Megan Hunter

Part revenge tale, part fairytale, The Harpy is an electrifying story of marriage, infidelity and power by the author of the #1 Indie Next Pick, The End We Start From, Megan Hunter

The Harpy

armoni mayes

4.5 stars. Would highly recommend. 

The Harpy is not a thriller, but more of a character study into our protagonist as she navigates past trauma, being a mother trying to hold on to her own identity, and the infidelity of her husband. With beautiful prose and an interesting plot, Hunter created quite an engaging novel. 

We follow Lucy, a mother, and wife, who is alerted that her husband Jake has been cheating on her with an older colleague. The novel then follows how Lucy processes the infidelity in relation her past trauma of witnessing her parents' tumultuous marriage. Being faced with this new challenge, on top of trying to be the stereotypical “good” mother, we begin to see the cracks in Lucy’s psyche. I do not believe what Lucy is experiencing is something that could not happen to virtually anyone. Lucy and Jake decide that she will be able to get back at him three times, so they will be even and be able to move on in the marriage. The acts Lucy commits against Jake at face value are not horrendous, but it contributes to her mental decline. There are also small snippets of I suppose backstory to when Lucy was first introduced to a Harpy, which is essentially a mythological creature that ‘destroys’ men. The end of the novel is a bit open-ended, leaving the reader to interpret it. 

The Harpy is unlike anything I have read before, and I am sure there are not many like it. I was very intrigued by Lucy, and found myself being able to put myself in her position and likely have the same thoughts she was having. Hunter took the stereotypical trope of the husband cheating on the wife with a younger woman and flipped it around so that the woman was actually much older than both of them which I can appreciate. As I said above, the prose is beautiful and I truly cared about Lucy and her well-being by the end of it. The only reason this novel did not receive five stars is that I do not particularly care for open-ended endings. 

 Favorite Quotes 
I thought of creeping upstairs, to our room, pretending to be asleep, but the thought was too lonely, too cold somehow, as though I could already feel the emptiness of the sheets, the particular creak the bed would make when Jake eventually came up, found me with my eyes closed.

Sometimes I question whether anyone can know what it's like before it happens. Marriage and motherhood are like death in this way, and others too: no one comes back unchanged.

Here it comes, I thought. He was getting up from the sofa. I felt a shiver through my body, something in between total fear and a mild, barely-there excitement. But: excitement. I filed that away, to be examined later. Is that how my mother felt? He was coming towards me, I was stepping back. 

I wondered if it would be open, if I could lie down on the pews, be blessed by something that might feel like God.

Kendall McClain

this novel is beautifully written but it never quite fully reaches its potential.

the prose in the novel is excellent. it draws the reader in immediately and flows smoothly and seamlessly. the limited dialogue creates a certain quality of quietness of the atmosphere of the novel which, in turn, creates space for introspection. where sound is missing, megan hunter pays attention to the other senses - particularly sight and touch - in order to create a full sensory experience of reading the book.

this is, undoubtedly, the strongest quality of the novel.

where the excellent prose is undermined is the pacing. novels which are more of introspective character studies tend to be slow and often devoid of action. this is not bad and it is not boring - and it was not so in 'the harpy' either. however, the novel does not seem to make the most of the prose and set up it has truly explore the unravelling of lucy's, the main character's, mind.

there is a separation of her thoughts about harpies (and the titular harpy) which is a stylistic choice that is easy to understand, especially looking at the novel as a whole. but it is a double-edged sword as lessens the relationship between what the harpy represents and the emotional turmoil - and subsequent form of catharsis - that lucy undergoes. this undermines any build-up within the novel and as a result, the ending (the last chapter) feels abrupt and not entirely satisfying on narrative level.

last but not least - and this is a personal preference, perhaps - one cannot also not be disappointed of the lack of horror elements in the novel. given how the book has been marketed and the allusions made within the synopsis, introducing more grotesque elements would have served it well to further highlight the breaking of lucy's mind.

blissful book club's oct / nov pick.

this novel is beautifully written but it never quite fully reaches its potential.

