I absolutely loved this book! It had all the thrilling vibes of Divergent, but with a fresh, upgraded twist that made it feel entirely unique. The lore of the "mods" and their telepathic abilities was so creative and fascinating—I couldn't get enough of it. The world-building felt immersive and effortless, pulling me in from the very first page.

What really sealed the deal for me was the delicious tension between the dangerous and powerful MMC and our equally strong FMC. Their mentor/mentee dynamic was irresistible, with just the right mix of steam and intensity to keep me glued to the pages. The chemistry between them was palpable, and their dynamic added so much depth to the story.

I genuinely believe this book is destined to take BookTok by storm. The age of steamy sci-fi fantasy romance is officially here, and I’m so here for it! If you’re a fan of Divergent or The Host, this is a must-read. It’s the perfect blend of action, romance, and sci-fi intrigue. Highly recommend!

I DNF’d this book. The writing is very juvenile. The FMC annoyed me pretty much right away with her “I’m soooo special I’m not like other girls” energy. From what I managed to read there is no originality or creativity in this story.

4.75 ⭐️

*mic drop* what in the actual hell that was a truly scrumptious read.

i felt like a kid again reading divergent and the hunger games. i forgot how much i love dystopian books. my inner child was healed but also this was so much better because it’s an adult book if you get my drift… *wink wink 😉 🔥*

now listen here, i am fully in love with Cross Redden. I Love Kaine. I love Xavier. Dani Francis you write some fabulous men !!

the concept of the aberrants powers is super cool and i love how there’s even more that we will get to learn about it in the next books. i’m on tender hooks here. i need to know what happens. ASAP. PLEASE.

the only reason this isn’t a solid 5⭐️ (which pains me to say as i was convinced it would be) was just because i guessed the major plot twist super early on (Amy can vouch for me on that one). i also feel like the last 20% was quite rushed and while i was sad that that one thing happened nearish the end, i didn’t cry… if i cried maybe i would’ve rated this just a smidgen higher. but tbf… i did not see that final plot twist coming. heckin hotshot pilot SLAYYYY.

anyway. anyone reading this- read this book now (or when it comes out because i did get this as an ARC THANK YOU DEL REY 🫶🏼🫶🏼)

I’d been searching for a great dystopian read, and Silver Elite delivered! While the first 10% was a bit slow, once the story picked up, I couldn’t put it down. It’s the kind of book that hooks you and doesn’t let go.

This book gave me Divergent vibes with its thrilling challenges, a gripping romance, and a dystopian world. The characters felt dynamic, and the twists kept me on my toes.

If you’re a fan of dystopian romance with sizzling chemistry and high stakes, this book is definitely worth picking up. I can’t wait for the next one in the series!

4.5/5⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

If you are looking for a dystopian romantasy with science fiction elements, then look no further, because this is it!

I‘m saying romantasy as the romance is heavy throughout the whole book.
The forbidden love between a Captain and a Recruit as they give in to the undeniable attraction between each other.
Wren Darlington is an amazing main character. She is smart, tough, she owns the ability of telekinesis, and she knows what she‘s doing (most of the time).
After loosing her uncle who was a Aberrant, Wren is forcefully enrolled in the training to become a soldier.
Hiding her real identity, especially from the attractive captain of the Silver Block, turns out to be way harder than expected.
The chemistry, the attraction and the tension between the two love interests was done so well!

The story has so many surprising twists and turns, it had me silently screaming more than a couple times!
I would have wished for a bit more world building, especially in the beginning.
All we know is that there‘s different Blocks, split in A,B,C etc.. We know there‘s a generell who tries to eliminate all Aberrants, but I would have wished for a better understanding of the world, more details how it works and the effects of a corrupt government.

Altogether this book is absolutely entertaining, it‘s perfectly paced, and there wasn‘t even one second during the story that had me bored. The opposite actually, I was hooked!

I can‘t believe I have to wait so long for the sequel now!

I am HOOKED on this series, and this is only the first book. I read the description of this book and did not hesitate requesting an ARC. I am not joking when I said I could not put this book down. I don't know if it was from growing up on dystopian series or what, but I loved the characters and the plot of this book. Wren is an amazing character, and the romance - yes please! I can't wait for the next one!!

