Last chapter rebels attacked, America impressed me with her ability to run in slippers and after making eye contact with a rebel girl our intrepid heroine realised she’s lost in the forest.

I sat at the base of the tree, legs folded up to my chest, waiting. Mom always said that was what we were supposed to do when we were lost.

I am glad to see that she’s listening to her mother for once since it’s sensible advice.

It gave me time to think about what had happened. How was it possible that rebels had gotten into the palace two days in a row?

Because your security is pretty crappy, dear, that’s how it was possible. I know Vengeance has already talked about it a bit so I won’t go into it in detail but to begin with there’s that forest you’re sitting in that provides nice cover for the rebels to come and go through as they like, apparently.

Two days in a row! Had things gotten so much worse on the outside since the Selection had begun? Based on what I’d seen back in Carolina and had experienced at the palace, this was unprecedented.

So… rebel attacks on the palace as a whole you’re okay with, you just want them to give you some breathing space inbetween? In this world the king has actual power and an attack on the crown is that much more dire because it’s an attack aimed at the ruling power. Attacking the palace where he lives is like bombing a parliament building. Okay? So the problem here isn’t the frequency of the attacks, it’s that there are attacks at all. And also that their security is so shitty.

Anyway, that’s the end of America thinking for now. Instead she talks about how wrung out she is and fair enough, I agree she’s had a really trying day. First she had to run for her life and then she realised she’s lost. So what does our heroine do? She falls asleep.

Look, so far her actions this chapter have been… few but sensible. But this? No. The rebels left but they could decide to come back if that girl she met decides to tell them about her after all. There could be wild animals around. Sitting around waiting to be found could be boring, I suppose, but given the unsafe situation she’s still in I can’t help but think that this isn’t the time for a nap. I am going to blame the adrenaline leaving her body to rationalise this to myself.

Luckily she wakes up and hears the sound of footsteps and then proceeds to show that she’s either an idiot or an asshole. Her first instinct is to climb back up the tree (so I guess she’s not perfectly at ease after all) but then she hears people calling her name and this:

”Be sure to look everywhere. If they’ve killed her, they might have hung her or tried to bury her. Pay attention.”

This leaves two options – the people looking for her are either palace guards or the other rebel faction. America totally hangs back, hiding behind her tree, because she’s not sure they’re there to save her despite not telling me why she’s not sure about this. Is it because she thinks it might be the other rebels? Is it because she thinks it’s the palace guards but she’s beginning to suspect some of them of collaborating with the rebels? (I know I would think that after such frequent attacks). Is it… no point in speculating because we’ll never know anyway.

Ugh. Moving on – she sees Aspen and that convinces her that she’s now safe.

I ran straight into Aspen’s arms, for once not caring about who saw.

Dear, you never seem to care who sees. For someone who knows that flirting/forming an attachment with anyone but the prince means severe punishment you sure are carefree. Then the guards question her about what happened and she tells them how she ran.

He looked a bit shocked. ”None of the other girls could have outrun them, I don’t think.”

I smiled, finally at ease. ”None of the other girls is a Five.”

First of all – bullshit. You’ve been at ease the whole time. You took a freaking nap. Second – I see the book has decided to stick to that bit about America being more athletic than the other girls. Based on what she says here I presume the book wants me to think the upper castes never exercise. Well, neither does America from what I’ve seen. She ’sometimes’ runs to feel the exertion but that’s about it.

Oh, hey, remember upper class sports like polo, tennis, fencing and horse racing? Sports that require a person being somewhat fit/having stamina even if it doesn’t mean they’d necessarily be good at running. But whatever, the guards and America still have a good chuckle about this so I guess girls from upper castes are only good at things like looking nice in a dress and arranging flowers or something. Sigh.

Blah blah, America lies to the guards about meeting the rebel girl. Why? It could be because she is suspicious of them and suspects a conspiracy so she wants to save the information until she meets someone she trusts. Or maybe she wants to tell Maxon because it could help him prove to his father that he is a reliable ally. Maybe she’s a pathological liar who lies for the sake of it because even assuming that she’s decided these were the good rebels there seems to be no point to the lie – they’ve left the area several hours ago, and this is just a handful of guards. They’re not going to go after the rebels anyway so she doesn’t need to lie to protect them. Well, we’re not going to find out because American doesn’t tell us why or even reflect on the fact that she lied. She then tells Aspen about it and the oh-so-confusing curtsy. Finally she gets to where the reader is:

I thought over Maxon’s comparison of the two rebel groups and knew this girl must be a Northerner.

Yeah. The books and the curtsy were both dead give-aways. And maybe if you spent more time thinking about it it wouldn’t be so confusing – obviously the northern rebels think you’re awesomesauce for some reason because you’re a Five and one of them which just goes to show what they know.

