In love with literature? Try audio books or writing classes for free for 30 days.✨ About the Author Like me, she would struggle with human connection and communication; she would find relationships difficult, emotions confusing and her environment sensorily overwhelming,” the author continued. “Like me, she would be considered ‘weird’ and frequently ‘unlikeable’ and would struggle to find her place in a world that held her permanently at arms’ length.”

Choose a specific event or quote from the book that stood out to you and discuss its significance in the larger narrative. How does it contribute to the development of Cassandra’s character or the themes of the story? Self discovery and awareness become the byproduct for Cassandra as she tries to fix her responses to Will in their dating events. It’s half way through that she looks outside herself to discover the other side and it’s not just about her and Will anymore. Other relationships must come into play. Consider the title, Cassandra in Reverse. How does it encapsulate the essence of the story and the character? What does it reveal about Cassandra’s journey and her relationship with time?Cassandra, the main character, has some great philosophical, original thoughts that effortlessly pulled me into the story. As she begins her narration, she even breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the reader. It was a really promising first impression, and even better, she only became more interesting the more I read. I could see how many people might be frustrated or annoyed with her horrible interactions with everyone around her. After all, she hasn't a clue how to engage in small talk or polite, casual conversation. She inevitably manages to offend or anger the person she is speaking to-completely unintentionally. Still, for me, her clumsiness at personal and professional relationships made me feel so sympathetic towards her struggles. The author spent a lot of time explaining Cassandra's differences, daily challenges, and feelings of despair that she couldn't stop pushing people away. Based on all of these things, it became crystal clear very early on that Cassandra is autistic, but was never diagnosed. I definitely likes things a certain way myself, but I always wonder if authors who write from the POV of an individual like Cassandra is generalizing people with autism or truly knows someone with her attributes?

I wish I could have loved this one more, but I ended up having very mixed feelings. I will say that despite my issues, this was an original concept that held my interest pretty much the whole way through. I might be willing to give this author another try in the future if the right synopsis catches my eye again.

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There was just too much going on, and I don't think these new plot elements/themes complimented each other. I love that Cassie doesn't immediately use this power for any of the stereotypical time travel things like getting rich or averting catastrophes. No, she uses it in hilariously mundane ways: I fall asleep on the tube and end up in Walthamstow. Undo .

But it's not as easy to control time as she first thinks and through a series of time re-runs we discover Cassandra's history, her odd personality traits and who the woman she is trying to avoid at all costs is. Instead we get a story about Cassandra clinging onto a non-functioning relationship, changing herself and crossing her own boundaries constantly to please her ex, whilst also clinging onto a work environment that doesn’t suit her. It’s an incredibly depressing read if you view it this way. Talking about Smale’s book, Witherspoon said the novel is “so fascinating.”“It has a lead character whose voice I just loved,” she continued. “She’s very witty, very self-deprecating. She also knows so much about Greek mythology, it’s fascinating.” I am honored by your romantic and/or sexual interest in me given that we’ve only exchanged perfunctory greetings, but I have a long-term boyfriend I am almost definitely in the process of falling in love with.

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The book includes loads of Greek mythology references, which were interesting (to a point) and revealed part of Cassie’s way of processing; but it became a bit much for me. And there are a lot of descriptions of seeing emotions as colors, which is also interesting as it relates to Cassie’s way of processing information; but it’s also overdone. It really is enlightening to get a glimpse behind the curtain to see Cassie’s internal functioning. Obviously I heard him or I’d still be giving a detailed report on the client meeting I just had, which is exactly what I was doing when he fired me. This is a really difficult book to review. There was a lot I liked about this book, but there was also a ton of things that I found jarring. Speaking of Art, I know it was suggested that Cass could have tried to save lives but I think Cass still did save lives in her own way! Sal decided to believe Cass over that trash boyfriend, Sophie got better recognition and (intentional or not) helped Art find her perfect match. I hope you and your book club will enjoy my discussion reading guide for Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale.✨