Moving from the first book in the series to this one was like a punch in the gut. It became clear almost instantly that we would be moving away from the loving, wonderful, heartfelt story and characters of the first book to focus on a new set of characters that played a smaller role in the first book. This installment hyper focused on two characters in particular, which was quite the change from the first book's 4-5 POVs. But this change ultimately made me fall in love all over again. By spending so much time with these two interesting, intertwined but completely unique stories, there was enough time to fully flesh out the character development. If there was one criticism I had of the first book, it was that we didn't have enough time with any one character to feel like their character development was fully explored and justified, but this book completely remedied that. Again, this is a hugely character driven story, so in Becky Chambers fashion, don't walk into this expecting a Martha Wells sci-fi adventure.

The construction and dichotomy of the stories' exploration of what it means to be human, and what it means to belong was pure art. Both POVs served as each other's foil throughout the whole book, constantly orbiting each other in theme and tone. There were several moments of both of these stories that really touched my heart as Chambers expertly explored interpersonal relationships in a beautifully concise way. And it all came to a thematically beautiful close.

You can, of course, expect to see more fascinating explorations of gender, sexuality, and identity that Chambers is so good at implementing. Her sci-fi world building continues to build on what she established in the first book and continues to be very interesting. As always, this refreshing take on what sci-fi can be makes me fall in love with the genre all over again. Given how quickly I consume these books, I'm already dreading finishing the series. I'm not ready to say goodbye to this world.