OH my GOSH.

So… I’m trying to rein in all my feelings and thoughts about this book. This is 100% a Fourth Wing vibes book. It will appeal to the masses in the way that FW did. And if you liked one and not the other, I have no idea what to say because they definitely come from the same place 😂 Even though FW is romantasy and this is dystopian romance, the vibes… they are the same.

What I really truly adored in this book was the concept of no one being completely right. In many dystopian books, we get this “resistance” that is perfect. They are right; the government is wrong. End of story. But here… the reader finds themselves confused by who to support. The Mods aren’t always the good guys just like the Primes aren’t always the bad guys. There are good and bad people on both sides. There will always be good and bad people on both sides.

I adored Wren. She is such a powerful and resourceful woman, not always in physical strength but in heart. Yes, she made a few stupid decisions…. But I can’t blame her for some. And there were times that she surprised me by making a very difficult but important decision… no spoilers but I LOVED the relationship between her and Cross. It developed perfectly and was solid from beginning to end in a way that some books don’t do. Pleasantly surprised by this!

I know that some readers will hate this book on principle because it’s “too similar to other dystopian” or “it’s too much like FW and is just capitalizing on its success” but I just sat back and ENJOYED the story. I smiled, I teared up, I screamed and laughed. I enjoyed reading it and I hope others can too!

Silver elite had me hooked from the chapter 1. It got me out of my reading slump because of how captivating it was. I read it in two days which is huge considering I couldn't read the a single word the last two weeks because of my reading slump

Wren Darlington, our protagonist is a powerful MOD (ones who have psychic abilities) who's in hiding and aiding the Uprising Rebel group.
One mistake from her leads her into the arms of the enemy, where she's forced into joining their Elite Training Program i.e Silver Block that trains soldiers to hunt and kill MODS
Thus concealing her true nature, Wren faces many deadly challenges in the Silver Block . Here our MMC enters, Cross Redden, the ruthless yet captivating commanding officer who seems determined to uncover Wren's secrets. As tensions rise, Wren must navigate those secrets, her enemies, and an undeniable attraction to Cross—all while determining how far she’s willing to go to protect herself and those she loves.

my review : I absolutely loved Silver Elite! While some parts of the plot were predictable, the unexpected twists kept me on edge and made for an exciting, tension-filled read. Wren’s recklessness frustrated me at times, but I still liked her a lot. And Cross, omg I Loved him !!!! he completely stole the show! I only wish we had his POV because I would have loved to see more of his thoughts. Let's hope we get his POV in the next book
Guys this book hasn't even been published and I'm talking about reading the next one 😭😭 ohhhh I cannot wait !!!!

4.5 stars

wow, this book was a wild ride. dani francis successfully captured every good thing about the dystopian romantic novels i read as a teenager. the book had me invested in all of the characters' fates early on, and toward the end of the novel it had me in a chokehold. seriously, the second book cannot come fast enough. i thoroughly enjoyed the main character, wren, and was so invested in her journey: both the romantic subplot and the main plot. this book had everything that it should have: elegantly paced, well-done romance, good character development, and super action packed. this book really impressed me and i firmly believe everyone who enjoyed the dystopian era of the 2010s will enjoy this book.

the only things to comment on was that i felt like the dialogue, at times, was a bit unnatural and awkward and the information conveyed a bit more smoothly. it wasn't a huge issue in the novel, but in the beginning it drew me out of the few times. but despite this the novel left me with a really good feeling, and made me miss when i read divergent, red queen and those other dystopian franchises. the fact that this book for me belongs in the same league as those says a lot!

all in all, this was a very well executed debut novel and i am so impatient for the second book in the series. pls announce it soon, lol.

thank you to netgalley and random house for the gifting me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review<3

I had high hopes for this book after hearing so many great things, but unfortunately, I don’t think I was the right audience for it. There were several points where I wanted to put it down because I was completely exhausted by the main character and her love interest, but I kept pushing through just to see where it would go.

