Book review: The Cassandra Complex by Holly Smale
Published on 25 November 2025
Genre: Romance (with a slightly sci-fi twist)
Reviewer: Laura C
Why I chose this book:
I love a Groundhog Day story, and this one comes with (some) control over the repeats!
Quick Summary:
Cassandra’s life has just fallen completely apart and she doesn’t understand why. When she discovers she’s jumped back to the previous evening, she realises she has the power to correct all her mistakes and fix things back the way they’re supposed to be.
Cass uses her time travel powers to remedy disaster dates, social slip ups and miserable meetings. As Cass normally finds other people utterly bewildering, the sudden predictability of everyone around her is a relief, but nobody gets time travel only to leave everything exactly the same. Right?
What I thought:
I adore Cassandra’s narrative voice; despite being unable to communicate well with those around her the reader gets a great understanding of what life is like inside her head.
I also loved the thought Cass puts into time travel; she makes a point of trying to patch up whatever it is that’s just gone wrong before she skips back to re-do it just in case an alternate version of her is stuck dealing with it.
Who should read this?
Neurodiverse and socially awkward readers will LOVE this book, as will Greek myth fans and anyone who feels like they really should’ve got their life together by now.
Read-Alikes: