I truly love magical realism, and Greek mythology has held sway over me since I was a kid - the combination of these meant that I found this book completely spell-binding and impossible to put down. The book itself is a very quick read, and a truly fascinating one.

Lucy discovers that her husband is having an affair; she begins to undergo a transformation. This book is beautifully written, and I found myself stopping to put down the book and really mull over specific passages, which is a more deliberate way of reading than I usually engage in. It's an interesting look both at specific tropes and roles that women play in our society, as well as how the ceaseless emotional labor blends with violence. In some ways, it's reminiscent of Black Swan - the physical manifestation of fears and doubts.

This book may have been a bit dark for my current mindset during this pandemic, but to be fair, I was warned! I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't mind a bit of darkness and is looking for a magical touch to real life.

Lucy is constantly busy with marriage and motherhood, she never has time for herself and is struggling with balancing everything out. One day, Lucy gets a call and finds out that her husband her been cheating on her. From there, we see her slowly descent into madness or into madness that was already within her, just waiting to be awoken. Lucy's husband Jake tells her that she can hurt him three times and they will be even. Who even agrees to that? Or even thinks of that in the first place?? Because of that deal, I thought that this might turn into some sort of psychological thriller and was excited to see what Lucy decided to do from there. I did enjoy the story and the writing, however, the ending had left me unsatisfied with some questions,. The writing is beautiful and keeps you engaged, I actually had trouble putting the book down because I needed to know where the story was going. Overall, I would give this a solid 3.5 stars. Also, what a glorious cover.

Thank you Netgalley and to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy!

"I asked my mother what a harpy was, and she told me they punish men for the things they do"

Megan Hunter has a thoroughly original and poetic tale about infidelity in The Harpy. It's a dark tale that focuses on a marriage drifting apart and the ways our past patterns repeat within our lives. Hunter's prose unfurls like the Harpy's wings taking flight getting angrier and angrier. This would've been a perfect book for me but the ending felt unsatisfying. The book builds and builds but then it fizzles out right at the very end.

Its originality and its power of prose though powers through for a truly unique book and I would recommend it for anyone looking for something different and tragic.

May contain spoilers!!

I was so disappointed with this one. That cover caught my attention and the reviews were amazing so I just had to have it. I was so thrilled when I received it from Netgally!

I love crazy and thought here we go! Jake cheats on Lucy and agrees to let her punish him 3 times to even the score. First of all, who would agree to this? But none the less, he does. I am thinking just the not knowing when or what she was going to do would be enough to make you crazy. Never mind what she actually can do to him. It didn't play out at all in the ways I was thinking.Again, who would agree to that and even as you get into the story it doesn't seem like they like each other very much so we agree to stay together?

I found this book to be so confusing. I think the people who like to read into things probably loved it. I just couldn't love it. Nothing grabbed me at all. That ending....WTH I was the most confused with the ending. What the heck happened???

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for this ARC

3.5 stars.

The subject matter Megan Hunter focuses on in The Harpy—a woman who feels restricted by her roles as a wife and mother and who has to face her husband's affair—may be nothing new, but she adds a much-needed freshness to this by introducing the idea of retribution. Seeing how this scenario impacts Lucy's mental state and relationships had me flying through the novel, which isn't long to begin with, to see what the outcome would be. I loved the way motherhood was explored here, as well as the main character's obsession with the harpy figure from mythology.

I asked my mother what a harpy was, and she told me: they punish men for the things they do.

The construction was another element I liked, as we have the past storyline alongside what seems to be Lucy's narration in the present; that coupled with the smooth, lyric writing made for a quick and captivating read. I will say, though, that the last 20% missed the mark for me: part of it went in a direction that felt too scripted, while the other bit was haphazard and somewhat vague.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly, this one didn't work for me. I enjoyed the writing, found it atmospheric and really brought the book alive but the plot didn't ever had me hooked at any point and Lucy grated on me throughout the whole book. A 2.5 rating for me.

