In the second installment of the series, four months have passed and Pandora must face the consequence of opening the mysterious Oceanus box. In the previous book, Pandora, a sixteen year old American mortal girl discovers that she is in fact a Titan, a descendent of Oceanus. She moves to the underwater Olympus Academy where she learns to discover as well as control her powers, while also finding our more on the mysterious Olympus. She is befriended by Zali and Tak, and also falls in love with the enigmatic titan Icarus. In the previous book, Pandora opened a concealed box and released three demons. One of them was vanquished by her and Icarus, and another one disguised himself as a new teacher in the academy. While Pandora and Icarus fear him, this fire demon, Neos, explains to them that he means no harm and wishes to restore peace between Titans and Gods. Meanwhile, the third demon released from the box is revealed to be a Keres, a female soul-eating or death demon. 

The Keres begins to attack students and take their souls while their bodies remain alive. Alarmed, Pandora seeks a solution and Neos tells her he can help to catch the demon and that they need to prepare a special potion. Pandora also consults with a Phoenix’ feather, asking for advice from the wise bird through telepathy. Besides this life-threatening ordeal, Pandora must also pass her exams and find a way to make up with Icarus after they have a fight. She also confides in Zali about everything and realizes that Zali is indeed a true and supportive friend. 

Another friend, Thom, a manticore shape shifter, also becomes part of the group. In the end, after their friend Tak’s soul is also taken, the group prepares the potion and manages to lock the demon back in the box. They are aided by Arketa (Aphrodite’s descendent) and Vronti (Zeus’ descendant), who, despite their enmity towards Pandora, agree to help them in order to rescue their soul-less friends. During the fight Icarus suffers a severe blow and remains unconscious. After catching the demon, Neos tells them that they must find Oceanus so that he can persuade Hades to return the souls. The group therefore boards Oceanus’ ship, brought from the bottom of the sea by Pandora, and they start to travel the mysterious realms of Olympus.

In the Hesiodic myth of Pandora, she releases evils yet also Hope to the world and that concludes her role. In our story, Pandora must face the harsh consequences of her rash decision to open the box. Despite the fact that her friends and even Neos try to persuade her that it was not her fault, Pandora feels deeply ashamed and responsible for the Keres’ doing. Professor Dasko told Pandora he knew she would open the box and he told her not to open it in anticipation that she would act the opposite.

Pandora confronts him:

“‘Why did you tell me not to open it?’ He spread his hands apologetically. ‘I had to. It was the best way to ensure that you did open it. And if you hadn’t, then we’d have given it to Zeus as planned.’ I stared at him, trying to work out how I felt. Had he used me? But to what end? Nothing in the box could have helped him, he wasn’t a Titan.” (p. 118).

From Dasko’s words it appears that while Zeus did not devise this box, he was still involved in the situation. Yet in this story Pandora’s opening the box was not part of Zeus’ plan and in fact her conduct may have foiled his plans.

At the same time, she needs to accepts her powers and learn to control them. In this she is spurred by fear stemming from the fact that, as the others remind her, a Titan girl in the past burned the school and killed people. Like in Kate O’Hearn’s Pegasus series in which 13 years old Emily discovers she is not a mere mortal but is the flame of Olympus and later part of an alien race, so Pandora must deal with her true identity. In both stories the girls must control their powers, which involve flames, and are afraid of hurting their loved ones. Pandora is afraid she might be dangerous.

Pandora is missing her family, yet she is not alone. Her friends fulfil a very important part in being her adoptive family and the parental guidance is also provided by the teachers (as for example in Goddess Girls series or Mount Olympus Academy series which shares some features with this series). In the present series the help of teachers is visible, even the teacher-demon Neos. While Pandora and her friends do face many challenges on their own, they still receive counsel and guidance from the teachers and from the phoenix, which serves as another mentor.

The anguish Pandora feels about releasing the Keres mixes with her emotions after fighting with Icarus and intensifies the situation for her. Strong emotions are part of growing up and Pandora must learn to find a balance between her social life and love life as well as her studies and mission. The most important lesson Pandora must learn, as her professor Dasko gives her is self-control: “You just need to practice controlling the feeling. Practice not letting it overtake you.’” (p. 3).

Zali proves to be a strong character as well. She is a mermaid shape-sifter and becomes an important ally in Pandora’s quest for the potion’s ingredients, as well as a comforting friend who helps her with her problems, while suffering unrequited love herself.

In the end, Pandora and her friends set out on a journey to find the elusive Oceanus, who might have the answers to Pandora’s existence and identity, as well as the future of Olympus.

The review refers to the Kindle edition.