Oo I liked this one even more than book two (yes, I read them out of order)! As not a huge fan of historical fic in general, this series is showing up in a huge way and trying to change my mind! I was right that the books somewhat overlap/happen simultaneously and it was possible to read them out of order but I did get a lot more establishing information as this was the first. I think I enjoyed this one more because there was the level of secrecy and planning to absolutely ruin the story's bad guy (and no spoilers but it's glorious when it happens). Great discussions/examples of how people experience racism on different levels, colonialism, women in business/trade, slavery, etc.