No Child of Mine by Nichelle Giraldes | Dark Fiction Review

The one that nearly fell through the cracks . . .

My 2 Cents for Free!

No Child of Mine by Nichelle Giraldes

Released September 2023

Source: Netgalley

See more @ Goodreads

This is a very late review (sorry author, publisher & Netgalley) because I needed a long break from arc reviews. I’m not sure what drew me to this title two years ago but it was probably the haunting cover. It looks pretty spooky but that baby carriage and the blurb should’ve clued me in.

The story is pretty much as the blurb promises. A pregnancy drama with spooky overtones but unfortunately for me it was heavier on the pregnancy drama than the spooky and probably because of that it really dragged in spots.

There are two timelines featuring two different couples and for nearly the entire book I had no idea how they tied together. It was a little jarring as they switched back and forth with little tying them together but eventually everything came together. I can’t say it all worked for me but I didn’t hate it. I wanted to stay stuck in the past storyline featuring a love story between two women who were forced to marry men they could never love but the bulk of the story follows modern day couple Sanjay and Essie as they work their way through a difficult pregnancy as whispers call to them from the attic. And then there’s some kind of Practical Magic curse that hangs over everything. I did kind of lose patience with it all after a while.

And now that I’m finished can someone please tell why the table kept moving? Was that ever explained or did I miss it? Was it just thrown in there to be spooky because if so I am going to be irritated but if it was explained I must’ve sleep-read that part and it’s niggling at me.

If you enjoy a pregnancy drama and all of the horrors that entails this one may be meant for you. I needed a little more darkness than what this offered so I’m giving it a three.

Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Publisher Plot Synopsis 

There's something in the dark. And it's starting to whisper...

Essie Kaur has defined herself by her ambitions, a fiercely independent woman whose only soft spot is her husband, Sanjay. She never imagined herself as a mother. It was never a part of the plan. But then she finds out she's pregnant. As her difficult pregnancy transforms her body and life into something she barely recognizes, her husband spends the nights pacing in the attic, slowly becoming a stranger, and the house begins to whisper.

As Essie's pregnancy progresses, both her and Sanjay's lives are warped by a curse that has haunted her family for generations, leaving a string of fatherless daughters in its wake. When she's put on bedrest, Essie trades the last aspects of her carefully planned life for isolation in what should be a welcoming home, but she isn't alone. There's something here that means to take everything from her…