I read this 35+ years ago and I remember absolutely loving it.  This was the first book that I loved so much I stayed up all night reading.  This, I believe, is the book that started my move of apocalyptic books.

That is why, with a heavy heart, I lower my 5 ⭐️ rating to a 4, maybe even a 3.5 ⭐️.

This book was pretentious, long winded, and made me scratch my head more than once.  It follows 2 women after a nuclear war that essentially ends life on Earth, or the northern hemisphere at least.  Their huge, pressing concern is...saving books.  As an avid reader, I can understand loving books and not wanting to see them desecrated, burned, or banned, but the world ends and that is your concern?  That becomes your life mission? I guess that they needed something to feel purposeful instead of just surviving.  It also feels like the author found a thesaurus to save and went to town.  I would HIGHLY recommend reading this on Kindle where a dictionary is readily available.  

Further, there are Christian themes and plot lines throughout the book.  The author does not hide their superiority in disregarding such notions, even if those Christian themes are extreme and not stereotypically "normal." I absolutely do not feel that religion needs to be confirmed nor denied, but the implications of Christians being unintelligent could not be overlooked.  

After writing this review, I have lowered the rating to 3⭐️.  It was a simply okay book.