Wow. I really didn't expect this to touch the soft, vulnerable parts of me. The theme of exploring matrilineal generational trauma via the cheeky, yet terrifying premise of a mischievous monster baby...was just brilliant.

This was sharp. Bizarre. A wee bit gory. Darkly humorous. With a vise-like grip on your heart, this offers so much.

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc of Tantrum. This is a really short horror book. I really enjoyed it. Thea is having her third baby. The pregnancy was smooth and easy so she isn't worried at all. But when the nurse hands Thea the baby after she delivers, she notices her baby has a full set of teeth. Thea knows she gave birth to a monster. This book was creepy, but I was obsessed with it.

If I'd started the book any earlier in the day, I would have finished it in one sitting. Rachel Eve Moulton did an incredible job with this short, but powerful story of motherhood, daughterhood, and womanhood as monstrousness. I loved Thea and Lucia from the moment they came onto the page. Their story of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and realizing that you're more than you seem had me hooked. I always connect to mother-daughter stories, but this one is absolutely something special. It is rare to find a book that is the perfect amount of horror and fierce motherhood love story, but it is almost miraculous to find it in just 192 pages. I can't wait to read more of Moulton's books!

This book was really strong for about 65%. I was really enjoying reading about Thea's mom issues and trauma and how it was affecting the way she looked at Lucia. Especially as Lucia seemed to be a physical manifestation of her fear and horror. However, when Lucia started talking and locked the two of them in the baby's bedroom I felt extremely pushed out of the story. If the resolution is that Thea stops fearing Lucia after all, why is it happening so soon? Why would I keep reading the remaining 35% if I'm no longer scared that Lucia is actually a demon come to eat them all up?

I may continue reading, but I truly lost all my interest at this point.. and I was really interested!

Gloriously weird, creepy and endearing! This surprised me in so many ways. It was a creative portrayal of generational trauma; the hunger women suffer from when forced to ignore their shame and rage; the release that comes with confronting and digesting it all. I connected with the main character's toxic self-reliance and loved seeing her finally accept support. The final confrontation with her mother made for an incredibly satisfying resolution. Who knew something could make your skin crawl and heart warm all at once??

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"When did I become so passive-aggressive? Maybe it comes naturally with motherhood, especially if motherhood doesn't come naturally."

"Female rage is hardly a rarity. We are all about to burst - a simmering pot of violence that the world has yet to know. Why would anyone be surprised that we've reached out midpoint in life and are finally willing to lose our shit for the rest of recorded history? Where is rhe rage supposed to go?"

"The selfishness of parenthood hits me. The fact that I thought I could make people and that somehow in making those people I would better understand my own life and purpose."

"It's the ones who don't seem to need you that need you the most."

Maternity horror for the WIN!
If you are in for a kooky/weird mother horror, this is the one.
Postpartum is hard as f, but damn she’s rly going through it huh? The generational trauma runs deep with this one.
The whole vibe of the book gave a campy 80’s horror flick mixed in with PP & navigating motherhood with multiple kids. The more you read, the weirder it gets, which happens to be some of my fav books. I was rooting for the FCM til the very end. Keep your mind open, expect the weirdness & you’ll have a blast reading this!
I can’t wait to read more by this author. 🖤

Thank you NetGalley, the publishers, & the author for this ARC.

This was a scary concept to think about and worked well as a story in the genre. I was invested in what was happening and how the characters were used in this storyline. Rachel Eve Moulton has a strong writing style and it was everything that I was looking for in this type of book. Thea was a great character to follow and thought it was so well written.

"Tantrum" by Rachel Eve Moulton is a fierce and unflinching novel that delves into the complexities of female anger, desire, and identity. This bold and provocative read follows a young woman named Heather as she navigates the challenges of modern womanhood, including toxic relationships, societal expectations, and the struggle to find her own voice.

I love motherhood horror so much and Rachel Eve Moulton did such a great job. She wove body horror and cosmic-esque horror into this story of motherhood and overcoming past trauma. I related a lot to Thea and how she described her relationship with her husband and her experiences with being a mother in modern society. Her mom honestly sucked so much lol. Moulton did a great job with pacing and revealing more of Thea's past and showing how it has shaped her and her view of her baby daughter.

4 stars

It’s so difficult to be the mother of a newborn, especially when you have two other children to raise and you are living off the grid. Any mother could be forgiven for thinking the new baby is a monster. But Lucia actually is.

Thea is trapped is the nearly deserted New Mexico desert with her busy husband, a five year old, a three year old and her infant daughter Lucia. As soon as the nurses handed Thea her daughter she knew something was wrong. She’s progressing at a terrifying rate and Thea doesn’t know if the boys are safe around her. Or what she wants.

This clever, very short book is about monsters of various sorts and how we deal with them. Moulton is an interesting writer. I like her point of view (and that she’s not afraid to have one) and I liked this fanciful story.

This was WILD!!!

When Thea was pregnant with her first two boys she was worried and anxious all of the time. Afraid she would mess them up in some way with her own poor choices. Of course, her boys are fine, angels really, and they make her so very proud to be their mother.

