I enjoyed this litRPG book series by Erin Ampersand.

It’s refreshing to read a hero who’s not your typical young guy thrust into leadership. She’s a mom of 3 little kids, and she uses her mom skills not only to keep her kids safe throughout a system apocalypse where aliens pit humans against monsters, but also to rally humanity into defiance against their true enemies instead of fighting over loot and scraps.

Meghan’s character shows a lot of strength without being muscle-strong. She has to keep emotions controlled and her wits sharp while secretly yearning for her husband and fearful for the safety of her family. She is thrust into trolley problem dilemmas and comes through them with sensible solutions, fueled by her emotional intelligence.

I just enjoyed this whole series, which is up to Book 4 so far. There’s a lot of cleverness in terms of fights and challenges and aliens.

The downside, for me, is that these books are just a touch too cozy for my tastes. Alien monsters that can’t even kill little kids (albeit kids with powers) seem kinda incompetent, no matter how threatening they are, no matter how many adults they kill off-screen. But plot armor is a common thing in a lot of litRPG, so I give it a pass.

After reading this series, I still don’t want kids. But it’s nice to get one version of a glimpse into motherhood. Holy smokes.