This book is clever, funny, sad, happy, all rolled into one. Cassandra is different, she has autism and through this book we get to see her learn about relationships and forgiveness amongst other things and really come to let go of what people have labelled her and really accept herself. Also, the time travel element was great, it worked so well in the story (surprisingly!)

This was such a wonderful read! You can't but empathise with Cass, who tries and tries and ultimately fails in several occasions to fix what's wrong. Until she realises she may be focusing on the wrong things. Such a great novel.

This is a completely different read for me, more of a thriller fan, The Cassandra Complex sounded really interesting and I was intrigued to read it.

We meet main character, Cassandra, she is a pretty cool character to read about and I found her interesting and intriguing. Cassandra has a real bad day, losing her boyfriend and job but weirdly enough her life goes back to normal and she realises she possess the art of time travel.

Time travel is something that I have never read about before and the concept was really intriguing to me.

We see how Cassandra develops as a character due to her time travelling and I really felt like I resonated well with her.

I can see this becoming a series on Netflix or something similar. Thanks to NetGalley, Holly Smale and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this book! Cassandra loses her job and her boyfriend in the space of hours, and then bizarrely finds herself trapped in a situation where she can relive time by simply closing her eyes. Can she work out what went wrong and fix the situation, or will she forever be trapped in the same day?

At first I found Cassandra extremely annoying, and I wasn't sure if I'd get through the book. However she soon became endearing, and I was willing her to work out everything she needed to. I also liked how it wasn't as straight forward as it seemed, although she starts off feeling like she needs to save her job and relationship, she soon realises there are much more important things she needs to adjust in her life. Amusing at times (how many times can she relive one conversation just to get it right?!), and emotional at others, it's definitely worth a read.

Absolutely breathtakingly poignant and heart wrenchingly brilliant. If you can’t tell I loved this book unconditionally in its entirety.
The day to day saga and struggles of someone living with autism were open, honest, sometimes funny but always relatable on some level or other even though I’m not on the spectrum myself officially, although I’ve started to empathise with the main character so many times I’m slightly considering the possibility on some level. I think a lot of the moments were entirely recognisable though to most of us especially the social awkwardness and wanting to express the frustrations in a formal setting at work but being unable to due to social conformity and protocol. The whole premise behind the book of time travel and going back to endlessly correct but not necessarily get any perfection or the results you want were genius and hugely enjoyable to read.
The added level of Greek mythology was incredibly well done, I like / dabble in the likes of mythology but am by no means an expert. The references entirely added to the storyline without requiring any prior knowledge or being patronising to any degree.
Honestly a brilliant read, I’m devastated I’ve finished it, would love to read more.

A really fun and relatable read - I binged it over the weekend as I just could not get enough. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for a review.

I love this book! Until about halfway through I liked it but wasn’t sure it was anything special, but by the end I adored it!!

Cassandra is a woman who is trying desperately to fit in, to keep her boyfriend, flat mates and job. She find she is able to time travel, in a very specific way, which enables her to work out what she has been doing wrong so far.

Cassandra learns a lot about herself and has to face up to her past. She meets/re-meets/starts to understand herself and those around her a lot better as she goes on.

The first half of the book is fun, but the second half is the best. Where Cassandra realised she has been trying to solve the wrong problem.

This book is about understanding yourself, being true to yourself and never feeling you are less than anyone else. Find what makes you happy and go with that!

My daughter grew up with and loved Holly Smale's Geek Girl series and so I thought that it was well worth a try with her adult novel. The description of the story sounded great but I did find Cassie a bit annoying and also lost track in the time travelling. I did finish the book but I did struggle in the middle section. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to an early copy to read.

Holly Smale does it again! What if it was possible to undo those seconds, days, months where everything has gone wrong and try again? This is a magical book exploring the difficulties of love, work, relationships and the lengths we might go to if we could turn back time. Cassandra’s had a very bad day when she suddenly finds herself reliving it. Through a little bit of trial and error, she discovers she can turn back time and redo months of her life but as great as that seems, things get incredibly messy very fast. Keeping track of what you have and haven’t done when you’re chopping and changing your day constantly is hard but is it worth it? Cassandra seems to be making great progress in parts of her life and… less progress in others. All of this extra time allows Cassie to look at what’s important to her and discover more about her world and the people in it. Cassie struggles against her nature, trying to find the balance that pleases the people who are always identifying her flaws - to her face. It isn’t easy when social interactions, emotions and language are so difficult for her to navigate in the same way other people do but Cassie is determined and she has all the time in the world to get it right. It was difficult to see how much Cassie tried to mute herself to be accepted and loved, how much of herself she had to erase until she fit into the box others considered ‘normal’. She’s an intelligent, lively and interesting character and it was delightful to experience the world through her eyes, even when it was hard, and her loneliness was so evident but it was wonderful to see how things changed and the new relationships she built when she was honest and herself. The book was a little slow as you might expect when time is rewound and the ending stressful for me but this book was otherwise fantastic and I’m happy to have had insight into Cassie’s world and to see her finally flourish.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

This book is about a girl having a bad day and she just needs a break. Surprise, she discovers she can time travel! After repeating the same few days and weeks repeatedly to try and keep her boyfriend and job, I did find it a little confusing to keep up with which timeline Cassandra was in. However towards the second half of the book I really found myself liking Cassandra and wanting everything to work out for her. I guessed she was autistic early on and the way this was discussed with her sister towards the end was so comforting.