The premise itself had potential, a dystopian world ruled by an oppressive regime, where the protagonist, gifted with four hidden abilities, is given the opportunity to aid a rebellion in taking down the regime from within its elite military forces. It gave me strong 2000s dystopian vibes, which made me excited to dive in. But in the end, the execution just didn’t live up to its potential. The worldbuilding felt underdeveloped and needed more explanation. While the pacing was fast, not much actually happened, and the book could have been shorter since a lot of scenes felt repetitive and like filler.

There were several things that frustrated me, starting with the main character, Wren. Her entire character seemed to revolve around men—constantly thinking about them, obsessing over them, and even lusting after those tied to the very regime she’s supposed to be fighting. Her morals were all over the place, making her actions feel inconsistent. On top of that, she was insufferable. She came across as immature, impulsive, and prone to making incredibly reckless decisions, especially toward the end. The moment she removed her scar just to prove her love for Cross was downright ridiculous. Then, there were the side characters, who barely had any personality, including the love interest, Cross. Everyone in this book felt flat and one-dimensional, making them forgettable.

The romance didn’t help either. It wasn’t even romance. It was pure insta-lust with no emotional depth. Even when Wren and Cross declared their love for each other, it felt empty and unconvincing. If the author wanted to establish a long-standing connection between them since Cross had loved her for years, there should have been more meaningful development through their telepathic communication, but that aspect was barely explored. To make matters worse, some of Cross’s actions felt straight-up problematic, bordering on sexual harassment, which made me extremely uncomfortable. On top of all that, the twists were very predictable, making the story feel even more underwhelming.

Overall, this book just wasn’t for me. It had the potential to be a great dystopian read, but the lack of depth, frustrating characters, and forced romance made it a letdown.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Worlds - Del Rey for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the e-arc!

Where to begin? I was excited to read this based on the synopsis, and while it took me a couple chapters to get into it, I ate this story up like it was the end of the world. It’s got the action, the friendship, found family, love interests, mystery, and violence. I couldn’t change the pages fast enough. My only criticism is that I wished all of the mind to minds speaking was differentiated with italics or something to clearly make it know who is talking to who in their minds (it was confusing for me at least in the beginning).

Silver Elite is absolutely phenomenal — a perfect blend of The Hunger Games and Divergent, but with its own addictive, heart-pounding twist. From the first page, I was completely hooked. The world-building is vivid, the characters are layered, and the stakes couldn't be higher.

Finally, we have a dystopian story made for adults — darker, smarter, and more intense. Every chapter left me breathless, and the twists kept coming. I need the audiobook ASAP because I want to live in this world for as long as possible.

This book is going to be the next big obsession—I'm already counting down the days for a sequel. If you're looking for your next binge-worthy read, this is it.

I can't recommend Silver Elite enough — it's absolutely amazing.

Read this in one sitting, this was such an addicting read! It sucks you in right from the very beginning and doesn't let you put it down. The writing, plot and characters all complemented each other so well and resulted in a very solid dystopian debut with an enemies to lovers forbidden romance. Our FMC was very confident and strong and I loved that; she could be impulsive and stubborn but I think it just added to the plot so I don't begrudge that, but I can see how that could impact some readers' opinion of her. Our MMC was so so down bad for her and that always gets me.

My favourite part of this book was definitely the magic/power and the way it worked. It was so interesting to follow along and also very easy to understand AND ALSO THE END!!!!! The twists and betrayals... woah. You're not going to want to miss out on this gem! Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the ARC!

Thank you Netgalley and Del Rey for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is very much dystopian, and reading it takes me back to my middle school years. It is fast paced, filled with twists, and just addicting to read.

However, some parts I feel were predictable, like I’ve read those kind of scenes in other books. I feel like the author could’ve taken a different approach to make it more unique.

As for the leads, I think they could’ve had more time to process everything after the reveal. Their relationship seems to progress too quickly.

Overall, i enjoy this so much! This is the perfect book to unwind after a hectic day and don’t want to think too hard as it’s easy to pick up and follow. Will definitely read the next book.

I really enjoyed this book! I was intrigued right away, and I loved that I got the chance to read an arc of the author’s debut. Her writing was captivating, and the world-building was easy to follow. The fast-paced plot kept me hooked—something was always happening! I also loved that it’s dystopian, one of my favorite genres.

Our female main character, Wren, is a total badass—stubborn, fierce, and delightfully cocky, which made her character so entertaining. Then we have our male lead, Cross Redden. I didn’t really like him at first, but by the end of the book, he started to grow on me. Surprisingly, I found myself liking Kaine, Wren’s friend, even more—he was sweet, caring, and flirty.

The romance was a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers dynamic, which I enjoyed. However, I wish there had been more tender moments between them instead of them just lusting over each other. Honestly, I was more invested in Wren as a character and the overall plot than the romance itself.

Overall, I had a great time reading this and would recommend it, especially to fans of Divergent, though this one leans toward a more mature audience.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the e-arc!

I swear I have been waiting for this book for 10 years. This goes out to all the book lovers who fell in love with dystopian books in the 2010s. Divergent, Hunger Games, Maze Runner, and now Silver Elites. I was so excited to get into this book and it didn’t disappoint. Not only is she insanely powerful but she’s also a badass. There are so many great plot twists and a great balance of training scenes, plot development, and of course a little romance. This is going on my top books of 2025 list no hesitation. Can’t wait for book 2!

4.75 ⭐️ I love reading so much!!! This was absolutely incredible. I had such a good time reading this! The pacing was so slow but I didn‘t care at all. I could‘ve spent another 500 pages with them and I need the next book like yesterday!

The fmc was so funny, I really enjoyed her character! She was so unapologetically herself and didn‘t care what anyone thought of her. A bit reckless too, which put her in some dire situations.
The mmc made me SO giddy!! I was giggling and kicking my feet every time they were in a scene together, I just ate it up.

I‘m really intrigued by the concept of this world, the whole mods and primes split and the corresponding abilities that some characters possessed are so interesting. Can‘t wait to figure out more about that in the sequel!

The side characters were also amazing, i absolutely hated some of them with my whole heart & loving the friends the fmc made along the way. Some plot twists were really predictable but I didn‘t care, it was still so so good, and other were crazy!

There were also some scenes that made me cry so much, which I didn’t expect at all considering I didn’t really know these characters in the beginning.

The plot was so fun, i enjoyed the whole training to become a silver elite and the tasks they had to complete so much!

I highly highly recommend reading silver elite!!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this arc!! And Dani thank you for writing this!!!

Loved this book. Fourth Wing vibes all over again. Romance was good but spice could be better. Love brooding, mean Cross. My type of male character. There were times where plots were predictable, but the ending made up for it.

4.75⭐️ rounded up.

Meet my new obsession! Silver Elite by Dani Francis ticked all the boxes. I absolutely devoured this book! I loved it so much that I've pre-ordered a copy for my bookshelf.

Silver Elite is a new adult dystopian fantasy romance (and yes, there is spice 🌶).

I can honestly see this book blowing up on BookTok!

This story gave Fourth Wing and Divergent vibes, and it was glorious! Basgaith war college but in a world similar to that in Divergent.

Wren, forced to join the military's most elite silver block program, constantly butts heads with Cross, her commanding officer. The tension and banter between Cross and Wren reminded me so much of Violet and Xaden.

There are so many secrets, plot twists, betrayals, and revelations. It literally had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

It's fast-paced and well-written, and the world-building is easy to digest and spread out evenly throughout the book. It was one of those books that I struggled to put down and made me forget I was reading; I was so immersed in the story.

The only reason I didn't give this book 5⭐️ is that there's a major plot twist that was so easy to guess, and I could see it coming a mile off. I wasn't shocked or blindsided, which was a shame, but there were still plenty of other plot twists that still shocked me enough for me to gasp audibly.

