Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman

14 reviews

epellicci's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Is this book a highly readable, atmospheric mystery that is packed with drama, betrayal, and extravagance? Yes, it is. Can I forgive it for the fact that its characters and main plot thread are disappointingly familiar coppies of the authors other published work - The Shoadow Key? No, I cannot.

Also, I was disappointed with where it ended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

calliopereads's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Death of parent, Animal death, and Murder

Minor: Racial slurs

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.

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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.

molly_greenshields's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious relaxing slow-paced

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

3.75

Susan Stokes-Chapman certainly brings something different to the Greek retelling trend with Pandora, blending mythology with historical realism in this Georgian-style mystery. The characters were complex, the plot was fun and I found myself not wanting to put the book down once I reached the last hundred or so pages (I will  never be recovered enough to talk about Hermes). Having said that, I don't think it really needed to be 400 pages long in the first place: the prose was dense and relatively slow-moving for the most part and... there just wasn't the same lyrical beauty of Circe or Ariadne (sorry). All in all though, this was a fun read and a rather refreshing take on what's fast-becoming an over-saturated genre.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Gore

Moderate: Violence, Animal death, Death, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

gondorgirl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Animal death, and Gore

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

booksemmahasread's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Animal death, and Death of parent