I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I really enjoyed it. Well written with a storyline that was engrossing.

As a late-diagnose autistic woman with a lot of affection for stories like Sliding Doors and Groundhog Day, I really wanted to love this book - and I so nearly did.

The good: Cassandra herself is a delight. I don't share her synaesthesia (seeing emotions as colours), but I do relate to a lot of her other traits, and it's always refreshing to have an autistic character in fiction presented as more than just a collection of deficits. She's blunt, she's easily overwhelmed, but she also clearly has a good heart. The story makes for a quick, easy read (even if I found myself shouting at the page a lot of the time).

The questionable: None of the other characters felt particularly well rounded to me, even Will felt mainly like an archetype with the odd memorable feature squeezed in. Also, some of the time travel jumps felt a little confusing, I know Cassandra would have been disorientated but as a reader I don't want that feeling myself.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would happily recommend it to anyone looking for an inside view on one aspect of the autistic experience.

Well, this story certainly was different, it doesn't really fit into a category, it's not romance, fantasy or history yet it touches on all these but it is quirky. I found the book a little hard to get into to start with, the story jumps about a lot, which I was fine with, but there's a lot going on and adding the references to the Greek gods and their stories, it was certainly busy. I didn't always like the characters, though most came good in the end. I did need to stay with it and find out what happened though.

The main character, Cassandra, is idiosyncratic and then some, she sees emotions as colour and hates crowds, children, dogs, clutter and disorder. She sees the world differently and uses the Greek gods to rationalise the world. Oh, and she can time travel, well a little bit. She uses this newly found ability to correct her mistakes and things that happened, that she didn't like, but of course, this has consequences. Cassandra is complex, to say the least, and her relationships are too. The characters grew on me as the story progressed.

I am still not sure about this story but I do think it's worth a read. looking at the world through the eyes of someone who sees it differently is always illuminating.

This was almost impossible to finish.


I think it could be enjoyed by someone that has no prior experience of romance tropes.

When i first started this book I thought it was going to be a kind of Bridget Jones spin-off but then it all changed. I found it amusing at first, Cass was very quirky trying to deal with her relationship, her job, her banana muffin addiction!!!! Then as the storyline changed into her being able to time travel it became a bit more involved and then her relationship with her sister evolved. I did struggle to stick with it but saying that i did finish it within 24 hours. Not bad is my honest opinion.

So .. really struggled to get in to this one. Thought it was going to be an easy read!. Cassandra was painful...but once I got further into the novel , it was easy to see why!!
Cassandra's ability to go back in time and do things differently was an interesting idea... And as Cassandra finds things don't always work out.
Was pleased I'd read it and manage to finish it...but I did find it hard work at times.

Will admit to struggling to get into this story about Cassandra & her love life, but after a few chapters I was thoroughly intrigued to find out the ending. Well written, enjoyed

I loved this book. A thoughtful, funny and touching book. Initially I though Cassie was going to irritate with all her quirks, but as the story progresses you understand them, and you see her struggle to 'be normal'. It has definitely made me think.

Cassandra has the worst day ever. Her boyfriend ends their relationship, she is fired from her job and her flatmates want her to find another place. When she suddenly discovers she can go back in time, she seizes the chance to relive the mistakes and incidents leading up to these calamities- only this proves to be much more difficult than she could ever have imagined. The problem with this genre of story where the same events are repeated multiple times is that they can get a little………repetitive. But what sets this one apart is that Cassandra is autistic, although she does not understand this until the end, believing herself to be, as she has been continually perceived by others, “unlikeable,” “weird,” and “broken.” It offers a fantastic insight into what it might be like to be neurotypical- Cassandra sees emotions as colours, feels actual pain if she is touched by people against her wishes and finds it difficult to interpret the actions of others, although she is also an individual with her own quirks, skills and attitudes, not a rigid representation of someone on the spectrum. Holly Smale, who herself was diagnosed as autistic as an adult, is already the phenomenally successful author of the young adult series “Geek Girl,” much loved by the girls at the school where I am Librarian. She seamlessly makes the transition here to writing for adults with both empathy and sharp humour. I look forward to seeing what she does next.

