I DIDN’T REALLY HAVE THAT much time to feel ashamed or worried, all things considered. When my maids dressed me the next morning without a hint of worry, I assumed my presence downstairs would be welcome.

On her first night in the palace, as soon as bed time rolled around, she got so panic-stricken that she hyperventilated and almost passed out in the arms of a guard.  But after bodily assaulting an asshole prince, she’s just like “peace out, whatever, I’ll be in my room sleeping.”

Granted, I applaud her for standing up for herself and defending her personal space.  However, she did still strike a royal.  There should be laws for her to contend with, and she should be worried about if Maxon is going to bring charges against her for striking his most august personage.  She should be worried about how to justify her actions, since she’ll have to explain she thought the prince was going to rape her.  She should be worried about whether or not people will believe her, of they’ll side with the prince since he’s…well, the prince.  She should be worried about these things because they are issues that sexual assault victims face.  People who successfully defend themselves from assault, especially women, don’t always see the end of their ordeal there; they often have to face accusations, disbelief, and the very real possibility that they’ll be put in the exact same situation all over again and maybe not be so lucky the second time.

Look, if you’re going to introduce a subject like rape, you can’t half-ass it.  Rape is not just “man forces woman to have sex,” it’s an entire culture.  If a rape victim could come forth and confidently accuse her attacker, without fear of being ostracized, blamed, ridiculed, or dismissed as lying or ‘confused,’ if they could count on support from the surrounding community instead of humiliation and a life-time of hiding their past, then rape would only be about half as terrifying as it is.  Our culture, which is improving by baby-steps but still far, far away from being intolerant of sexual violence, is part of the terror of rape.  It is flat-out insulting to take that away from a depiction of rape.  If you can’t have the balls to properly display the consequences of a rape culture, then don’t include the subject at all. 

That’s basically what I’m getting from this part of the book.  America thinks she’s about to be raped.  She defends herself.  She feels bad about it, but not particularly worried.  No other consequences arise.  It’s disgustingly simplified and robs a lot of what could be said here.  Instead it presents us with the idea that sexual violence begins and ends with the actual act, and that the situations surrounding it are unrelated. 

Also, that you should feel bad for defending yourself.  Which, well, fuck that.

So America goes down to breakfast and the other girls ask her how the date went.   She gives non-committal answers, because apparently “well, he got all up in my grill and made vaguely threatening comments” wouldn’t go over well.

Suddenly, there’s a loud noise!  We’re not told what kind of loud noise, except that it is, in fact, loud.  We’re told what it doesn’t sound like, but not what it does sound like.  Because, you know, describing things be hard.  Anyway, the palace is under attack.  Huh, and here I thought the book forgot about that whole ‘rebels blow shit up’ bit.  Nope, it remembered, it just thinks that unescorted walks through shadowy forests are perfectly safe.

“To the back of the room, ladies!” King Clarkson yelled, and ran over to a window.

Grammar lesson time!  Never, ever, put a single comma between a subject and a verb.

Subject             verb            verb

King Clarkson yelled, and ran over to a window.

Clark both yelled and ran, all in the same sentence, so there’s no need to put a comma in there.  You should only include a comma if both phrases involved are independent clauses.

“King Clarkson yelled, and he ran over to a window.”

That would be grammatically correct.  Of course, that would just make me ask why you made it so convoluted.

Commas are okay as long they set off a dependent clause, in which case there should be two of them.  And also, a dependent clause.

“King Clarkson yelled and, with his ridiculous crown askew, ran over to a window.”

Like that.

Back to the story.  Clarkson is running to the window so he can pull down a metal shade.  METAL.  Why the fuck would you do that?  Was this shade hanging out above the window in one solid sheet?  (In which case, how tall is the room?)  Or was it rolled up like one would think when they hear the word ‘shade’?  If the metal is thin enough to be rolled up, it won’t do shit against bullets.  Use shutters for that, idiots.  Or better yet, ballistic glass and shutters, although that would be expensive.

Or, here’s a thought, DON’T STAY IN A PALACE THAT’S SEMI-CONSTANTLY GETTING ATTACKED.  This place is huge an obviously not very defensible.  Pack up the important country-running papers and retreat to a remote lodge somewhere.  A place that has smaller windows, where access can be better controlled, and that’s smaller overall so it’s not as much space to defend.  Also, put off the Selection for a few years.  I mean, I know it’s a tradition and all that, but fuck it, you’re at war.  Concessions will have to be made.

This is all just so fucking stupid.

Why are the royal family pulling down the stupid metal shades?  Why aren’t there guards, or at least staff members, in the room to do that?  They’re the head of your country, put something solid between them at the bullets.

At its barest of bones, the Selection was kind of disturbing. I was sure the rebels hated it along with everything else about Illéa.

And you don’t?