the prose in the novel is excellent. it draws the reader in immediately and flows smoothly and seamlessly. the limited dialogue creates a certain quality of quietness of the atmosphere of the novel which, in turn, creates space for introspection. where sound is missing, megan hunter pays attention to the other senses - particularly sight and touch - in order to create a full sensory experience of reading the book.

this is, undoubtedly, the strongest quality of the novel.

where the excellent prose is undermined is the pacing. novels which are more of introspective character studies tend to be slow and often devoid of action. this is not bad and it is not boring - and it was not so in 'the harpy' either. however, the novel does not seem to make the most of the prose and set up it has truly explore the unravelling of lucy's, the main character's, mind.

there is a separation of her thoughts about harpies (and the titular harpy) which is a stylistic choice that is easy to understand, especially looking at the novel as a whole. but it is a double-edged sword as lessens the relationship between what the harpy represents and the emotional turmoil - and subsequent form of catharsis - that lucy undergoes. this undermines any build-up within the novel and as a result, the ending (the last chapter) feels abrupt and not entirely satisfying on narrative level.

last but not least - and this is a personal preference, perhaps - one cannot also not be disappointed of the lack of horror elements in the novel. given how the book has been marketed and the allusions made within the synopsis, introducing more grotesque elements would have served it well to further highlight the breaking of lucy's mind.

Jasmine

I’ve had an awesome run of books lately and The Harpy is no exception. This story follows Lucy, a wife and mother of two, who receives a call one day stating that her husband is cheating with an older coworker. Lucy is allowed to exact revenge (at least of sorts) three times. These acts change Lucy in mind and body. 

There’s an interlacing story about how Lucy has always been obsessed with the harpy and I think this is a thing a lot of women can identify with later in life, or at at some point in life at the very least. 

I really dug this story. Some people might find Lucy to be a lot, but I think that she’s right in a lot of her feelings. Maybe not always so much in how she chooses to repair the damage done but grief and betrayal have no clear cut solutions. I didn’t care as much for the open-ended ending, but it didn’t detract so much from the overall story. This is another 4 star read for me!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Grove Press for a digital copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Varshh

A beautiful character study. Could have been shorter. Not for everyone

maggie

filed under books that convince me that i'll never be a wife or a mother<3

Lucy and Jake live in a house by a field where the sun burns like a ball of fire. Lucy has set her career aside in order to devote her life to the children, to their finely tuned routine, and to the house itself, which comforts her like an old, sly friend. But then a man calls one afternoon with a shattering message: his wife has been having an affair with Lucy’s husband, Jake. The revelation marks a turning point: Lucy and Jake decide to stay together, but make a special arrangement designed to even the score and save their marriage—she will hurt him three times. As the couple submit to a delicate game of crime and punishment, Lucy herself begins to change, surrendering to a transformation of both mind and body from which there is no return. Told in dazzling, musical prose, The Harpy is a dark, staggering fairy tale, at once mythical and otherworldly and fiercely contemporary. It is a novel of love, marriage and its failures, of power, control and revenge, of metamorphosis and renewal.

A Novel

Fraser Simons

A short and taught little book about a housewife who buries her feral side to allow her role as mother and wife to subsume her and be the sole source of her happiness. When husband invariably goes astray in their contract, her pain unearths trauma long buried, as she becomes more and more unhinged. 

Gorgeous prose. Love these stories, where women maneuver to a place where they don’t allow societal norms and socialization to dictate every aspect of their identity. Some people didn’t like the ending, but I felt the shift was more clear than most imply. And completely against what some of the lower ratings seem to have inferred. It is subjective, to a point. It’s interesting that I didn’t extrapolate the ending some have. Makes me like it more, to be honest. Great edition to the unhinged women canon.

Laura Kehoe

This was a relatively short, but powerful story. While this is not normally the kind of book I read, the description intrigued me enough to give it a chance. And I’m glad that I did. It was a dark, twisted book, but it made me think.

