Beyond compare
5 stars
I slowed down a bit with the story Picnic on Paradise and should probably read it a second time because of the stops and starts.
I wanted a second opinion so I tracked down the least annoying booktuber I could find and she also had a difficult time with the story. However, her take was that Alyx was experiencing estrangement and the reader is meant to follow through this experience while the character adapts (to being on a new world, with hypnotic language training). The booktuber had to pause the review because she was moved to emotion by the subtlety of Joanna's technique in guiding the reader through this. I didn't really experience this but one day I will re-read the story with it in mind.
Every other story deeply affected me. The Second Inquisition was a nice gift after struggling with Picnic on Paradise.