It took nearly an hour of slow, steady trekking to get back to the palace. Even though he was injured, Aspen never let his hold on me slip.

Nearly an hour? Seriously? How far did she run in those slippers? Fair enough that she doesn’t walk since she’s barefoot but if they have one injured guy in the troop why is he the one carrying her? No wonder the going was slow. Sigh.

”The next few days might be busy for me, but I’ll try to come see you soon,” Aspen whispered

No. Stay away, idiot, unless you want something terrible to happen to her. Obviously America herself wants something terrible to happen to her because she agrees. Then she has feelings about Maxon not being there to receive her. And what’s worse, no one is waiting for her! Instead the injured Aspen is instructed to take her to the hospital wing while someone else tells the royal family she’s been found.

On the one hand I do think that there should have been someone there waiting for her. After all, she could be the future queen and all that, leaving some servant to receive her seems only proper. On the other hand… get over it, what with two rebel attacks in a row they’ve probably got a lot to deal with.

She falls asleep in the hospital and the sound of a sneeze wakes her. This is riveting stuff. Of course it’s Maxon sitting next to her bed in the middle of the night.

He watched me carefully, and I was suddenly very worried about how I looked.

Just… ugh. No. Worry about things like new rebel attacks, or maybe ask if the rest of them are okay, but this? He’s not going to care about a pillow imprint on your cheek and neither do I.

Anyway, instead if talking about important stuff like how she met a rebel running off with a lot of books that probably came from Maxon’s secret room American wants to talk about an epiphany she had in the woods. (Funny, I was not privy to that – I guess she keeps her thoughts hidden from the reader until they’re needed. That would really explain a lot.) She now understands that Maxon didn’t want to do that to Marlee because he’s trying so hard to keep them all safe.

Well, it seems to me that it’s a farfetched conclusion to jump to. If he’s trying to keep the remaining girls safe it simply means that he cares about those who are left and since he chose them that’s not very surprising, is it? Maybe he had no problem whatsoever doing that to Marlee because he didn’t give a fig about her one way or another. It’d be much better if America realised that he’s a decent human being and that decent people don’t enjoy having others be whipped.

Maxon reminds us that he’s still got something to show her and that it’s going to be great. Of course it’s going to have to wait until after the reception and America whines a bit about that. I don’t even want to talk about the stupidity that is the reception, it’s just… ugh. What does this author think is in the queen’s job description? Honestly?

Anyway, it’s okay if America and Kriss fail at their reception because Maxon straight up admits he’s not going to kick them out.

He sighed. ”I have about two weeks before they expect another cut. […] while the culture is very celebratory, the Italians are easy to offend.”

So Maxon is on some sort of time-line after all? And also – hello stereotype! I’m glad you could join us. And I’m sure happy that the Italian nation sent ambassadors who are easy to offend, that sounds like good diplomacy in the making.

”I’m not supposed to help, but if you need something, please say so. I can’t send either of you home.”

But… didn’t you just assure her that you wouldn’t send her home regardless? I’m confused now.

Then America thinks back on the times when she felt heartbroken over Maxon and she realises that ’oh my god this time it’s so much worse and those other times don’t count’. In a nutshell, every time this girl remembers that she’s in love with him it’s always earth-shattering and more painful and real than the last time.

Maxon and I started all this as friends, and maybe that’s all we were meant to be: close friends.

… except that you know he’s really, really into you and wants to marry you. Then they both have feelings that basically boil down to America being dramatic and heart-broken because she’s sure he likes Kriss as much as her and Maxon pouring his heart out:

”I’m not able to find words big enough to express how relieved I am that you’re here, in one piece. I’ve never been so grateful for anything.”

See? He’s more grateful that you’re safe than that the palace is still standing or that the rebels didn’t kill anyone close to him or… well, you heard him. Thankfully the chapter ends because I’ve already worked up a sizeable word count and I can’t take any more stupid in one sitting.

---

Guest Post by:

So, I’d like to finish up by giving a huge thank you to Whitley for letting me have a go at a guest post on the blog! I know I enjoyed letting off some steam about the things in this book that really bother me. This is one of my favourite blogs and I hope I didn’t bore any of you!

Now who am I? I’m a swede who loves to read pretty much anything not sci-fi and non-fiction (sorry, but it’s just not my cup of tea). I’m also a rather picky but dogged reader – if I begin reading something it will have to be on the level of 50 Shades of Grey crappy in order for me to not finish it. Speaking of tea, I drink copious amounts of it and I think the Earl Grey blend is one of the best there is. I’m passionate about history, books and languages – there’s nothing like faulty grammar or spelling mistakes to ruin a good story!

Cheers,

-Izzy