I'm pretty torn. The magic system, and the slow progression and building of power are things I like about An Instruction in Shadow and its prequel. I also had the impression (maybe mistaken) from the first book of the mc being a less typical male protagonist of books of this type, self described as less physically present, and a bit wiser emotionally and clever in approach. Unfortunately where the magic and worldbuilding are pulling me in, the character work is pushing me away. There were a small handful of more toxic masculinity moments in this one, especially one near the end which was a full blown literal look me in the eyes at all the rage I have in me that I’m holding back moment that was laughable and absurd and dampened a lot of the fun I was having with the book up til then. The book also cuts off pretty abruptly and isn't exactly built in any way standalone, similar to book 1; judging by the author's other series, this is going to be a very long, mostly flatly paced climb across many books, and I'm not sure I'm in for the long haul when the characters are starting to lose me. I had already been somewhat undecided about continuing with book two, so this may be where I stop reading the series.