Griffith, Eric; Steele, Chandra (October 13, 2023). "Must Watch: The Most-Streamed TV Shows and Movies This Week". PCMag UK . Retrieved October 17, 2023. Anna and her husband, Dex, have been trying to have a baby, but so far, it hasn’t happened for them. Anna is an actress best known for a role from a couple decades ago, but her most recent film appearance has her looking at being an Oscar nominee. With her recently-regained fame, she wants to remain private about her struggles with conceiving. The paranoia Anna experiences is so well written. Where so many books in this genre play up to the unreliable female protagonist trope this book explores a woman who is frequently dismissed and disregarded as exactly that, but is she really?! Through the lens of women accessing healthcare; where they are often fobbed off, downplayed and ignored, this book explores the female experience of medical gaslighting in such a nuanced way. I felt it was totally relatable in that sense. Of course is it hyperbolised here, mingled in with some good old gothic horror and a bit of domestic thriller action but it says something bolder than the usual thriller.

Valentine intersperses random short chapters recounting horrendous birthing stories of fictional women from the 18th to the 21st centuries. I found this distracting, although the author made a good attempt at the end to provide a payoff for their inclusion. As the story unfolds, Anna grapples with a series of spine-tingling revelations, including her husband’s affair with Cora, the receptionist at the hospital where she underwent IVF treatment. Delicate Condition” is Danielle Valentine’s first novel geared towards adults. This book follows actress Anna Alcott through her IVF journey. Anna has been a mostly obscure actress until her newest movie becomes a hit. Now she must deal with the increased publicity on top of her fertility struggles. When Anna finally manages to get pregnant, she comes close to having a miscarriage. She knows that something is wrong when she starts experiencing increasingly bizarre symptoms, but it seems no one around her is listening, especially not her husband Dex. It appears Anna is being cursed, but by who….or what?

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Another scan reveals that she is in fact still pregnant and is delighted! However, there are some very strange going on's through her pregnancy and she has no idea who to trust. The book begins with some trigger warnings, and I think it's important to highlight that the book does focus on fertility issues and includes descriptions of miscarriage. But the book also brilliantly gives a platform for women to talk about the pain they experience in pregnancy and labour from all experiences. It is when Anna learns that her daughter’s birth was a result of a mystical intervention by the coven cult. Yet, there is a condition— she must convey Sobhian’s past memories to her daughter to ensure her healthy upbringing; failure to do so will result in Sobhian’s demise. I have also heard that the newest season of American Horror Story (coming this September) will be based on this book. I think this is going to be a wonderful adaptation, and I can see it being very successful based on the storyline, and the work the show has done in the past.

The Push meets The Silent Patient in a gripping thriller that follows a woman convinced a sinister figure is going to great lengths to make sure her pregnancy never happens―while the men in her life refuse to believe a word she says. Having known a few women who have undergone this procedure, and they have described it as “uncomfortable” at best, what Anna goes through certainly ranks as more than “uncomfortable.”

She’s happily married to Dexter, however the couple cannot conceive naturally, hence they’ve been undergoing IVF treatment for quite a while. I am utterly blown away by the intense feelings I experienced from reading this book! It was frighteningly compelling yet raw and visceral. It gave me the creeps but was so beautifully written. I was completely transfixed! All of Anna's grief and paranoia I felt like it was my own. I felt like I was going insane. It angers me how the physical and mental health of a woman was always downplayed and still is at times. We were just considered "hysterical". The author's note at the end was an added explanation and personal confession detailing this more. It broke my heart. Don't skip it! Fabulously original. A deeply unsettling read that plays on women's darkest fears of pregnancy." ―Gemma Rogers, author of The Secret Anna is desperate to have a baby. After gruelling IVF attempts and odd things happening, she feels someone is trying to make sure it doesn’t happen 🤔 Then she finally falls pregnant and that’s when everything becomes absolute CARNAGE! 😵‍💫😵‍💫 There is a lot that's being said behind the curtain, but most of all, Delicate Condition is a gripping mystery with many creepy and gruesome scenes that had me absolutely gripped. I had no idea how the story would play out, but I'm so glad that Valentine didn't take the easy way out with her explanations.

