Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 rounded to 4

After an initially very shaky start where I genuinely considered not continuing the book, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself pretty hooked on the story by chapter four. The dystopian setting does feel like an amalgamation of so many others that have come before it (it kinda feels like District 13 took over Panem, or Erudite are in control in Divergent, with added magical powers), and FMC Wren is at times unlikeable and frustrating, as well as being "super special and gifted" BUT the story was compelling and felt high stakes enough to keep me interested. While the romance was incredibly predictable, it was still fun to read - although I could have done with a little less lusting after each other and a bit more character development. The falling for each other felt a bit too fast, even after certain things come to light. and I predicted pretty much every twist! All in all, an entertaining popcorn read of a book and perfect if you read The Hunger Games and wanted it to focus more on the romance instead of the rebellion. Will I pick up the sequel? I won't rush to read it, but probably!

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Silver Elite was a great read! I really enjoyed this dystopian world I was thrown into; the world building is honestly effortless. It never felt like it was info-dumping, and while in the first few chapters I felt a little lost, I quickly caught up.

It was maybe a bit spicy for my own liking, but I think a lot of people will really vibe with this! The plot was fantastic, fast paced, and the last 20% was so stressful that I binged through them in a single evening! This was addictive and I look forward to the sequel.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you like dystopia and romance, welcome to your new bookish addiction!

In a nutshell, Silver Elite was amazing. I knew from the first page that I was going to love it. The dystopian setting, the characters, the friendships, the romance - the mix was perfect. On top of that, Wren was a particularly badass main gal, and Cross was a particularly hot main man. The slow burn was delectable, and their chemistry was electric. And as for the subterfuge and politics, it kept me guessing until the very end, then blindsided me with some fabulous twists. It's altogether one of the most addictive and exciting books I've read this year. The only downside is the book hangover it left in its wake and the wait ahead for book 2!

Omg! This was everything I needed and more! The romance, the worldbuilding, the tension - so good. A great reading experience and sure to become your new obsession!

I was so buying into the hype for this one, and was super excited to read it. First try, DNF at 10%. Tried again 2 more times, got to 50% but this is still a DNF for me.

This book is just not for me, no matter how much I want (very much) it to be.

Thank you for my e-ARC.

I have mixed feelings on this. I adored the story, the plot, the concept and the worldbuilding, however the main character continually made aggravating decisions.

I am loving the dysopian rise just now, and the concept of one half of society modified by a genetic virus and the other half not, and the half that isn't (the primes) considering themselves superior and wushing to remove the modified half (mods).

Wren is a mod, and due to some catestrophic mistakes ends up working for the primes having to hide who she is.

I loved the world building and the politics and the constant survellience and how the world got to where it is, its so well thought out and planned and written into the story i was sucked right in,

But on the subject of Wren. I love a character who has some flaws and isnt just instantly amazing at everything. Espieically if they are overpowered, they need a flaw. But Wren completely acknowledges her flaw, then never works on it. And causes all the main action at the end of the book to happen out of sheer stupidity. I do not see how she forsaw it ending any other way. It was really difficult to read through.

That being said I can see this book being incredibly popular and having a huge following as it probably won't annoy most people.

The romance will 100% be very popular, its something straight off the pages of booktok and i can see people fawning for cross immediately. I did enjoy the romance aspect and felt their relationship did grow somewhat organically so i appreciated that.

Plot wise it is mostly predictable, there is one plot line i guessed immediately but that means it at least makes sense, and i will say the ending left me on an absolute cliffhanger and I need the next book immediately. Overall a good vook and I can see the majority of people absolutely loving it

Many thanks to Cornerstone Press, Random House UK, and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Silver Elite is the start of a new dystopian fantasy trilogy by Dani Francis with tropes such as:
Enemies to lovers
Forced proximity
Forbidden love
Military training
Dystopian
Magic system
Secret identity
Rebellon/uprising

The vibe of the book is that of Divergent and The Hunger Games targeted at an adult audience.

I found this enjoyable with intriguing world building that did not feel like exposition dump and hopefully we learn more about the history and expanded world in the next books.