Did I like the concept? Absolutely! Was the approach what it could have been. Unfortunately not.

The initial world building was a little wonky, but the development definitely smoothed out over time. It took a bit to get over the idea of “Mods” not being actually physically modified after birth in some way. It just didn’t seem like a very effective word for what they are and the abilities they possess, “Aberrant” made more sense to me.

One irritating aspect was that often when the characters “spoke” to one another it was difficult to distinguish if they were communicating telepathically or speaking out loud. Both occurred in the same font, and often one conversation was interspersed in between the other.

The author relied heavily on the full stop after each word in what should be a sentence to try make a point. It. Didn’t. Work. When it’s overused like that it takes away from the urgency of what’s being conveyed, and it makes the character sound immature.

The FMC and MMC did end up being well rounded characters. The major twist was far-fetched but predictable, however there were turns that were surprising. Overall an adequate outing in the fantasy genre.

I don't think I've ever read a book where so. much. happens! And I'm not complaining. This is a very impressive debut, and I'm really hoping for a second book in the future. The world building was so well done and easy to follow. I love our FMC Wren, she's fierce, stubborn, resilient, and fearless. I enjoyed the romance between her & Cross and I think the spice was wonderful. This is the perfect example of how you don't have to use gross words to describe spicy scenes. There's a plot twist that I guessed very early on, but it didn't make the story any less enjoyable for me. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys enemies to lovers romantasy in a dystopian world with sci fi vibes. Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the ARC!

Shatter Me meets Divergent with a bit of The Darkest Minds

Entertaining read, I binged it during exam week
Wasn't expecting this much spice (the level is giving Fourth Wing/acotar?)
It had a lot of tropes I like (telepathy, enemies to lovers, dystopian, etc)

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for providing me with an arc. All opinions are my own.

Wow, what a wild ride. The debut book for author Dani Francis and it’s just the beginning as this is set to be a trilogy. I was engrossed from page one, could not put the book down. I had to know what happened next, this is the definition of a “one more chapter” book. The authors world building was great, not confusing and straight forward which is amazing. The characters and supporting characters all seemed to be well fleshed out and very diverse in all the ways people can be, multi dimensioned no one felt flat or boring. This book really just has all the right things going. Dystopian world, magic, rebellion, enemies to lovers, military spec ops. I really couldn’t get enough. Congratulations to the author for debuting with a bang, can not wait to see how this story unfolds.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tropes:
⚔️ Dystopian romance
❤️‍🔥 Slow burn
😠 Enemies-to-lovers
🚫 Forbidden love
🤝 Captain x Recruit

It’s everything I needed and more. I have been deprived of the dystopian world in so long and this has been the perfect one for me to read. I loved every single bit of it and need the next book ASAP.

The story follows a world divided between normal people (Primes) and people with special abilities (Modified/Mods) where the government has been searching for Mods to execute. Wren is a girl who lives with her guardian, Uncle Jim, in Ward Z where they are living quietly as normal people and hiding their true identity as Mods. It started off strong and we already get to see the first meeting between Wren and Captain Cross Redden and let me tell you - the chemistry is burning hot. I am 100% here for this enemies-to-lovers kinda vibe.

Captain Cross Redden is the leader for the Silver Block which is the highest of the military blocks that deal with more covert operations. Him and Wren has me screaming, curling my toes and kicking my feet with their nicknames and banter towards each other. Wren got dragged into this training program for Silver Block after a tragedy and the world building to set up for this plot is insane. Not to mention that there is a special unit within Silver Block which is Silver Elite - responsible for more riskier operations.

The action, tension and drama really stood out to me, especially when there is a group called the Uprising that comprised of Mods who rebels against the current government who wants to protect their people from being treated unjustly. The romance factor in this book is also top-notch from the start to the end and I am greatly satisfied with it. But, everything is not as it seems as you delve deeper into this book when secrets and lies are revealed in such mysterious ways. A minute detail that I love in this book is the change of font when they are communicating through telepathy to let us know that they’re talking in their minds - it’s so cool. This brought back so many memories of the dystopian, sci-fi, fantasy world like Divergent, Maze Runner, etc. and so I can’t wait for the next one!

