The Dark Unforgettable Story of Nurse Nancy and Pregnant Patient Ginny in Unwell by Effie Campbell

Unwell by Effie Campbell

Releasing 26th October 2025

Unwell is another book in the Wellard Asylum series, which is a shared world consisting of 13 books by 13 different authors.

I have read 3 of them so far; this is my fourth one.

This book follows Nurse Nancy, who becomes obsessed with a new patient Ginny who is brought to the asylum by her mother. Ginny is 19 and heavily pregnant. Nurse Nancy looks after Ginny, doing everything she can to protect her and her unborn baby.

Check your trigger warnings before diving into this book!

⚫️Mind Games ⚫️Horror ⚫️Plot Twists ⚫️Asylum ⚫️Depraved Staff ⚫️Psychological

🔴Violence and Gore 🔴Sexual Violence and abuse 🔴Maternal Horror 🔴Pyshological trauma and institutional abuse 🔴Self-harm and mental health struggles 🔴Graphic depictions of murder 🔴Animal Cruelty 🔴Child death/infanticide 🔴Blood, gore, and bodily fluids 🔴Sexual assualt of adults 🔴Sexual assault of minors 🔴incest 🔴Sexual coercion 🔴Sexual violence 🔴Forced Pregnancy 🔴Traumatic Childbirth 🔴Infant Death 🔴Gaslighting 🔴Mental Illness 🔴Lobotomy 🔴Obsession 🔴Neglect and cruelty 🔴Emotional Manipulation

I don’t have any triggers; this book didn’t trigger me, but it did hit home a little. Nancy has tried for years to have a baby, but she has had many miscarriages; she wants nothing more than to become a mother. I know that feeling. I am unable to have children, and it is a hard thing to live with. People throw out the whole you can adopt thing, and I would love to adopt or foster, but right now, I am not in a position to do so. I need to get a bigger house, and I am trying. What people don’t seem to realise, though, is that craving to be pregnant, to feel your body growing a tiny human, to feel them move and to cradle and protect them while they are inside you. This is something Nancy struggled with also; she looked at Ginny and she cared for her, but she envied her also. She envied the way her boobs leaked milk, the way she cradled her bump. I understood Nancy’s emotions.

This book had like 3 twists that I was not expecting. I go into most books blind, but even had I read the blurb, I wouldn’t have expected these twists. I was mindblown by them, I was literally lying in bed reading, and when I finished, I just lay there staring at the ceiling thinking…what the fuck. I couldn’t get the book out of my head. I ended up getting up and watching TV for a while. This book was spinning round in my head. It’s been a while since a book has planted its feet in my head and left me sitting there replaying it over and over, but that’s exactly what this book did.

I understood Nancy’s emotions about wanting a baby, but I hate her actions at the end. I also felt for Ginny throughout the whole book until near the end, and I hated her so much. I cried.
I’m not sure if it was just me, but I ended up reading Ginny’s chapters in an American southern accent, which gave me old southern vibes lol.

This is the first book I have read by Effie Campbell. I am looking forward to reading more from her. I felt like I was in the asylum with them; I felt like I could feel eyes watching me, smell the rot of the asylum. It was written very well. I would recommend reading, but read your triggers!!!! Even if you normally go in blind like me, this book has some difficult to stomach scenes.

Thank you, Effie, for the ARC

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