Cassandra likes rules to follow, everything in it's place and no unexpected behaviour from people. The world has too many inputs and she only feels safe in the familiar. One day her world falls apart, her boyfriend dumps her, her boss sacks her and she gets evicted. Later in the day she discovers she has suddenly gone back in time, and she also can do it again. So she gradually starts to piece together why everything did not work out and tries new ways, jumping back in time to try again when it didn't work. She learns about herself, that she can actually make friends, and is finally brave enough to look back into the tragedy of her past. Totally written through her very unusual perspective of people and her perceptions of the world, it is an interesting read.

This is not something I would usually have chosen but I was a bit intrigued. I found it quite hard at first to get into but once in it was quite enjoyable. Glad I gave it a go

Interesting book, I enjoyed reading the complex life of Cassandra and felt very glad all worked out well for her. Very well written

I usually read closer to publication date but I couldn’t wait with this. And what a JOY this was. I loved absolutely everything about it and Holly Smale is an amazingly talented writer. Favourites list for sure!

Cassandra Dankworth is struggling, having recently lost her boyfriend and her job. But when it turns out she can travel through time, she tries to fix everything with less than ideal results!

The idea behind this book was good, but I found it a struggle to get through it. The jumping narrative was a bit hard to follow and I wasn't too keen on Cassandra as a character. The ending was pretty good though!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review of The Cassandra Complex by Holly Smale
I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be well written with a great storyline and good characters. The plot was well thought out and had good character development. Recommended.

I loved this book and had already recommended it to a few people within the first couple of chapters. The premise of the book is fantastic, I love stories that changed between time zones so this really appealed to me. The characterisation was very strong and felt very believable. I found that the last third of the book lacked some of the strength and promise that it had started with and felt that it could finish in a stronger way. That said I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, will recommend it and think it could make for some very interesting book club chats!

Sliding Doors meets Groundhog day in this charming story of second chances - and third, fourth, fifth and nth chances.

If you suddenly discovered you could time travel, what would you be tempted to do? Change the world, rewrite history, or - like Cassandra Dankworth - use it as an opportunity to try to fix the problems in your love life and work?

Cassandra is a wonderful neurodivergent heroine - caught up in repeated behaviours and overly reliant on ritual, she hates her job, finds friendship very challenging and can't quite believe that hot guy Will is dating her. When everything goes horribly wrong one day and she loses her man, her job and her marbles, suddenly she finds that life just keeps on repeating itself.

It's a great book. Yes, you'll have to suspend your disbelief of time travel and accept that not only is she a bit strange, but she's also gorgeous and had great dress sense. Why not?

All books that help us to understand people with different approaches to life are welcome on my virtual bookshelf.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers. I think this one is going to be a big hit.

The first half of the book took a bit of getting into but by the time I was into the second half I was hooked. It is a great story. I really enjoyed Cassandra’s journey to discovering herself and her autism. It had some humorous parts and some sad parts, I would definitely recommend this book.

A difficult to define five-star read, but also a fantastic five-star read. This was my first by this author, but I am sure it wont be the last as I really enjoyed getting to know Cassie and her true self. As each page builds the story, you fall deeper and deeper in love with Cassie and her journey, she has some great people along the way, and the ending was just so well done. It was like the whole story built up to that point and well, what will be will be. Cassie isn’t always the easiest person to get along with, or understand but that’s what makes her such a deep and beautiful character. This is one of those stories that everyone needs to read, it really does give you a unique perspective and this story will just keep you on your toes.

Cassandra Dankworth loves routine and it is obvious that she is on the autism spectrum. I did find the book a strange one and could not really take to the “time travel” element of the book. Cassie finds life very difficult due to her quirks and this does make her somewhat endearing to the reader. She is lonely and when she has a boyfriend, Will, who cancels the relationship she travels back in time to try and alter the situation and make it right this time by learning and trying to alter the mistakes she may have made in that relationship. She tries to understand people better and change her emotions to suit the situation she is in. Did she manage this – I am not so sure, I did not find this book easy to read and did not like the backwards and forwards of the same narrative. I am sorry to say that this book did not go down well with me and I found it difficult to finish