Give me a ground hog's day, time travel book with deep character development and I"m on board. Give me one with an exceptional neurodiverse heroin that I can relate to, and I'm an extremely happy reader. This book gave all that and more. I really loved it. I think the most important thing a book can have is a good ending. This book knocked it out of the park. I teared up.

Okay, I LOVED this book! I haven’t really seen it anywhere and I hope that it gains a lot of popularity as it’s released because it was so good.

All I’m going to say about the synopsis is that Cassandra (the MC) finds out that she can travel through time. It was an absolute blast to read this kind of story through Cassandra’s perspective. She is neurodivergent, and I’m not always a fan of how that is portrayed in books, but I thought the author did a great job with Cassandra’s character and the focus on her autism.

I thought this was going to be a romance, and although there are romantic components, it is sooo much more than that. In fact, the romance is only a small piece of the overall story. I can’t even tell you what the main focus is, because there’s so much involved. Either way, I loved reading about all the different aspects of Cassandra’s life.

I also adored the writing! It was light and fun and descriptive. Cassandra sees emotions from others as colours, and her descriptions of that was so unique. I loved her honesty and humour, and the other characters in the story were so vibrant as well. I’ve gotta say, my heart belongs to Sal. I am 100% in love with her and would totally read a spin-off of her story.

Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for my gifted copy!

Neurodivergent Time Travel Women's Fiction. I do believe this is the first time I've ever encountered a book quite like this one - a book with a neurodivergent main character who time jumps most similarly to The Time Traveler's Wife (vs a true time loop ala Groundhog Day or a "glimpse" ala Family Man), but yet ultimately lands more on the women's fiction side than the romance side, despite said main character's main focus being on restoring the romance she loses at the beginning of the tale. There's also quite a reliance on Greek mythology reimagined, more akin to elements of Jeremy Robinson's Infinite Timeline event than say Rick Riordian's Percy Jackson lore. But as with at least Robinson's books (I've never actually read Riordian's), there is enough explanation of the relevant mythology that one not need have a degree in the field to understand the story enough to enjoy the story for itself. Overall, this has quite a few rare features in it, and fans of the time travel genre will likely enjoy it the most, but others should still step into this wildly quirky world. Very much recommended.

this book definitely wasn't for me, i hated the main character and her whoa is me act the entire book. i ended up skimming the last 20% because i was ready for it to be over.

I have been all about time travel books lately and the premise and adorable cover for this new release, Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale, absolutely captured my imagination.

Unfortunately, I had a bit of a rough start with this book. While I usually love time travel, the first several chapters had me utterly confused as to what was happening. There weren't any clear explanations as to why Cassandra suddenly started time traveling and it was difficult to follow some of the transitions.

Cassandra is a character that was initially difficult to get to know and love. Her lack of awareness and her abrasiveness was often jarring as a reader. But she's also a strong, honest, and witty, neurodiverse protagonist and ultimately, I really appreciated the way the author crafted this character. Her journey is about way more than just a cute romance or the ability to time travel to fix mistakes. It's a story about the restoration of relationships, of grief, and of not only finding but loving the unique parts of ourselves that make up who we truly are.

this was a great concept overall in the time-travel and I was invested in what was happening to Cassandra. Holly Smale does a great job in writing this and it had everything that I was expecting to the description. The characters were what I was hoping for and though they were realistic going on.

This was a surprisingly interesting book with a great neurodivergent main character - very different than I expected.

Cassandra is a quirky thirty-one-year-old who sees emotions (her own and those of others) as colors, struggles to understand facial expressions, can't look anyone in the eyes and is exceptionally literal.

She is struggling with her flatmates, struggling with her relationships to people in general, unable to fit in at work, and generally alone. After she gets dumped by her boyfriend, and fired from her job in the same day, she is surprised to find her boyfriend turning up for a date that evening as if nothing had happened. When she gets fired from work again the following day, and dumped again, she begins to realize that time is repeating itself.

Once she figures out that time travel is under her control, she rewinds time to try and provide a better outcome for herself, repeatedly. For Cassandra, re-doing an event gives her the time and practice to handle her emotions and improve her interactions with people. She gains the time to 'think before you speak' that most others around her appear to have. She can try out different behaviors, determine their effects, and try again if the results are not as she hopes. She gains confidence, re-evaluates the people around her and eventually actually makes friends. But time travel is exhausting. Not only does she live for more than 24 hours each day, but she has to keep track of a myriad of small details to avoid changing her present in ways she didn't intend.

I found this book delightful, especially Cassandra and the way she learns about herself and the people around her. You can watch her grow into her skin during the progress through the book.

I particularly enjoyed the ending, which I found to be a clever way to wrap up this story.

