- On America's first night at the palace, why don't the guards recognize the symptoms of a panic attack, and try to treat it instead of just shooing her back to her room? The palace gets attacked so regularly, they can't be unfamiliar with major stress reactions, in the residents or their fellow guards or both.
- When you sit down and think about it, the palace guards are pretty shitty at their job. More than you would think for palace guards. The Queen does not paint a picture that security has changed at all since Clarkson's Selection outside of metal shutters for the windows. The Guard gives the impression that they have their daily work, then can muck around however they want, and there's a emphasis on an individuals physical strength rather than any strategy during an attack. Because a six-pack can save you from a head wound, I guess. They're really not taking the steps needed to keep the royal family safe. I don't even think they have security cameras with what America and Aspen get away with, Aspen's more concerned about a person catching them than a camera. It's not even a security camera that caught Marlee and Carter, it was a TV camera. Count how many times rebels from either side infiltrates the palace during Maxon's Selections, and these idiots haven't done anything to make security tighter. Even when the Southerners infiltrated in The One things only turned around because Maxon and America had been negotiating with the Northern Rebels and the Italian royals, getting them to work together and getting the Northerners the weapons they needed. Yes, the rebels get the weapons not the guards. The guards are an utter joke, so it's not surprising they don't recognize a panic attack, they don't seem to be taught anything outside of get muscle and shoot rebel.
- In the Elite America learns that their country's founder forced his daughter into marriage in order to make him a prince, therefore king of the newly formed country. America is outraged and acts like this is a huge shocker. But why is it so surprising? She outright said in the first book that princesses are 'sold' off to other princes to solidify alliances. She even says it as such. Why is this such a huge shocker?
- There's a difference between an ARRANGED marriage and a FORCED one. In an ARRANGED one the bride has a say in it. Well a forced marriage is either a)without a person's consent OR against their will. And since Illea's daughter hated her bridegroom-it's a forced marriage.
- Not really, arranged marriages are usually set up by the parents, and rarely does the child have a say. This is alluded to with Daphne, while she had the ultimate say, ALL her suitors were picked by her father. Eadlyn even mentioned that Maxon and America swore they wouldn’t pick her spouse for her so she would have the freedom to choose. Heck, Maxon’s own Selection was essentially a series of options for an Arranged Marriage. There’s a reason why Arranged Marriage and Perfectly Arranged Marriage are two separate tropes.
- The Singers are best described as 'starving artist' but they can afford to give America her own paycheck, even if it's half of what she would get per job? And she can use that money to binge on sweets and make food for Aspen? I thought the Singers were SOOOOO HUUUUUNGRY that they were tight for money. Yes, the days leading up to the Selection gave them some extra jobs, but what the heck would have happened if America wasn't chosen? Wouldn't they be worse off than they were before the deal?
- America was only getting extra jobs because everyone was getting excited about the Selection. That was not going to last forever, and the deal was that America could take her own jobs, but got half the pay. That still leaves the family getting less what they were originally getting, and they were struggling as it was without America getting pay.
- Was the ending of the Heir REALLY necessary with the news of Ahren eloping causing America to a heart attack? Surely America and Maxon HAD to have known Ahren wanted to marry Camille. He didn't elope with a secret lover, they were pretty open about their romance. Ending the book with America's heart attack just felt like a manipulative move to end the book on something since the whole thing was a cycle of rinse and repeat.
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