The story kept me engaged throughout and was easy to follow although some of the plot twists were fairly predictable, especially with how predominantly or not secondary characters are featured.

The main character, Wren, is easy to relate to and likeable even though she does make a few questionable decisions in the third act that seem out of character.

My minor gripe is the romance. It felt unnecessary the number of times that the love interest was described as attractive. The romance is insta-lust when I prefer a slow burn. Wren’s reluctance to become involved with the MMC because he’s her enemy and commanding officer becomes glossed over quickly and her inner conflict about her feelings for him seems to happen off the page.

I had heard lots of hype for this book before I started so I did have high expectations going in. It was an easy read and I am interested to see where the story goes but I did not have the obsessive cannot-put-it-down experience that I have seen other readers express.

Ok, add me to the list of people gushing about Silver Elite by Dani Francis. Amidst the dumpster bonfire of a world that we are currently living in, the last thing I thought I needed was a dystopian story and so didn’t rush into reading this! Big mistake! Huge mistake! Silver Elite blew my socks off! And like pretty much everyone else who has reviewed this book - I NEED book 2 now!

Dani Francis has arrived with an explosion, Silver Elite delivers a perfect balance of Dystopia and Romantasy that I haven’t seen since Divergent and The Hunger Games! From the start this books throws you in at the deep end, introducing Wren Darlington, a ‘Mod’ - an individual who possesses one or more psychic powers. Wren has spent her whole life hiding her psychic gifts, amidst a post apocalyptic world where Primes (who do not possess psychic powers,) ruled by General Redden fear Mods and to be found possessing such gifts is punishable by incarceration or more likely death.

Wren’s parents are dead - not a surprise, orphan trope is a good touch. Wren has been brought up, trained and helped by her Uncle Jim and whilst unhappy with the regime, has a relatively good life until one mistake focuses the regime’s lens on her and she finds herself forcibly conscripted into training for the military Silver Elite force.

And this is where it gets really interesting- can Wren continue to keep her secrets hidden? Will she survive training? And what does this mean for the resistance - the Mod Uprising? And of course how is she going to deal with her damnably attractive senior commander - Cross Redden, who simultaneously repulses and attracts her?

There’s no question, I was hooked after the first few pages. As you can tell I really loved the protagonist Wren - She’s not perfect t, she makes mistakes and can be a bit cocky but, she’s got a lot going on and you can’t help but admire her backbone of steel!

I loved the world building, it wasn’t a huge info dump but, an ongoing education and development throughout the book. At no point did I ever have a huh? or ugh! moment - it was so damn seamless, and it was easy to pick up on events and past history to gain a greater depth of understanding.

I was also impressed by the attention paid to other key and side characters. The male protagonist Cross is multi-faceted, not just designed to be a love-interest for Wren. He has a back-story, q family dynamic and their interactions were truly smoking hot! And Francis doesn’t stop there, Wren’s cohort in training and beyond are all unique characters, each with their own perspectives and voice, which truly complimented the found family trope that was utilised amidst the academy setting.

I devoured this book within 24 hours and totally recommend it if you’ve ever loved anything dystopian, are looking for a story that takes no prisoners and will have you plunging through multiple twists and turns that will totally blow you away!

One book I will never pass on? A dystopian—especially with some romance!! What can I say? I was raised in the era of 'The Hunger Games', 'Shatter Me', 'Divergent' … and nothing gives me more joy than a militaristic dystopian future with a heroine destined to bring down the corrupt regime. So, it was with great enthusiasm that I threw myself into 'Silver Elite'! A blend of 'The Darkest Minds' by Alexandra Bracken and 'Divergent' by Veronica Roth, I think a lot of people will love this. Think military academy, telepathy, and a dark, brooding commanding officer… really, what more could you want?

Whilst this was an entertaining read, I did have a few hang-ups. I would have loved more world-building—perhaps a bit more grit? Some of the character development felt a little sparse at times, and personally, I found the main protagonist a touch insufferable. So while I was intrigued, this isn’t a new favourite (a tad disappointing, I must admit). That said, I do plan to continue the series, and I’m looking forward to seeing where Francis takes it. As a debut novel, I can definitely see the author’s potential, and I really do think this will be loved by many readers!