If you're looking for a literary and dark read about marriage and motherhood, I would recommend the Harpy. The Harpy is somewhere between books like the Mere Wife or Circe and a more general fiction book about motherhood/marriage like An American Marriage. The author explores women's experiences through a mythical frame. The Harpy doesn't quite go as far as Circe or the Mere Wife into myth; personally, I might have preferred it if it had. Instead, it dips a toe into the mythological context of the angry woman, the harpy, the punisher in a way that reminds the reader of the unbearable timelessness of women's struggles.

Other reviewers have mentioned they wished it was shorter, I think either shorter or longer would have been great - I either needed less or I needed more. The main character is well-developed, but some of the other characters were hard for me to imagine and I wish I had had more about them. The narrative was fascinating and I was appropriately shocked by the actions of the main character, but I wish I had had more information on the actual impact of these encounters for either the main character or side characters.

This was such a unique read, really weird and wonderful.

The premise for me really instantly intrigued me a lot, a very big spin on the often seen wife gets revenge on a cheating husband story , but this story does so much more with it and includes many different themes too. So what you get is a mixture of fairy tale , fantasy , domestic drama and thriller all rolled into one, and told in a very engaging way.

I liked the format, it did take a little while to get used to and on board with but it was really interesting and I liked the fact that it maybe didn't flow perfectly but just was a jumbled thread in a way, I thought it fitted well with the story and it's themes.

Overall this was an enjoyable read, that was something different and something that was a mixture of different themes and styles.

Thank you to the Publisher for letting me read this.

2.25 stars

I was really excited to read this book. Contemporary fiction is something that I am actively trying to read more of. Magical realism was the other part of the synopsis that intrigued me. A woman slowly becoming a harpy? Bring it on! Turns out, this book as a an intense identity issue (more on this later). Lucy's husband Jake cheated on her with Vanesa, his older co-worker. In the efforts to mend their relationship, Jake and Lucy decide that payback is needed. Lucy will be hurt Jake thrice, and they will be even. One thing neither of them could have anticipated was the effect this would have on them, and Lucy especially. The harpy that sleeps inside her is starting to awaken.

First off, I'll tackle the confusing themes. I said that I thought this book was having an identity crisis and I stick with that. At moments I thought it was meant to be feminist, and at others it just seemed very anti-women (similar to the way The Wives was). The entire progression of this book relies on Lucy engaging her emotions and letting herself be heard. However, there are so many little things that contradicted that theme (which you'd think is the main one because the book is literally titled The Harpy). Motherhood is talked about a lot and very rarely in a positive light. On one hand, Lucy kills herself over doing even the smallest things wrong when it comes to her children. On the other, she constantly views them as a nuisance and at times she wishes she would have just ran away when they were born. Motherhood and women's roles in the house are both shown to be the deciding factors when it comes to a woman's worth in this book. Lucy often worries over how the other women will perceive her. The entire time I was wondering where this was going... but it didn't really go anywhere.

(view spoiler in original review; link below)

"When everyone knows, they'll say they saw it coming. (...) We always knew she was like that, they will say, afraid of the truth. They knew nothing."


Another thing that was lackluster was the characters. None of them were particularly memorable. I can say, though, that at least Lucy was interesting enough to follow. This may have been because I was trying to figure out what the heck was going on in her head... I failed at this. From what I could tell, the bigger focus than the characters was the interactions, especially between Lucy and Jake. This was an area that wasn't terrible but wasn't great and most definitely was confusing. At times I thought it was sweet and empowering how they were working through things, but other times I wanted to scream at them to end the relationship if they hated it so much. I guess it is a positive that I felt so much because at least that means this book will evoke emotions from you. Through Lucy and Jake's relationship betrayal, forgiveness, and the ability to move on were explored. Unfortunately, I thought that this fell flat. Throughout the book, we go around in circles: Jakes betrays Lucy; Lucy hurts Jake; their relationship mends; Jake betrays Lucy. So is the message of this book to hurt the people who hurt you and just sit back and wait until they do it again? That's kinda what I got.

Lastly, I must mention the writing style, which is quite atmospheric and shows a lot of personality. Although sometimes it was so flowery, so it just didn't make sense at all, mostly it was interesting enough and quite mystical, which I thought suited the story very well.

