I’m going to level with you guys, I am seriously struggling week on week to remember anything that is going on in this story. The thing is, I know if I look back there is a 95% chance that the answer will be that absolutely nothing happened.

Allegiant Chapter 29: Tobias

Oh yeah, so Tobias was arrested for being involved with Nita and co (whoever co may be). [Matthew says: Given how many minor characters have flitted in and out of these books with the speed and significance of the blink of an eye, just make some names up! Curses, Jean Claude!] I don’t recall Tobias ever actually doing very much with them asides from his little out of town trip with Nita that wasted a chapter. I guess someone must have caught him having a tuna sandwich with Nita or something and made the connection. [Matthew says: DAMMIT, JEAN CLAUDE.]

Mary and Rafi sit a few feet away, Rafi clutching a handful of gauze to his bleeding arm. A guard stands between us and them, keeping us separate. As I look at them, Rafi meets my eyes and nods. As if to say, Well done.

If I did well, why do I feel sick to my stomach?

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? WHAT DID TOBIAS DO? Every post I write for this book makes me wonder if this is what life is like with dementia.

And now it’s time for the inevitable scene where Tobias, again, realizes that Tris was right.

“Nita told me they were going to steal memory serum,” I say to Reggie, and I’m afraid to look at him. “Was that true?”

Reggie eyes the guard who stands a few feet away. We have already been yelled at once for talking.

But I know the answer.

“It wasn’t, was it,” I say. Tris was right. Nita was lying.

Now that the completely unshocking twist has been revealed for the second time, a guard comes by and tells Tobias to shut up, which is the best thing to ever happen in this book.

[Matthew says: A quick side note, though – it is kind of fascinating how the first Divergent started out as your stereotypical “the male love interest is ALWAYS RIGHT hahaha he just is!” story, and it’s totally flipped around now. I don’t know what that could count for, though. Maybe it just shows how annoying it is when a character – whether through privilege or main-character-specialness – is when they are always right without the story worrying about developing why they’re right.]

Tris shows up to give the guards an update – David might never walk again and they’re working on treating other injured people. She asks to speak to Tobias. Damn it, Tris, we just got him to shut up!

Luckily, it’s mostly just a much-deserved smack-down from Tris:

“I was right. I was right, and you didn’t listen. Again,” she says, quiet. Her eyes lock on mine, and I find that I do not want the eye contact I craved, because it takes me apart, piece by piece. “Uriah was standing right in front of one of the explosives they set off as diversions. He’s unconscious and they’re not sure he’ll wake up.”

Later, Tobias is interrogated and he says that he disabled the security system for them (cannot fucking remember if we already knew this, and I have no interest in re-reading any previous chapters to double check. Berate me in the comments if you must) because he wasn’t aware of their real plans. The joy of continuously reading characters reiterate things to other characters is truly special.

“We’re friends,” I say. “She is—was—one of the only friends I had here. She asked me to trust her, told me it was for a good reason, so I did it.”

“And what do you think about the situation now?”

I finally look at her. “I’ve never regretted something so much in my life.”

Angela’s hard, bright eyes soften a little. She nods. “Well, your story fits with what the others told us. Given your newness to this community, your ignorance of the master plan, and your genetic deficiency, we are inclined to be lenient. Your sentence is parole—you must work for the good of this community, and stay on your best behavior, for one year. You will not be allowed to enter any private laboratories or rooms. You will not leave the confines of this compound without permission. You will check in every month with a parole officer who will be assigned to you at the conclusion of our proceedings. Do you understand these terms?”

Cool, seems fair. As usual, things have been quickly resolved and continue to advance nothing. Nita gets life in prison, so I guess that’s something. At least we hopefully won’t be seeing her again.

“She won’t be executed?”

“No, we don’t believe in capital punishment for the genetically damaged.” Angela moves toward the door. “We can’t have the same behavioral expectations for those with damaged genes as we do for those with pure genes, after all.”

I wonder if Angela really believes this or if it’s just what she has to say to keep this elaborate rouse about genetic purity going.

Tobias is so sad and wonders if his genes really are to blame. Tears of genetic impurity flow down his genetically impure cheeks.

Allegiant Chapter 30: Tris

This chapter is mostly Tris wondering if Uriah will wake up again and wondering if she should break up with Tobias like she intended to when she went to talk to him.

Then the rest is just Tris reiterating more information to Cara. Do you remember who Cara is? That’s okay, you could pretend she was a plastic bag and the effect would be the same. You could have skipped this entire 8 page chapter and still been completely in know of what is “going on” in this series. Actually, I wonder how much of this whole series you could feasibly skip and still feel like you missed nothing. I’d venture a solid 75%.

Tris is taking Cara to the storage room to fill her in on all the twists and turns we’ve already been filled in on. So get pumped for that tomorrow!