The Cassandra had such an interesting premise: a young woman who has very clear and graphic visions of the future is excited to leave her dysfunctional and claustrophobic family life to work as a secretary at the mysterious Hanford government research facility in Washington, but once there begins to suffer from visions of the death and destruction that will be brought about by the nuclear bombs for which Hanford is supplying the plutonium. I liked that it was a modern retelling of the Cassandra myth, having recently read and enjoyed Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire, a twist on the Antigone story, and I liked the World War II period setting.

Things fell apart for me very quickly, however, starting with the fact that the characters—and most particularly the main character Mildred Groves—are not developed into believable people who draw you into the story. They are either completely one-dimensional (particularly Mildred’s harridan of a mother and a sister—characters so unsympathetic that I could never understand why Mildred would try to maintain any sort of relationship with them) or underdeveloped, like Mildred’s Hanford friend Beth, who is supposed to be her wise and sensible protector and confidante but who acts inconsistently throughout. The biggest problem, however, is Mildred herself, an odd and unlikable character who swings from excitement and happiness to fear and distrust in a heartbeat and whose many eccentricities aren’t in the least endearing. Of her fortuitous meeting with Beth on the bus to Hanford, Mildred says, “The friendship shocked me in its immediate affection.” It shocked me, too. (And don’t even get me started on Gordon, Tom Cat and Kathy.)

The best parts of the book for me by far were the scenes of the Hanford facility. Shields does a very good job of making this vast settlement in the middle of the Washington prairie come alive with her descriptions of the campus, the dining hall, the food, and the ever persistent wind. It is obvious she did a lot of research but every time the book started to explore the actual scientific work being done at Hanford, Mildred would have another vision and we’d be off down another path—and a very weird one at that. The final quarter of the book lurches into all-out melodrama territory, with a rape, a murder, self mutilation, and a mental institution. By this time, however—and much like Mildred herself—I just wanted it to end.

I really wish I liked this more and could get behind it, but I appreciate receiving an ARC from NetGalley and Henry Holt publishers in return for my honest review.

A stunning, heady retelling of the Cassandra story, set in a top secret research facility during WWII. A young woman's eerie visions bring her to a research facility devoted to manufacturing plutonium. But when her visions of the future intensify in nightmarish ways, Mildred finds herself questioning those in power.

Shields' work is haunting and fast-paced--it's easy to see how Mildred's visions have shaped her life, and it's impossible to look away from her journey from outsider to cog in the machine to voice of doom. Recommended for fans of Madeline Miller's re-imagined myths, as well as for fans of speculative literature.

Based in mythology, The Cassandra is a harrowing read. Cassandra was a prophet with the gift of true visions of the future, and the curse of no one ever believing her visions are true. Imagine seeing the fruition of The Manhattan Project before it actually happens. Now, imagine having no way to stop what you have seen, and everyone believes you are just some crazy person. The story is straight up bleak. The characters are engaging and tragic. I liked the story overall because I'm interested in the time period. I also disliked the story because of it's weight of sadness. I'm torn on how I feel.

This eARC was provided through NetGalley from Henry Holt & Company in exchange for an honest review.

I hate it when I have to DNF a book, but even more so because this novel is from NetGalley, and a publisher approved me to read it. It feels like I let them down, but at the same time, it's about honesty in the review, is it not? Which is why I always explain my reasoning behind a DNF'd book.

In The Cassandra, the main character, Mildred, seems to be a pleasant girl looking for adventure- anything to take her from the monotony of caring for her heartbroken, ailing mother. Mildred is also a psychic whose visions mostly come during sleep, and are usually acted out while unconsciously asleep. The premise of the novel seemed interesting to me, the cover grabbed my attention, and I knew from it's description that there would be historical WWII context as Mildred applied to be a secretary at the Handford Research Center, which lead the development of the atomic bombs.

