Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman

22 reviews

ltsang08's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Classism, Murder, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Torture, Physical abuse, Blood, Alcohol, Death, Bullying, Animal death, Vomit, Domestic abuse, and Animal cruelty

maur_damar's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Grief

glowhoya's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

3.25

one of those books you know is fanfic fodder lol. fun, twisty, interesting character dynamics/setups if mid-tier romance/payoffs

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse and Murder

reclusivebookslug's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I can't believe I let this sit on my shelves unread for so long! It hits at the perfect intersection of so many things I love in a book: history, myth, trauma, social commentary on power dynamics, animal sidekicks, misunderstood characters, etc.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Death of parent and Domestic abuse

Minor: Classism, Confinement, and Murder

Animal death/cruelty is the killing of a pet.

asmallgremlin's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.0

I really enjoyed this book - it was full of mystery, interesting characters and a little splash of Greek mythology! 

It follows a jeweller named Dora who lives in her uncle’s antiquarian shop, who discovers her uncle has come into the possession of a Greek pithos from a time before history…
She meets an aspiring writer named Edward, who is trying to get into the Society of Antiquarians and who needs a new subject for a study. When he meets Dora and discovers this pithos, he believes he might be in luck. However the pithos may not be as it seems, it may hold secrets that are not meant to be discovered. 

I had a great time reading this book - I loved all of the good characters and empathised with the characters who had gone on the wrong path (e.g. Lottie - I felt very sorry for her). My favourite character was probably Dora, and I also loved Cornelius

who I figured out was 🏳️‍🌈 before it was explicitly said and I felt very pleased with myself - you’ve got to have a token gay in a novel set in Georgian times. It’s the law.

I also very much enjoyed the historical details - this novel is set in 1799 during the Regency and Napoleonic Wars and both of those historical events are things I know a little bit about (I did Napoleon as part of my History A-Level). I also very very much enjoyed the inclusion of historical people as characters - including LADY EMMA HAMILTON who is a historical figure I am fascinated by. Stokes-Chapman blended together fiction and history in a very effective way. 

I enjoyed the Greek myth elements of the story

did not realise that the grey eyed man was Zeus but cool

and I was so happy to see the debunking of the box in the Pandora myth - It’s a jar for Gods sake! 

This was a highly enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mystery, history and Greek mythology. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

jenni_snell's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-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? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

bookishwondergoth's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This was a nice, easy to read  historical fiction novel inspired by the Greek myth of Pandora’s Box. Both the story and the prose are nothing spectacular but I still had a fun time. It also has one of the most truly hateable out and out villains I’ve read in a while.

For a book so focused around the black market trade of antiquities, I was a bit disappointed that the role of the British Empire in plundering Greece artifacts was never really raised. There was very little nuance in relation to this subject which threw me out of the book a bit. I think it would have been a more interesting read to have that kind of topic included.

I really enjoyed the side characters (Lady Latimer being a particular favourite).

Overall glad I read this. Recommended to those looking for a nicely paced, ambiguously supernatural historical mystery.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Gore, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

Minor: Kidnapping, War, and Homophobia

Instances of sexism, misogyny and homophobia etc. are in-world and consistent with the time period. They are also challenged, addresses or overcome. Also with regard to the animal death:

the villain of the story kills the main character’s pet bird. It is off-page and the description of its corpse is one line, but the instance is still upsetting.

bubblegirl858's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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

3.0

Overall, a really well written story and a great twist on the Pandora story. I really enjoyed reading it and would probably read it again. The characters are a range of boring, interesting, valiant and villainous, as well as selfish and selfless which balances the book really well. I will say if you are squeamish at all about injuries and descriptions of that sort to steer clear of this book. Hermes was my favorite character.

The entire time whenever Edward interacted with Cornelius I literally screamed out "He is in love with you, you moron!" because it was painfully obvious to everyone except the literal straight white man which was both hilarious and heartbreaking. Speaking of heartbreaking, Hermes' being killed was the absolute worst thing I had to read, and I was so upset. I will never recover.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Animal death, and Death of parent

mpbookreviews's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Violence

mtnest's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit and Sexual content