I'm a well read grad student who's bluntly honest about all things, although I try to be most honest about myself.
I continue to love this series: this is a completely different book, because character development and plot have forced this to be different. This world calls for a different book, just as the next book will be a different animal due to necessity. Yoon Ha Lee has created an all too real world that changes along with its characters.
I was shocked by some of the things that were done, that happened, that characters agreed to do, and yet it made sense: this is a brutal, paranoid world, and characters deal as best they can with this world. It's all made worse by the veneer of polite society that buries the harsh realities. Those who are aware go with this world because it's seemingly impossible to get away from the realities they live with and so they appear to have no choice.
Just absolutely addicted to this series.