In my eyes, The Harpy will go down as that novel that was so bizarre, not in a good way, that I just never got to make any sense of it.

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3348727113

This is a story about infidelity that was told in such poetic, beautiful prose that you simply can't look away from the page.

Stories about infidelity are nothing new by any means but where Hunter excels is making it so realistic. Lucy and Jake could be any married couple you know. This felt like an authentic marriage in the midst of a breakdown.

Lucy believes she has a wonderful life. Happily married to Jake with two young sons Paddy and Teddy. She happily put her career aside to raise their sons because that is what a good wife and mother does. They give a little piece of themselves up in order to maintain happiness in the home.

So Lucy is completely blindsided when she gets a call from a man claiming that his wife is having an affair with her husband. Not just any woman but, Vanessa, his much older colleague from work. These are people she invited into her home for dinner parties. Not once had she ever suspected that something like this would happen. Never once had she wondered about the late nights with co-workers and off-scheduled trains delaying his arrival and what that actually meant. All those lies so easily slipped off his tongue and through his lips are like a slap to the face now. Clarity becomes so bright her mind nearly breaks.

"When Vanessa had complimented the house, I had rushed to clarify, red faced, holding a plate of mince meat pies: It's only rented. Not ours. I wish! Who was I pretending to be when I spoke like that? Stupid cunt. I whispered this under my breath as I sprayed the glass coffee table, wiping fresh streak across it's surface. I didn't know who I was talking to but it felt good in my mouth anyway, a small wet kiss."

Feeling empty, devastated, and angry she decides that Jake will be punished three times and he, in all his guilt, agrees to these terms. All three will be a surprise and done precisely when Lucy feels the time is right.

"Mary look conflicted, pained, a near-stranger at a funeral.

Lucy you know you can talk to me, don't you? If there is anything wrong - anything wrong at all.

So she knew. Shit. Fuckity fuck. I had noticed the swearing in my head was becoming very childish lately, as though I was learning how to use words all over again. Curses had begun to spill out of my mouth, dribble like, at ordinary moments, loading washing in to the machine, pulling hairs out of the drain.

Ah, yes. Everything's fine - but thanks. Thanks!

The last few words were loud, sharply pitched, yelled over my shoulder as I pedaled away."

"Why was I the one who was looked at as damaged? Jake had been unfaithful but somehow that reflected badly on me, I could tell. Just a housewife, really. Nothing achieved, no publications under my name. Not worth staying faithful to."

Interspersed throughout the stories are recollections of her youth when she became obsessed with the mythological creature the Harpy. For those that don't know the Harpies are bird like creatures with female faces that are known to torment and kidnap men that did terrible things. During these recollections we also find out about the abuse her mother faced at her fathers hand often openly in front of the children which leads to her obsession with the Harpies.

The end of this is left up for the reader to interpret which isn't my favorite way to conclude a story. I wanted to know what happened between Lucy and Jake so for that I have to knock a star. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

No one believes they can be THAT woman until it happens to them.

Harpies are mythical birds who punish men for the acts they commit. Lucy is a perfect mom with the perfect marriage until she receives a phone call that will turn her world upside down. How far will Lucy take her revenge and at what cost?

This book is such a unique and beautifully written story.

Thank you Net Galley, Megan Hunter and Grove press for this Advance copy!

The only thing I liked about this book is the cover. I think I am just not the intended audience for this type of book. The premise was intriguing- a woman gets a call while she is preparing dinner from another woman’s husband that his wife and her husband are having an affair. When he confesses, he comes up with a way to even the score. She can hurt him in return three times.
The book meanders off into long descriptions of how the main character has lost her identity separate from being a wife and mother and in between offers memories of her fascination with the myth of the Harpies.
I was bored and wanted something to happen and was unsatisfied with the ending.
Some readers may enjoy the descriptions and writing but this one was not enjoyable for me.
Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for the advanced ebook in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this beautifully written novel about the airless suffocation of living in traditional gender roles, the simmering, sick rage of a betrayed wife and the archetype of the raging harpy that she turns to to help her cope. I read the book in one long gulp, my attention held fast by not only the sharp truths found in Hunter's story but also by the spare beauty of her prose. Recommended!

