Yes, it's a post-apocalypse. But a hopeful one.

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When I was looking over the Bookish First Site, I was caught by the words "mercenary librarian." The idea of people both in love with books and able to kick ass was too good to pass up. And I was lucky enough to win the raffle.

Admittedly, our mercenary librarians don't spend that much time being libraries until the last section of the book. But I was fine with that, because what the book did spend time on was much better. This was essentially the story of two found families coming together to make a bigger found family. While there are two main characters, a lot of the other characters get chapters from their POVs and make the group seem more well-rounded than simply "Nina, Knox, and Co. "

At this point in time, the big question with a post-apocalypse book during a pandemic is "But what if it reminds people of the real world too much?" And it's a valid question. There are some moments in this book t hat mention the fall of the world, including discussion about faulty governments that weren't prepared. And it did strike a bit too close to home.

But the main themes of the story are much more uplifting. Both Knox and Nina are focused on making their post-apocalyptic world a better place. Nina's personal arc does deal a lot with her idealism in the face of horrible situations. Knox, on the other hand, deals with his own personal guilt and his chance at redeeming himself in his own eyes. It's an uplifting tale of people looking at the horrible situation around them and finding love and life anyway.

And also, there's so many bisexuals. All the bisexuals. Queer representation out the wazoo and I am here for it.