I was withholding judgment on this very short story until I read the book it’s a precursor for, End of Story. I wanted to be able to tell you if you have to read this one in order to read the other. You do not. Yet I feel, in just a few pages, a lot is explained about Susie that we don’t necessarily get in the main story. I really enjoyed this little peek and it did its job of making me curious as to what path Susie would take in her life. And, somehow, I felt I knew Lars’s heart better through his one scene in this short story.

While reading End of Story, there are a few things that struck me as odd since I had read this prequel. I felt Susie and Lars had a more amicable relationship and Lars was much more aware of his best friend’s shortcomings than he is in the main story. Also, Susie’s brother has a different name in the two stories. I read an ARC of End of Story so maybe that gets corrected before publication.

Quite honestly, I feel as though this story could have (and should have) been a prologue instead of a whole separate short story. It would have been a bit long for a prologue, but I’ve seen longer. This story was included at the end of my ARC for the main story, so it’s possible it will be included with the purchase of End of Story.