When he meets Maizel, a brilliant redhead determined to follow in her mother's suicidal footsteps, he sees his life for what it really is . If Chan can find the courage to try one more time--if he can save Maizel--maybe there's a chance he can also save himself."

Thank you to Rebecca Rode for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for review!

I haven't read The Numbers Game just yet but after reading this short story set in that world, I am itching to pick it up! This story follows Chan Norwell who is part of the perfect green family with a Chief Monitor for a mom, an all-star for a brother, and an eight year old prodigy little sister. For someone like Chan who tries his hardest but still just can't seem to live up to the expectations set by his siblings, life isn't easy. When he is humiliated and thrown out of his family, he sees only one solution. But when he meets fast-talking Maizel, he rethinks his decision and decides to try to live outside of the rules. Can he save Maizel from following in her suicidal mother's footsteps?

While I had no idea what a Rater was, or why Chan was so worried about getting a good score and becoming a green like the rest of his family, or really anything about this world, I feel like this short story gave a bit of insight into The Numbers Game world and just enough to get the reader curious as to what everything means. From what I could tell, the color rating system was kind of like a class system and your Rater basically gives you a score which determines if you are a green, yellow, or red. This seems like it could lead to some incredibly interesting story lines within this world so I'm really interested to see how it all starts with the first book, The Numbers Game.

Despite not having a clue about the world that this story was set in, I actually felt like I could sympathize with Chan and I found myself feeling so bad when he didn't receive a good score. He was hoping to be a green like the rest of his family, but when he got his score and was labeled a yellow, he was kicked out of his house and felt like suicide was the only way out. It was so sad to see someone try so hard to do his best but somehow still not get where he wanted to be and to think that taking his life was the only way out. But when he meets Maizel, he changes his mind and decides that living with her is what he wants to do, so he decides to try and save her from following her mother's footsteps off the roof of an 82 floor building.

The writing of this short story was so well done and definitely got me hooked on finding out more about the series. Rebecca Rode was able to make me connect with a character in an unknown world and really feel for him while following his story. It was descriptive and allowed me to kind of dip my foot in the shallow end, so to speak. I was able to test out a story in The Numbers Game world and really see if it was something I wanted to dive headfirst into. This was such an interesting story and by the end, I was searching for where I could get my hands on The Numbers Game so that I could get more Rebecca Rode and her fantastic writing!

If you're interested in The Numbers Game but are unsure if you're ready to take the plunge, then be sure to pick up Chan's Story! This 30 page novella will give you some fairly good insight into just what you will be getting into if you decide to pick up the full book. It has just enough information so that the reader won't feel lost when reading, a main character that you can't help but root for, and an ending that is sure to leave you wanting more!