In the seventeenth chapter of Untold<\/i>, Kami and Jared work towards common ground, and Rusty reveals a family secret. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Untold<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Chapter Seventeen: The Montgomery Secret<\/b><\/p>\n
SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT. LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S DO IT.<\/p>\n
Holly<\/b><\/p>\n
Okay, I am not a fool to think that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something more to Holly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appearance in the beginning of this chapter, am I? Look, I am a veteran queer, and I have done that thing where I make plans to meet up with someone in front of a straight audience in an attempt not<\/i> to reveal that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s for Big Gay Things and THAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TOTALLY WHAT ANGELA DID HERE, RIGHT? Her whole not-mentioning-naps thing? Am I reading too much into this?<\/i> Wait, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a silly question because I read too much into everything<\/i>. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like my JOB or something.<\/p>\n
I do hope that Holly and Kami\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s misunderstanding of each other doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t last much longer. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re both so<\/i> terribly close to discovering the truth about one another and what happened with Jared. However, one of the themes of this chapter is emotional confusion, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s represented here, too. Their feelings towards one another, towards Jared, and towards themselves are a giant mess of emotions, and it hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been easy to sort things out. But the important part is that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re trying<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Amber<\/b><\/p>\n
I am thankful that the scene Sarah Rees Brennan writes in the bathroom between Amber Green and Kami sheds a little more light on why<\/i> people seem so willing to side with Rob Lynburn. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure it seems absurd to anyone that siding with someone who wants to sacrifice humans for power isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t perceived as a mistake. But through Kami\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s questioning of Amber, we learn how a combination of fear and entitlement help inform why<\/i> these sorcerers want Sorry-in-the-Vale back as it used to be. Initially, Amber reacts with scorn and garish displays of her own magical power when Kami interrogates her, but once Kami makes it personal \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Is that what you want? To rule?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Amber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s demeanor changes:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a sorcerer. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to live in a city, getting sick every autumn because the year is dying and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have enough magic to thrive. Sorry-in-the-Vale is where I belong, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to belong to Rob.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Amber makes it personal this time, and she gives a justifiable reason for wanting this town to stay<\/i> a sorcerer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s town. It is literally<\/i> painful not to! But she pushes on further, reminding Kami that for some people, their choices are limited. Some don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the option to be protected, some need<\/i> this place, and some of them could lose people they care about by opposing Rob.<\/p>\n Of course, Amber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arguments are flawed; not everyone can just up and leave Sorry-in-the-Vale, sorcerer or not. And by not<\/i> opposing Rob, one family must lose someone they love anyway<\/i>, so why is that fair to that family? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m scared, then, because Amber and the other sorcerers do<\/i> have powers that Kami doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already seen one sorcerer demonstrate that on Kami (Sergeant Kenn), and then Amber does the same here, blasting Kami back with a gust of air. Eventually, Rob\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sorcerers are going to get impatient, and one of them is going to do something foolish. How are our heroes going to stop that?<\/p>\n Jared<\/b><\/p>\n I mentioned at the end of Holly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s section that I thought it was vital that these friends were trying<\/i> to work out the complications amidst them, and I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also the case with Jared and Kami. This feels like a direct continuation of the conversation they had in chapter sixteen. Their emotions are still raw, but I find it courageous that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re so willing to discuss things that are most likely incredibly uncomfortable. Plus, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fascinating to me as a reader because I have to remember that this conversation would have happened in their heads in the last book<\/i>. So this is as much about trying to work through their issues as it is them learning how to communicate as independent people<\/i>. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never<\/i> had to do, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to have to learn something that a great deal of people already know how to do! Now, the whole conversation is also<\/i> erotically charged, and I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intentional on Brennan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re learning how to communicate with one another physically<\/i> as well, and without having a link, that manifests in ways like we see here. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re coping with attraction, with confusion, with desires for acceptance and validation, and then they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re also<\/i> hormonal teenagers, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not in the least bit surprised how this conversation plays out.<\/p>\n Maybe the link really did<\/i> mess them up. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really satisfying to watch them try to fix it.<\/p>\n Rusty<\/b><\/p>\n AND YET, IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S STILL RUSTY WHO STEALS THE SHOW. I am so heavily into platonically shipping these two that it hurts<\/i>. And everything that Rusty reveals here \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in his only<\/i> serious scene to-date \u00e2\u20ac\u201c just makes him that much more of an incredible character. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only when Kami calls into question the trust she has for him regarding Amber that he opens up about his own identity. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shocking to know just how aware<\/i> Rusty is of how others perceive him and how that relates to his general behavior.<\/p>\n But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just that. I was spellbound while reading about how Rusty came to understand his sister so intimately while she was just a baby, and I adored that he was devoted to her as soon as he knew that she was going to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153raging at the world.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He chose<\/i> to pay attention to her, to give her the love and friendship that he knew his parents could never provide. His relationship with Kami is loosely based in the same thing; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an unconditional love built on trust and support. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the one thing Rusty takes more seriously than anything else.<\/i> MY HEART IS EXPLODING BECAUSE RUSTY<\/i>. I love it. I LOVE IT.<\/p>\n Matthew Cooper<\/b><\/p>\n So he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a thing??? I never really questioned why he was a statue in the center of the town, but I guess I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m about to find out!<\/p>\n Please note that the original text and the videos contain the words \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dumb,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153crazy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stupid.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Part 1<\/p>\n