Published by Grove Atlantic Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Magical Realism
Format: ARC, eBook
“I asked my mother what a harpy was, and she told me: they punish men for the things they do.”
Lucy is a happily married woman raising two sons with her husband, Jake up until the day she receives a phone call from a man informing her that her husband has been having an affair with his wife, Vanessa. Her world shattered; she informs Jake that she knows. He says he is sorry; he says it was only sex, he claims it is over. But the couple agree that Lucy can hurt him three times to make up for the pain he has caused.
“You can hurt me back. Three times – then we’ll be even?”
But will they be even? Will this make Lucy feel better? Will it make things, right? Will this push one of them over the edge?
Lucy has always been intrigued by Harpies. Now she has a chance to be like one. To make a man pay for what he has done. Everyone thinks they know what they would do in certain situations but when it actually happens….Lucy is fragile, and her mental state begins to be changing, she begins to become more like a harpy and less like herself.
Will you feel sorry for anyone in this book? Her husband annoyed me when he pointed out that a man at their holiday party would never cheat because he was so into the woman he was dating…was that his not so subtle way of telling Lucy that he was not into her. That he preferred a more mature and sophisticated woman???
This book has a familiar premise: a cheating spouse gets exposed. But the writing in this was absorbing and I found myself having a hard time putting this down. Some will be uncomfortable with the physically harming someone to make things right. I viewed this as her embodying the harpy and becoming a shadow of her former self.
I 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.
.“But the picture I remembered best was the harpies, dark shadows, birds with women’s faces, who came down to torture the unicorn, to make him suffer.”
Thank you to Grove Atlantic/Grove Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.