Apparently they can’t get the girls out of the dining room, because this author thinks that palaces are run like a sinking ship.  The room has big giant doors that are closed and bolted in place.  Look, that’s not actually a good idea.  All it does is keep you stuck in one spot and unable to flee in the case of an emergency.  Plus, it prevents free movement of troops within the palace, which keeps them from quickly and adequately responding to a dynamic threat.  Also, do you know what rebels love?  FUCKING FIRE.  How are you going to get away from death-by-smoke if they start firebombing the place while you’re stupidly locked into one room?

It makes no fucking sense to section off the inside of the palace like that.  The only way this would make sense is if they were locked in a very specific panic room, preferably one with a bolt-hole in case the whole attack goes south.

Anyway, America starts helping to close the windows, because the royal family just loves eating breakfast in a room with a dozen windows.  Because fuck safety protocols, that’s why.

I’ll admit that even though helping to close the windows is really basic, it does take some level-headed thinking to jump on that right away while you’re in the middle of being attacked.  (She did do it right away, I just had a lot to bitch about within a few sentences.)  So good on her.  That’s two good things she’s done so far in this book.

After the window shades are drawn, everyone retreats to the back of the room.

The most reassuring sight was King Clarkson talking intently to a guard along the back wall, just far away enough that the girls wouldn’t hear. He had one arm wrapped protectively around the queen, who stood quietly and proudly beside him.

Heaven forbid a woman be standing on her own, talking strategy to a guard, or setting a good example independently.  Nope, once again she’s just a prop, standing by while her husband protects her.  Silly, didn’t you know women are useless in a fight?

Except this book seems to think that just standing there quietly counts as strength.  Hey, book, maybe she’s just in shock and that’s why she’s not cowering. 

Celeste and Bariel were making conversation. I knew what Celeste looked like at ease, and this wasn’t it. Still, compared to the others, she hid her emotions very well.

But the queen isn’t doing the same thing.  Nope, not at all, she’s actually bravely standing around and doing nothing.  You can tell because…reasons.

Marlee was crying a little, but not so much that she looked like a wreck.

Yeah, what she looks like is really the important thing going on here.

America gets Marlee to put on a brave face so that she’ll look more queenly, because she wants Marlee to win.  Wait, so…it’s okay for Marlee to just hide her emotions, and that makes her good, but if Celeste does the same thing, and does it without prompting at that, it’s somehow…wrong?

Maxon comes to talk to her, and America admits she’s worried about her maids.  Yeah, it’s a good thing to be worried about other people.  But it’s also one of those basic good things.  You know, one of those things that makes you ‘not a sociopath.’  It doesn’t make her more impressive than the other girls just because she asked about her maids.  It simply makes the other girls really shitty.  (Eh, I shouldn’t say that.  It’s not their fault they’re written by such a hack.)

He looked into my eyes and seemed to understand that I was only one step up from being a maid myself.

And on top of that, it’s even less impressive if that’s the only reason she gives a fuck about other people.

Maxon says that everyone else has their own hiding places, so she shouldn’t worry.  When he tries to leave, America stops him and explains exactly why she got so freaked out the previous night by telling him about the official.

Um, okay, so I was yelling at her to do that.  But couldn’t she have picked a better time? 

“Was everyone told this?” he asked, sounding appalled at the idea.

“I don’t know. I can’t imagine many girls would need such a warning. They’re probably waiting to pounce on you,” I noted, nodding my head toward the rest of the room.

FUCK YOU BOOK!  FUCK  YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL!  This is just so fucking sick.  She’s basically calling EVERY OTHER WOMAN IN THE ROOM a whore.  Not only is she lumping 26 woman into one category and claiming they are all indistinguishable from each other (hello, misogyny), but she’s saying that they’re something she considers to be bad.  It doesn’t matter that wanting to fuck Maxon does not make you a bad person; she thinks it does, and she’s willing to think the worst of all the other women.

Maxon is confused about how to get the room full of crying women to stop crying.  Uh, they’re under attack, asshole.  Admit that it’s a scary thing and stop assuming that they need to shut up just because it bothers you.

“Try patting them on the back or shoulder and telling them everything is going to be fine. Lots of times when girls cry, they don’t want you to fix the problem, they just want to be consoled,” I advised.

They’re under fucking attack.  That isn’t going to be comforted by a pat on the head.  I mean, yes, do what she’s suggesting, but on top of that don’t be surprised if it does shit all to help.

Also, how sheltered and self-centered do you have to be to not offer consolation to a crying person?  I can understand feeling like there’s more you should do, or not realizing that such actions are appreciated, but to not realize you should do them in the first place?

The worst attack I’d gotten at home was Gerad trying to steal my food. The girls here didn’t care for me, the clothes were stifling, people were trying to hurt me, and the whole thing felt uncomfortable. But it was good for my family and nice to be full.

