight (Breaking Dawn) meets The Handmaids Tale. This is horror and suspense and great for fall!

I originally wanted to read this book because I heard the new season of “American Horror Story” was based off it. I was pleasantly surprised by seeing how much I enjoyed this one, considering the topic isn’t something I would usually be interested in. I thought it had just the right amount of realism and other elements (no spoilers).

I loved reading from Anna’s perspective. Seeing things through her eyes was very intriguing. Not knowing exactly what was happening as it was happening made the story so much more thrilling.

Overall I recommend reading this book as long as you read the trigger warning, because it does contain a lot of things that could potentially trigger people.

This played out like an eerie and twisted movie in my head, and I loved every second of it.

In this novel we are following the perspective of an expectant mother, Anna, and all the wildly effed up things that happen to her while she is pregnant? … Or is she pregnant?… Is her baby human or is it something much more sinister? WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING?!

I ate this book up (pun fully intended) ! Yes we toy with the whole “hysterical pregnant woman” stereotype but it is done so well. I did see one of the twists coming BUT expect the unexpected my friends.

I know this was inspired by Rosemary’s Baby and i’ve never read that book or seen the movie but now I feel like I HAVE TO. This is also being adapted into a series in the AHS franchise so I am super stoked to watch it when it comes out later this month.

Oh my, I’m so late on reviewing this here. I read this one a while back and it really captivated my attention! Such a good read!

Anna is desperate for a baby. Between managing her IVF treatments, her marriage, and her acting career, she finds herself juggling more than she can handle. Because despite her careful planning and meticulous calendar-keeping, things keep happening to her. Her appointments are missed, her medicine is left out of the refrigerator, and it seems she may have some creepy stalker spying on her from behind every corner. So is someone trying to interfere with her life and ensure a baby won't be in her future or is she just being mindless? Her and her husband escape to The Hamptons, hoping to retreat and focus on the baby and her pregnancy, where even more sinister things start happening. This was so much creepier than I was expecting! What I thought was an intriguing thriller with a mystery antagonist, quickly turned into a heartbreaking psychological horror story in which I had no idea what was real or who to believe. There's lots of controversial themes and topics revolving around women's healthcare, specifically gaslighting women and labelling them "crazy" rather than exploring their symptoms, among other women's issues. Anyways, this was a crazy wild ride and I'm grateful for the opportunity to read it! Thanks, NetGalley!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine!

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.