If a collection of stories was the literary embodiment of the lyric "draw the cat eye sharp enough to kill a man" - it's this one.

If you dabble in the occasional literary magazine, either print or digitally, Gwen E. Kirby is a name that you have most likely seen. Even better, one of her stories might have caught your eye. If not, aren't you now lucky to know that SHIT CASSANDRA SAW is out in the world and contains many of these collected stories. If you dig fierce, quirky, and Fabulist tales that poke at your inner joys and anxieties - it's this one.

This is a strong and imaginative collection that gripped me in a chokehold from the moment I started reading the title story and did not release until the last sentences of "We Handle It". I was screaming at the page all the way through "Jerry’s Crab Shack: One Star" as a male Yelp reviewer leaves the most "mansplain-y" and egregious review of a restaurant that says more about him, his marriage, and his general outlook on life than you ever needed to know. While "How to Tile a Bathroom in Six Easy Steps!" and “An Apology of Sorts to June” that look at marriages post-mortem, left me raw and trembling. But my favorite story was easily "Casper", which chronicled what happens in the lives of teen girls who work at a lost baggage claim warehouse after they discover a pure white taxidermied wombat.

While mostly strong, I was distracted by the tone of some of the historically set stories that seemed to yank me out of my reading groove. It's just the nature of short story collections and no fault of the stories contained within. This is totally still worth your time and attention if you like reading weird shit that packs a punch.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for sharing this book with me in exchange for an honest review.

The story telling is as bold as the cover image, and while the style was very direct and not necessarily my taste, the performances within the audiobook were top-notch!

Thank you NetGallery for the ARC.


This collection is wonderful. I am so enthralled by Kirby's prose and desperate for more. "Here Preached His Last" is some of the most poignant and nuanced work I've read in a long while. I'd highly recommend this collection to any audience - there will be something for everyone here.

This is a lovely little book with lots of food for thought.

It's got an array of stories leaning into feminism and exploring an absolute ton of "What Ifs.' It's hilarious and scary all at the same time. I don't even know what mood this book is. Satisfying? Angry? Thought-provoking? Just weird? I'd wager that a book group would have a blast with this one...

Thanks for the free book, Penguin Random House.

Shit Cassandra Saw by Gwen E. Kirby is a collection of stories more or less brief centred around women in different guises, in different settings and different genres. It speaks about women and their lives, about the joys, but especially the pains, of being a woman, particularly when related to patriarchy and society’s rules and conventions.

The collection is very provocatory and defiant, with a biting, sometimes angry, style and tone. While I enjoyed some stories, I just couldn’t get into the others.

Still, I liked that each short story is different from the others and shows women as multi-faceted, both in negative and positive ways.

⭐3+/5

I appreciated what this book was trying to do, and the righteous rage resonated, but I think the execution was lacking. It could have used an edit -- some of the stories just didn't seem to fit -- and the found formats could have been better wielded.

A cracking collection of shorts. A recommended purchase, particularly for collections where short stories are popular.

**I received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**

When I started this book, I expected something completely different from what I got. To be clear, this isn't a bad thing! It's a great book of lyrically written short stories that fall around the theme of the tragedies (and powers) of being of a woman. Taken on their own, there are some amazing ones in this book that stick with you. The shorts take place over a wide range of time — we have Ancient Troy, the 1800s, modern day. The way the author writes the plight of women and how we wrestle with the things we should want versus what we want, the things we should have, the way we should be treated, is very poetic.

However, if you went in - like me - expecting to get some spin on the seeress Cassandra and the things she saw (but wasn't believed about), then you'll be disappointed. While a short about Cassandra opens the book and leads in very well to the second short, it's very easy to quickly forget that these are supposed to be things that Cassandra saw.

A solid collection of stories but I found it hard to stay interested in them for the most part. Would still be interested in reading from this author in the future.

Great way to start the new year. A women powered collection filled with engrossing short stories. Always a great reminder that women are pretty bad ass.

I always felt bad for the Cassandra of Greek myth. She knew what was going to happen but is cursed to never be believed. If only the Trojans had listened! The resentment and frustration she must have felt pour out in the first story out of the gate in Gwen E. Kirby’s electrifying collection, Shit Cassandra Saw. The stories here are full of things that people wish they could say. It’s a lot of fun to watch the sparks fly.

Some of the standouts in this collection are:

“Jerry’s Crab Shack: One Star” – I love stories in which the narrator is trying to write something for others but can’t stop themselves from revealing everything that’s bothering them. Here, our narrator is ostensibly trying to write up a review about a place where the service was terrible and the food never actually arrived. Each part of the review, however, ends up being full of his complaints about his angry wife, having to relocate to a city where he doesn’t know anyone, and his frustration about being marginalized. It’s a deliciously multi-layered story.

“A Few Normal Things that Happen a Lot” – I relished reading this story. It’s composed of small scenes that start to fit together into a narrative about women who suddenly have the strength to fight back against cat-callers, harassers, and abusers. It’s not long before a lot of men start to walk more quietly and keep their comments to themselves. Kirby also sneaks in a very subtly twist to #NotAllMen that was utterly brilliant.

“Mt. Adams at Mar Vista” – This story was perhaps the most poignant in the collection. The girls of the Mt. Adams softball team are playing the team from Mar Vista, which has recently experienced a school shooting. The adults see it as a return to normalcy. The students feel as though things are anything but normal. The story takes us into the collective swirl of their thoughts about what to say, what they can say, their own worries, how they’re going to get through the game, whether they should throw the game, and on and on. It’s amazing what Kirby is able to pack into just a few pages.

This is an excellent, lightning-fast read that leaves you with plenty of ideas to think about.

A fantastic collection of short stories centered on women. Fun, gripping, and an absolutely wild ride. There are several short stories in this collection that are engrained in my brain.

Feminism is great. We should all be feminists. I'm a woman in my 30's and I would like to think of myself as a feminist. But even I found this book too much. There's a difference between talking about feminism and the fact that women are inferior to men in the modern world in so many ways and screaming about it while not making much sense. And this book screams in your face: women are in constant danger by male predators!!! Men are bad!!! Men just want to have sex!!! Women should rise against men!!!
Definitely lacks subtlety.

#ShitCassandraSaw #NetGalley
Wow... just wow. I am not a fan of short stories, but I did enjoy several of these. I can see myself recommending this book to several readers who love short stories and books about women.

This was a wild ride. I do like short stories, and I feel like it's a dying art. This is my first experience with this artist, and I'll be reading more from her. The stories are varied and extremely unique. My only complaint is the cover - that thing is terrifying.

My library will likely purchase this title, although I only cared for about 1/2 of the stories in this collection. I can see the allure. The first story was a gutpunch perfect whomp. Not sure if it should have been first in the collection tho - I was bored waiting for something better to come along.

Classical tales about women shuffled around for the 21st-century. I was absolutely riveted by this. Explore stories about women in a really original way.