Really entertaining, fast-paced, funny, thoughtful book about learning to accept yourself and I the process, accept that others can make mistakes too. Not a fan of time travel but this works because it has a point and is kept light and entertaining, altogether a great read that didn’t end as I expected.

Well this is a very unique story about Cassandra who is a high functioning autistic person who after losing her boyfriend and job all in the space of one day. She realises she can control time just not in the way she would like enough to fix things.

I enjoyed the premise of the book but found other aspects not as enjoyable such as the Greek mythology. Unfortunately just not for me but I do think this is going to be a really popular book

This book was a funny one. At times I really enjoyed it and other times I struggled. I found the insight view (from what I assumed, when I started reading the book) an autistic person, very interesting but also frustrating as she made her life more difficult as she experiences life and interactions with people very differently.

Cassandra, the main protagonist, realises she can time travel after she breaks up with her boyfriend.
She then tries to remedy situations where she feels she could have acted differently for a better outcome, like not being sacked or dumped by her boyfriend. This can make for very long days and she needs a good memory to keep the time lines separate.

I liked the idea different outcomes if situations or meetings change slightly but also found the time travel element unbelievable ( my very own issue).

I loved how the siblings sorted their issues. Thank you Holly for a nice and very different story.

I’m not normally a fan of surrealism but the character of Cassandra was enough to redeem this for me. An entertaining and readable modern romcom. Eleanor Oliphant meets Groundhog Day with a dash of Madeline Miller thrown in. Thanks NetGalley!

This book took me on a RIDE and I haven’t recovered since. Let me tell you exactly why this book has captured my brain, sans spoilers.

The plot - think Groundhog Day, think autism representation, think all the feelgood vibes you need. I don’t know if it falls into the science fiction category. However, it definitely didn’t disappoint with the time travel aspect which is a major interesting plot point that I fell in love with. Would I class it as a HEA? I’d say yeah, it has a hopeful end note which satisfied me no end.

The MC - Cassandra is autistic, and whilst there were plenty of intense themes of ableism, both internally and externally, I feel like her character development was exactly the progress we need in 2023 from an FMC. Plus, the girl is so damned loveable, who could dislike her??

Due to the lack of male counterpart as a romantic interest, which was definitely the right move, I’ll discuss the ending in this review instead; spoiler free still, I keep to my word.

The ending - So there is a hint to there being a male love interest at the end of the book, and I would love to see a sequel where that relationship develops, but it wasn’t a focal point. I’d probably relate the ending of this book to one of those feel good films that you watch on bad days that are all wholesome and self discovery-like. Very much what I needed for Cassandra, she needed the ending, and I would love to see a sequel where we follow her journey as she explores other areas of her life, especially with the autistic representation being top tier. 10/10 would recommend this book to others!

This is a fabulous book. It is a beautiful exploration of how a high functioning autistic person relates to the world around them. It is wrapped up in a bit of fantasy, imagine being able to rewind time so that you get it right next time. The one thing that surprised me was the big reveal, of how Cassandra did not realise she was autistic. It was clear to me from the first pages, but having an autistic son possibly gave me a head start in the recognition stakes. This did not spoil what was an imaginative, informative, funny book that had plenty of laugh out loud moments. An excellent read.

Perfect for fans of Oona Out of Order and About Time.

I've read my fair share of Groundhog Day inspired books, but what was fun about this particular time travel story, is that Cassandra can actually control her own time travel. While at first it's something that happens to her, it's something she learns to control fairly quickly.

I think it's important to share that this book isn't a romance, but it is a feelgood read. The book has its difficult moments, but overall it's a really fun, heartfelt read, and it ends on a very hopeful note.

As an autistic person, I thought I'd read this during Autism Acceptance Week to surround myself with some positive autism rep. I thought this was great, and I really liked Cassandra. For most of the book, she doesn't know she's autistic, so she has a lot of internalized ableism (and deals with a lot of external ableism), and she tries really hard to be someone she's not. By the end though, she figured out that she' autistic and her deceased mother had been too, and she starts turning things around.

Since the book ends with Cassandra just figuring this out about herself, and also the hints of a potential future romance, I would love to see a sequel where both of these things are explored more.

I really struggled to get into this book. The concept I was hoping for just did not appear. It was not what I was expecting.
I shall try again another time as it might have been just me at the time of reading as I had a lot going on in my life.
I am sure that this book will be a great read for a lot of people.

I have to say, and I hate saying it, but this book wasn't for me, and I found it quite a struggle reading it.

Cassandra is a complex character who, when her life implodes, discovers that she can travel back in time. Using the gift to try and correct things and become a different/better person she discovers a lot about herself and other people.

There are many many references to Greek mythology, and I found this part of the book a slog, and skipped many paragraphs as there were huge chunks of prose about it and it's not something I personally find interesting, but I know that will be enjoyable for other readers.

Sadly this just wasn't the book for me, but it will appeal to many many readers.

I read The Cassandra Complex by Holly Smale pretty much in one sitting on a train from Glasgow to London – and I enjoyed it! Cassandra is experiencing the third worst day of her life when she discovers she can time travel, and she uses it to stop herself from being fired and to try to fix things with her ex-boyfriend. There was one plot point which really annoyed me, but I think the book was very successful at setting up a character who you think is rude and a bit unlikeable, and there turns out to be a lot more going on under the surface. Thanks to the publisher for letting me read it!