Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Harpy by Megan Hunter

27 reviews

carbinara's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I found the premise quite interesting, especially in how relatable it was for something quite out there. It was almost childish, they way you’d beg your sibling to hit you back instead of telling mum when you got into fights as a kid and accidentally hurt them. 

I found the ending of the book a little confusing, but still captivating. I think I agree with some other readers that it may have benefitted from a few more pages, although it seemed to be left intentionally vague. That said, I think I may have been a little disappointed if everything was tied up neatly
with Jake and Lucy’s well being explicitly shown.
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jessmbark's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

3.0

I think I am going to be thinking about this book for some time. If you are in the mood for a "good for her" book, this will give you something to chew on. It takes a very cynical approach to family, maternity and relationships, and I say that as a cynic about those things myself.

I haven't read Nightbitch, but I thought the premise would be similar in its body horror aspects. I was wrrong.
I wonder if she turned into a Harpy at all, or if this was some larger allegory for self-harm and suicidal ideation.
I wish I had a book club.
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velvet_young's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.0

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glitchreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed the audiobook. Very fast read. I was torn if I should read it, cheating tropes tend to make me sad in an undesirable way but the concept was interesting enough to try and I’m glad I did. It wasn’t at all sad. It kept my attention, make me wish she did more, that it was more violent. Main character spent so much time focused on how she was a bad person, mother, etc. and I just wanted her to actually be bad lol 
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lalapope's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

It's a book I liked well enough.
It lacks the magic I expected though.
It read more like a woman slowly going insane from her partner's adulatory, as she punishes them in increasingly sadistic ways.
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litkat9878's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

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challenging medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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conspystery's review against another edition

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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!
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. 
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megwilli's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

3.5

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lit_with_lauren's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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