Member Reviews

The Harpy inspects the violent constraints of the nuclear family and transformative rage, but it lacks the substance to prevent this short novel from seeming overlong.

When Lucy learns of her husband’s infidelity, it shatters her monotonous duties as a housewife and mother. Instead, she becomes obsessed with the idea of his punishment, an act she likens to the mythology surrounding the harpy. They come to an agreement – she will hurt him three times in retaliation.

This book revolves around violence in many forms. There’s the emotional violence of infidelity contrasted against the physical violence of Lucy’s vengeance. At times it’s a fascinating read, a deep delve into what transformed the perfect housewife into a monster. The violence and suppression inherent to the traditional nuclear family are explored well. At the same time, it was uncomfortable to see the book use Lucy’s abusive upbringing and unfulfilled life to explain the violence against her husband. The Harpy seemed overly long at points, which is disappointing considering its short length – perhaps a short story format would be better suited. Megan Hunter’s writing is sharp and physical, which works well for the story, but it often slipped into pretentious phrases that lacked any substance. The audiobook was well narrated, and a format I would recommend. Overall, this book inspires mixed feelings, but if the themes are of interest to you, it would be worth a read.

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This was a very intriguing story. Lucy is an ordinary housewife with a husband and 2 kids, todlding through her life when everything is upended by a devasting phone call informing her that her husband has been cheating.

What comes next is an exploration of her psyche and the different layers of her being and how various experiences have shaped her. She is filled with rage and develops a very strong association with the mythical Harpy. As she sets about trying to adjust to her new reality it is agreed she is allowed to hurt him 3 times and he wont know when or how/what form it will take.

As Lucy tries to get past it and get on with her life, new discoveries and awkward situations trigger her rage and her revenge gets progressively darker and more twisted with some very dire consequences. She literally and methaphorically turns into a harpy in her quest to inflict pain. At the same time we also learn about various things she has surpressed involving her childhood and her past pre-marriage and kids. The debate is then whether you feel she's still a victim or the villain?

The story is quite interesting and unique. It is very well narrated - you can feel her pain and rage as it grows. However, the pace is quite slow and the end is a little confusing/hazy for me. It took me a while to read this. I got half way and left it for several months and then got to the middle and found it very fascinating as things picked up. Overall I'd give it a 3.75/5 stars.

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The story follows Lucy who finds out that her husband has been having an affair. They decide to stay together under the condition that Lucy can hurt her husband three times but the catch is he won’t know when, where or how. The story then goes on to how their lives unfold and the three ways she hurts him. It also looks very closely at Lucy’s emotional state, how she becomes both victim and villain and how this damages her psyche. Inbetween chapters there are snippets that take you into Lucy’s inner monologue, giving you a deeper look into how she is coping. These snippets give you the sense that something big is coming, they are building up to a climax… but what?The ending, told via her inner monologue is startling, swift and brutal.

I absolutely devoured this audiobook. It was so emotionally raw, with realistic characters who were likeable and relatable. I hardly breathed through the entire thing, so caught up was I in Lucy’s dilemmas. I thouroughly recommend it. I would also like to add some Trigger Warnings here, look away if you don’t want spoilers: Domestic abuse/violence, adultery, blood, injuries.

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Firstly Thank you to Megan Hunter and Netgalley for sending me an ARC of this book
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.

This was such an intriguing premise for a book and I loved the writing of it. The imagery of the Harpy throughout the book brings the sense of foreboding and Lucy's obsession with the imagery is creepy but fascinating. The prose is poetic and draws you in and you want to finish to find out what will happen when Lucy has hurt Jake 3 times. Lucy's character is fascinating, she is not sympathetic but she never asks for sympathy, much like the Harpies her revenge is just in her mind and she never apologises for it.

I will definitely be picking up more by Megan Hunter.

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found this book to be beautifully written - not to mention the intriguing cover! The writing sucked me in, and I was captivated. I enjoyed the pacing and being able to get into Lucy's head as the story is told from her POV.

This book is intriguing, simmering, captivating and hard to put down.

The narrator added to the rich mythical feel of the book.

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** spoiler alert ** T

his is about a woman who finds out her husband has cheated on her. And to make things even, she is allowed to hurt in 3 times in anyway she wants.

Okay, so that is going to work out and then they are going to live happily ever after. Yeah, right!

Most of the story is her moaning about being a mother and how much of a struggle it is for her. The rest is her getting back at her husband and then eventually turning into a harpy. Half women half bird. The End.

Like, what was that all about?

This was boring and I am glad that it was only short. I have no idea how this book managed to be nominated for awards.

2 stars for me.

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I loved the tone of this book and I loved the narrator. It did justice to what was clearly beautiful writing. There was something so whimsical about it.

The Harpy is the tale of a woman who has just found out her husband has cheated on her with a work colleague. To call it even, they agree that she can hurt him three times.

Peppered with the history of the mythical Harpy, we learn about what a Harpy is and what she does.

What I particularly loved is that the ending wasn't clear. It was totally left open to interpretation (it's most unlike me - I normally much prefer closure!) but whether it transitioned from thriller to magical realism is a decision to be made by the reader. Again, I usually hate genre hybrids. I mean, stay in your lane! But again, I enjoyed the unsurprising and subtle nature of it.

I wonder if maybe I'm more responsive to that kind of thing in audio over a book I read?

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The Harpy by Megan Hunter, Narrated by Clare Corbett.

