When they get back to the palace, they try and figure out what to do about America’s injured arm, since going to the doctor would mean explanations.  Tho…you’ve got rebels all over the place, are you saying “I was stupid and walked around outside when I shouldn’t” would be unbelievable?  This is the whole reason you’re not allowed to go for a midnight walk in the first place, and you’ve already established a desire to do that anyway, so I think people would accept it.

They send Paige to the kitchen to find work as sort of an afterthought.

We’ve only seen two people in this homeless caste, and both of them have been able to get out of it by just walking up to the right person and saying “hey, the Prince told me to work here.”  Or are they even out of the castes?  Are they still 8s and just happen to have jobs?  WE’LL NEVER KNOW BECAUSE THIS SHITCAKE BOOK DOESN’T GIVE A FUCK.  The only two homeless people we meet don’t stay that way for more than five minutes.  (Marlee didn’t even fully make it into that caste before she gets elevated again.)  I can’t even properly complain about this stupid fucking caste, because this book avoids them so much that we never get a chance to see what’s up.

In fact, the only accurate thing about this mess is on the meta level: they’re so stigmatized that even the author thinks they’re icky and doesn’t want to deal with them.  Which is really shitty, because there’s enough misconceptions about the homeless in our country already!  (The majority of homeless people are not chronically homeless; while the overall percentage remains distressingly steady, people are constantly moving out of that category while other people move into it.) 

But fuck thinking about that, after an off-hand line about Paige, it goes on to talking smoopy talk.  They’re all in Aspen’s room and Maxon discovers a love letter America wrote him, without recognizing that it’s America’s handwriting.  They talk squishy talk until one of the maids comes to stitch up America’s arm.

She hasn’t had so much as a bandage on that thing so far, and since she hasn’t bleed out, I really doubt it’s bad enough to need stitches.  A graze generally wouldn’t, because it takes a divot of skin off you.  There’s really not anything there to stitch together, because the edges of it were never connected to begin with.

Her eyes became sympathetic. “America, you are full of nothing but bad ideas. Great intentions but awful ideas.”

First accurate thing said about her character yet.

They spend the rest of the chapter on stitching up her arm while she has nothing except liquor to dull the pain. 

Fuck, does this world not have painkillers?  This isn’t the Wild West, you guys, even some simple Tylenol would help.  And surely the prince has a stockpile of stronger stuff, what with how often he gets whipped.

The next day she wakes up with a hangover, but tries to go about her normal routine so no one will get suspicious.

I’d always been close to my maids, had always trusted them. But something changed last night. It was the first time those bonds were tested; and in the light of day, they were still there, strong and holding.

Funny how being ‘close to’ her maids is always framed as them willing to do stuff for her, and never the other way around.  Or even really any honest interest or affection on America’s part.  Do any of them even have hobbies?  Psh, as if America cares.

Sylvia comes in to announce that they’re all going to have a tea party and it’s going to be televised, and it’s about fucking time that that aspect of THE BOOK’S BASIC PREMISE made a showing.  They each get to invite two people, but America is worried she doesn’t have any friends impressive enough to invite, so Celeste offers to share her guest list with her. 

I’m sorry, wasn’t the whole point of the “America is better than everyone” subplot the idea that she’s closer to the people?  Wouldn’t intentionally inviting Fives and Sixes be a ‘stick it to the man’ sort of thing that this book loves to do?  (And would, for once, actually be an appropriate move?)

Well, at least Celeste is being friendly instead of vilified.  I’ll take what I can get.

By the afternoon, I had the rough outline of a plan,

…a plan for what?  This line literally came out of the blue.

We abruptly leave off that…whatever that was, to see that AMERICA IS OFFERING TO DO A FAVOR FOR ONE OF HER MAIDS *GASP SHOCK FAINT*.

This book being what it is, of course, that favor is centered around romance.  Anne has a crush on Aspen.  America marvels at the fact that she doesn’t feel jealous about this, confirming that she is 100% over Aspen.  She promises to put in a good word for Anne.

This book is really fucking episodic.  Nothing really seems to carry over.  That whole plot about leaving the palace to talk to rebels?  Apparently once it’s over, we move on to something completely different with no build up or progression at all.  What was even the point of that whole trip?  They didn’t learn anything, nothing has changed…it was just a waste of space.