Cassandra in Reverse: A Reese's Book Club Pick

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There’s a light patter of keyboards like pi­geons walking on a roof (punctuated by the violent death stabs of Sophie), the radiator by the window is gurgling, the recep­tion is blindingly gold-leafed and the watercooler drips. But it's not as easy to control time as she first thinks and through a series of time re-runs we discover Cassandra's history, her odd personality traits and who the woman she is trying to avoid at all costs is. This morn­ing, Will—my boyfriend of four months—kissed me, listed my virtues out of nowhere and concluded the pep talk by ending our relationship.

Full of heart, humor, and Greek mythology, Cassandra In Reverse made me laugh out loud and touched my heart in unexpected ways. I will say that despite my issues, this was an original concept that held my interest pretty much the whole way through.

Everything I thought the book was about changed to something else, then left completely unresolved and undone. There are so many Greek mythology references in this book because of Cassandra's special interest in the subject. It was also nice to read commentary from the autistic community saying they appreciated that we’re seeing things from Cassandra’s POV—which is just one experience and POV in a diverse community. While this might not have been as surprising to you as it was for her, how did experiencing life through her eyes affect your understanding of autistic people? Everything is either black and white to her and so anything that is not a simple "good or bad", makes her confused.

If she does, it’s certainly unexpected: we’ve been sitting opposite each other since I got here and all I really know about her is that she’s twenty-two years old and likes tuna sandwiches, typing aggressively and picking her nose as if none of us have periph­eral vision.

the characters were well-rounded and interesting, the writing style was fun and conversational, and the narrative offered a fresh take on a tried-and-true idea. I could give it 4⭐️ because of the good parts and the great effort for neurodivergent representation. Ronald blinks and reaches out a hand; I move quickly away so his fingers won’t touch mine, nearly dropping the pot in the process. The next you’re in your thirties, single and standing by the lifts of an office you’ve just been fired from because no­body wants you as a teammate.