I got about 20% into the book, struggling with the obscure writing technique that made the character's voice difficult to understand in my head. She was gullible, smart, determined, afraid... so many emotions and just all over the place. I got frustrated with this, which furthered my disconnection to the story and it's main character. Trying to hang in there, I kept hoping for something to pique my interest the plot, but I kept feeling like I was getting whiplash from all the jumping around.

Therefore, I decided to not finish The Cassandra.

(This review will be posted on my blog (www.thelexingtonbookie.com) at a later date.)

The power in this novel lies in the time it portrays, and he skill of Shields in taking the moral and ethical ramifications of a time that change the world. Its a metaphor that doesn't instantly come to mind when considering the myth, but when it's done it is rendered so beautifully that you'll wonder why you didn't think of it yourself.

3.5. I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. I'm not sure why exactly it didn't work for me, and I think it might be that I just never quite warmed to the main character. The setting and plot were great, and Mildred was perfectly of her time. She was exactly the type of person you might find rebelling against the family and society expectations set in front of her, but I also kind of found her bland. She made the biggest decision of her life because of a vision. She didn't make a choice, she just saw it and basically shrugged and said, "Guess I'll do this now." It felt very much like the story was telling her, rather than her influencing events.

I also debated whether or not to include this, since it does happen after the halfway point of the book, but there is a graphic and very violent depiction of sexual assault which some readers may find very upsetting.

The Cassandra is a modern retelling of the ancient Greek myth, this time set in Washington state. It begins in the town where my own father grew up and so I immediately felt a connection to the character...Omak is not a place well known to many! Mildred ends up at Hanford during WWII when the nuclear plant was most instrumental in making the most powerful weapon in the history of mankind..This is not an easy tale to read emotionally, (particularly in our tumultuous times) but it is brilliantly told and will leave you thinking for days and weeks to come.

This book was really strange. It kept me reading though and the subject matter is one I'd love to read more about.

Book descriptions tend to give too much away, so I often merely skim them to determine interest. From skimming this one I expected something with war experiments and psychics along the lines of mind control experiments of 50s, 60s and 70s, but this is essentially Manhattan Project material. Creation and implementation of the atomic bombs during the end of WWII as witnessed by a helpless prophet. Cassandra is a tragic figure of Greek Mythology. There are different versions of the story, but traditionally the Apollo is to blame, after being spurned by Cassandra despite his gift of prophecy, he punished her so that she’d never be believed. What a sh*t thing to do, what a fate. She’s become an archetype, a cautionary tale, a metaphor. There’s even a Cassandra complex. So you’re not going in expecting a happy story, but this book isn’t merely dark, it’s emotionally devastating. It requires immediate infusion of sunshine or something equally joyous upon completion. It starts off relatively upbeat as a young woman sets off getting away from her comedically terrible family to start a new well paying job as a typist. The project is secret, but everyone’s very proud to contribute to war efforts. And then the visions come, visions no one believes, visions everyone perceives as madness exhibited. Because the project is creating the world’s deadliest weapons, a devastation no one can even imagine, save for one woman. Gender politics (grotesquely unbalanced as they were back in the day)aside, there’s absolutely no way Mildred (the book’s Cassandra) can do a thing to change the already set course. To have such knowledge and be powerless to affect a change is tragic enough, with sudden violent attack thrown in it becomes catastrophic, sending the unheeded prophet spinning out of any bounds of normalcy previously so tenaciously clung to. In the end it seems the only option is to sit back and witness the world go by, helpless and resigned. So yeah…a very heavy story. Potently so. Definitely didn’t go in the direction my imagination took the skimmed contents originally, not in tone, not in context. It was still very much a good read, very well written, much food for thought. But terribly bleak , especially when read in more or less one go. But right on cue as I’m finishing up this review the sun finally came out, so there’s that. Thanks Netgalley.

