The second book delivers a deeper look into the alchemical science? magic? system in this universe, which is still interestingly fresh to me. It’s neat to see a character experimenting and discovering how their world works. It reminds me a bit of China Mieville’s Iron Council: outside.ofa.dog/user/aneel/review/1859/s/review-of-iron-council-new-crobuzon-3-on-goodreads#anchor-1859

The feminist thread is getting stronger as the series progresses as well. In the second book, we get more powerful women. They’re still constrained and frustrated by their societies, but have distinctly more agency than we saw in the first book.