Member Reviews

The Cassandra Complex is a rare treat. A time travel story where the journey is definitely of more interest than the final destination.
When we first meet Cassandra she’s just been dumped and is fired from her PR job. She has what she describes as a meltdown and finds herself waking up in a scenario she’s already lived through. Her ability to time travel is never explained but it’s used as a device to help her to examine her character and relationships.
Cassandra gets to play with time, reliving key dates in her quest to right her relationship and fix what she sees as the problem with her. However, it soon becomes clear to us that there’s aspects of her life she’s not letting us know about and that these might well hold the key to her gaining happiness.
I don’t want to divulge any further plot details but it was great to see Cassandra slowly start figuring out herself and how others view her. While she in no way represents all autistic people, it was lovely to see her grow into accepting herself and to think about how the neurotypical world could start to work around her.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Holly Smale comes up with next.

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Cassandra Dankworth is having a bad time. She has lost her job, been dumped by her boyfriend and asked to move out her flatmates.
Cassie is different to a lot of people. She sees their colours, is sensitive to loud noises and says things exactly as she sees them.
After an incident with a pigeon and a protester on Regent Street, things change for her. She is able to rewind the past and change the narrative. She decides that she will make Will love her and not split up with her. Unfortunately when you change one thing, others can change accidentally and Cassie finds out that time travelling is exhausting.
This is a pretty light hearted story about love and relationships with other people.
i enjoyed it a lot.

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The characters really made this a good read. A fun easy well written book. I give it 4 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

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Hilarious, smart and touching time travel scenario.

It's Geek Girl grown up, in more ways than one. With both a protagonist who could be Harriet Manners a decade on, and an author with a recent autism diagnosis, this referential, intelligent and bloody funny story hit the mark in many ways.

Cassandra doesn't know what's gone wrong, but she's just lost her job AND her boyfriend (4 months and counting) on the same day. She thought her ordered life was pretty good: diarised, tidy, but suddenly she doesn't understand what's happened or what she can do to make everything right again.

Until she realises that she can go back in time. Maybe just minutes, hours, weeks - but this could help, right? Cassandra suddenly possesses the ability to redo conversations until she gets them right, NOT say the wrong thing to her work client, NOT sound deranged to her new crush, avoid the lecherous housemate who seems to be hitting on her but says she's reading him wrong. Presented with this amazing opportunity to re-do her life, work out her failings and correct them in time to make everything work out - can she?

This might sound a little fluffier than it actually is. Cassandra is a beautifully realised creature of routine, of compartments, of symptoms. Other characters hint at something she seems oblivious to, the reader knows just what they mean.

She's also absolutely adorable and wonderful as a heroine - colour charts, speaking her mind without even trying, a Greek mythology passion. Definitely Harriet Manners for an older audience.

I laughed and possibly snorted my way through what was possibly the best sex scene I've ever read in print. I felt her exhaustion going back and forth to make a romantic day in Cambridge work. The wonderful insanity of time travel given to a mere mortal with her own quirks, and allowed to play out - it was delightful.

Entertaining with a few sniffly moments of emotional realisation, I'd re-read this (which I don't say often) happily.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

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A slow start, but turns into a beautiful gem of a book.

I love time travel books. When this book began it was more in the vein of GroundHog Day, of which I am less of a fan. It's been done before and it gets tedious re reading the same day over. Except it turned out that it didn't happen like that in this book at all.

The main character Cassandra does what a lot of people would like to do, and tells it like it is, literally to everyone. She's just been dumped and fired, so by going back in time she can change that, and make sure there are banana muffins. The book also references a lot of Greek mythology in relation to the plot line, which I found really interesting.

Then came the butterfly effect. Do the things she changes when she goes back in time affect the future time line. Considering at times she goes back every few minutes it certainly gets confusing for her. How can she remember what happened the first, second or third time she altered the past? Maybe she should just channel her Greek namesake and let everyone know the future that awaits them?

I love it when a book becomes so good you just can't put it down, and that's exactly what happened with this one. Cassandra is a joy but a little sad at times. As I finished the book I realised just how thought provoking it was and that Cassandra will stay with me for a very long time.