I can't wait for book 2! So much went down towards the end of the book, and I NEED to know what happens next!

I like stories with strong women character the best, and this book has one that kicks a$$.
I liked the abilities and the struggle is so real even by today's world standard.
This was a book i could put down, walk away, and come back to, there was just something missing. maybe the next one will flow better.
so i have mixed feelings,

I enjoyed reading it but the main character Wren is too much sometimes. Like calm down, girl. Don't be like Harry Potter!

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Silver Elite is a love letter to the dystopian era and I’m obsessed. The training, the hidden abilities, the corrupt government, and best of all, the tension!

The world-building was very interesting, I absolutely loved learning about different Mod abilities. I especially love the incitement ability, I hope we get to see Wren learn to master it in the next book.

-SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON-

I’ll be honest, I was rooting for Kaine and Wren for a long time, I think Kaine is an absolute sweetheart. The gasp I let out when he got out of that plane was ungodly, I hope we see a lot more of him in the next book.

Saying that, I did really enjoy Wren & Cross’ relationship. He’s so soft for her (and desperate🥵). We love a man who knows how to beg for it. I did worry we’d have a 3rd act breakup with Wren’s confession, but he took it like a champ (maybe a tad bit too easy?). Overall I really enjoyed their relationship, I think it developed at a really good pace with the perfect level of slow burn and tension.

I did have a few issues which for me knocked this book down a star.

- The dialogue was clunky at times, especially towards the start. It made it a little difficult to get into but it seemed to flow better the further we got into the story
- Some little snippets appeared to have been thought up on the spot. For example, there’s a paragraph about 70% into the book where Wren internally reflects on the pain her burn has been causing her over the years. Every time she moves or stretches the skin, she’s in pain. However, Wren is engaging in very rigorous combat for a massive chunk of the book and not once is the scar mentioned as causing pain/discomfort. This was only disclosed to us when Ellis offered to heal the scar tissue. It seemed a bit like ‘btw forgot to mention, my leg’s been killing me this whole time, anyway…’
- Following on with the above, it’s casually mentioned that women are forcibly placed on contraception until they’re approved to have a child. This is a pretty big piece of information to only be casually mentioned after Wren has sex halfway through the book as a ‘don’t worry, I’m on contraception’. This is an integral piece of world building that would have helped me understand the justified hatred to the current rule, but it was sprinkled in when convenient and never mentioned again.
- Lastly, long sleeves are a very flimsy defence against a corrupt government hellbent on killing Mods. They outruled certain music, control women’s contraceptive rights etc, so surely the government would bring some sort of dress code into play to make it easier to identify Mods?

There were a few really interesting reveals but unfortunately they did fall a little flat. The Wolf/Cross identity could have been a massive revelation if we’d learned more about Daisy and Wolf’s relationship. We know the basics but the conversations between the two were very sparse and vague, so the reveal didn’t have the impact it could have if it was a bit more fleshed out. I really wish we’d seen more of Wolf throughout the book.

Despite my above points, they really were just little picky bits that bothered me and didn’t detract too much from the story. A lot of the issues I had with this book can easily be attributed to it being the authors debut novel, so for me they’re not a dealbreaker. This is a very strong debut.

I’m really rooting for Wren to find a real, genuine friend in the next book. She suffered so many losses and betrayals, Lyddie’s betrayal was especially tough to read

This was a really fun read, I’m overjoyed that we seem to be pushing back into the dystopian genre again!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This was my first ARC and I’ve had so much fun with it!

Our girl, Wren, lives peacefully in her uncle's ranch until he is imprisoned - because Wren is a bit reckless - and as she tries to save him she ends up in Silver Block training (Silver Elite is even more exclusive than Silver Block). This honestly has all the ingredients to be the newest tiktok sensation. Dystopia, complex tests, murder and an asshole love interest.

