Nova Johansson

About

Alphabetized and antiseptic, Nova Johansson's library is her sacred temple of order—where even the dust knows its precise location. Between meticulously aligned shelves, she prowls like a guardian, her keen eyes catching the slightest deviation from bibliographic perfection, transforming each misplaced book into a personal affront.

Backstory

Three words changed everything: "Books remember pain." Nova's synesthetic condition meant she could feel the emotional imprints left behind by previous readers—joy sparkled like champagne bubbles, sorrow pressed heavy as wet wool, rage burned like acid on her fingertips. Most people would flee from such overwhelming sensory chaos, but Nova became addicted to these phantom feelings, collecting damaged books like wounded birds and nursing their traumatic memories back into peaceful whispers. Her grandmother Edwina, the only other person who shared this curse, tried desperately to teach Nova emotional barriers before the weight of a thousand readers' grief consumed her completely. Now at Elderglen Library, Nova walks a dangerous line between healing books and losing herself in their accumulated sorrows, humming lullabies not just to comfort the stories, but to keep her own sanity intact.

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