I’ve gotten a few questions from potential readers, wanting to know which book to read first. Here is my suggested reading order:
- Lost and Found
- Time Stands Still
- Never Look Back
- Not Today, But Someday
But Not Today, But Someday is a prequel, right? Yes, chronologically it is. But the information contained in the prequel is best enjoyed after the series. I actually wrote this more than a year after the series was published after getting a bad review from someone on Goodreads who wanted more information about Nate and Emi’s history.
Does it matter if you actually read the prequel first? Well, you’ll be privy to some minor details that you may have wondered about otherwise, but that’s about it.
Why do I recommend it after? Mainly because the information there is pure backstory, and the format of it is not truly representative of the books. It reads differently. It’s lighter… someone even called it charming. It’s just not as emotionally heavy, while it still does have a healthy dose of teenage angst. It’s also a completely different genre. Where Emi Lost & Found is contemporary women’s fiction, I’d consider Not Today, But Someday more YA. There are no descriptive sex scenes, and there’s only a handful of bad language.
Expecting it to be the start of the series is misleading. It doesn’t prepare you for what’s to come at all, and actually disrupts the flow of the books.
Why include it at all? Because it’s a nice time in Emi’s life to look back on. It gives you a little more time with Emi & Nate. It takes some of the ‘heavy’ off. To me, it’s like dessert.
Anyway. Happy reading!
Lori L. Otto, author 