What a thrilling, visceral read. So dark, and very fast paced - Heather Darwent, author of THE THINGS WE DO TO OUR FRIENDS I don’t want to say what aspect of horror this is for spoiler purposes, but it’s not a horror sub-genre that I usually go for. With this book, I absolutely loved it. This book starts as a thriller, then crescendos into horror as the book goes on. It has really cool little stories from centuries ago interspersed, of women who have also been affected by Anna’s maladies, and that just added to the suspense. Exploring visceral themes of loss, medical misogyny and female power, The Push meets The Silent Patient in this spellbindingly dark thriller. It's a read-in-one-sitting spookfest with a good dose of horror alongside a fast, pacy thriller." Deborah Maclaren, LoveReading MD

The narrative deepens its intrigue as Anna discovers that her close friend, Sobhian, is also a member of the cult, shedding light on the peculiar red mark beneath her chin. JustWatch - US Top 10 Movies and TV Shows - 25th September - 1st October 2023". SpoilerTV. October 4, 2023 . Retrieved October 4, 2023. A propulsive modern update on classic horror with a clever ending that lets no one off the hook." ―Anne Heltzel, author of Just Like Mother When I first read the synopsis, I wanted to read this, but I also wondered if it was going to be cheesy. Saying a book is like “The Push” and “The Silent Patient” is a very bold statement to make. In this case, it’s also a very true statement! Add a little bit of “Nightbitch” and “Motherthing”, and we get this crazy, yet somehow beautiful, story…

OMG…this book started off as a good novel...read on, and it became a mystery and...keep reading, a little bit of horror and finally a wonderful psychological thriller. I would give this book a 4.5. Bookclubs will have much to discuss about the contents of this novel. Both a scathing indictment of the treatment of women by medical professionals and a breathless thriller, Delicate Condition paints an unyielding and heart-wrenching portrait of pregnancy that reaches like a clawed hand inside your chest. I could not put it down." I absolutely loved this book. I finished it in about two days. I loved the depth of personality the characters had. This novel also discusses how hard pregnancy can be for women throughout history, not just today. There’s a lot of gender discrimination when it comes to medical care between men and women, and this story was able to emphasize that in a creative way. Plus, the horror combined with the supernatural element made this story unique. I haven’t read anything quite like it. Not a nice story about being pregnant this one, oh no! This is truly horrifying, gripping and very gruesome in places. Does have a ring of Rosemary’s Baby to it very slightly! They had already been odd: missed appointments on calendar, drugs left out of fridge all things Anna knows she has done properly but know she swears she is being followed, their apartment is broken into so they involve the police

in a delicate condition

Seth, Radhika (July 21, 2023). "Kim Kardashian and Cara Delevingne Are Unrecognizable in the First Teaser for American Horror Story: Delicate". Vogue . Retrieved July 22, 2023. So many moments of that book, I’m just like, So, yeah, this was written by a dude,” she says. “Her feelings and emotions about her unborn child are always completely positive, completely motherly. And I think that that is an experience of motherhood. But I was really interested in the times when Anna is fully terrified by what’s inside of her. I felt that when I was pregnant—I wasn’t giving birth to a demon, but I definitely had complex emotions. I was afraid of losing my autonomy.” Rosemary, meanwhile, is “literally pregnant with the Antichrist, and she only is worried about his safety.” a b O'Connell, Mikey (April 10, 2023). "All the Details on Kim Kardashian Starring in 'American Horror Story' Season 12 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved April 10, 2023. Anna Alcott is an actor in her late thirties. Her latest film The Auteur was a huge hit, something that Anna has worked for her entire life.