I do love a dystopian novel and this one had many things I liked about it. The storyline is strong and although she makes some doubtful decisions I did connect with the main character. I did feel however that some of the rest of the cast needed to be fleshed out a bit, perhaps in the next novel ?

This review is for Silver Elite by Dani Francis which releases in the UK on the 6th May! Thanks so much to Netgalley and Del Ray for giving me an eArc copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I heard someone describe this as all of the dystopian books of our teenage years having a baby… and tbh this fits it perfectly!! This is a debut from Dani, but oh my god they hit it out of the park. I couldn’t put it down!

The story focuses on Wren, a young woman who must conceal her psychic powers-and her attraction to her handsome, infuriating commanding officer-as she works undercover to take down a brutal government from within.

The writing was incredible and the pace of the story keeps you in your toes the whole time. There’s a couple of predictable twists though the book, but there’s some that took me off guard and I didn’t expect them at all. The world building was also really good, it felt well developed and was easy to follow along and understand.

The romance and tension in this book was *chefs kiss* - I loved the banter between Wren and Cross, and of course its ’enemies to lovers’ so I was instantly in love. Wren is super stubborn and confident which I loved and it was great to see a female MC with a backbone, even if it does sometimes backfire on them. Cross was also easy to fall for, even though you don’t see them as much as I would have loved to.

Overall, I loved this book and I cannot wait to read the next one in the series. It left the story on such a great point, I was instantly hoping for more. I would say if you enjoyed the trifecta of dystopian novels as a teenager (Red Queen, Divergent and Hunger Games) then you will absolutely eat this up.

I really enjoyed all of the characters in this story, and the twists and turns that follow them. I absolutely can’t wait to see what happens next, especially considering she betrayed her best friend and sent her to a mine, her new friend betrayed her to roe, and her other best friend has been the hotshot pilot this whole time.

a fiercely addictive dystopian debut, blending sharp political intrigue, powers-based tension, and a sizzling slow-burn romance. With a bold heroine, unexpected twists, and Fourth Wing meets Divergent vibes, it's the perfect storm of action, heart, and heat!

In short, let me just say this book is not worth the hype. I don't know what made me stick with it for over 500 pages, but I should have DNFd. I found the writing to be very poorly done, and the world building wasn't fleshed out or described well at all. I guessed a major reveal very early on in the story, and it was so entirely predictable that I'm not sure why the author drew it out for so long. I appreciate dystopian as a genre when it has a strong message and offers insightful societal critique, but this one didn't achieve much in that regard.

This book is the offspring of a love affair between Divergent and Fourth Wing. I really enjoyed how it brought up the nostalgia of distortion world building and action from my teenage years, making it have a really compelling story telling pace and great balance between plot and characters. Although the plot was predictable at times, I felt like some of the plot twists completely caught me off guard which made this book even more enjoyable!

Now, the only thing that left me wanting more of was the characters themselves. Although they felt very individual and quite interesting, because Wren was infiltrating within enemy’s grounds, she couldn’t trust anyone - which made me feel very detached from all characters, including Wren herself. And because character relationships is a very big thing for me, Wren and Cross’ exclusive physical only relationship was a drag. I kid you not, its pure physical 90% of the book. I understand as she doesn’t trust anyone, he doesn’t trust anyone… I don’t know, I got bored of their relationship rather quickly. Doesn’t help that Cross is a little cliche (still better than Xander! Geez).

Either way, I can totally see the big appeal and the hype it’s receiving and I believe this debut is likely to dethrone Fourth Wing and it’ll bring an avalanche of new book lovers into the dystopian fantasy genre!

Many thanks to the publisher for the e-arc! All opinions are my own!

OMG, OMG, OMFG! I think I just found my book of the year!

Six stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I am absolutely kicking myself that I didn't pick this ARC up sooner, but I'm also relieved as it means less time to wait for the next book, which I need immediately, please and thank you.

