It occurs to me that in the chapter when Kota first arrived, I made some suggestions that turned out to be true.

This might work if he was shown to be shallow, or greedy.  If, say, he had plenty of money that he didn’t share with his extended family, but still wanted more, which he planned to still keep to himself. 

As we learned in the last chapter, this is exactly what’s going on.  Kota, it turns out, is an ass who’s willing to let his family go hungry so he can buy his way into a better life.  And not just ‘better,’ but ‘all the way at the top,’ since it’s stated he could buy into Four or Three with what he has already but he’s aiming for Two.  In light of this, yes, it does make sense that America would be tense and judgmental when he showed up.

However, this is exactly why tone is so important in a novel.  If America had been any less of a middle-class brat, if her situation had been realistically displayed, and if she’d been less judgmental of the people around her, then her judging of Kota would stand out.  It would make us pause and say “hold up a minute.  She’s usually not hateful to family members for no good reason, so what’s up with Kota?”  But because the tone of this novel is so all over the place, the scene with Kota was just one more random shift in a narrative that’s all over the damn map.

The next day, America muses about how the palace is a ‘cage’ and yet the one place she can be honest, since she got to tell the prince about Aspen.  Of course, we have no idea why she couldn’t tell her sister or her dad (or her MOTHER) about Aspen, so I’m not really that impressed.  By all appearances, she could have ‘let [her]self be open about everything’, she just didn’t.  Because…reasons?

Ah, seems that ‘staying at the palace’ and ‘broke up with Aspen’ are connected because she needs time and space to get over him.  And she couldn’t have any less than a whole country between them, because lord knows there’s not enough space back in her home town.  Nope, anywhere within a thousand miles of Aspen is just too close to get over him. 

Now, I can imagine a 16 year-old girl being this melodramatic.  But just because she feels that way doesn’t make it true, and this book shouldn’t be treating the matter like it’s every bit as weighty as she thinks it is.

My maids didn’t ask about my puffy eyes, they just made them less swollen. They didn’t question my mess of hair, they just smoothed it. And I appreciated that. It wasn’t like home, where everyone saw that I was sad and didn’t do anything about it.

Or maybe they’re being instructed to hide any sign of displeasure so that when you’re on TV everyone will just see happy, smiling faces and not be faced with the reality that the Selection is fucked up, a thought which you yourself agree with.  But, yeah, whatever.  Go ahead and play along with the game.  It’s not like that’s messed up or anything.

Also, when were you sad at home and no one noticed?  After Aspen dumped you and you intentionally hid all signs of distress?  (And, you know, then got picked right after.)  She goes to great lengths to tell us that her family is awesome and loves her (except for Magda) but then throws this line out here because…because we’re supposed to be happy she’s at the palace?

Damnit, book, pick a tone and stick with it.

So, it’s Saturday in the book.  There’s no schedule, but they’re required to stay in the Woman’s Room.  Uh, that sounds like a schedule to me, just a really dull one.  Seems that visitors come to the palace on Saturdays and might want to meet them.  And I guess if they don’t want to meet guests in turn, too bad so sad?

Also, fuck, it looks like the Women’s Room really is ‘the room where all woman-stuff is done, regardless of what that stuff is, because you’re just silly ol’ womens and don’t need more than one room to do your business in and also we hate you.’

Because fuck feminism, that’s why.

Really, there’s just no reason for this ‘Women’s Room’ to exist.  Was the author just exceptionally unimaginative and couldn’t fathom the idea of there being a spa and a parlor all in the same palace?  Or does she think it’s just natural that women be shunted off to the side and hidden?  It’s downright bizarre, because there’s not really any source for this insanity that I can think of.  Maybe, like, a harem?  But harems had multiple rooms for the women to use, and in large enough palaces, they’d have an entire complex of buildings dedicated to the women’s use. 

I mean, it’s a palace, for fuck’s sake.  Even if you don’t like your women, show off a little.

America puts on her jeans (why did Maxon pick the one day she’d be seen by the public as the one day she could wear pants?) and goes down to meet Marlee.  Marlee has a secret, but she’s not sure if she should tell America.  And then the two girls go off on a “You’re a better person” “No, you’re a better person” spree.  Because we just haven’t had enough of our two Mary Sues getting built up yet.

“Yeah. I think you’re so sweet. And the people love you.

Why do the people love America?  What has she done that makes them love her?  And how would Marlee know this?  And who the fuck cares, since the people aren’t picking?