I have not yet read any of this author's other works, but I will definitely try some in the future, as I loved the writing in this book.

This is the title I was invited to review. I was hesitant, given that it looked like more of a romance than I am typically interested in, but the time travel potential intrigued me and I thought it might be a light fun fluffy easy read. Unfortunately I had a really hard time connecting to the main character, which made it really difficult to engage in the story since it did turn out to be a little more romance focused than I tend to prefer... I was not the right reader for this one. There's nothing I can point to that is wrong with it, it just wasn't a good fit for me.

Couldn’t stomach this character. Cassandra is such a fusspot! Oh boy Cassandra is such a unique snowflake! Cassandra can’t function. Even with being granted multiple do overs in life this woman is still failing miserably at every small task she sets for herself. It was grating to read about.

Such a cute time travel book about a neurodivergent woman.

I thought that this would be a romance novel, and while it is about love it’s more about loving yourself and forgiveness.

Cassandra has always been a little peculiar about what she likes and what she doesn’t. She has been haven’t a really rough time lately. She lost her boyfriend, her job, and was attacked with red liquid all in one day. When she has a panic attack and wakes up to relive the third worst day of her life, she realizes that she somehow was pushed back in time.

I could tell pretty early on that Cassandra was a bit autistic. She is a person who sees emotions as colors, and can often see them coming off of people. She knows that these colors mean strong emotions, but isn’t always able to tell what they mean. She also has panic attacks when she is overwhelmed, but has learned ways to get around these. She isn’t good at relationships, because she doesn’t always understand peoples intentions or jokes. She does well with her boyfriend Will, and she can see a future where they love each other. So she tries really hard to will him back, but that also means not showing him everything. Only showing her best parts. She travels back to when she first met her boyfriend and tries her best to “behave normally” so that she doesn’t drive him away. Only to realize that it’s kind of cheating, and while he makes her happy she’s not sure she can be everything he wants.

She finds out that maybe fixing these relationships aren’t what she is supposed to be doing with her gift.

I liked that she started to bond with others around her, and that people were there for her even though she didn’t realize it her first time around. The time travel allowed her to practice reading people in a way that she didn’t have the opportunity to before and it made her better at it.

2.5 stars

turned out this book was a complete let down. i didn't feel invested in cassandra, who is the main character, and the plot felt shallow and lacking in depth. even though i usually love time travel books no matter how simple they are, this one didn't impress me at all. however, i appreciate the author's writing style, which is what ultimately earned the book 2.5 stars from me. i do believe HS has potential and i hope that in her future works she'll be able to create more compelling characters and a more nuanced plot that will capture my interest.

my gratitude to netgalley, the publisher and the author for an arc copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you the to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I was drawn to this book from the cover and title without knowing anything about or the author. I admit it took me a little while to get into. The first time I started reading, I couldn't quite figure out what was going on and switched to another book. I gave this a second try and am glad I did. Once I recognized her quirky behaviors and got a picture of who she was, it made it much easier to connect to her story. I loved the time travel, how she used it to better her situation, until realizing she needed to find happiness in where she was. Unfortunately there is some language that will keep me from recommending it to everyone, but otherwise great read. Four stars for the story, but I took off a star for language since it distracted my enjoyment.

Thank you, Holly Smale, Mira, and Netgalley, for the gifted eARC.

Cassandra is having one of the worst days of her life. Her boyfriend broke up with her as soon as she woke up, then she got fired before lunch, and by dinner time, her boyfriend showed up to take her out like everything between them is completely fine. Then she relives that day again. When Cassandra learns that she has the power to go back in time, she uses that power to go back and fix the things she wishes she'd done differently. Only, how many times will she need to go back until things finally go right?

Cassandra in Reverse is a time-loop story that weaves in elements of Greek mythology where the main character Cassandra is very similar to her Greek counterpart. Cassandra uses her newfound gift of time travel to go back to change certain aspects of her life because she's not happy with the path her life is on. I found myself pulling for Cassandra, wanting her to find her perfect timeline where she would get her HEA. Instead of simply changing the past, Cassandra ends up experiencing self-growth. There is also a mystery woman who keeps appearing in all of Cassandra's timelines that add some intrigue to the story. This book is about more than just getting a HEA. It's about the importance of relationships and connections that we build with others.

Smale is a British author of many successful YA novels including the 'Geek Girl' series. She was diagnosed as autistic at the age of 39 and has brought her insights into this neurodiverse world into the title character of this new novel. Cassandra has had a bad week. She was fired from her job, asked to move out of her apartment and been dumped by her boyfriend of four months. When her ex turns up that evening as if nothing has happened, she is confused but happy, however the next day everything happens again. She realizes she has time traveled back a day and uses this new found power like an undo button, trying to get things right. This is a fun read about a woman finding herself amidst the chaos that is her life and is a great recommendation for fans of books such as "The Rosie Project".

