Silver Elite: Chapter 19
Sep. 20th, 2025 03:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penwallaWren is having trouble during her shielding classes, because the constant discussion of the Aberrant feels like it's aimed at her.
There's some misinformation among the other recruits. We get this gem from Wren:
Anyways, Wren tells us that though she is a very smart person, she's bad at memorizing codes and jargon and so is struggling on the written tests. Even though she has, and I quote, "an excellent memory". It's not even that I object to the idea that for different people some kinds of information is easier to remember than others. It's just so frustrating have our protagonist directly tell us her flaws and strengths in a way that tells us she and the author have no insight whatsoever.
This book repeats itself often.
It's not just that the last few chapters have just been the same thing again and again: Wren does something stupid, runs into Cross, decides she has to escape, repeat ad nauseam. It's that the book keeps giving us the same information over and over again as if it's new. Wren tells us once again that Lyddie is growing on her, but this is like the third time she's had the exact same realization about her. We get it! You feel camaraderie with the other recruits, but also hate them because you're secretly the member of a marginalized group!
That's fine in a vacuum, but we're not doing anything with it. We're not watching Wren get close to Lyddie without realizing and then backing off when she abruptly remembers she's supposed to hate her. We're not watching Wren pretend to be friendly while hating herself for it. We're not watching Wren actively be hostile to everyone until one of them breaks through her walls and she has to see them in a different light.
Just the same scene over and over again while Wren periodically reminds us what the conflict is supposed to be.
This is the FIRST TIME in this book Wren has realized her position in Silver Block could make her a valuable spy. We have never seen her reach out to the Uprising with that information. But she's very intelligent, observant, and strategic--her words, not mine.
Wren and her cohort are studying, and we get some more worldbuilding through their conversation. One of them has a father who is a fisherman, an undesirable job because there's no shoreline to dock ships on on the Empire's coast and their closest neighbor, Tierra Fe, is on bad terms with them. Tierra Fe is where Wren's mom is from, and is also apparently tropical and very religious. Is this dystopian South America? Perhaps.
Apparently all the toxin that created the Aberrant was destroyed, though the fact that we're getting a whole scene to reinforce that tells me it definitely wasn't.
Next scene.
Wren is haunted by the fact all the other recruits hate the Aberrant and are okay with them being killed. So haunted that she decides to skip a social event and mope in the barracks, talking to Tana.
Tana's Uprising contacts are ignoring her, and she's convinced she and her father are being watched. Wren worries about her, but then as their conversation ends, Anson, aka the guy whose only personality trait is "rapist" shows up.
Wren puts her knife to Anson's throat, keeping him from attacking her. And then Cross shows up.
I am glad that we got to see Wren fight before Cross showed up, so we could see her be a badass and not just have her tell us how great she is. But also, Cross rolls in literally the sentence after Wren gets the knife to Anson's throat. We couldn't have gotten a whole fight scene?
Cross dismisses Anson, then tells Wren that there's a "pit night" tomorrow and she's allowed to go. And he lets her keep her stolen knife, so she can defend herself if Anson comes back.
And Wren gets through this entire interaction without being horny over Cross, making it the first scene in the entire book where the tension between them has felt like actual romantic tension.
Chapter end.
God, please, let something happen in this book. Anything. We are 42% through the book and it's been at a standstill since Jim died. I'm so bored.
There's some misinformation among the other recruits. We get this gem from Wren:
“Telepathy is different than mind reading. Once a telepathic link is formed, they can access it from anywhere. But the initial link must be established in person.”Not stupid, Wren? Are you sure?
Not always. Wolf and I linked spontaneously when we were kids in two different wards. Total strangers.
I’m not sharing with the class, though. I might be reckless, but I’m not stupid. I’m not giving these people ammunition they can use against me.