I'm always fascinated by the ethical implications behind people creating nuclear bombs, especially back at the beginning when the full extent was unknown. Sharma Shields does a great job of expressing this through Mildred, the inner conflict of seeing the oncoming horror and also feeling a strange sense of pride at creating something so powerful. Mildred was a great narrator, not always clearly showing the world as a whole but doing a great job of showing us her world. Shields also has the writing to back up this bizarre story and keep you hanging on until the end.

The Cassandra takes the myth/figure of Cassandra - who was cursed to voice true prophecies that no one will believe - and places her in 1940s Washington, working as a secretary for a mysterious project that will help the Allies win World War II.

Millie applies for the secretarial position at Hanford in order to escape her abusive and stifling home life. She immediately hits it off with Beth, a nurse who is starting work at Hanford at the same time, and for the first time feels like she might fit in somewhere and be accepted for who she is. However, she can't escape the visions that plague her, and nothing has changed as much as she may have hoped.

Sharma Shields does a great job setting tension and creating an atmosphere of dread; The Cassandra is a great character study with a terrible sense of inevitability and slowly building madness. I simultaneously wanted to hug and protect Millie, and shake her out of frustration.

Recommended for readers of feminist fiction or who enjoy character studies.

In 1944, Mildred Groves, Star Pupil (of six) at the Omak Secretarial School, becomes a secretary for Dr. Phillip Hall at the top-secret World War II facility Hanford in South Central Washington state. Her new job represents not just a chance to contribute to the war effort but also a way to escape her domineering mother and sister. But Mildred is not just an excellent employee--she possesses an unusual gift. She receives visions that foretell the future. As a child, her visions earned her the moniker "Mad Mildred," and she learned to be silent and keep her premonitions secret. But with production of "the product" speeding up, Mildred has renewed visions of overwhelming death and destruction. She is no longer able to remain silent, yet no one believes her prognostications. Again, people see her as "Mad Mildred." Still, her visions gain strength until she must act to stop them to save herself if not the world.

Unusual in its combination of historical fiction and fantasy, The Cassandra has a number of strengths. Before reading this book, I didn't know about the Hartford facility, and here, it is realistically depicted, including the intensive secrecy, the racial segregation, the divisions based on gender, and the devastation to the community and the environment. The Cassandra also offers a rich palette of symbolism, using the wind, rivers, birds, and animals to convey messages of fear, punishment, and overwhelming emotion. Mildred in particular struggles against the expectations of gender and the power and violence embodied by men, at times resistant, at times embracing it.

An interesting character, Mildred begins the novel with wide-eyed, naive optimism, but as she learns more about the "product" and experiences more visions and the accompanying dismissal of them, she becomes cynical and isolated, mistrustful of even her closest friends. Her language takes on a harsher tone, and her lost innocence is reflective in her coarse words, including the integration of such terms as fuck, shit, and asshole. Her withdrawal becomes accentuated when she falls victim to violence and then perpetuates that violence on others and herself. Some of the other characters are more one-dimensional, especially the villains in the story, and I wish they'd have been developed more realistically, although others reveal unexpected depth and compassion.

When Mildred experiences her visions, she encounters shape-shifters and tricksters, and the language of the novel slides to metaphorical. At times, this works, but at times, the combination of historical fiction and fantasy have an uneasy alliance, and the book I think struggles to integrate them. Still, the visions are haunting, and in one in particular, from the point of view of a young girl, readers see them impact of the atomic bombs on the hibakusha, the Japanese survivors affected by radiation poisoning, in a harrowing way that will remain with me for a long time.

The Cassandra questions how women or disenfranchised can make a difference when their wisdom is ignored and challenges a particularly masculine relationship with the world. While it doesn't provide answers, it offers a rich tapestry to consider. Fans of The Future Home of a Living God and Woman on the Edge of Time will be particularly pleased with this book as will readers of feminist fiction.

A period piece! Something I just can't get enough of....

So this book was a bit...intense. It had a good hook in the beginning and I spent some time trying to figure out if the lead character was on the spectrum at all - but as the book went on, I was more inclined to believe that she was just a product of her childhood. A strange girl, with visions of the future is hired to be a secretary at Hanford Research Center. She isn't told what it is the scientists are doing at Hanford, but through her visions and overheard conversations, she's deduced that it'll kill thousands.

