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thelittleb00kworm 's review for:
Pandora
by Susan Stokes-Chapman
“Hope, after all, is a powerful thing. Even when it hurts.”
I went into Pandora with the kind of excitement that comes from seeing myth and mystery paired with atmospheric London fog. A story about secrets, ancient curses, and a woman stuck between what she knows and what she longs to discover? Count me in.
And for a while, I was in. I could feel the dust of the antique shop settling on my skin, hear the creak of the floorboards, sense the myth whispering beneath the surface. But then… something in me started to drift. I wanted to love this book—honestly, I expected to—but it ended up being more of a quiet companion than a story that swept me off my feet.
What I enjoyed:
Atmosphere: London felt immersive, and the descriptions of the antiquities shop were genuinely lovely. Moody, a little eerie, and just textured enough to feel real.- The mythology thread: Subtle, but woven in a way that didn’t feel gimmicky. It gave the story a whisper of magic without overpowering the historical elements.
- Dora’s independence: I appreciated her curiosity and her quiet fight against the restrictions placed on her. She felt like a woman trying to grow inside a cage too small for her wings.
What didn’t quite land:
Pacing: It’s a slow burn, and I don’t mind that—but here, the momentum never fully arrived. I kept waiting for the story to ignite.- Emotional distance: I wanted to feel Dora’s longing more deeply. The writing is lovely, but it sometimes held me at arm’s length.
- The romance: Meh. It was soft and fine, but not something I felt invested in. I didn’t swoon or ache or even really root for them—it just... existed.
Final thoughts:
Pandora feels like a beautiful box you open expecting something wild and powerful, but inside you find quiet, well-folded parchment. Delicate, meaningful to some, but for me, a little underwhelming. Still, I think readers who love slow historical fiction with a light mythological thread and introspective characters might connect more deeply than I did.
Would I recommend it?
→ Maybe. It depends what you’re looking for.
Would I reread it?
→ Probably not.
Am I glad I gave it a chance?
→ Yes.
Sometimes a book doesn’t need to roar to be worth reading—it just needs to whisper something that stays with you. This one whispered, but it didn’t linger.