Silver Elite: Chapter 11

[penwalla]

Wren is shocked to discover that Cross is the son of the dictator running the government. Shocked, I tell you. So shocked she finally stops being horny over him. We'll see how long THAT lasts.

Wren internally judges Lyddie for believing the propaganda about Cross being skilled, because Wren assumes that Cross is a nepo baby. And you know what? I agree with her.

Cross gives the Silver Block recruits the following speech:

“I won’t take up much of your time,” Cross says. “I want each of you to look at the person to your left, then the person to your right.”

I dutifully play along, glancing from Lyddie to Kaine.

“These are your fellows. And in here, you’re only as strong as your weakest fellow.”

I expect him to punctuate that with some saccharine horseshit about how this means we should all band together and raise one another up. The strong support the weak until the weak are strong enough to support themselves. Unity prevails!

Instead, he says, “Weakness doesn’t belong here. In Silver Block, we eat the weak. We cut them out like a cancer.”

God, the fucking Fourth Wing vibes. And again, I have to say it: that makes no sense as a guiding principle for an elite military unit. They have to be able to work together! That's how being in the military works! But also, Wren's expectation of what she thinks Cross will say is also ridiculous. Wren lives in this dystopia, so I don't know why she keeps acting like she was isekai'd into the book from somewhere else.

What would make sense is if Cross was talking about each of them cutting the weakness out of themselves.

“For the next eight weeks, you’ll need to demonstrate how strong you are, because that’s the only way to make it to Silver Block.”

Despite his youth, there’s a gravity to his demeanor that belies his age, a sense of experience beyond his years that lends weight to his words. He speaks with authority that commands respect. It’s incredibly sexy.

General’s son, Wren.

FUCK THIS BOOK.

Wren continues to be horny about Cross while he pontificates about how elite Silver Block is, until he is interrupted by what I assume is love interest #2:

“Who is that?” I whisper to Lyddie.

“His brother,” she whispers back.

My brows fly up. “The colonel?”

“No. This is his half brother, Roe. He’s younger.” My new favorite Lyddie makes an appearance, the one whose voice thickens at the merest hint of scandal. “He’s the General’s bastard.”

Remember when Wren hated the enemy? Yeah, me neither.

Next scene. Shooting practice. Naturally, Wren is still horny about Cross, who singles her out immediately as a crack shot. Wren retaliates by deliberately shooting off-center. This pisses her off, but for once she keeps her head and goes through with it. 

Chapter end. No, actually we get a screenshot from what I guess is Wren's military file showing her grade in Weapons Assessment, the class we just saw. Wren scored 10% and her instructor thought she sucked.

I mean...I have two complaints here.

First off, Wren hit the target every time. So she didn't really suck that badly! 

Second off, is it the expectation that every recruit in Silver Block can already shoot? Is the point of training not to...train them? It's not really clear to me how that would work. Or is the point of this class to assess where everyone's skills are so they can be divided up for instruction appropriately? 

The worldbuilding in this book has gotten really lackluster as it's gone on. The first couple chapters weren't bad, but now we're starting to see all the places where the author has not thought things through.