P.S. Thank you to NetGalley, Dani Francis and Random House Worlds for sending me this ARC!

Read if you: are able to sleep in tomorrow morning, need a balm for YA-dystopia nostalgia, wanted a pen pal as a child, or you never got over your crush on Four.

Wren is a Modified (a mutated human with the ability to connect to/read minds) in a world where they have been outlawed. Living incognito with her uncle at the edge of the Continent, all she wants is to join the Uprising to fight the Primes' (non-modified people) military for equality. When she unexpectedly catches said military's attention, she is forcefully recruited for an Elite training program and must survive and hide in the heart of enemy territory (while navigating tension with the very handsome captain of her unit).

I "just one more chaptered" this book until 2AM and ended up finishing it in one sitting. Despite the wonky magical system (where the psychic powers of the mutants range from mind reading to physical healing) and the haphazard development of Wren's various relationships, I had so much fun reading this book and would recommend it to anyone suffering a reading slump or book hangover. You will especially enjoy it if you liked Divergent, The Hunger Games, or Red Queen and want a non-YA story with a similar flavour.

Rating: 4

Thank you to Random House for providing me with an advanced copy!

FUCK YES. I LOVE DYSTOPIAN. BUT DYSTOPIAN ROMANCE IS A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF JOY!

I absolutely am obsessed with this book. If I had the audiobook for this book, I would’ve finished it in a day. It’s so addictive and the story is so good!!!

Are there parts that are predictable? Yes. I DON’T CARE. I love it so much. I am so in love with Wren and Cross.

✨Dystopian
✨Romance
✨Forbidden Romance
✨Spicy scenes
✨Elite Battle School
✨Uprising
✨Secret Identity
✨Commander/Recruit

THE ENDING HAS ME REELING. I cannot wait for book 2. If you’re a divergent fan, you need to get this book.

Thank you @delreybooks for sending me a copy of the book! It’s a new favorite!

Silver Elite by Dani Francis is a dystopian romance novel with strong elements of action and intrigue. It follows Wren Darlington, a protagonist with powerful psychic abilities, navigating a world where being “Modified” is a death sentence. After a mistake exposes her, she is forced into Silver Block by Cross Redden, an elite training program run by her enemies


The plot was fast paced enough to be engaging but not to leave readers behind. It felt fresh and although you might predict some of the secrets from our protagonist’s past, you won’t be able to put the book down.

The character development for the main character was very good but I think we needed some more insight into Cross as his motivation was non existent. Hopefully this becomes clear on the next book and doesn’t get swallowed up by the romance aspect.

The relationship development was also quite compelling. They were done so well that the final twist is a gut punch. A gut punch we will need a motivation for in the next book. The one given did not fully fit in with what we thought was the character’s development.


The book pushed themes of how society treats those that are different, including the things those people would do to survive. I did have a slight issue with the protagonist’s relationship with the resistance following… Surely there would be some anger towards them?

I did have questions that would hopefully get answered next book. Are there any infinite number of powers and they just haven’t been found yet? Why are some people different? Why are some people stronger? How does a particular power our protagonist shares with someone work. And why did it work that way for them? Is this happening to others around the world? How does someone become this way if neither of their parents are?

The book is in 1st person present tense which works really well because it places you smack bang in the middle of the action as you unpiece this world with our protagonist. It’s single POV which means the only thing we know about the world is from her.



Apart from my earlier questions, the world building was really good. It paints a vivid picture of how this dystopian world is run.

It was a really good read and I cannot wait for the next book

3.25★

main thoughts:
I have a lot of mixed feelings when it comes to this book, I didn't completely suffer through it and there were parts I enjoyed, but I feel like nothing really happened during this book at all😭 wolf’s identity reveal wasn’t shocking cause I already knew who it was from the beginning and the ending wasn’t as suspenseful or earth shattering as I was hoping it was going to be. Everything kinda fell flat for the most part which is disappointing. I feel like maybe I should be rating this lower, but to be fair this book could have also been a me problem because I was very busy while reading it so it was hard for me to stay completely invested, which I feel like slightly messed up the reading process for me.