I do wish, however, that there would have been more in the way of magic. The book was described as being a fairytale-like story, and there were definitely elements of that. But I would have liked more. Admittedly, I understand that magic and the fantastical elements weren’t really the point of this story. So I understand why they weren’t focused on.

I found the characters to be fascinatingly flawed. Perfect characters tend to be pretty dull and I would certainly not call any of the people in this book perfect. But they were all unique and interesting in their own way. I enjoyed learning about them and seeing their developments—both the good and the bad. I found myself getting frustrated sometimes with them, but I still appreciated the way they were written.

If you’re looking for a feel-good story, I wouldn’t recommend this book. But, if you are prepared for a dark fantasy that touches on a lot of very real issues, I’d suggest giving it a read. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Press for the chance to read The Harpy in exchange for an honest review!

Sakthi Varshini

Rose Stanley

Menacing, disturbing, beautifully written. 
The end of Part II, DAMN girl. 
Couldn't put this down.
Ending was WEIRD.

Warning: domestic abuse, sexual assault, implied rape.

Carmen Hew

The Harpy was every bit of my female rage written beautifully into a book. Lucy's voice resonated with me SO MUCH that it was hard not to finish this in one sitting. 

I often pondered on scenarios of infidelity and how I would react in them. 8/10 times I would imagine that I would hurt them back too, one way or the other. That was the first thing that drew me into this story. 

But I'm so glad that it's not a story about that. Instead, it explores the chain of events that follows the cheating; ones that would be more destructive than the disloyal act itself. 

It reveals the underlying cracks and problems of the construction of a perfect, mundane family life, the constraints put on a relationship because of it, the gendered expectations from society and the loss of the self through motherhood. These may seem unrelated fo infidelity at first glance, but I could relate so wholeheartedly to the wave of emotions Lucy had felt afterwards.

Chelsey

Actual rating: 2.5

Trigger warnings:(view spoiler)[ Domestic abuse, cheating/adultery, poisoning, emesis, coarse language, 
animal cruelty mentioned, child abuse/murder mentioned, and rape mentioned (hide spoiler)]

This book has a lot of things that I love in a story. An overarching dark, consuming atmosphere. Morally grey characters. References to mythology and magical realism components. But despite all this, it just didn't really hit the mark for me personally.

The pacing of the story felt odd and inconsistent. For such a small story, this book definitely felt dragged out in places. 

It did something, that I typically love in weird, dark books - focuses in on small mundane moments and makes them into something engaging and tangible. And yet, this style of writing mixed with a more domestic plot-line was just not something for me. Instead of getting wrapped into these moments, I simply did not care. 

I also struggled with understanding the intent of the story. Our main character is grappling with marriage issues and motherhood. And yet the sadistic nature of the character's actions just left me feeling confused. 


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the audiobook. This does not impact my opinions, whatsoever.

From the acclaimed author of The End We Start From, The Harpy is a fierce tale of love, betrayal and revenge. 'The Harpy is brilliant . . . A deeply unsettling, excellent read.' Daisy Johnson Lucy and Jake live in a house by a field where the sun burns like a ball of fire. Lucy works from home but devotes her life to the children, to their finely tuned routine, and to the house itself, which comforts her like an old, sly friend. But then a man calls one afternoon with a shattering message: his wife has been having an affair with Lucy’s husband, he wants her to know. The revelation marks a turning point: Lucy and Jake decide to stay together, but in a special arrangement designed to even the score and save their marriage, she will hurt him three times. Jake will not know when the hurt is coming, nor what form it will take. As the couple submit to a delicate game of crime and punishment, Lucy herself begins to change, surrendering to a transformation of both mind and body from which there is no return. Told in dazzling, musical prose, The Harpy by Megan Hunter is a dark, staggering fairy tale, at once mythical and otherworldly and fiercely contemporary. It is a novel of love, marriage and its failures, of power and revenge, of metamorphosis and renewal.

Mari-Claire Parrin

Hmmmmm
I had really high hopes for this novel, but it just fell a bit flat

Libby

From the acclaimed author of The End We Start From, The Harpy is the story of a marriage, an affair, and a very particular kind of revenge.

The Harpy

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