conspystery's review
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I listened to the audiobook version of this and could not stop listening to it until I finished it. The narrator’s performance was incredible; she suited Lucy so well and gave voice to her story in a chillingly genuine way.
This story is one that’s difficult to describe: domestic and casual on the surface, which gives way to unease and a sense of morbid curiosity as it goes on. I loved the slow descent into disquieted routine it took with Lucy as she grappled with her husband’s actions and her instinct to respond, her discomfort with her own tendency towards darkness and yet a building pressure to act. The book’s writing style itself elucidated Lucy’s character, analytical with a haunting kind of detached, melodic beauty-- I felt like the writing evoked images of the harpy that is the novel’s namesake, especially towards the end.
The narrative pushed Lucy towards a kind of tragic double-bind: if she wanted to preserve her relationship, she had to further her attachment to the harpy and the violence she feared lived within her, but if she didn’t, she would remain growingly preoccupied with the dissatisfaction of her life, risking her family and herself and possibly even furthering her fixation on the harpy in the process. Her internal struggle with having no good option built up a tangible, urgent pressure in this book that gave Lucy’s character depth and set up the climax and ending of the story in a truly tense yet detached way, matching the writing style of disinterested detail as it went.
Speaking of which: the ending!
Spoiler
I adored how this book ended. I loved how the realm of the figurative and literal blended along Lucy’s rational understanding of her emotions and detachment from reality until they were indistinguishable. Lucy’s transformation defines this novel, in the best possible way. Her character arc was at first a fall-- a situation out of her control, trying to avoid her intense feelings in favor of the expectations she’s absorbed into her life-- and then an active leap, pushing herself forward to take autonomy even in darkness. The narrative thread about her fixation on the harpy as a creature of myth stitched itself into her character as the book ended. Inseparability was a theme throughout this book, or I thought so: marriages that wouldn’t split, society’s perceptions of motherhood and womanhood and wifehood that Lucy struggled so valiantly to shake, Lucy and the harpy in the end. It was exceptional, and the writing itself was just as artfully intense and powerful as the story needed to deliver its final blows.Overall, I loved this story and Lucy’s telling of it, loved her character and the spiral of her actions, loved the writing and the mythology and everything else happening here. I sat in stunned silence for a while after finishing this book; it leaves that kind of an impact. Rich and dark and eerily satisfying, The Harpy is definitely a story that’ll stick with its audience. I loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Sexual harassment
benjiaprout's review
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I read it in one sitting, it was incredibly good to read - especially after inching my way through Moby Dick. It's very dark, very bittersweet, filled with moments of love, tension and genuine madness. I loved it from cover to cover. A story with precious little dialogue compared to most books, with an inner monologue that descends to despair in a scarily human way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content
Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Rape and Sexual harassment
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