Oh, woe is me, for I am a middle class brat!  I have everything I could ever want or need, but people are mean and the dresses are itchy!

Look, there’s a lot she could complain about with perfect validity.  The lack of autonomous power she has.  Her restriction of movement.  The fact that only the prince’s better nature is keeping her from getting forcibly sexed, since obviously no one will stop him, and he could change his mind any day.  The fact that rebels want to kill her.  Having others be actively hostile to her, instead of just ‘not caring.’  There’s plenty of reasons for her to not like her situation, but she goes for the most middle-class and whiney of the reasons.  Probably because she doesn’t see most of this shit as actually being a problem.

Anyway, the prince offers to let her go home after this, the same as he’s offered to a few other scared girls.  After thinking it over, America decides to stay.

America asks what the rebels want, and Maxon says it depends on which group this one is.  America is shocked that there’s more than one group of rebels.

It seemed incredibly unfair to keep us in the dark on this.

Rebels 101, book.  They rely on the population they live in.  If they wanted to be known, the government wouldn’t be able to stop them, because it’s not like they fucking ask permission.  They would just graffiti up the place, pass around wildfire rumors, print up illegal pamphlets.  You know, rebel shit.  It’s in their best interest to get the public knowledgeable and riled up, because the common citizenship is where they get their power.

The book then goes on to further prove it knows nothing about rebellion by claiming there’s two groups of rebels: Northern and Southern.  What the fuck kind of names are those?  Whatever happened to Red Hand Defenders or New People’s Army or Black Eagles?  Groups of people will give themselves names.  And they’ll try and make these names as heroic/badass as possible, because that’s how words work.  Words have power, serious power, over the subconscious of people.  If you had some group come up to you say they were the Northern Rebels, would you listen to them?  How about the True People’s Liberation Army of Illea?

So, the northern group lives in some run-down old city, because, yeah, that’s totally how rebels work.  They all gather together in one place that’s easily identified and bombed.  Oh, wait, no, they disperse into the population so that you can’t ever fucking find them.

so they’ve made it a home of sorts, though I guess they travel. The traveling is one theory of mine

Really?  You needed a theory to come up with the idea that they fucking travel?  Considering they are currently attacking you and you aren’t in their stupid city, I think it’s pretty safe to conclude that they travel.

The northern group is a lot more tame than the southern group, who often come up with lethal attacks rather than just a lot of smoke and noise.  Maxon treats it like some big secret that people die during some of the attacks, because apparently everyone is trying to keep the truth of situation from him.

Yeah.  The guy that’s going to run their country some day is being kept in the dark.  Because…reasons?

But what do they actually want?  Maxon doesn’t know.

“The Southerners appear to want us demolished. I don’t know why, but I’m guessing some dissatisfaction or another, tired of living on the fringes of society. I mean, they’re not even Eights technically, since they have no part in the social network.

Um…if someone isn’t part of the caste system, then what are they?  Do they not exist in your country?  Are they illegal?  Is someone born outside the system just allowed to go on their merry old way, no harm no foul?  If so, are they denied government services, trade opportunities, health care?  Is it illegal to live outside the system?  Are they hunted down and forced into being Eights?

You know, this really shouldn’t be hard to figure out.  Like I said, rebels get their power base from the people, so telling people what they want should be the first step.  Most rebel groups grasp this concept.  They have goals, even if they may be unobtainable goals, and they tell people about it so that those people will support them.

Also, maybe the fact that they’re not allowed into your society, however shitty it may be, should clue you in to why they don’t like you.

He has a theory that the northern group is looking for someone, because they just knock out and tie up guards instead of kill them.  Um…maybe they’re looking for you so they can kill you, and they have no beef with the guards that were drafted.  Maybe the southerners aren’t killing anyone, it’s just northerners who make oopsies, because knocking people out is not exactly a fail-proof method.

God this kid is too stupid to live.

God, this whole country is too stupid to live.  Seems when there’s a ‘non-lethal’ attack, they find a bunch of rooms ransacked and drawers upturned and, basically, all the classic signs of searching.  But only Maxon thinks they’re searching, everyone else thinks that’s a crazy idea.

Father thinks my idea is rubbish, of course. What could a bunch of illiterate barbarians be looking for?

Hey, guess what!  Illiterate people are smart.  In the overwhelming majority of cases, they’re just people who haven’t been taught to read, not people incapable of learning to read.  Granted, it makes sense for self-centered assholes to dismiss this fact, but that just makes the kind a self-centered asshole.

Finally, America sends him over to talk to Marlee, putting an end to the utter idiocy of all this rebel talk.

