This one was wild ride. I really enjoy stories about mother's dealing with post partum & finding some similarities to my experiences. I thought this was going to be more about that but it turned more towards generational trauma that was passed down & reciprocated in her own daughter. It just had a lot going on & I think it could have been fleshed out a bit more.

Thea is a mother of three and her newest baby, Lucia, arrives with a mouth full of teeth, a bottomless hunger, and an unsettling sense that she is not like other children. What unfolds is not only a horror story about a child who feels monstrous but also a study of Thea’s own fears, guilt, and the painful memories of her upbringing.

Rachel Eve Moulton builds the dread slowly. Little details pile up until ordinary life feels uncanny and threatening. Thea’s voice is sharp and honest, and while she is not always easy to like, she is impossible to look away from. The book shines in how it links the terror of raising a child you cannot understand with the deeper terror of carrying forward what was broken in your own childhood.

Tantrum is unsettling, fierce, and often darkly funny. It uses the idea of a monster baby to ask harder questions about motherhood, trauma, and what we inherit without choice.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGally and the publishers for an ARC of this short weird story. I really enjoyed this authors writing style but I had just got finished with another book that was similar vibes that I had found myself comparing them and that’s not fair. So I will say if you like books about exploring female rage and motherhood check this one out!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I think this book resonated with me more than I was expecting it to. I do not have a child (or plan to), but I understand the relationship that Thea had with her mother. So many of the things said between the two of them really broke my heart, as someone who has heard similar things from a woman who was supposed to love and protect me. While the circumstances weren't the same as me and Thea, the overall lack of bond between mother and daughter was extremely accurate.

The rest of this story was mostly about recognizing the toxicity of the relationship, seeing it in yourself, learning from it, and breaking the generational trauma. While I don't have a child, I can see the power of the awareness and trying to change yourself, so you don't repeat the same mistakes of your toxic parent. It's all about improving yourself, which I think was a beautiful message.

With all that being said, I think this is one of my top books for 2025 that I've read, solely because of how much it resonated with me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing me with an eARC of Tantrum in exchange for my honest review!

To put it bluntly, dysfunctional family shit can be such an aggravating and traumatizing challenge, and we certainly get a whole ton of that baggage in this squirm-inducing and grimly funny tale. Just the basic foundation of Thea's newborn Lucia showing off these monstrous facets of herself makes for an over-the-top element that gets me going, "What the hell?"—both in regard to how unnerving that is to think about and how outlandish it is to the point that it elicits laughter from me. Then we use this foundation to dig deeper into the feminine rage festering within this family dynamic, which forces Thea to examine not only Lucia and the relationship shared between the two of them, but also the relationship that Thea has with her own mother—a human being who, to word it lightly, isn't every endearing. No, no, she isn't. Even if reading this novella leaves me feeling like I've seen its tropes and themes countless times already, it remains successful at drawing me into Thea's small world and fleshing it out on psychological and emotional levels that help me connect with her perspective more deeply. I'm curious how a longer version of this would have turned out, but I think I'm all right with the concise path that this chooses. I do wonder if we could have given the very ending more time to breathe, though, but it's still satisfying enough.

All in all, I'm officially rating Tantrum 3.75 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding up to 4 stars. I'll keep more of Rachel Eve Moulton's work in mind.

4 1/2 ⭐️

This book was one thing at the beginning and then it was something entirely different… And I didn’t hate it. This is an incredibly powerful way of looking at and dealing with trauma. The author has a great sarcastic sense of humor that I enjoyed, especially at the beginning. But she does get into some real shit and the way she does is definitely unique. I don’t think I’ve read a book like this before. It definitely did not go the direction I thought it was going to go. I think the cover is slightly misleading and I wouldn’t have chosen that particular artwork for what this book is. I don’t think it does it justice.
It is horror, there are monsters, but it’s all a metaphor for the real horror and the real monsters: narcissists, child predators, generational trauma. There’s a lot here.
It’s a quick read with a big impact and I highly recommend!

***Thank you NetGalley, Rachel Eve Moulton, and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.***

A mother discovers her third child, and only daughter's, demonic tendencies.

Uhhh, what the Hell did I just read? As someone who has intense vorarephobia, I was absolutely repulsed. As someone who loves a good toxic mother-daughter story, I was intrigued. I guess this three star rating meets the two right in the middle?

Kids ARE scary

I just don't think books about motherhood (as someone who is not a mother with no desire to be) and that's ok! We're following a mom who is on her third kid, and first daughter, and her trauma about her own mom rears it's head in the form of a baby with way too many teeth. Really weird and full of trauma!

3.5⭐

I thought this would be a story about a feral demon baby, but I was surprised it was more of a dramedy about generational trauma, female rage, and postpartum depression. Loved the dark humor, loved the decent into madness, and I even enjoyed the unlikeable main character. But the ending fell flat for me. It felt rushed and too nicely wrapped up to leave me with a lasting impression.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the eARC.

Loved this book!! It was written well and the story was great!! I wish I could read this one again for the first time!! Recommend highly

TW: Child abuse; child SA; animal death depicted on page and mentions thereafter; narcissism.


