We breeze through the funeral in summary and skip to the family coping at home afterwards.  America tries to distract her sister by playing dress-up with Lucy, which works well.  Aspen comes by and chitchats with America, at which point America finally fulfils her promise to mention Anne to him.  Aspen instead wants to talk about how much the castes suck, because…we might have forgotten?  Also, he seems to like Lucy more than Anne.

And that, my dears, was literally an entire chapter.  Not only was it short, it was also so tepid that there wasn’t anything to talk about.  It mostly just a lot of description with a few off-hand lines about being sad her dad is gone.  Not really objectionable, but not really good, either.

The next day, America comes across her mother crying.

It was strange. There had been so many times when I had doubted Mom’s devotion to Dad. I’d never caught the glimpses of affection between them that I’d seen in other couples.

Gee, wouldn’t that have been nice to see at some point other than right now?

This is why you’ve got to plan out your books, people.  Not just the first one, all of them.  So that you don’t suddenly get an idea in the final installation and then have to shove in something that should be huge into a single line.

“You know your father’s condition was something that ran in the family.

Speaking of, why didn’t THIS get more of a mention before now?  In fact, since this drama started, the most word we’ve had on what killed him was that it wasn’t rebels.  I don’t recall any mention in previous books of him being unhealthy, and if it’s something that runs in the family, shouldn’t that have disqualified America from the Selection?  You don’t want any potential future heirs to have genetic time bombs.

Anyway, her dad knew his time was coming, so he wrote letters to all his kids.  Magda passes them out, and America reads hers.  She notices that the envelope has been opened and resealed, but no one in the room gives any obvious hint of being the culprit. 

She figures her dad did it, because there’s two letters in the envelope and one is obviously newer (and shorter).  The longer letter just basically says that he likes her the best out of all his kids.

You deserve so much more than standing in the shadows at stuffy parties. I keep hoping you’ll be one of the lucky ones, the breakouts.

But…I thought only Twos could be celebrities…

But I feel like Kota would fight for [status], and I’m not sure you have that instinct in you. You were never a cutthroat kind of girl, the way some of the other lowers can be. And that’s part of why I love you, too.

Yes, you’re awesome because you know your place and never try for anything better.  Great message, there, book.

You might not want to fight for the things that most others would fight for, like money or notoriety, but fight all the same. Whatever it is that you want, America, go after it with all that you have in you.

…Daddy, you’re being very confusing.  First she’s good and lovable because she doesn’t fight, but then you encourage her to fight?

You know, I really think this is born out of the conflicting expectations we place on girls.  We know that injustice is in the world and it’s unfair and you should work to change it, but at the same time so many people hang onto the image of a ‘good’ woman as being sweet and calm and deferential.  So people try to marry the two and say you should fight for what’s right, but also, you know, nicely. 

Fuck that.  If there’s injustice in the world, you go and burn that fucker down.  Being forced into smiling passivity is what got us into this mess in the first place.  We’ve tried being nice, and it just got us ignored, so you go be cutthroat, ladies.

His shorter letter is just saying that he found the diary in her room and told the rebels about it (well, he implies he told the rebels), which if you’ve been paying attention isn’t exactly new news.  She finally figures it out when he signs the letter by saying “look to the North Star” and realizes that stars and compasses have been used as accessories by all the rebels so far, and that’s how they identify each other, and also her dad was one.  Well, at least they didn’t drag it out over chapters and chapters.

And the rebels finally get a name we can call them.  It’s not official, but I like North Star better than Northern rebels.

Kota brings her out of her thoughts by being a whiny dick, then tells Aspen to go get him a drink.

“You might have forgotten, but Aspen’s a Two now. It would do you better to get him something to drink. Not just for his status, but for everything he’s been doing for all of us.”

So, equality among the peoples, except for when it’s someone you don’t like?

Kota tries to get back at her by asking if Maxon knows about her and Aspen.  America shows off what a darling she is by threatening to have him caned out of pure spite.  No, really.

“If you think he’d take your word over mine, you might be surprised by how quickly my suggestion of putting a cane to your hands would happen if I chose to make it so. You want to test me?”

He clenched his fists, clearly debating. If I was right and his hands got injured, that would be the end of his career.

 “Good,” I said. “And if I hear you say another unkind word about Dad, I might do it anyway.

I appreciate that she’s being more assertive in this scene, really I do, it’s about time, but Jesus.

Apparently the revelation that she used to date Aspen is causing tension in the household, though I’m not really sure why.  America ignores it and wonders what she’ll tell Maxon when she gets back to the palace, since she promised to her family that she’d come clean.

Kenna comes in to have a sisterly chat with America about love and such, and they do have a rather sweet discussion about how past loves seem different when you’re on the outside of them, and also that America is using Aspen as a ‘safety net’ in case Maxon dumps her.  Although…is she really?  Haven’t they both said before now that it’s over, regardless of other relationships?  Is this a leftover conversation from a different version of the book where the triangle carried on to the end?

They pack up and head home with America still wondering what she’ll say to Maxon, which is weird because she’s literally just considering confessing that they used to date, which he already knew.  He knew she had an ex before going to the palace, so all she’s going to be doing is giving a name to the ex, and she’s also decided to say ‘I love you,’ which at this point doesn’t really have a lot of dramatic payoff since it’s been obvious for the entire book.  God, this whole thing is such a hot mess.