I loved this story because it's about getting what you want and then realizing that what you want is not the best for you. Pandora just wants to be married, to be loved, to have a stable life and to provide something for her dad, who is a tennis instructor who can no longer play like he used to. Set in the 1920s, this is a story of power, of wanting, and of realizing that no matter what, you can't always get what you want, but you can damn well try.

3.5 stars, rounded down.

A well written story set in the 1920's featuring a strong female lead, Pandora, who is trying to obtain her dream of becoming a fashion designer. I found Pandora's character very likable, I thought she was well written and I really enjoyed her character development. I wasn't a huge fan of some of the secondary characters, but that wasn't a huge deal.

It was a quick read that I recommend to anyone who likes historical fiction!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Life She Wanted features a strong main female lead character, Pandora who is not afraid to be independent, strong and identify what she wants in life. While she grew up in an unwealthy family she is fortunate to be exposed to the well-0ff families in the area. She eventually finds love, marries and then tragedy and scandal hit. The stock market crashes, a delicious scandal needs to be navigated and dreams still need to be made realities.

A solid story, but I wish it had a little more of Pandora as the strong independent woman pursuing her life. Set in the gilded age, Pandora and her father lived on an estate where her father was a tennis coach. She grew up with the family’s children, and also helping around the house. She wanted to be a fashion designer and was convinced that one of the local boys from a wealthy family was her steppingstone into the life she wanted, until he asked a girl of his own class to marry him. That led her to someone else, mistakes, a scandal, and her finally working toward her dream.
The setting and the time were described beautifully. I enjoyed the characters but didn’t completely connect with Pandora.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.

We are taken on a journey through the high life of rich New Yorkers in the hey day of the twenties and thirties, seen through the eyes of Pandora, who looks into the high life from the sidelines, but wants to join in. When the opportunity arises to join this lifestyle, it opens up to many secrets, and also makes secrets for Pandora to keep. With Pandora we navigate through this from New York, the lush holiday homes and the beaches of the South of France and back to the USA. A good story.

After nothing happened for the first few chapters I actually jumped to the last chapter and the epilogue. I thought after reading those two but it might be worth a second chance. I read the book in a double speed and reached the part where they go shopping for the wedding dress. That's when I decided it was just not worth the effort. Tedious descriptions, irrelevant dialogues, too much of a "pre" story.... It was a tedious experience. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Life She Wanted by Anita Abriel

In 1920s New York Pandora Carmichael lives among the super-rich but doesn't truly belong - her father is the tennis coach to one of the most wealthy families in Hyde Park. Marriage will assure her place in their society and her ambition to be a dress designer, but comes at a cost. Tragic events result in Pandora finding the courage to be true to herself and those around her.

I absolutely LOVED this book - the story, the setting, the period of history, the characters.... everything. Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I read Anita Abriel’s, The Life She Wanted. This novel will transport you back to the 1920’s with intrigue and suspense. The well developed characters and colorful settings will make you feel like you are in the middle of the action of the roaring 20s. Ms Abriel’s books are always exciting & well written, this one does not disappoint. I rated it 4 out of 5 stars.

All surface and no depth, The Life She Wanted reads like a teenager’s diary entry planning out a future life. Pandora is flighty and shallow and stumbles into good fortune over and over despite making terrible decisions.

There’s no struggle or true overcoming adversity. Pandora hides, denies, or runs away whenever things get too hard. I would’ve so much rather followed Millie or Virginia -they showed more character in their brief appearances than Pandora did throughout the entire book.

I finished The Life She Wanted feeling pretty average, but it almost makes me angry after writing it all out. Abriel uses Harley’s sexuality and real historical moments of importance (from WWI to women’s rights to the Great Depression) as plot points for Pandora to ‘overcome’ rather than as topics to explore. She takes a modern viewpoint and tries to force it on her characters, making many of them feel very disjointed from their counterparts. The entire thing felt awkward, clumsy, and mishandled at its worst and shallow and flighty at its best.

Set in the 1920's I was enamoured by the grandeur and the fashion of the gilded age. I was unable to put the book down once I started it.

Pandora, comes across as a strong, independent woman who does not allow society's expectations to limit her. She was ambitious yet naive at the beginning of the story but came into her own finding herself and the person she was meant to be. It was a heartwarming read that stayed true to it's title. I would have liked to see more of the side characters though. Virginia was definitely my favourite and I would love to have her as my best friend.

A quick, lighthearted read.

This book was very promising. I lived the setting and Pandora was so intriguing but I felt like it wasn't long enough to get an attachment to any of the characters.

Pandora Carmichael is the daughter of a tennis instructor and her best friends are Virginia and Archie the children of her father’s employers.
She aspires to be a fashion designer and be surrounded by privilege she never had as a child. When she meets a charming boy Harley at a house party in 1926 she can finally make her dreams come true Only tragedy and scandal get in the way of her dreams and she flees to the south of France, With the depression on the horizon she must re-evaluate her dreams.

The love between Archie and Pandora felt rushed on the part of Pandora. The ending felt a bit rushed

This book was such a mixed bag and because of that I loved it and hated it in equal measure. I loved to hate it? Either way, let me explain.