I like almost any time travel book, so it isn’t surprising that I loved this one. Smale chose not to try and explain the mechanism of Cassandra’s time traveling ability - a wise choice since it allowed us to concentrate on the story rather than constantly second guessing how it worked. Cassandra was such an interesting character: odd and difficult but ultimately lovable. I enjoyed her journey, and that it led her to a happier place. I especially loved the ending, slightly open-ended, but giving us a love story we didn’t expect at the beginning.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for my review.

Make sure you set aside some quality time to read this book because you are going to fall in love… quickly! While the “re-do” trope has been done time and again, I promise you this character is so lovable, unique and relatable that this book has never been written before.

Cassandra Dankworth is having a very tough day. She’s lost her job and her boyfriend. Could it get any worse?! Yes, yes it could, her roommate wants her to move out. If only she could have a second chance… Cassandra somehow travels back in time and gets a do-over. And another and another. Time after time Cassandra starts to re-frame her future and her sense of self.

This is a beautiful book of accepting oneself as you are. It’s about forgiveness and love and the beauty of being wholly and completely unique. I related to Cassandra at times and gained immense compassion for others at times. I hope this book is widely read because our society could use the compassion this book promotes. Thank you NetGalley and MIRA for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

CASSANDRA IN REVERSE presents some challenges for me in review. I couldn’t put it down but I’m not sure I liked it (or all of it.) I read it in one sitting but figured out most of the plot twists before they happened. I found the protagonist Cassandra, a fascinating and well-developed character, but thought author Holly Smale overstated Cassandra’s personality to the detriment of plot development. I became tired of the Greek mythology references about halfway through the book. There are a lot of datapoints offered in this tale, as a reflection of Cassandra’s personality and life interests. Sometimes I felt like a character in the book, experiencing Cassandra, rather than a reader; I have mixed feelings about that. The book is definitely worth reading. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

The way I LOVED this book and Cassandra Dankworth is out of this world!!! On the surface this is a Groundhog day/time loop romance but it's soooo much more nuanced and layered than that.

Cassandra is an undiagnosed neurodivergent 30 year old who gets fired from her job and dumped all on the same day. She also discovers she can somehow blink and go back in time as far as four months in the past to start the timeline over again - something she takes advantage of in an attempt to get her boyfriend back and get out of awkward/terrible situations.

This book is full of tender, heartbreaking moments. It's about grief, acceptance of self, forgiveness, the bonds of sisterhood and a whole lot more than I can even voice. The neurodiversity representation in this book is some of the best I've ever read and the audio narration by Kristin Atherton was incredible.

10/10 HIGHLY recommend this one. It is going to be a top contender for my favorite book of the year! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and Librofm for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!

I looked forward to reading this book because who wouldn’t jump at the chance to travel back in time to fix things.
However this book just wasn’t for me. I found Cassandra to be fairly unlikable and the narrative just didn’t resonate with me.
This book was a pass for me.

First off, thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an e-ARC copy of this book. I initially picked it up thinking that it would be a light and fun read, and on one hand it truly is, but it is so much deeper than I initially anticipated. The book follows the story of Cassandra, who is a perfectionist and can only see the world in black and white (in other words, she has to put everything in categories, and nothing can be in between). At first, I thought it was just a personality quirk of hers, but it was shocking to find out at the end that she is a representation of autism. The fact that they only revealed this at the end makes it an even more enjoyable read, because it allows readers to actually see Cassandra as a normal human being and relate to her, rather than immediately assign labels and preconceptions on her from the beginning.

I personally think that the author did an incredible job in representing her personality and thought processes through this newfound ability of hers to turn back time and fix the events that she experience. However, every time Cassandra changes something, this causes a chain reaction that causes the outcome to still be unsatisfactory. This not only causes her to panic and be even more frustrated, but it forces her to repeat the events again and again and again. In a way, this gradually teaches her that life is imperfect, and a lot of things in life are in fact hard to categorize (instead of black and white, it is multiple shades of grey). And in this process, Cassandra not only is able to find her own voice, but she is able to create much more genuine relationships with so many people around her. This story was so heartwarming and satisfying to read, and I loved seeing Cassandra’s character development. It shows that anybody, regardless of their diverse abilities, are able to be part of the community and further enhance it.

Admittedly, a part of me really wanted Cassandra and Will’s relationship to work out (because they were really cute), and I really was hoping that the person Cassandra’s sister was in a relationship with was not Will. However, even though she lost one important person in her life, Cassandra was able to gain so many more, and this was so heartwarming and hopeful to read. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it for those who enjoy fun, humorous, light and hopeful stories!