Love

Throughout Cassandra in Reverse, Smale thematically examines love. Toward the outset of the narrative, the protagonist believes that romantic love is the ultimate iteration of the emotion and compares herself to the Greek goddess Eos. She explains that “while most of Olympus is indulging in endless torrid love affairs and pairing up like penguins, the immortal Titan Eos dates, and fails, and dates, and fails” (93). The author includes this allusion in order to assert that the pursuit of romantic love, despite failure and rejection, is an act of bravery and courage. Like Eos, Cassandra’s fortitude “represents the strength to keep trying, even when you know you’re doomed […] and refusing to accept defeat” (93). Smale utilizes this moment to establish that her protagonist is not insecure or desperate; her pursuit of love, while misguided, is a genuine act of bravery.

Later, in Chapter 22, the author expands...