I loved these two books. I've not got a huge amount to add to my review of Book 1. But a few additional thoughts.

Firstly: this really feels a lot like a single book. More so than almost any previous pair of books I can think. This is certainly best thought of as one story: I'd advise against reading Book 2 without having read Book 1 first, nor stopping at the end of Book 1 (though I doubt one would be able to do that).

In terms of comments on the quality of writing or storytelling, there's probably not much more I can say than I already did about Book 1: it's excellent, incredibly enjoyable, very human-focused, life-like - just like the first book.

But the ending is great too - really wraps up the story well, get a strong sense that the author cares about her characters. I find it quite rare to have a satisfying ending to a story, so this is not a minor point - it really enhanced my enjoyment.

Very much looking forward to this author's next works.