I think I liked this one more than the last? Idk I think it kept my attention a little better and I liked the way it went with some of the ideology (especially considering that this is a YA book, I understood why a lot of the issues were not as complexly discussed as they could be). I think it's a great way to get people younger than me thinking about these kinds of things, especially with the author's note about community at the end. Still, regarding actual plot, I don't know. My brain got a bit scrambled at the end, and it felt a bit rushed. I think there could've been a little more time spent on it, and maybe less time spent in previous chapters. It felt like elements of the story weren't there until they suddenly were (political talk, relationship w Qin Zheng, etc), though for some of them that made sense (like Yizhi). I'm struggling to put all my thoughts into words, but I think I did like this more than the first, though I desperately miss Shimin as a character.