DELICATE CONDITION by Danielle Valentine – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine
Published by Sourcebooks Landmark on August 1 2023
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A dark, twisty tale about pregnancy, with horrors both real and imagined, Delicate Condition should be on every thriller fan’s TBR.

“My favorite superstition is the one that says more women deliver during a full moon than at any other time of the month. Transforming into mothers instead of wolves. Howling like wild things.”

Delicate Condition lived up to—and even surpassed—my expectations, I’m happy to say. This is an excellent psychological thriller with an unexpected twist at the end, but I do have a few trigger warnings before I start this review. The story is about one woman’s journey to becoming a mother, but this isn’t a sweet, rosy version of pregnancy at all. There is one extremely harrowing miscarriage scene that will definitely be a trigger for some readers (it was tough for me to read and I have (thankfully) never experienced it), as well as graphic descriptions of IVF procedures, extreme pregnancy symptoms and an unflinching look at the main character’s mental state during her traumatic experience. If you are currently pregnant, I would think twice before picking up this book.

Anna Alcott is an actress, at one time best known for her role on a teen TV show called Spellbound. Her career has stalled since then, but she’s suddenly in the spotlight again, due to her critically acclaimed role in an indie movie called The Auteur. Anna and her husband Dex are also deep into IVF procedures, as they having been trying for years to get pregnant. They’re about to start a new round, since it didn’t work the last time, but with a possible Oscar nomination on the horizon for her work in The Auteur, Anna is starting to feel the stress.

Anna is thrilled when the latest procedure results in a pregnancy, and she can finally see her dream of motherhood becoming a reality. But strange things are happening. Anna keeps seeing a woman in a baseball cap hanging around, wherever she goes. She’s missing appointments, even though she’s meticulous about her schedule. And when her phone is hacked and weird warning messages appear on her calendar, Anna is certain that someone is trying to sabotage her pregnancy. She and Dex have temporarily moved into her friend Talia’s Hamptons estate and hired a full time bodyguard to protect Anna, but she’s convinced that someone is out to get her. Anna’s paranoia grows and it becomes impossible to trust anyone: her doctor, Talia, and even Dex. Will she survive her pregnancy? Or is something sinister going on?

I’m trying to keep the recap short and vague since I don’t want to spoil the story for you, but trust me, a lot more happens in Delicate Condition. Valentine does a brilliant job of slowly ramping up the tension, starting with small things that unsettle the reader, and gradually building up to a series of terrifying events that will have you scrambling to get to the end of the book. Half the fun is trying to decide what’s real and what isn’t. Anna is seeing things that other people aren’t, and after a while she begins to wonder if someone is gaslighting her. Her doctor tells her that most of what’s happening to her is normal—hair falling out, weird dreams, and bruised ribs—but Anna doesn’t believe her. (Surely a pregnant woman shouldn’t be craving the dead raccoon she finds in the swimming pool??) Valentine brings in elements like Satanic cults, witches and other things that might explain what Anna is going through, but the author is very crafty at misleading her readers, so don’t take anything at face value. The book is being compared to Rosemary’s Baby, and while there are some elements that reminded me of that story (Dex forcing Anna to drink disgusting milkshakes, for example!), Valentine’s story ends up being much different.

And while the supernatural horror elements are scary, I was surprised to find the more horrifying parts of the story to be those that revolved around Anna’s pregnancy and her attempts to conceive. Valentine brings all the known horrors of pregnancy to the table and twists them to fit her story, but the attitudes depicted here of men and doctors toward pregnant women seem based in truth. Anna endures such things as excruciating pain and unusual symptoms, yet everyone around her dismisses that pain and calls it “normal.” The author includes short chapters from different women’s points of view, going as far back as the 1700s, that not only explain what’s happening to Anna later in the story, but show how nothing has really changed when it comes to pregnancy and childbirth. She also writes an impassioned Author’s Note at the end that describes how personal the story is for her. She’s clearly done a lot of research on the subject, for example how women are typically given less pain medication than men, and even mentions the word “hysteria” and how it’s applied to women (as in “hysterical pregnancy”) Any woman reading this story who has been through pregnancy and childbirth (or miscarriage) will relate to the indignities of healthcare and outdated attitudes that Valentine portrays so perfectly.

Ultimately, this is a multilayered story that not only made me more aware of women’s healthcare issues, but shocked me with its twists and turns. Nothing is as it seems, and the author has lots of surprises in store. I absolutely loved the ending, probably because it wasn’t anything I would have come up with myself, and I thought it was a perfect way to resolve Anna’s terrifying experience. The upcoming season of American Horror Story (called Delicate) is actually based on this book, so I’ll be very curious to see how it compares. If you’re a fan of thrilling psychological horror, you do not want to miss this book. This is definitely one of the best thrillers I’ve read so far this year!

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.