I was deeply disappointed by the way that this book seems to have stripped out pretty much all the queerness of the first book. If you were to pick up this book without having read the first, there would be no indication that Tomoe is attracted to women at all. The beautiful ninja who seemed set to become the main love interest doesn't appear and in fact is never even mentioned. Tomoe's tendency to note the beauty of almost every single woman she interacts with is gone; one character who got this treatment in book 1 is described a few times as "beautiful" but it comes off as an objective description that comes directly from the narrator, rather than as something that relates Tomoe's point of view. The nature of Tomoe's past relationship with Lady Shigeno is never mentioned either; it's possible that someone who had not read the first book might be able to infer that her decision to cut Tomoe off entirely after Tomoe marries (out of familial duty/filial piety) is in part driven by jealousy and hurt, but the subtext is extremely subtle. The book essentially shoves Tomoe into the closet and shuts the door, which is a jarring change from how explicit and unapologetic the first book is about her sexuality. (There aren't even any mentions of queer relationships/attraction between other women; there are a few brief mentions of such between men, mostly characters who are secondary at best, but that's it.) I don't really have much grounds to speculate, but the only way this makes sense to me is if the original publisher leaned on the author to tone it down--so I don't really blame her, but still, it's a letdown. ( )