It wasn’t the worst dystopian book I’ve ever read, but it also could have been more shocking and crazy😭 somehow a lot of things just felt like filler, but maybe that’s just me that feels that way.

characters:
Wren: I don't hate her, but I don't completely love her, I feel like her mindset was really questionable at times and I think she makes some stupid actions, based on the choices she made towards the ending😭 I do think she possesses some unique skills and can hold her own but she needs to work on some things and needs character development tbh.

Cross: Honestly I was not expecting to love him as much as I did, but I wanted to know more and more about him especially towards the ending. Ugh he is still a mystery waiting to be fully discovered🫣 but he is definitely full of compassion and has layers underneath who he is, honestly he's intriguing.

romance:
As far as the romance goes I’m not sure, it’s questionable I found them more cute towards the ending after the reveal, but I also think they needed more interactions and I feel like they both said “I love you” way too quick. I think they still need to work on themselves and the relationship because it is too fresh. They have potential though ngl🤷‍♀️

extra:
Not sure If i should read the next book whenever it comes out in the future or not cause I'm intrigued, but at the same time this book could have been better and I'm not sure If it was a me problem, a book problem or both 😅

thank you netgalley for providing me with a e-arc of this book in exchange for a honest review!!

Adrenaline rush, sweet!

3 Reasons to Read:

1. It’s been a minute since I read something dystopia - and I forget how quickly those pages can turn. Get ready to accidentally stay up past your bed time.
2. If you need your romance with some spice. Hidden identities + forbidden romance - just nom, nom, nom. It feels like a soap opera at some points so please bring your popcorn.
3. You want something you think Hollywood would gravitate to. I feel like they love plots where there are rebellions and uprisings.

3 Reasons to Pause:

1. This is a first in a series. So if you like “closures” vs “cliffhangers” you may want to wait till the next book comes out.
2. You were looking for stunning prose. This book isn’t paced for that level of editing.
3. If repetitive internal dialogue drives you a little crazy.


Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore.

This hits shelves 6 May 2025.

3.75-4/5

After a life time of hiding, a series of stupid mistakes lands a girl in hot water. She's given the choice of a cell or to join the militaries training programme. Sensible person she is, she obviously takes the later choice. Que training montages, some painfully awkward flirting and making fwends.

I finished this a few days again, but have struggled to write a review. Partly this is because I really enjoyed this book. It's written in the same frame as Divergent and Fourth Wing, it's fast paced and the characters are generally annoying, but still likeable. I really enjoyed the world building, and the book could definitely have benefitted from more of this.

I did enjoy the first two-thirds more than the ending though. Towards the back of the book, the FMC makes a bunch of stupid decisions, which I felt went against her character. The last part was also even faster paced, with lots of revelations occurring in quick succession, and I'm not sure if it was all necessary.

Either way, it didn't detract much from my overall enjoyment. It's a good world and a good story, and I'm glad I got to read this ARC before it was released.

Silver Elite by Dani Francis is going to be a massive hit. This book simply consumed me, I could not put it down! I was drawn in from the first chapter and the first run in with the MMC of the story I thought I knew where this book was going I even thought to myself "Okay this is giving like Hunger Games capital vibes maybe Fourth Wing vibes" but I am so happy to be wrong not only could I not put this book down but I am still thinking about it a few hours after finishing. The future this story takes place in is so interesting, captivating and high stakes you can't help but be immersed in the world of primes and mods. There are twists and turns you don't see coming and when they arrive you are left dumbstruck you can tell the author really put a lot of thought into the story line and characters and how everything and everyone flows to create a great reading experience. I love being able to think back and see where the Easter eggs were and how it all comes together and I am really excited for the next installment.

A great dystopian sci-fi/fantasy world with a very captivating story and some interesting characters!

A slow burn romance and lot's of secrets and action. A great debut.

I am completely obsessed with this book and have already pre-ordered multiple copies. It's everything that I love in a dystopian fantasy - drama, secrecy, romance, and characters that kick ass. I am so glad I read it, and I desperately need more!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review