Cassandra in Reverse
by Holly SmaleGenres: Fiction / Science Fiction / Time Travel
Published on June 6, 2023
Pages: 368
Format: eBook Source: Library
If you had the power to change the past...where would you start?
Cassandra Penelope Dankworth is a creature of habit. She likes what she likes (museums, jumpsuits, her boyfriend, Will) and strongly dislikes what she doesn't (mess, change, her boss drinking out of her mug). Her life runs in a pleasing, predictable order...until now.
- She's just been dumped.
- She's just been fired.
- Her local café has run out of banana muffins.
Then, something truly unexpected happens: Cassie discovers she can go back and change the past. One small rewind at a time, Cassie attempts to fix the life she accidentally obliterated, but soon she'll discover she's trying to fix all the wrong things.
After having a very, very bad day Cassandra finds that she can turn back time. Nothing big. She can only go back 4 months. She decides that she’s going to fix all the bad decisions she’s made recently. It isn’t that easy though.
Cassandra is autistic and doesn’t handle change all that well. Trying to force change without a script in mind is horrifying. But she’s willing to do it to keep her boyfriend. It just isn’t working that well for her.
This book was fun in part because it was so limited in scope. She wasn’t trying to change the world. She just wants to not make awkward statements at inopportune times. If she does, she can just go back a few minutes and fix it or keep trying until she hits on the right phrasing. Ultimately this is exhausting though. She needs to decide what about her life is worth changing and what isn’t.
This is a good, low-stakes time travel novel featuring a neurodiverse protagonist.
[…] week, I reviewed Enchantment by Katherine May. Heather reviewed Cassandra in Reverse, an intriguing time-travel novel. Tina read her first book by Jo Spain. She enjoyed Dirty Little […]
That sounds fun and imaginative. I could really use a little trick like that, sometimes. But I could see how it would be exhausting and that one might learn some interesting things about life.
Intriguing! Thanks for presenting it
This sounds like a really fun read. I’ve had my eye on it for a while and now I want to read it even more. Time travel + a neurodiverse protagonist makes it a must-read for sure!