I was transfixed from page 1 - haunting and beautifully tragic. I loved the overarching imagery of the harpy and the transformative power of rage and revenge. There are some powerful feelings throughout about marriage and motherhood that are profound and thought-provoking. I felt the writing style was smooth and lyrical. Watching the main character grow more and more aggressive, wrestling baser instincts to exact her revenge on a cheating spouse, shedding her perfect wife persona and taking metaphorical flight as a harpy incarnate, was fascinating to read.

Thank you to netgalley for providing a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

5 plus stars, I would complain only about the length being way too short, but the writing was amazing! I Toby think I’ve ever read anything written the way THE HARPY was wrote! I loved it though, found it unputdownable, and entirely too short! It’s a very hard book to explain and one I think is better read! The character development was flawless and the writing itself was completely unique! I recommend to those looking for a short story that is likely like anything else you’ve read!
Will make sure to buzz up on platforms and use low amazon reviewer number on release date!

Dark and haunting, "The Harpy" is a genre-bending exploration of what it means to sacrifice your dreams in the name of love that betrays you.

You know it's going to be a good book when already the Publisher's description says: "Lucy has set her career aside in order to devote her life to the children (...) and to the house itself, which comforts her like an old, sly friend." OH MY; you just know something is going down. And it does. When Lucy finds out that her husband Jake is sleeping with another woman, in order to salvage their marriage, they agree that Lucy will hurt Jake three times in any way she pleases. Number three is highly significant to Lucy, reminiscent of her time spent in church (e.g. Holy Trinity) as a child. Honestly, if this premise doesn't make your neurons fire with intrigue, then you probably won't like this book.

Struggling with what it means to satisfy and forgive when navigating delicate relationship dynamics myself, I was immediately pulled into Lucy and Jake's lives full of unanswered questions and dark corners. It's certainly not an easy read; you are forced to get uncomfortable with painfully real encounters of infidelity, betrayal and abuse. But to me, this discomfort is crucial to the deeply intimate exploration of Lucy's mind and her desire to inflict punishment.

"I could not think of a way to confront Jake that did not feel scripted, stilted, too cheesy or on the nose. I could fling myself at him, pummel his chest with my fists, demand that he tell me everything. I could, carefully and without crying, cut every single one of his work shirts into shreds."

And, of course, because of the beautiful, lyrical writing style, I couldn't put this book down. While short, it's definitely one I will keep thinking about for a long time to come.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ok so, beautiful cover, first of all. Wow. This writing. It is just gorgeous. There is no other word I can come up with to explain it. Everything, even the very simple- like a notification in the night- is described in an enchanting lyrical tone. This way, the story flows and seems almost dream-like. Next, I was intrigued by the title and its relation to Greek Mythology, which I love. The harpy is one of the more interesting creatures in Greek Mythology. As half-bird, half-woman, it is related to stormy winds, believed to carry people away, and shows a special hostile towards men. The Harpy is always at the back of Lucy’s mind, waiting to be awakened one day and we learn throughout just how much the Harpy represents revenge- but I'm getting ahead of myself. Everything in this story is kicked into gear by the main character, Lucy's discovery of her husband's infidelity. Everything that happens is a result of this, but many past triggers also come to the surface as far as her own childhood and her confidence as a mother. Other than this, I say please don't read spoilers. Just dive in and let her voice whisk you away. It will This was very good and very similar to another author I just read- Daisy Johnson.

Lucy discovers that her husband is having an affair with his coworker who is older than both of them and is also a married woman. Lucy is a mother of two boys, stay at home mom with a free lance writing job. She has her own problems from her childhood, her upbringing, pressures of modern parenting, a feeling of worthlessness. And upon that she has her husband's infidelity.

