Cassandra Reads

I’m really glad that I waited until after reading Shades of Gray before reading this one.  There’s a time jump of six months in that book and the events of this novella accor during that time jump.  Reading this one first wouldn’t have ruined that book or anything, but the assumed order is this one first, then book six.  

This novella focuses on Rachel and Ethan and if you’ve read Shades of Gray first, the general plot is already known to you.  (Possible Spoilers, depending)  Rachel has finally gone back to work and it starts out great.  She’s also found out she’s pregnant and is completely thrilled. One of her students is having a hard time because her parents are getting a divorce.  This divorce is the reason for the drama that occurs.  The father isn’t happy that his soon to be ex-wife wants custody of their daughter and shows up in Rachel’s classroom with a gun, threatening both Rachel and her students.  He demands Rachel call the police, which she does.  She also saves most of her students by telling him to release them, offering herself as a hostage.  KGI (unsurprisingly) shows up just in time.

I’m really wondering about the mental state of the man who did this.  Did he really think the courts would give him custody of his daughter after a stunt like that? We learn a little bit about the mother, who wouldn’t have cared about the other people under threat, instead leaving with her daughter.  This is the reason that the daughter stays too.