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I received an E-ARC with a request for my honest review.

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.

When her emotions spiral and take over, she suddenly finds she can take herself back in time. She can only go back four months but derives a plan that she can change her actions to improve her future.

With all the time travelling, she starts to lose track of what timeline she is currently living.

Will Cassandra change the past? What will she learn about herself?

Cassandra was a relatable character to me, and everything she said about seeming different really hit me and made me quite emotional. I was routing for her the whole way through, but at the same time I was hoping she wouldn’t have to change who she was just to please everyone and get the life she thinks she wants.

The idea of time travelling seems that it would be stressful, trying to remember what you had said or done, so as not to confuse the others around you. It did make for some amusing and embarrassing moments though.

I found this book a lovely read, and I flew through wanting to know how it would end.

Overall, an emotional, time travelling romance where a woman gets the chance to change her past.

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This was a great story, which kept me reading. Having recently read a book which involved a time loop and wasn't sure how this would compare, but I needn't have worried as it was well done and convincing.
This quote really hit home, "I don't like relating publicly. I don't even like relating privately, most of the time. Ideally, I'd be paid money to sit in a dimly lit room, reading and talking to nobody."
Yup, that's me.
I'm glad Cassie's life was sorted by the end, even if it wasn't in the way she was wanting or expecting. I hope she's happy.

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I really enjoyed this book, it was charming and lovable. Cassandra felt completely real and I loved getting to know her.

I would definitely recommend this book, the writing was enjoyable to read, and it had good character development.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

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Cassandra, our loveable and wonderful neurodivergent protagonist, turns out to be time traveller.

Despite her best efforts to fix the problems in her life, in her own words turns out to be terrible at time travelling. The author however wasn't terrible and did an excellent job at weaving that concept into a fast moving and not repetitive storyline.

Some tough themes were also tackled but the overall feel was light and fun to read with a lot of hilarity. It really was a delight to read from Cassandra’s point of view.

I did find that the storyline got slightly convoluted and over the top towards the end but still ended on a satisfying and hopeful note.

4.5 Stars

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I absolutely loved this book, Cassandra was so well portrayed and I found little pieces of myself within her character (I’m not diagnosed as on the spectrum). We, nearly, all have a favourite mug, a preferred style of clothing, an occasional questioning of the universe around us and a yearning to be loved for our true selves. Although not all of us would use time travel to unravel the complexities of dating, I’m pretty sure most of us would actually go straight to memorising the lottery numbers.
This was such a warm and engaging read, I enjoyed every minute and actually tried to make it last as long as possible! A definite recommend.

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I’d like to thank Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Cassandra Complex’ by Holly Smale in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Cassandra’s story starts when her boyfriend of four months abruptly finishes with her and straight after her boss sacks her for not being a ‘people’ person. To complete what has been an awful morning for Cassie, her local café hasn’t had a delivery of banana muffins.

After reading the first chapters of ‘The Cassandra Complex’ I struggled to get into the story which is my fault entirely as I should have realised it’s intended for a younger age group than mine. I found it really hard to work up any enthusiasm for the characters and the time travel element of the story didn’t interest me. I apologise that it’s not the type of book I enjoy as I can only guess how much work the author put into it but this is purely my opinion and I’m sure there are many readers who’ll enjoy it.

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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.

First off -I love Holly Smale's writing style - I have read lots of her YA/middle grade books previously and she writes so personably. Its like reading a diary. Her characters are always so vivid and this book is no exception.
However I feel like this book tried to be too many things for it to work fully. I was confused by the time travel element. It appeared out of nowhere but then I got used to it - however the rules of the travel seemed to change and I was unsure where it was going in terms of the overall plot. Also, the constant reference to Greek mythology and storytelling was super random - it took a long time to understand why Cassandra kept bringing it up. It seemed to come together a bit more when the character of Artemis was introduced - but still it just didn't really work for me. It was shoe-horned in and I don't think it had any relevance to what was really going on.

So, theres time travel and there's greek myth - thats not all.