Whelp, no, more stupid rebel talk.  Seems the attack was bricks and rotten food being thrown at the palace walls.  Hell, molotov cocktails?  Hello, stolen guns?  Hell, dirty bombs?  IEDs?  Anything actually used by rebels?  Bricks are handy all, but against people, not buildings.  And even if you didn’t know that at the start of an attack, you’d sure as hell figure it out after throwing your stupid bricks for an hour.

On top of that, the guards didn’t try and shoot them until they got near the front doors.  So, yeah, these crazy rebel guys were chucking stuff around for an hour while the guards, apparently, just stood there and watched.  Look, I know brick-chucking isn’t a solid plan of attack, but that doesn’t mean you should just let people do it.  Especially since as soon as one guy was fired at, they all fled.

God damnit, you’re palace guards.  Show some fucking initiative.

America and Marlee chat, and Marlee says the prince asked to call on her later that week.

“If he’s already asked, I’m sure he’ll follow through soon. I mean, after he finishes running the country for the day, that is.”

Yeah, I’m sure he does so much work running the country on his censored information.  Maybe they’re making up a dummy country for him to run?  Since if he were actually running things, he would know some shit by now. 

Heh, Maxon as a table-top gamer. 

America gets back to her room and finds out that Lucy is having an all-out panic attack, complete with full-body shakes.  Anne says this is normal after an attack, and she needs a few hours to calm down.  They don’t want to take her to the hospital wing, because people who are unfit get sent to the kitchen or laundry to work, on account of being prone to dropping shit and hiding under beds and such.

You know what also happens to people who are unfit and go to a hospital?  They get fucking help.  That’s the point of going to a hospital.  I don’t care if Lucy likes her job.  She needs professional help and possibly medication.  Now, if she were going to be shunted to the side without medical help, that would be one thing, but the text never addresses whether or not the hospital at the palace is any good or not.

Because, you know, tremors are just quirky!  No need to wonder whether or not there’s a more serious condition that might be treatable.

With the three of us it should have been easy, but Lucy was writhing so that her arms and legs would slip from our hands.

THAT’S SPAZMS.  YOU FUCKING BOOK, QUIT TRYING TO HIDE THIS WOMAN’S OBVIOUS SERIOUS ILLNESS AND GET HER SOME FUCKING HELP.

Oh, and to make it so much better, turns out Lucy was sold to the palace.  Not really ‘sold’ but sort of.  What it sounds like is indentured servitude, where someone can trade a really long work contract in exchange for a lump sum of money, and that contract can be sold or traded.

And yeah, that sucks.  But do you know what would help me out here?  If we were told about any laws that protect workers, or the absence thereof.  I mean, having a lifetime contract to work for someone isn’t great, but it’s also not the same thing as owning someone unless there’s absence of laws protecting people from bad employers, such as limiting the work-day or putting mandatory break times or enforcing safety conditions.  Plus all those normal laws, like “don’t murder people.”

Anne says she likes being a maid because it’s a great honor.  Palace maids are the best of the best and they are part of the ‘face’ of the palace, part of what people see when they visit the royals of Illea, and therefore part of a representation of their country.  Yes, awesome!

If you screw up, you’re put in the kitchen, where your fingers are working all day, and the clothes are baggy. Or you chop firewood or rake the grounds.

Wait, no, what?  First of all, what is with the undue fixation on clothing?  Second, WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU PISS OFF THE PEOPLE WHO COOK YOUR FOOD?  The kitchen should be a cush job, because no one wants as a disgruntled kitchen staff.  Not if they want their praise-worthy pancakes.

I felt stupid. In my mind, they were all Sixes. But there were rankings even within that, statuses that I didn’t understand.

You are stupid.

OH FUCK NO.

Seems that two years ago, Lucy got captured by the rebels and almost raped.  One of the guards noticed her being dragged off, and he shot the guy through the head.  So Lucy not only had the horror of being threatened with violent rape, but the horror of watching someone die and being stuck pinned under a corpse.

So, now, here’s Lucy.  Clearly suffering from some poorly-portrayed PTSD.  She doesn’t seek mental help because she wants to make her father proud by being a maid.  Yeah, all for the sake of a man and his feelings, she stamps down her needs, and they are some pretty fucking serious needs.

And while I think I’m supposed to dislike this situation, I’m not sure what part I’m supposed to dislike.  The book seems to be presenting it as a series of unfortunate events, all unrelated.  There’s no dismay at a culture and situation that prevents people from seeking help.  (They make it clear that Lucy is avoiding help, not that she’s being denied it, and she’s avoiding it thanks to social stigma.)  There’s no anger at how the ‘back room’ staff is treated.  If anything, the only thing America is angry about is the rebels for upsetting her precious pet.

Yeah, like they’re really the root problem here.  Not, you know, a bullshit country and culture that should, if there’s any sanity left in the world, be spawning rebel groups left and right.