Anyways, Wren tells us that though she is a very smart person, she's bad at memorizing codes and jargon and so is struggling on the written tests. Even though she has, and I quote, "an excellent memory". It's not even that I object to the idea that for different people some kinds of information is easier to remember than others. It's just so frustrating have our protagonist directly tell us her flaws and strengths in a way that tells us she and the author have no insight whatsoever.
This book repeats itself often.
It's not just that the last few chapters have just been the same thing again and again: Wren does something stupid, runs into Cross, decides she has to escape, repeat ad nauseam. It's that the book keeps giving us the same information over and over again as if it's new. Wren tells us once again that Lyddie is growing on her, but this is like the third time she's had the exact same realization about her. We get it! You feel camaraderie with the other recruits, but also hate them because you're secretly the member of a marginalized group!
That's fine in a vacuum, but we're not doing anything with it. We're not watching Wren get close to Lyddie without realizing and then backing off when she abruptly remembers she's supposed to hate her. We're not watching Wren pretend to be friendly while hating herself for it. We're not watching Wren actively be hostile to everyone until one of them breaks through her walls and she has to see them in a different light.
Just the same scene over and over again while Wren periodically reminds us what the conflict is supposed to be.
We have another codes test tomorrow morning. Every Command installation is tagged with its own code. Red Post is P12. The weapons depot in Ward F is AF6. The airfield near the Blacklands is T299. I didn’t realize how many outposts, depots, and airfields there actually are on the Continent, and I resent the fact that the Uprising continues to shut me out when I could be helping them, damn it.
This is the FIRST TIME in this book Wren has realized her position in Silver Block could make her a valuable spy. We have never seen her reach out to the Uprising with that information. But she's very intelligent, observant, and strategic--her words, not mine.
Wren and her cohort are studying, and we get some more worldbuilding through their conversation. One of them has a father who is a fisherman, an undesirable job because there's no shoreline to dock ships on on the Empire's coast and their closest neighbor, Tierra Fe, is on bad terms with them. Tierra Fe is where Wren's mom is from, and is also apparently tropical and very religious. Is this dystopian South America? Perhaps.
Apparently all the toxin that created the Aberrant was destroyed, though the fact that we're getting a whole scene to reinforce that tells me it definitely wasn't.
Next scene.
Wren is haunted by the fact all the other recruits hate the Aberrant and are okay with them being killed. So haunted that she decides to skip a social event and mope in the barracks, talking to Tana.
Tana's Uprising contacts are ignoring her, and she's convinced she and her father are being watched. Wren worries about her, but then as their conversation ends, Anson, aka the guy whose only personality trait is "rapist" shows up.
This is a truly hackneyed metaphor. What the fuck are you trying to say, dude.“I like how fiery you are.” He licks his lower lip. “Roe sees someone like you and wants to put the fire out. He doesn’t like the flames—he wants the ashes. He’s a sick boy, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“And you’re not?”
My instincts are screaming at me to get away, but I refuse to let him intimidate me. I do creep back another inch, though, until I feel the whisper of metal on my bare arm. My open locker door.
“No, I don’t want to put your fire out.”
I reach into my locker, my fingers wrapping around the cold steel of my stolen dagger.
“I want to watch you burn—”
Wren puts her knife to Anson's throat, keeping him from attacking her. And then Cross shows up.
I am glad that we got to see Wren fight before Cross showed up, so we could see her be a badass and not just have her tell us how great she is. But also, Cross rolls in literally the sentence after Wren gets the knife to Anson's throat. We couldn't have gotten a whole fight scene?
Cross dismisses Anson, then tells Wren that there's a "pit night" tomorrow and she's allowed to go. And he lets her keep her stolen knife, so she can defend herself if Anson comes back.
And Wren gets through this entire interaction without being horny over Cross, making it the first scene in the entire book where the tension between them has felt like actual romantic tension.
Chapter end.
God, please, let something happen in this book. Anything. We are 42% through the book and it's been at a standstill since Jim died. I'm so bored.