Breaking abusive cycles is at the forefront of this novella. The writing is visceral and the story has a rawness to it that is admirable and I can see this being a very cathartic read for someone who has an abusive parent.. It doesn't shy away from its message. It has something to say and it is going to say it.
This was a heavier book than what I was anticipating, and it was unique in that it wasn't your usual child-is-a-monster story that I was expecting, . and I found it to be surprisingly wholesome at its core.
I feel like somethings were left by the wayside due to the pacing, and I wish we had gotten more of an explanation at the end but overall this was a decent read.

I really thought I'd enjoy this one. It has the same premise as many other books I've loved, but something about this one just didn't work for me. I ended up DNFing fairly early on so I won't be leaving a rating anywhere. I'm not sure if it was just the writing style or what but I just wasn't clicking with it. This could totally be a me problem, though, and not anything to do with the book itself.

An oddly comforting little story. I definitely went in with assumptions about where we were headed, and Moulton really took me by surprise.

This book is just the right length. Some of the writing felt vague; for example, I really can't get it clear in my brain WHEN Thea's mother arrived in this story, she was just suddenly there. But overall, the visuals and reflections on generational trauma make this book a true standout. It wasn't my favorite, but I would easily recommend it to those who loved Nightbitch.

3.50

Wow, I sure didn't expect that when I started this book! let's just say like Mother, like daughter, like daughter, etc. I was kinda bored halfway through but that ending. Worth the read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for gifting me a digital ARC of this novel by Rachel Eve Moulton. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Lucia didn't have a good relationship with her own mother, so she was worried and stressed throughout her first two pregnancies. But everything went well and she has two wonderful little boys. Her third pregnancy was easy and she had none of the same fears. Until she was born and she just knew her baby girl was a monster.

This is a wild ride and certainly won't be for everyone. But if you love dark humor with a side of horror, this look at motherhood, mother/daughter relationships, and generational trauma just might be for you. I'm not sure I've read anything else like this before and I read a lot! It's short and unhinged in a good way, and I couldn't look away.

Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton is an absolutely wild maternal horror novella. Do NOT read while pregnant or in the early postpartum stages.

Thea, an exhausted mother of three, is convinced that her baby girl is actually a monster (and there are signs). She must come to terms with her childhood trauma and face the relationship she has with her own mother. Full of dark humor with strong themes on motherhood, womanhood, and generational cycles of abuse.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for an eARC.

Tantrum is the perfect blend of horror and the real life traumas that can be associated with motherhood.

Thea has just given birth to her third child, and first daughter, Lucia. She is convinced Lucia is a monster and, let me tell you - she might be on to something. Whether she is ripping the head off Thea’s beloved chicken Alex Forrest (named after the OG bunny boiler herself) or trying to pluck her brother’s eyeball out, Lucia is definitely the creepiest kid I’ve encountered this year.

Tantrum ended up being much more than a horror novel as it explores the generational trauma passed down from mother to daughter. Thea loves her daughter, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t terrified of her and for her. From the very start, we see glimpses of Thea’s own upbringing and the rather terrible relationship she has with her mother. Thea’s mom did little to protect her as a child and that makes her all the more determined to break down her own trauma before she can pass it on to Lucia. Overall I really enjoyed Moulton’s writing and the message here.

Thank you to Putnam and NetGalley for a review copy.

Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton was definitely an interesting read. I'm both not in the target audience for this book (not a huge horror fan) and I'm totally in the target audience for this book (as I love weird takes on motherhood). I'm not sure I would have kept reading if this had been a long read, but I was definitely drawn into the premise in the first third of the book and found I really needed to stay along for the ride through the rest of it. I liked the high desert setting - this book worked very well in that dry and prickly environment. And I felt the layered reveals about Thea's childhood were managed in a way that kept me interested. Lucia's actions in part 2? Well, super disturbing, but what was I to expect? So in the end, this is definitely a "not for everyone" book, but one I'll recommend to those who like compact horror and stories of disturbing motherhood.

At the start of this, I began to worry that it’d be a DNF. It went off the rails in the best way possible pretty quickly though, and I found myself so pulled in that I couldn’t set this book down. I appreciate that the author kept this fairly short, no need to stretch it out and ruin the tension. This is one of those books that doesn’t answer all your questions and is actually better for that reason.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ahoy there me mateys! This book has a cool cover and a cool concept.  A mother believes her third child and only daughter might be a monster.  She's right.

Unfortunately, this was not a good fit for me overall.  The book is split into three parts.  I loved part one which was more in line with the horror book I was expecting.  The writing in this section was evocative and the little girl was creepy.  I couldn't figure out if the mom was suffering from postpartum, was losing her mind due to the stress of having three children under five, or actually had a daughter who was evil.

Of course, the blurb answers that question but I didn't know that when I picked it up.  Sadly, when the book moved to parts two and three, the plot and themes went in a direction I didn't like.  Again, it is well written.  I just was expecting and/or hoping for something else.  I finished this book thinking how weird it was and being slightly dissatisfied.

Aye, weird but not horrific.  There was dark humor here.  I wanted more monster and less about the mother's past trauma.  I do think this could be a better read if the reader goes in with the correct expectations.  Arrr!