Like Harpy from Greek and Roman mythology, Lucy decides to “punish men for what they do”. Lucy plays a dangerous game of revenge, punishing her husband three times to make up for his sins. Lucy finds pleasure as well as guilt seeing her husband in pain. She plans the next move and immediately regret her thoughts and questions her own being. The harpy slowly takes over Lucy. Lucy becomes Harpy and Harpy becomes Lucy.

A very well written book on Marriage, Loyalty, Family and Emotional abuse. Lyrical prose and fast paced. Dark and Contemplative marriage story.


ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Happy Reading!!

There is a moment in Megan Hunter’s The Harpy when the narrator, a work-at-home mom in her 30s, hears someone say her name: “Mrs. Stevenson,” they call repeatedly. As she listens, the narrative abruptly shifts perspective. An omniscient narrator takes over, rendering Mrs. Stevenson as the object. A woman sits in a room, hearing herself be named. This shift, this sudden loss of control is a theme at the heart of The Harpy.

In this forthcoming novella, it is the loss of self to the role of wife and mother that directs the action and permeates the mental states of the characters. The mother’s loss of agency is palpable here.

Lucy Stevenson, mother, wife, writer, neighbor, are pieces of a self that become molded, stretched, and rearranged. “Like dough,” Hunter writes at one point, emphasizing the malleability of the self, of who we are and what we’ve done. Even the relationship with her husband feels “borderless,” their selves seeping out and into each other. “Mrs. Stevenson” is a woman “who would never be a real person again.” Unresolved trauma from her childbirth and the hint of a sexual assault in her young adulthood, combined with a sense of feeling “invisible” form Lucy’s mental state, renders her someone who would plead with an imaginary harpy to “get the ones who hurt me.”

Despite the straightforward labels that Lucy wears, she is insistent that she not become the cliche of any of them. When she discovers her husband’s affair, she dreads playing out “those TV shows,” narratives “that seemed to have greater texture than my own existence.” In her struggle to not perform the expected routine, to not “say all the things we’d both seen,” she instead finds herself pushing the categories of herself away, finding that she is becoming the self that she was destined to become.

Hunter’s slow-burning novella will pull readers into its tempting glow of its relatable and tangible domestic sketches, and then shock them with its intensity.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the advance copy of this title.

I really liked this author's previous book and I really liked this one as well! I guess I'm a fan of her work and look forward to more of her books.

This was fast paced, lyrical, hard to put down, and I raced through it from beginning to end. She writes very different from other authors I've read but in a good way that I enjoy.

Lucy's world is shattered after she finds out her husband has been cheating on her with one of his coworkers. She knows betrayal, violence, and cold indifference very well from her past that includes her mother and father and other men that have surrounded her throughout her life. She, like most women who have been cheated on, wants the person who cheated to feel the same pain she has felt, the pain that was inflicted on her, she now wants to inflict back. Then he might know what it's like and understand.

Understandably from someone who has been in this situation she finds it hard to just forgive and forget without that person suffering some painful consequences for his actions. Just how far will she go to inflict pain? The idea is that she now gets to hurt him three times and then they're even, each time with something different and he will not know what it will be or when it will happen. They will each come as a surprise, just as his cheating had been to her. It's not until after she's inflicted the pain on him each time that she realizes it's done nothing to help her and in fact continues to make her into someone else completely, someone she no longer recognizes as herself. By the end of the story she's went through a complete transformation, but I didn't see the end coming the way it did, so it even caught me by surprise. I get what another reviewer said when she said "you'll either get it, or you won't". It's just one of those stories. If you've been there, you'll understand.

This story was like nothing I've ever read before and captured just what it's like to become someone entirely different than you thought you were. You thought you were a good person and then several people in your life do you wrong, hurt you terribly, you've seen violence, watched it play out over and over again. You thought you were good but then you turned, you became a monster, a beast, in her case, the harpy. This book kind of reminds me of the quote "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Also reminds me that before you judge anyone, just remember that everyone has both good and evil in them and everyone is capable of both. Sometimes you're the angel and sometimes you're the devil.

I was so glad to get an advance reader copy from Netgalley, so thank you to Netgalley for this!