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The Cassandra Complex: The unforgettable Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick

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About Time meets The Rosie Project: A unique, heartwarming and life-affirming novel about one woman's unlikely journey through love, again and again... This is a truly original novel, a war cry for you to be you and for me to be me. I loved it’ – Laura Jane Williams

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. The Cassandra metaphor (variously labeled the Cassandra " syndrome", " complex", " phenomenon", " predicament", " dilemma", " curse") relates to a person whose valid warnings or concerns are disbelieved by others. Deeply human, wildly original, and gut-warmingly funny. Holly Smale is a GENIUS." - Emma Jane Unsworth Cassandra". Oxford English Dictionary (Onlineed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)

Advance Praise

Language is used to amuse and amaze, with puns and assonance, alliteration and internal rhyme at every turn. But Cassandra is often misunderstood by others. She's unintentionally brash, prefers predictable situations, and frequently misses social cues. A very big part of this story is piecing together her experiences as a neurodivergent person. this book had a lot of greek mythology references and analogies, which completely went over my head because my knowledge of green mythology is at approximately a zero. so unfortunately that didn’t work well for me, but i think it definitely could for someone who’s interested in that!

This time travelling romance follows Cassandra Dankworth, who in one day suddenly loses her job, boyfriend, and her home. She has her struggles in life and always feels she is different to everyone else.If I have a real criticism, it is that the main secret, for which so many people have jumped to the wrong conclusions, is not really well prepared; it isn't likely to be worked out by the reader before it becomes obvious to the main characters. A good detective novel, of any sort, should allow the astute reader to figure out what all the hubbub is about. It's just sort of dropped onto the floor at some point, which was a bit of a let-down. Perhaps I'm just not astute enough. I didn't want it to end, but I also couldn't stop reading. I really, really loved it' Keris Stainton So when she gets dumped, fired AND her local café runs out of banana muffins - all in one day - it feels like the end of the world.

And this is where it gets blurry. Living a single day over and over is one thing – redoing it weeks at a time? Cassandra Dankworth is a character as unique as she is endearing ... An absolute gem of a novel." - Margarita Montimore

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By the end, I was left floundering. I wondered what the lesson was. What was the message, the timeline of anything, the takeaway from everything I just read...? It's so unfortunate, but the promising beginning fizzled out to confusion in the final chapters. Everything I thought the book was about changed to something else, then left completely unresolved and undone. I decided on three stars, but this really was a tough one to rate. I enjoyed the author's writing style a lot, unfortunately the execution left something to be desired. Also, a minor complaint I have is the excessive references/comparisons to ancient Greek Gods. I understand that it was Cassandra's obsession, but there were so many insertions into the story that it became boring and I started skimming over them. Anytime I see a new book pop up with a time travel theme, I'm automatically excited to read it. I'm a bit obsessed with time travel, and frankly, there isn't enough out there to whet my voracious appetite for it. Let me start off by saying that Cassandra in Reverse started off with a bang. 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. This is a science fiction novel of enormous scope, filled with wonders. Set earlier in the same "future history" as Inherit the Earth, Architects of Emortality, and The Fountains of Youth, The Cassandra Complex is the independent story of events crucial to the creation of the universe in which the others take place. It is the twenty-first century, a world of rapid change and biotech threats and promises. World War Three, the biotech war, is on the horizon and the world as we know it is going to end. The fateful question is, who is going to choose the kind of future that will follow, and who gets to live in this new world to come? Well that was a surprise. I really thought after the first chapter or so that I was really going to get irritated or Cassandra was going to get on my nerves but instead I quit trying to read it a bit at a time and read the last half in one go. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

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