This little spin off took us to the day Albert and Elias met and how they became friends. I liked seeing Elias much more socially awkward and innocent of the world, a little different to the grumpy Elias we know from the main book, but that showcases how much he matured and learned all this time spanning the years in between the two books.

I wished to learn more about the main antagonist, but he was an NPC at best, probably due to the length of the book and maybe the author's choice to focus solely on the budding friendship rather than building another plot and writing battles that would perhaps take another full length book. And she did clarify that this was simply meant as a letter to shed a bit of light on the horrors of war the two friends went through.

And of course, Albert is as polite and gentle as ever! I love him for that