And why aren’t the people picking? I mean, the whole point of the prince marrying one of them is that she’s supposed to symbolically represent the common citizenship.  Wouldn’t it better to have them pick?  Oh, right, the book continually forgets that it set things up that way and reverts back to this being about Maxon falling in love, because fuck all logic, that’s why.

it was hard to believe how many people thought I’d be a good princess. Was I the only one who saw how flawed I was?

Nope.  We all see it.  In fact, that’s part of what makes you a Mary Sue.  We see your flaws quite clearly, but your Powers have blinded everyone within the story so that they think you’re fucking perfect.

I was unrefined. I didn’t have it in me to be bossy or overly organized.

Those aren’t flaws, you fucking Mary Sue.

I was selfish and had a horrible temper, and I didn’t like being in front of people.

Ahahaha, no.  I’ll give you selfish, and you’re really selfish at that, but I’ve not seen any hint of a temper yet and she played to the crowd just fine at the airport.

Wait, yelling at Maxon that first night?  Is that supposed to be her temper?  Look, having ‘horrible temper’ as a flaw means that her temper needs to be endemic.  If she’s only angry at times when she’s overwhelmed and crazy with stress, that’s not a horrible temper.  That’s ‘situational’ and also fucking normal.

And I wasn’t brave.

Ya did fine during the attack.  Even coached someone else on how to be brave at the same time.

You had to be brave to take this job. And that’s what this was. Not just a marriage, but a position.

Oh, so you do realize this fact, book?  How marvelous.  What, do you just assume that Maxon can only fall in love with someone who fits the position?  The concepts of ‘good queen’ and ‘girl Maxon has the hots for’ are not the same thing.

So, let’s take stock.  America thinks she has six flaws, and I’m only willing to count one of them as being actually true.  The rest are fake flaws, either because they don’t exist or they don’t count as being flaws.  That’s a pretty classic Mary Sue sign.

Also, she left out “too stupid to live, lazy, melodramatic, codependent, hypocritical, and not giving a fuck about people who aren’t male and pretty.”  No, playing cards with her maids doesn’t count, since that was self-serving and she hasn’t shown any real interest in their well-being. 

Turns out Marlee’s secret is that she and Maxon went on a date.  I have no idea why that’s a secret.  Isn’t the whole point of this set-up that the girls are going to go on dates?  Well, whatever, fine, it’s a secret.  Maxon and Marlee went to a movie theater in the basement and watched movies.  Marlee gushes about how the date was so awesome and Maxon is so awesome and everything’s just so awesome and oh, hey, what’s that?  A war going on?  Thousands of men dying?  Rebel attacks on the palace?  Fuck off, plot, IT’S TIME TO TALK ABOUT BOYS AND HOW AWESOME THEY ARE.

Maxon even gets his own couple of pages of “let’s talk about the specific things about Maxon that are awesome.”  I’m getting the feeling this author is just in love with her own characters and wants to dote on them via word-vomit.

Apparently all the girls in the room can be clearly divided into “had a date with Maxon” and “haven’t had a date with Maxon,” because the had-dates are all smiling and the haven’t-had-dates are all grumpy.  Yup, every woman reacts exactly the same way, with no variation or personality, because we’re not really people we’re just women.  Because fuck feminism, that’s why.

Then another girls comes over and demands to know what America and Maxon did on their date, because she’s the only person he’s seen twice.  America says they just talked.

Anna Farmer—a Four who worked land for a living

Really straining yourself with those names, aren’t you?

Anyway, Anna slaps Celeste.  The two had been talking, with Celeste clearly goading Anna and looking smug.  So now Anna is going to be sent home, because there’s that “no harming other girls” rule.  I guess ‘harm’ only counts when it’s physical, because it’s not like verbal bullies have ever fucked someone up before.  Nope, no siree.  See, fightin’ with words be a woman thing, and everyone knows woman things is just weak and shit.

America thinks it’s too bad, because Celeste had obviously provoked her but there’s no way to prove that.  Well, idiot, if it’s that obvious that she was provoked, then just fucking tell the prince.  He’s you’re new bestest buddy.  He’ll listen.  Also, there may have been a whole room of people who saw Celeste get slapped, but by that same virtue, there’s also a room of people who saw Celeste teasing her.

But, no, fuck standing up for people.  America can’t put her pretty little neck out for anyone that isn’t her own personal yes-girl, so Anna gets sent home before dinner.