This book has my heart, my soul, my everything, and I just know I will be thinking about it until, well, probably forever. It is that good; the hype is real and totally justified.

If you absolutely adore the following, I just know you will love this book: dystopian world, badass FMC, secret identities, tension, the perfect amount of spice, a plot that keeps on giving, betrayal, military base, the twistiest twist cliffhanger ending, the perfect romance, amazing world-building, and the most interesting and likeable secondary character—until they are not.

All I'm going to say is you will 1000% not be disappointed in this book. It's giving all the best parts of *The Hunger Games*, *Divergent*, and *Fourth Wing* (minus the dragons), but better!!!!

I just want to say thank you Dani Francis, del ray & netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book early. It was incredible.

Silver Elite is an epic dystopian adventure that had me gripped from the first page.

In a world divided between Mods and Primes, a world where Mods, the one with powers, are rooted out and eliminated-Wren Darlington is used to hiding her modified ability. This is all made more difficult when she is forced to join Silver Block, an elite programme that is dedicated to finding and eliminating Mods, as well as keeping the continent thriving with Primes.

This book has truly brought dystopian back. It was packed full of action, adventure, secrets and romance. If you love dystopian books, academy settings, forbidden/enemies to lovers romance and high stakes, you will absolutely love Silver Elite.

I highly recommend everyone to pick up a copy in May and thank you to the publisher for the early copy!

Everyone was right. Dystopia is back and Silver Elite is leading the fray!!! I read this in pretty much one sitting and that ending had me gasping every five minutes! I’m desperate for the second book so we can learn more about the world, the Mod’s powers and ALSO!!! Wren’s history and her family!

You can tell that Dani Francis pulled inspiration from the 2010’s dystopian boom but she made it so unique and fun while still keeping the intensity thrumming through the plot. And that was great! This book felt nostalgic and new at the same time and I am going to be thinking about it for a really long time. The girls are gonna go feral for Wren and Cross!!

Dystopian books are so back!!

I could not put this book down! The world building, the plot, the politics, the TENSION?! Just *chef’s kiss*

The story was fast-paced and I loved how the world-building was sprinkled in throughout the book, rather than one big info-dump at the beginning. It made it easy to keep up while keeping you guessing and wanting more. The pacing continued throughout the whole book and I am so glad I had the time to read the last 20% in one go because the revelations just kept on coming! I also really enjoyed the political set-up in this book and the relevance it has to today’s state of the world. It offers an excellent backdrop for Wren’s story and the moral struggles she encounters throughout the book.

The romance aspect was insanely good, even though I would say it is more of a subplot for a majority of the book. The tension and dynamic between Wren and our MC was amazing, and a perfect execution of the enemies-to-lovers trope. I loved how their relationship developed throughout the book and how it impacted Wren’s character growth as an individual. Also the nickname - count me obsessed!

I feel like I could go on and on, but I don’t even want to give away a hint at any of the (many) twists of this story - this is the book you will stay up late reading and then immediately text your group chat to discuss. If you read a lot of YA dystopian books in your teens and are looking for something to hit the spot like that as an adult, this book is for you!

This book will be my newest obsession! I can’t believe this is still not released and I already want the sequel!

If someone asked me what book described my reading taste, it's this! This absolute masterpiece of a book!

From the very first chapter I was ready to fight for a new rating system, just for this book because 5 stars just doesn't seem like enough.

I would personally describe this one as Shatter Me meets Divergent but make it adult with a secret identity 'pen pal' twist. Epistolary is one of my favourite 'tropes' and I ate this one up so that on top of it being a dystopian novel is just chef's kiss! There wasn't a single lull or boring moment and every character had their own unique voice. I could never guess what was going to happen next and it was just so exciting, I got up early and stayed up late to read this one. Also when I tell you that both Cross (MMC) and Wren (FMC) are now my new book crushes, it's an understatement 🥵 these two were badasses and hot as hell and their romance and chemistry was off the charts.

I just know this is going to be the next viral book and I can't wait to hear more people rave about it!

Thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for gifting me this advanced readers copy.