Cassandra Venable is a fun-loving, yet rude 18-year-old who was kicked out by her weary mother after attracting gang attention to the house, using it to hide drugs for a friend. Cassandra moved to Hathian since she thought that it, surprisingly, would be better than the neighborhood she grew up in, which she describes as a "dystopian hell-hole in the darkest corner of the ghetto." As of yet, she has no job to speak of, only enough money to have rented a motel room to sleep in, and currently accepts odd jobs from pretty much anyone, criminal or otherwise, to help her stay financially afloat.

Cassandra also happens to have an addiction, - and a strong one at that, - not to any physical substance, but to sex. The only problem is that she obviously just isn't attractive enough to have as much sex as she wants, which is a source of endless frustration to her. Despite knowing how "plain" she is, she has a tendency to flaunt herself as though she were as sexy as an exotic supermodel, carrying herself in a coquettish manner and flirting with nearly any man she can find.