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mr_sosotris's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
crimsonjoy's review against another edition
3.0
I felt like it was a bit incomplete considering the other tales of the vampires.
jnikolova's review against another edition
2.0
I read The Vampire Chronicles and a bunch of other Anne Rice books a couple of years ago and to be honest, I overdosed. It took me around 6-7 years to start another one of her books.
I can never be sure weather I like her style or not. Her ideas are almost always very good, but her writing is lacking. It is a bit over the top and wayyy too melodramatic for me. But nevertheless, there are a few books of hers that I really like, most of all Queen of the Damned, which was so, so inspired. To this day I remember Maharet, Akasha, Rock!Lestat and the rest of the bunch like I have read it yesterday.
Pandora was never one of the characters that I cared much about, she has always been background noise for me. I think the reason behind this might be the fact that before ever starting the books, I watched the QofD movie where she was a weird old lady, not very like her actual description in the books.
But, ultimately, I liked much of the story in Pandora. I have always been a die-hard fan of Ancient Greece, Egypt and the Roman Empire, so it was quite interesting for me, in comparison to Lestat's origin story, which was set much, much later, at a less interesting period. What was it, Classicism? I could be wrong.
Despite liking the story, there was one thing I found extremely annoying, and that was the fact that if you haven't read the Vampire Chronicles, you would be completely in the dark about this. Now, as I pointed out, I read them a while back and by now I have forgotten much of the details from books like Memnoch the Devil, although I remember liking that one in particular. I have no recollection, however, of Armand's story beyond his role in the first three books from the Chronicles. Which means that Pandora felt like another companion book, not like the beginning of another series. It just explains another side of the same story which is part of the Vampire Chronicles. Not to mention the fact that. Pandora is first introduced by Lestat as an ex-courtesan who caught Marius' eye. In the Pandora book though, she explains that Marius was what, trying to keep her virtue by explaining that bitch used to be a hooker? I'm not buying it. I have this nagging suspicion that Rice was simply not planning on writing a book about Pandora so she just came up with a random story. And then, a couple of years later, she was like 'There is still money in our Pandora'. So she wrote an entire book with a completely different backstory under the excuse that Marius, for reasons unknown, made the courtesan thing up. Stop milking it, Rice. Come up with some new characters, why don't you?
Also, the melodrama was at top notch. I mean... Rice's over-the-top love and sex conversations can be a little overwhelming, right?
*** I am once again at crossroads. Maybe I should rate it with three stars. Realistically, I think it is 2.5 stars, but somehow I don't feel right overrating it. ***
I can never be sure weather I like her style or not. Her ideas are almost always very good, but her writing is lacking. It is a bit over the top and wayyy too melodramatic for me. But nevertheless, there are a few books of hers that I really like, most of all Queen of the Damned, which was so, so inspired. To this day I remember Maharet, Akasha, Rock!Lestat and the rest of the bunch like I have read it yesterday.
Pandora was never one of the characters that I cared much about, she has always been background noise for me. I think the reason behind this might be the fact that before ever starting the books, I watched the QofD movie where she was a weird old lady, not very like her actual description in the books.
But, ultimately, I liked much of the story in Pandora. I have always been a die-hard fan of Ancient Greece, Egypt and the Roman Empire, so it was quite interesting for me, in comparison to Lestat's origin story, which was set much, much later, at a less interesting period. What was it, Classicism? I could be wrong.
Despite liking the story, there was one thing I found extremely annoying, and that was the fact that if you haven't read the Vampire Chronicles, you would be completely in the dark about this. Now, as I pointed out, I read them a while back and by now I have forgotten much of the details from books like Memnoch the Devil, although I remember liking that one in particular. I have no recollection, however, of Armand's story beyond his role in the first three books from the Chronicles. Which means that Pandora felt like another companion book, not like the beginning of another series. It just explains another side of the same story which is part of the Vampire Chronicles. Not to mention the fact that. Pandora is first introduced by Lestat as an ex-courtesan who caught Marius' eye. In the Pandora book though, she explains that Marius was what, trying to keep her virtue by explaining that bitch used to be a hooker? I'm not buying it. I have this nagging suspicion that Rice was simply not planning on writing a book about Pandora so she just came up with a random story. And then, a couple of years later, she was like 'There is still money in our Pandora'. So she wrote an entire book with a completely different backstory under the excuse that Marius, for reasons unknown, made the courtesan thing up. Stop milking it, Rice. Come up with some new characters, why don't you?
Also, the melodrama was at top notch. I mean... Rice's over-the-top love and sex conversations can be a little overwhelming, right?
*** I am once again at crossroads. Maybe I should rate it with three stars. Realistically, I think it is 2.5 stars, but somehow I don't feel right overrating it. ***
vanlyn87's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
susieq_reads's review against another edition
5.0
Pandora is my absolute favorite of Anne Rice’s novels.. Pandora’s character is the saddest and strongest and most interesting of the Vampires.
stitchandwitch's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty good. Not her best. The last few chapters just DRAGGED on and on. Too much history, not enough plot.
annyeongnica's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first Anne Rice book that I've ever read.
Pandora was written beautifully and elegantly. Anne Rice used such beautiful language that it made me want to read the book even if I'm not entirely interested with the story.
Well, I was not entirely uninterested with the story. The fact that Anne Rice used history to make the story richer is, I think, clever and well-done. It gave me new perspective to those histories she used in Pandora's story.
Pandora is also a very likable character, because, as she said, she has a body of a woman and a mind of a man. She is headstrong, and she does not let other voices her drown hers out, even at a time like this, when women were accepted to be on a rank much lower than men.
The themes of the story were also good. There were parts that I highlighted because they amazed me so much--these realizations about life and the world. This book gave me good insights because it sees the world with much appreciation. It is truly admirable how Anne Rice used Pandora's vampiric nature to make her message stronger and clearer to the reader--a truly magnificent work of magic realism.
However, I'm only giving this a rating of three stars because this is just not the story for me--although I appreciated it very much.
Pandora was written beautifully and elegantly. Anne Rice used such beautiful language that it made me want to read the book even if I'm not entirely interested with the story.
Well, I was not entirely uninterested with the story. The fact that Anne Rice used history to make the story richer is, I think, clever and well-done. It gave me new perspective to those histories she used in Pandora's story.
Pandora is also a very likable character, because, as she said, she has a body of a woman and a mind of a man. She is headstrong, and she does not let other voices her drown hers out, even at a time like this, when women were accepted to be on a rank much lower than men.
The themes of the story were also good. There were parts that I highlighted because they amazed me so much--these realizations about life and the world. This book gave me good insights because it sees the world with much appreciation. It is truly admirable how Anne Rice used Pandora's vampiric nature to make her message stronger and clearer to the reader--a truly magnificent work of magic realism.
However, I'm only giving this a rating of three stars because this is just not the story for me--although I appreciated it very much.
marigoldgem's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Death, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, and Slavery