Hooked on Books discussion

Members Starting the BR: Everest and Trisha
Challenge: The Plot List challenge
Book: Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine

Anyone is free to join in this Buddy Read! Happy Reading!

Do you have a desire to read at a certian pace? I'd like to finish by 1/18 if by all possible.

Yes! Sorry for my silence!! I've had a migraine on and off all week and reading has been a struggle. finally getting a little relief today!!

Yes, I typically break the book up in 4 sections - but this one is broken up into week segments so I planned to come back then!

I can probably read this book in a day - maybe 2 - so up to you on how fast we go!

Trisha wrote: "Yes! Sorry for my silence!! I've had a migraine on and off all week and reading has been a struggle. finally getting a little relief today!!

Yes, I typically break the book up in 4 sections - but ..."

No worries at all. It looks like it's 37 chapters? So what about 6 chapters a day until we're done.

through

Egg Retrieval & Embryo Transfer - 8 chapters

(view spoiler)[
Ugh, is it terrible but I really don't like her husband!! I feel like he's gaslighting her - I feel like he's messing with her appointment dates and is hiding his last relationship. I really hope he's not who is behind this internet account harassing her but. . .I worry. I feel like he's a jerk. . .

ugh lol (hide spoiler)]

through Week 15 - 11 chapters

(view spoiler)[
okay, so I'm struggling to like Anna. how does she struggle so hard with people and coming up with words and talking when she's an actor? and she does talk shows and chats with people all the time? I'm so confused.

I also have a tough time believing the police officer didn't take her seriously when her fame was just kicking back up. . .it seems obvious that she'd have people rage baiting and judging her. . .

anyway. . .I wonder who this girl is that crawled into bed with her? and who moved the date to her appointment?

I hate to think it's her husband and her agent working against her but. . .it's got to be someone close to her - that knows her passwords
(hide spoiler)]

Trisha wrote: "through

Egg Retrieval & Embryo Transfer - 8 chapters


Ugh, is it terrible but I really don't like her husband!! I feel like he's gaslighting her - I feel like he's messing with her appointment d..."


My "guess" is the publisher is behind the calendar. I've also developed a liken to Anna's friend (I forget her name, but the actress she's loved for a long time) I feel like the husband has been supportive so far, but it's sort of worrying going without drugs or alcohol fora week to get the sperm sample was difficult for him, haha. The online stalker is just annoying so far, I can't feel the fear yet. But we will see!

Yes! I really like the friend too!

through Week 16 - 18 chapters

(view spoiler)[
okay, still really don't like the husband lol

so now we know she didn't really lose the baby but something weird is happening. the broken/cracked ribs? Super unusual.
but what could/would someone be doing with babies?

her reaction to being pregnant - I'm finding really odd, too, but I think every woman handles it differently. . .but she seems manic - and almost absolutely unwell in how erratic and hyped up she is

and these other side stories - I'm still wondering how they all tie in.

and I agree, but I wonder which woman in her life is messing with her? because it feels like someone close and with access to her (hide spoiler)]

through Week 20 & 27 - 26 chapters

(view spoiler)[
OMG the teeth - the things she's seeing and her husband taking over her eating
I really hate to keep not believing him but I really think he's somehow wanting the baby but not her.
I wonder if the mutual friend - if he and she are working together. did they want the baby and not her?

(hide spoiler)]

through Week 35 - 32 chapters

(view spoiler)[
wow, so hubby was cheating! That he just moves on to the next girl until someone will give him a baby? What is wrong with this guy?

and WOW! the receptionist! Never even thought it was her and that she had access to the schedule.

and wow, now there's a cult tied to it? the rash, the cravings. it's all so odd but I wonder what's really going on. . .she's not birthing the antichrist, right? other women have definitely had babies so it shouldn't really be a . . . monster. Right? lol not the turn I thought the story would take!

(hide spoiler)]

and done!

(view spoiler)[
awe, I love that it was really a group of women (witches) that wanted to be more like a support system. Sure, the witchcraft stuff was a little odd but it was definitely better than believing she was birthing a demon!

I liked the ending and the explanations, the memories and the why's about the hard pregnancy
(hide spoiler)]

hey, I am so sorry I'm running behind! I have been so insanely sick but I promise I'll catch up

no worries at all!!! I hope you start feeling better! I had a horrible migraine for almost a week recently and wasn't reading either so I totally understand!

Trisha wrote: "through Week 16 - 18 chapters


okay, still really don't like the husband lol

so now we know she didn't really lose the baby but something weird is happening. the broken/cracked ribs? Super unusua..."

i'm sort of sad the nurse wasn't supposed to be there, she seemed like she was giving her hope, which she needed. also, the doll was incredibly creepy! even if it was the stalker doing it, planning that just so and making sure it wouldn't float away is scary. what's the point too? not even to hurt her, just to scare her. scary! this is almost too realistic so far- no one belives in the mother

I picked this up last night and am now at 47%. I don't trust anyone in Anna's life.

(view spoiler)[In the beginning it felt like anyone could be trying to sabotage her pregnancy. I was even thinking Dex, even though he seemed to want the pregnancy. If he's not trying to harm her that way, I thought then and I still do that he's hiding something.

She's so wrapped up in getting pregnant and then the events that follow to this point to even take the time to analyze the signs: immediately putting his phone down when she walks in the room, leaving for long stretches of time on errands that don't usually take that long, etc...

Hell, even her doctors don't listen to her. This is a clear of someone who needs an advocate because she doesn't seem to be able to do that for herself. And it's not just the male doctors. When she calls Dr. Hill she's condescending as hell.

The only person who appears to have her back is Siobhan, but she's going through her own sh*t.

I really want Anna to grow a pair and dump Dex and her doctors.

I'm curious to learn how all of the things that are happening to her are going to piece together. At this point I feel like her manager/agent/publicist or whatever she is has something to do with some of it, if not all. I started thinking that when hearing that Anna is basically her last client, although that hasn't been confirmed, if it is true she'd probably be desperate to keep her, and things would most likely slow down if Anna was successfully pregnant and then became a mother.

Her desperation would fit right in with one of the themes in the novel: Women's desperation. (hide spoiler)]

Reading some of the comments and I see we all had similar views about Dex.

In the dictionary by his name is a picture of a Red Flag.

At 77% the beginning of chapter 30. (view spoiler)[ I should have read some of the other comments because I wasn't expecting things to be so graphic while I was snacking.

I'm getting so feed up with the people in her life not listening to her, even if she's hallucinating, someone should be talking about that to see if they can find out why it's happening. I thought the bodyguard was taking her seriously, but with the last encounter it started to fill like he was humoring her.

At this point, I still believe that Dex is hiding something, and I'm going to be pissed if that thread is left open. We need some type of resolution to explain his odd behavior by the time this novel ends. No matter if it's good or foul.

So basically, were still waiting to find out Meg's identity, what Dex is hiding, who was trying to sabotage the pregnancy, and is she having a human or something else. (hide spoiler)]

Trisha wrote: "through Week 20 & 27 - 26 chapters


OMG the teeth - the things she's seeing and her husband taking over her eating
I really hate to keep not believing him but I really think he's somehow wanting t..."

I've definitely been feeling this. He hasn't acted like a husband since we meet him.

The end. (view spoiler)[I'm sorry, but I don't believe those people were just trying to help Anna it all felt predatory. Then to have her turn around and do the same to someone else years later. No.

Not surprised at all about what Dex had been hiding. We already knew he was jackass. I think the author let him get off too easy by killing him off. (hide spoiler)]