Then Thea became pregnant with her daughter and her worries and anxiety simply vanished away. It was her easiest pregnancy yet. Hallelujah!

There is one little problem, though. Thea is afraid that Lucia, her beautiful baby girl, is a monster with her mouthful of teeth. Lucia's strength and vocabulary being exceedingly far advanced for a baby her age. Concerningly so. And then there's her voracious appetite. What has she brought into this world? And how will she protect her family? You'll have to read this to find out!

As always with a Rachel Eve Moulton book you never know what to expect. This lady's imagination knows no bounds. I love a writer that continually surprises. Tantrum is a book about mother / daughter relationships. Moreover, it's a story of trauma at the hands of people that were meant to love us. Thea's acerbic narration kept me grinning from ear to ear which I appreciated. It kept this book from being too dreary and depressing. Now the ending does go a little off the deep end. Like her previous novel, The Insatiable Volt Sisters, the story goes into bizarre territory that won't be to all readers liking. Still, I'm a fan, and a big one at that, and, as always, I can't wait to see what she comes up with next! 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for my complimentary copy.

I went into the book knowing what it was about but it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton.

I thought I had a pretty good sense of where this story was going until the last 40% of the book took a completely different and wild turn. It was a fun read and full of surprises. Definitely reminds me of Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage but with a twist. I think if you enjoy dark psychological horror with some surprises, you'll enjoy this.

This book is deep in unexpected ways. Yes, it is humourous but in a way that it gets the point across to you. I felt deeply connected with our main character. Rating - 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton follows Thea as she realizes that there is something not quite right with her new daughter Lucia. She's growing too quickly in more ways than one and has some alarming behaviors. What follows is a story not at all like I was expecting.

While I anticipated a book following an increasingly deranged child, this book instead dealt with a lot of heavy topics like the expectations vs reality of motherhood, childhood trauma and generational trauma to name a few. The beginning of the book is couched in a very darkly comical tone as Thea attempts to navigate being a wife and mother in a life she didn't quite imagine for herself. But while other novels may stick with this theme of the consequences of a mother giving up her own life in order to raise new ones, Tantrum took a unique turn into the consequences of generational trauma and how to deal with it.

This book was uncomfortable and frankly depressing to read at times, though there were other moments of levity, too. Some scenes are quite dark, gritty, and graphic, and I appreciated the author's willingness to go to these places. I found myself being drawn into the toxicity of Thea's life and childhood in a way that speaks to the quality of the prose. That being said, the subject matter being so realistically horrifying made the experience of reading more anxiety-ridden than enjoyable for me.

Though I understand and appreciate the topics discussed and feel like this book will certainly find its readers, I don't think this one was quite for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I can't even begin to explain how much I love this book! I wasn't sure for a long time what was really happening, but that ending! I haven't read a book like this in a long time (have I ever read a book quite like this?) and it was so spectacular. I will recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

What a wild ride this book turned out to be. I think it was a great take on motherhood, generational trauma/passing on generational trauma and childhood trauma. Having a literal devil child might have been a little on the nose, but the author managed to find an excellent balance of horror and humor in Tantrum. I really enjoyed the way the author wrote Thea overcoming her childhood trauma and accepting her daughter for who she is, rather than making Lucia go through what she did.

The shorter length of this novel made it a really enjoyable and quick read, I'll for sure be recommending this to my friends once its out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this eARC!

Thea is a mother of 3. Two boys, and a 13 week old baby girl named Lucia. Thea thinks Lucia is a monster. Like a literal monster. She acts different from the other two children. Maybe even violent?

I will say no more about the plot, as to not give anything away. This should be experienced knowing as little as possible.

This was a great take on childhood trauma, motherhood, and breaking generational curses. It was a very fast read that able you immediately. There’s humor, and gore, and honestly, sometimes that’s all you need! Highly recommend reading this one! You can get through it in a couple hours and it tells a very compelling and powerful story dealing with abuse.

3.5 rounded up! Although the concept of this plot line of having an evil child is a bit redundant, I found this novella very entertaining with original work throughout. It's feminine rage, breaking generational curses, romance, and self-discovery all in one! I HATED the main character in the beginning, but the development was so concise and detailed, that I grew to love her so much in the end. My biggest complaint about this book, is that I needed more about Lucia. There felt to be a few instances that the mother was terrified of her, but I almost wanted more. The love Thea feels for her in the end and the urge to protect her from her own mother would've been that much sweeter. Other than that, this was a great and fast read!

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC of this wild ride!

What a quirky, dark and fun read. It's the trials and tribulations of motherhood told in a no-sugar-coated way, mixed in with an adorable demon daughter. While I am not a mother, I found myself laughing at the way this mother was speaking and can just imagine,this is what parenting is like, but most will gloss over the negative.

If you are a fan of mild horror, mixed with a mother's downward spiral (but told in a humorous way), and a little bit of fantasy, this book has it all.
Note: some offensive language, but it totally fits for the story to work.