I really enjoyed the world building: I'm a basic girl, I love dystopias, this is packed with action so it's easy to get hooked and I wanted to know more of the history and society. However, to my taste, it focuses too much on the romance and I did not enjoy it. It's too instalove, insta atraction and the dude is unbearable. We get the illusion of a triangle but we all know one of the love interest has a very low chance of being endgame. This is going to be unpopular but I hated Cross. There are a few scenes that made me uncomfortable because the line of consent is a very blurry.

Wren is okay, I like FMC who are determined to get their way. I did not understand her lack of self control though, yeah the dude is hot but girl keep it cool. By the end of the book she makes some very questionable choices that did not feel in character. I get why that plot thread is there but it's too convenient.

I did really like the secondary characters and their relationship with Wren, I'm really interested in knowing more, they felt complex and believable and the author does a great job at making them relatable even though they are the "enemy". I will for sure read the next book!

3.75 stars, 2 [mild] chili pepepers. I want to start off by saying that I am new to the Dystopian 'trope' and the 'world building' was really good and kept me interested since it's so different from other Romantasy books (I've never read HG or Divergent, but many Fae books). It took me a bit to get into (it's a slow burn) but once I was halfway through I just didn't want to put it down! I really enjoyed Wren's character, she's a strong willed, bada$$, independent girl who takes no crap from no one, but also so empathetic. Cross gives off "shadow daddy vibes" like Xaden and I ate his character up! The banter was fabulous and overall the book was well written and an easy read. There's 1 thing Wren does which seemed so totally out character for her, like for all the planning and plotting she does and how important keeping her secret is WHY WHY WHY does she make this decision??? And most of the reveals could be considered predictable. I am really excited to see what happens in the next book!
Tropes: Dystopian, Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Forced proximity, Forbidden Love
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Silver Elite 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Dystopian is back with a BANG, baby! Silver Elite hooks you from the first page with our spunky female lead and an action packed, totally unique storyline. The whole vibe of this book is like crossing Divergent with SAS Who Dares Wins and a little side dish of spice. I salute @authordanifrancis on this being her debut - it certainly doesn’t read like it. The pacing is fantastic; the characters are well fleshed out (including the side characters); the romance is deliciously slow burn; but for me, the best part of this book is the unique storyline with the certain character’s abilities and the setting is just *chef’s kiss* 🤌🏼. Let me make my prediction now: this book and trilogy is going to be huge! I’m thinking book to movie adaptations huge. Also, praise the lord dystopian is trending again because it’s my absolute favourite! I simply cannot wait for book 2 because that ending had my heart pounding - and I’m so hugely grateful to @authordanifrancis @delreyuk @netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this title early - it will be hitting the book stores on MAY 6th, don’t miss out!

#bookreview #arcreview #5starbook #danifrances #silverelite #dystopianbooks #dystopianfiction

Thank you to @netgalley and the author @authordanifrancis for an advanced copy of this book. This is my honest review.

This was unexpectedly amazing and had me hooked right from the start. I’ll honestly be recommending it to everyone! 🔥 🔥

Wren Darlington is modified (has psychic abilities ) living amongst the Primes (those in control of the world and being modified is a crime punishable by death) and accidentally attracts the attention of the military essentially by helping but also showing off which is very very Wren. From there her world falls apart, her beloved uncle is executed and Wren is taken captive and forced to work for Command to train for their Silver block, an elite outfit tasked with tracking down modifieds.
I absolutely loved Wren’s character and how she’s written, she’s ballsy, complex, flawed and felt like someone you could genuinely relate to . Wren and Cross’s verbal back and forths are absolute chef’s kiss 🤌🏻 The pacing of the book was great, the reader is constantly on edge watching Wren make her way through training without blowing her cover. The plot is witty and engaging and although some of the twists were fairly obvious it was still overall an enjoyable reading experience.

🖤Dystopian
🖤 Enemies to Lovers
🖤 Rebellion
🖤 Forbidden Love
🖤 Undercover work