I had a thought about this book which is that I'm not sure if Delilah Bard is meant to be vaguely transmasc leaning. There are queer characters in the book so it seems possible. But also the book got me thinking about how a lot of adventure-fantasy, when it has female characters, has characters who are remarkably uncomfortable with their femininity. There's a particular trope of fantasy heroine who specifically hates embroidery and dresses thus demonstrating she is one of the cool ones (has only male-coded interests). When I was younger it seemed only natural to me to feel weirdly uncomfortable by the notion of wearing a dress, but now that I better understand that this isn't the common female experience, the masculinity of all the characters in this book (regardless of gender) does stick out. It is still a trope I enjoy though.