Pandora lives on the estate of her best friends family while her hard working father struggles to make ends meet. Growing up around such wealth and influence, she aspires to become a dress designer. Set in the late 1920s, the descriptions of the time period, clothing, etc are magnificent! I thoroughly enjoyed a foray into the roaring 20s through this book. The characters were also wonderful! Even the side characters were all well fleshed out and had something to offer to the story.

However, Pandoras life somehow lined up perfectly. Almost too perfectly. It's hard to bring myself to believe that a girl who grew up on the outside of such wealth would have such an essentially easy time becoming a designer. Her marriage and the eventual decline of it were very well written and fleshed out as well. I loved how Pandora was able to go from being a meek young girl into a powerhouse of a woman by the end. All in all this was a lovely story with beautiful scenery! I just struggled to suspend my disbelief sometimes.

I received an advanced copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley, Anita Abriel, and Lake Union Publishing. ❤️

Anita Abriel takes readers back in time to the 1920s as we follow Pandora through her teenage years and throughout her adulthood. Pandora has aspirations to become a dress designer and with the help of the family where her father is employed, works to achieve these goals, and navigates being a new wife in the New York Society. I found myself rooting for Pandora, as she came across some obstacles throughout her story and felt like I was walking the streets and attending the society functions right alongside her. The drive and perseverance shown by Pandora was inspiring and offers hope to others trying to go after their goals. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

“We’re born to be who we are. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

A lovely cover but a story that just wasn't for me. I found the MC silly - flighty, strong-headed in an odd way. She just didn't seem to be living in the reality of her world. As she continued to make silly decisions and hurt those around her, I was baffled. When did the world ever work like this? As things inevitably lined up like dominoes, I was a little frustrated it seemed like it was so easy when I don't believe it was. A cute, light story that just wasn't my thing.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This book had a lot of potential but in the end, it didn't stand out for me. Pandora reminded me a lot of Sabrina from the old Audrey Hepburn movie. She's set up to be independent and strong, but for most of the book she mostly just bent to the societal norms around her. Meanwhile, her friend was out living her best life. Ultimately, she's only spurred into her independence because she's forced into it. I did like the ending of the book, and hwo Pandora becomes, but it took too long to get there, despite it being such a short book, and I'd lost interest by then.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

4 ⭐️ for The Life She Wanted by Anita Abriel. Set in the late 1920s, Pandora Carmichael has been raised by her father (a tennis coach who had played in Wimbledon) in the midst of wealthy New York society. She and her father live on the estate of her best friends’ family so she is surrounded by wealth while her father makes ends meet.

Pandora aspires to be a fashion designer and hopes that her exposure to NY society will help her achieve this dream. She meets and falls in love with a Princeton boy and thinks her life will now fulfill her dream…

I loved the characters in this book, especially Pandora, Virginia and Archie. Abriel did a great job of bringing this time period to life and in describing the various settings. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

Thank you to the author, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for my honest feedback.

We meet Pandora Carmichael the lead character, who has been raised by her father Willie, a one-time tennis pro who played at Wimbledon, now making a living as tennis coach to the rich and famous. We learn Pandora’s mother abandoned her and her father at an early age.

Pandora has grown up surrounded by a world of luxury and privilege whilst working along side her father as the “kitchen help” to a rich family. The family treat them quite well and they live in a cottage on the property grounds. Pandora becomes best friends and grows up with the family children. This I believe has caused Pandora to want to emulate their success and lifestyle, as she yearns to become a fashion designer to design beautiful ball gowns and dresses for society women. The only way she can make this happen is by ‘snagging’ a rich husband to help fund her ‘dream’. Of course she does want the romance and to be in love as well. We see Pandora fall in love, and finally it seems she has everything she ever wanted, but quickly it ends in a great scandal and tragedy. Through her grief, Pandora manages to find the strength to pave her own path and achieve her ‘dream’, in a world that is not favourable to women having their own careers and establishing their own paths.

I highly enjoyed this story, if anything it was a bit predictable as to the ending. I liked the growth we see of Pandora from someone quite young and naive, craving security (this is probably to do with her mum leaving her), and falling in love with the first man who pays her any attention, to a strong woman navigating her life and following her dream after tragedy changes her trajectory. I found the story hard to put down, and enjoyed the descriptions of the places such as HydePark, New York, the Hudson Valley, Beaulieu-Sur-Mer and Cap Ferrat France. They felt true to the place and time period of the late 1920s. You could really picture being there, with the descriptions of the world of the rich with their mansions, elaborate garden parties, and of course the fashions was spot on.

Overall, I rated this book a 4 out of 5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. Thank you Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for a digital copy of this book.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this story. The protagonist starts out as a weak-minded girl in the beginning but grows into a strong woman. It is set in a time when women were expected to marry and take care of the men, giving up any dreams they had for a career. I felt the author did a good job creating a believable story with a realistic ending. I have enjoyed other books by this author, and plan to continue with any others she writes.

Just not quite sure how I feel about this one... I am usually a huge historical fiction fan, especially the early 1900s, but this book just didn't grab me right away. I didn't always like the main character Pandora and sometimes found her whiny and hard to root for. I realize that women of this time were quite sheltered and often under educated, but she seemed a little more so than usual. I did like the second half of the book better - her story got more interesting and she seemed to pick herself up by her bootstraps a bit more. Overall, she was not my favorite heroine. The other characters didn't really jump off the page and the story felt like it had a derth of detail in some places and an abundance in others.