The Spider Goddess (Pandora English #2) – Tara Moss
Pan MacMillan, 2011
348 pages
RRP: AU$22.99
ISBN: 9780732290733

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

The second in Tara Moss’s Pandora English series, The Spider Goddess continues the adventures of intrepid (and Talented) young journalist hopeful, Pandora, as she comes across the usual and unusual traps of living and working in the fashion industry in New York. Like the first novel The Blood Countess, this is a fast-paced, easy read that will appeal to teens and adults alike.

Pandora thought her life would go back to relative normalcy after her encounter with the Blood Countess in the last instalment, but unfortunately she was not destined to be left alone with vampire models, handsome Civil War ghosts and her strangely youthful great aunt. Pandora finds a freakishly large tarantula while covering a fashion shoot, and as she was taught by her mother, saves it instead of killing it in its tracks. Unfortunately for the arachnophobes in the audience, this is not the last of the scary hairies, and Pandora finds herself woven into a web of mystery surrounding the disappearance of New York fashion icons.

Moss has written Pandora to be an easy character to relate to, and while she is dealing with common young adult problems (albeit her crush is on the aforementioned Civil War spectre, and the bitchy Mean Girl is a vampire) we feel a lot of sympathy for her. She comes across as a strong character who knows her own mind, but does tend to fall into interesting situations.

Like The Blood Countess, The Spider Goddess is a fun read, spiced with fashion references and fabulous supporting characters to add interest. Not recommended for those who don’t like spiders though; there are thousands in the course of the story!