It must be hard to find out your spouse is cheating on you. Without sounding patronising, I can only imagine the pain she must have felt and even worse to be told by someone else in a phone message. 3 ways of hurting him to get back at him? Really chop his dick off! Nah, but really I had a good laugh at some of Lucy's quotes.

My favorite quote which made me laugh “I was a good mother, I chopped fucking carrots!” 😂

A good read or listen (as I did) and the characters had depth, a cleverly told story and I enjoyed it.

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It’s funny how a book can so deftly craft a magic spell that ensnares the reader and challenges you, with great force, to put it down. I couldn’t. From word one I was The Harpy’s prisoner. I listened to the audiobook and was spellbound by the narrated story of Lucy and her marital discord. I wouldn’t have thought a novel about a wife and her adulterous husband could wield such power but the twist permitting Lucy to hurt Jake three times to even things up between them could only delivery noteworthy trouble. And boy! Did it.

Lucy tells the story and she isn’t a spurred wife hellbent on revenge. She is oddly detached, lacking hysterical emotion, and pretty methodical. Not even that, she does not plan out what will occur but flies by the seat of her pants choosing the right moments to dole out punishment. She is an open book describing her life showing no shame in the less than savory bits of her life with her husband and boys. It’s quite an eye opening, raw experience any woman would understand.

The beauty of The Harpy is in not seeing where it will all lead. I was mesmerized and the story up to the final hurt, believing it to be perfection. Unfortunately the final section of the book beyond that didn’t quite stay in keeping. It makes poetic sense but failed to satisfy me entirely. Regardless, this is a beautifully wrought bit of writing that sang to me.

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The Harpy is a strange yet enticing story of a women’s suppressed anger that comes to fruition she discovers her husband’s infidelity. An interesting take on the scorned woman trope that is beautifully written, though at times is overwrought. I have a guilty pleasure for these kinds of revenge stories like Doctor Foster and The Other Women and I did enjoy The Harpy’s more literary and bizarre take on this classic trope. At times I did feel this book was going on a bit which was quite a feat for such a small book. I also found the ending to be both confusing and predictable. I listened to the audiobook and I loved Clare Corbett’s narration especially the voices for the kids, she really nails them.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for giving me a free audiobook proof in exchange for an honest review.

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I quite enjoyed this but it was certainly an unusual read. It's fairly short, but as the book is very much the main character Lucy's thoughts you still feel like you really get to know her. I did really enjoy the writing style, it felt very intimate. My main problem with it though was it felt like not much really happened up until the end and I really didn't know how to interpret the ending! I also felt like we didn't get Jake's point of view on anything really, we don't get much of a conversation between the two of them at all which felt strange to me. For a short, intense and slightly weird read I would recommend! As this is an audiobook, I did really like the narrator and I think they were a good fit for the story.

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This is such a lyrical piece of prose, so beautifully written and perfectly narrated. A study of the minutiae of domestic life so delicately written that is almost hypnotic. I liked the narrator and thought her voice was perfectly suited to the story. Overall I enjoyed this audiobook and would recommend it to friends.

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This is a short novel and a fairly quick listen, but I found it utterly compelling, fascinating and uncomfortable. Harpies themselves are, in modern times, a symbol of female rage and violence, which this book is acutely aware of. Its primary concern, to me, is one of my favourites: the intersection of trauma and violence, the fractured sense of identity, violence following trauma and as an outlet.

This book follows a pretty well-trodden literary path: an affair. Except Lucy's husband bargains with her, grants her the opportunity to do him three harms in an attempt to make up for the harm that <i>he</i> has done to her with his affair. It's beautiful and simplistic and terrible and, worst of all, it makes a certain kind of sense within the narrative. Lucy's narration is interspersed throughout with her reflection on her old obsession with the mythological harpies, how it started, how it haunted her. It's clear that violence has always dogged her: as the book goes on there's detail of domestic violence, childhood trauma, sexual traumas, and myriad small violences throughout as well (there's even an incident at a childs birthday party). I loved these: I thought everything was so tightly interwoven, Megan Hunter showing us the litany of violences that Lucy has accrued throughout her life, how they have affected her, without exactly being explicit about it. The sense of tension created by these escalating violences were, I thought, great as well. It became more and more foreboding, the tension ramping up continually.

Throughout, the line between Lucy and the Harpy she has been so entranced by throughout her life become blurred. In throwing herself into the three hurts she can give her husband, Lucy peels away the parts of herself that she has plastered over her hurt and sheds much of her empathy. It's the focus she has on her tasks, the ruthlessness with which she approaches them, that is so interesting and heartbreaking to read. Her reaction to the final 'hurt' was compelling and so <i>sad</i>. The ending, too, I think worked for me although I will come back to revisit it to find out what I really think happens. I will say that if you don't like the litfic sort of ending you'll probably hate this one: it's ambiguous, shifting into different territory, pulling away from the realistic narrative into something else. To me, it represented Lucy's mental break, her sinking into that violence, but you know! I'm still not 100% sure what I think happened but I <i>love</i> that kind of ambiguity so.

I listened to this through audiobook and I thought the narrator was fantastic. She was so good and engaging and I thought she was excellent at using different voices. I really appreciated the way she ramped up the tension in her own reading too. It was great.

All in all, I really enjoyed this. I think it has a lot of interesting things to say about trauma, violence, how far people will go to get even, forgiveness, abuse, identity, etc. I've been really looking forward to reading this since I read the premise and I'm really glad it didn't disappoint.

I received an ARC of this audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, etc.

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