Let's ignore, for a moment, the "plot that is furthered by people doing stupid things" and look, instead, at geography.
According to an early conversation "Idris" is a country that is between Germany and France that "Mundanes" don't know exists. And "There isn't a country between Germany and France, except for Switzerland"...
So "Idris" is Luxembourg? And "Mundane" is just something rude we use to refer to people who lack a basic knowledge of geography?
The argument can be made that a particular character has a terrible grasp of geography - especially if it's the American character. Everyone in the world is happy to accept that an American character would struggle to remember European countries exist. Most of us are pretty sure Americans can only name three European countries at any given time — and sometimes one of those is Genovia.
But when the other character in the conversation supposedly comes from that part of Europe, you'd expect them to say "well, actually, there are a few countries between France and Germany. There's Belgium, Luxembourg, Idris, Switzerland and then Genovia. Perhaps you might wish to purchase an atlas?"
The argument can be made that a particular character has a terrible grasp of geography - especially if it's the American character. Everyone in the world is happy to accept that an American character would struggle to remember European countries exist. Most of us are pretty sure Americans can only name three European countries at any given time — and sometimes one of those is Genovia.
But when the other character in the conversation supposedly comes from that part of Europe, you'd expect them to say "well, actually, there are a few countries between France and Germany. There's Belgium, Luxembourg, Idris, Switzerland and then Genovia. Perhaps you might wish to purchase an atlas?"
The fact that the guy from Luxembourg... sorry, Idris, said "oh yes, you're right about there being nothing there — but my magical country is the exception!" just makes be think it's the author who might require an atlas.
This is after the "plot furthered by stupidity" thing already made me want to slap people. Look, I don't care how old you are, teenaged people — if you walk into a room that has clearly been freshly ransacked, you should have enough nous to think "I wonder if the bad guys are still here?" and shut up. Just shut up and stop drawing attention to yourself.
I'm only five chapters in. I asked a friend at work today if it gets better, and she said "nope - but the grasp of geography improves slightly". I don't know if continuing with this book will make me more accepting of the stupidity and I'll be able to suspend disbelief, or if I'll just end up flinging the book across the room (which would be awkward, because I'm listening to an audiobook on my phone, and both my phone and my headphones are too expensive to fling).
And, yes, I know: Genovia is between France and Italy, not France and Germany. I was taking liberties for comedic effect.
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