A review by kaitlinsundling
Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale

3.0

I really enjoyed most of this book, except the ending. I appreciated having a neurodivergent main character, and the concept of having infinite do-overs when you have trouble interpreting people's emotions and reactions is a very interesting concept for a sci-fi novel. Although this fits loosely in the sci-fi genre, the lack of any meaningful attempts to explain Cassandra's power, why it happened when it did, and its limitations seems like a big oversight. Nonetheless, the emotional pull of the book worked for me, and there were many poignant and relatable moments.

Spoiler

I greatly dislike the end of the book, in which she decides to time travel supposedly one last time to set everything up "right," and then let the chips fall as they may. I honestly do not believe she would not use time travel again to "fix" things. I felt that Cassandra did not actually end up learning much about others or herself, that perhaps Will and Art could get over the awkwardness and forgive themselves and her, or perhaps it isn't enough for only her to remember all these moments and relationships that were so meaningful. It seemed to ruin the emotional payoff of the final scene.

A bit of an aside, but the references to emotions and colors reminded me of a video game, Life is Strange True Colors, which is excellent. Although the premise is different (not time travel which was actually featured in the earlier Life is Strange game, but ability to alter others' emotions with a color-based representation), there might be some overlap in people interested in sci-fi with more inclusive characters and stories.