The novel goes on to document Mildred's life at Hanford, and it is a hell of a tale. I enjoyed reading this book, but was not prepared for the stranger things Mildred happened to do/see....and when she's overpowered, raped by a fellow employee and left for dead, my heart just broke for the simple girl.

Shields was able to craft a novel so well done I forgot I didn't know Mildred...but if period pieces (or awkward main characters) aren't your jam, I don't suspect you'll want to read this book.

Fascinating & Spellbinding
This is a good, fast enjoyable read. Funny and Tender. The plot is very provocative and kept my attention throughout. It is a very emotional book. I love this book. I couldn’t put it down. I want to read more of this author.

**Full review will be posted on my blog, Sometimes Snarky, closer to publication date, as well as on Instagram and Goodreads.

So, I have to admit, I've got so many books in my 'to be read' shelf, and I get so many sent to me, that it's fairly common for me to read books without knowing their titles, authors, or what they're about. That was the case here. I remember reading the blurb and finding it interesting enough to request to review, but by the time I actually got around to reading it, I had zero idea as to the subject matter-- which is why it took me until now to put two and two together with the Cassandra myth... Which, of course, makes complete sense and only serves to improve my already favorable impression of Sharma Shields' newest novel, The Cassandra.

From the moment I started reading, I was hooked. The setting is so vivid and the characters are instantly likable. Mildred is sort of an underdog, the victim of emotional abuse by her spiteful mother and sister, who expect her to be at their beck and call. Shields masterfully sets this up so that the reader empathizes with Milly from the jump, but we also see that Mildred is not merely a push over. She finally gets up the courage to pursue a career and a life of her own, leaving her family and hometown behind, only to again be at the bottom of the barrel at Hanford. She's one of the few women working in the male-dominated town, she faces constant discrimination and condescension from her male superiors and from the competitive females who surround her, and while she sends all of her money home to her family, she's met with anger and resentment from them. It's an uphill battle for her on all levels. However, she prevails.

As the story progresses, Mildred's mental state begins to unravel, and here's where Sharma proves that she's not only adept with creating great characters, plot, and setting, but that she's also got a literary prowess. The language is poetic, with metaphors floating off the page, blurring the lines between reality, Milly's dreams/imagination, and psychosis. The deeper Mildred gets into her illness, the more oblique the language becomes and the blurrier the lines get, until it's no longer clear what is actually happening and what isn't.

I received a free e-ARC #Netgalley in exchange for a review.

TW: there is a pretty graphic sexual assault scene in this book.

This book is a retelling of Cassandra, the tragic figure who has visions but was cursed to never be believed. Mildred is the Cassandra of the novel. She gets hired to work at a compound that is working on developing the atomic bomb during WWII (which she doesn’t know at the time of her hiring). She leaves her abusive mother and sister behind to move and take on her new job.

The retelling aspect of this book is the strongest part of this book. Mildred’s visions were haunting, often scary, and very memorable. Once she connects her visions and what is happening at her job, the storytelling really takes off.

There’s a reveal of how Mildred deals with her visions toward the end of the book that really grabbed me. The reveal of what’s in her hand, oh my.

The only thing that frustrated me about this book was Mildred’s continued devotion to her abusive family. It was in character, so it’s not a dig at the author or storytelling, just something that frustrated me as I have strained relationships with my parents.

I highly recommend “The Cassandra: A Novel” by Sharma Shields, a modern day slant on the Cassandra myth, only this time with a young woman who works in a top secret research facility during WWII tormented by visions of what the mission will mean for humankind. She risks all by questioning those in power, demonstrating great bravery and spiritual inspiration as she “sounds” the metaphoric alarm bell. 5/5

Pub Date 12 Feb 2019

Thanks to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#TheCassandra #NetGalley