Then there's the constant reference to Cassandra being 'different' or 'odd' which was very obvious to me that the character was probably on the autistic spectrum. This was addressed towards the end of the book but quickly brushed over. I don't think it really needed the 'big announcement' - I think Smale should have given the reader more integrity and didn't need to address it like she did.

So thats, time travel, greek myth, autism, and to add to that....

The 'mystery woman' - this character (i wont explain more as I don't want spoilers) but this woman that keeps appearing and getting brushed off by Cassandra.

There was just too much going on, and I don't think these new plot elements/themes complimented each other.

Overall I enjoyed the reading experience, but it was very much a mish-mash of lots of different things that left me feeling confused by the end of it.

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This book from the off had me loving the main character, Cassandra Penelope Dankworth. She was different and quirky and I love that in a character. 

All in one day she gets dumped by her boyfriend Will, she gets fired from her job and the cafe runs out of her favourite banana muffins. Her flat mate Sal has an issue with her and all Cassie wants to do is crawl into bed but then her boyfriend turns up like nothing has happened and takes her out for a meal and Cassie gets serious deja vu.

However things take an even bigger change when she wakes up and it’s like Groundhog Day all over again. Cassie realises she can go back and change the past but can she do it and will she be able to fix all that was wrong with her life? 

I really enjoyed this book and the storyline. I think we all would at some point wish that we could close our eyes and redo something in time. It did make me chuckle in parts where Cassandra had to do things 5+ times before she was happy because that’s something I would probably do. The ending? Well that was just perfect in my opinion. I cannot recommend this book enough! Brilliant!

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This isn't the first book by Holly Smale that I have read but I was curious to see what this would be like.

I must say that I utterly adored this book. It is a really interesting premise and Smale makes Cassandra a loveable character.

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At first I thought - oh, great another book about another thirty-something awkward woman, a la Elinor Oliphant or Meredith Alone, just with a splash of Greek mythology thrown in. But...it was Holly Smale and her reputation precedes her so I gave it another chance.

However, I am really glad I persevered with The Cassandra Complex, where the titular main character has been dumped, fired and asked to leave her flat all on the same day. Then she realises she can go back in time and alter the course of her actions. If she changes this - will it mean she won't get dumped? If she truly speaks her mind - will it change the future? What can she achieve with her time-travelling gifts?

What follows is a funny, heartfelt and thought-provoking insight into the mind of neuro-divergent Cassie, trying to find her way onto the 'right' path. I really enjoyed her journey and how she overcomes some of the things that are holding her back. The way Smale deftly weaves mythology through the story keeps the reader's interest piqued and adds an extra dimension to the novel.

Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an early release copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Everything seems to go wrong for Cassandra in one day: her boyfriend dumps her, she is fired at work in PR for being "unlikeable" , her local cafe runs out of banana muffins and her flatmates ask her to move  out after a misunderstanding.

On her way home from work that day a series of events tip her over the edge and she has a meltdown in the street.

Once home  she is surprised when her ex-boyfriend sends her a cheery text message asking her out again, when their previous conversation had seemed so final. It looks as though her crisis had triggered time to rewind a day and she has another chance to do things differently. Can she work out what she is doing wrong to put her life  back on track?

The time travel/groundhog day thing is a bit whacky  and I got a little cofnused in the middle. However, it does highlight an important issue -  should those who are neurodivergent have to mask and adapt to try to "fit in" or should we be more understanding as a society?

Despite what her boss says Cassandra is a likeable and endearing character. I really enjoyed following her journey and quite fancy a banana muffin now too!

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Bloody brilliant! Absolutely loved it! Won’t give too much away but the main character came go back in time to right the wrongs but it is far more than that. Cannot wait for the next book for this amazing author!

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I couldn’t get on with this book. I didn’t like the characters and I found it very confusing. I’m sure that a different audience will enjoy it.

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I really struggled with this book. I almost gave up several times. I found the characters unsympathetic and one dimensional and the arc of the story confused. There is a resolution of sorts but this wasn’t for me.

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I am the wrong audience for this book. It's my fault as I didn't read the full synopsis. It is aimed at a younger audience in its 20's.
It is light hearted but I didn't like or identify with any of the character's.
It is well written.

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