I am aching for the second book! There has been a whole lot of controversy about this book. But I loved every single second of it.

Wren gets you hooked from the very first sentence. You feel what she feels, because the writing is impeccable.
And with that you go on one hell of a wild ride.

This book is perfect for readers who loved Hunger Games and Divergent as teens and want to dive back into those types worlds – with some extra spice 🌶️

it was pretty addicting and fun to read. As a dystopian novel it gives divergent vibes and as far as the writing concerns it gives fourth wing vibes but with the difference that this one is pretty predictable, and all of the resolutions fell pretty flat. No earth shattering moments,and it felt like sometimes the author was trying to delay events not build up the angst , but still entertaining,This is the type of book you don’t want to put down, even if you guess the twists along the way.
If you are looking for a fast paced, easy to read, dystopian romance, this is a great option.



Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me the eArc in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Del Rey for this e-ARC of what I know will be one of the romantasy reads of the year! Thankfully, I did not go into this book with expectations of anything other than spice. I could tell based on the buzz around this book that it was going to severely disappoint me if I fed into the "Katniss... but for adults" just because it had steamy scenes in it. Honestly, there was something quite meta about the entire premise of Silver Elite, but I'll get to that in a bit. Essentially, it's a romance. Do NOT expect anything dystopian about it except for the reason and way it was written feels extremely dystopian in and of itself. Try and make sense of that.

This book follows Wren, who is a psychic, in a world where psychics, or having powers (being 'Modified') means certain death. Long story short, Wren ends up that the military academy and falls for the commanding officer. If we are going to make the Katniss analogy, I truly think this is the equivalent of Katniss falling for a peacekeeper commander or something. But anything for the "dystopian vibes". The failure to make any political commentary about the world they live in that is clearly unjust but reduce it down to "vibes" with sexy scenes is truly what is so meta about it. Like it is a dystopian novel to those who are in power kind of playacting as those who are oppressed. If this was the author's intention and that's the grand reveal at the end, that would have been mind boggling and honestly, excellent and sheer brilliant writing. But it's not, because you can just tell the author—and I'm pretty sure the author has said so—that she wrote this because she wanted the "atmosphere" and for it to be "adult" (smut). This had potential in a way it couldn't even fathom because it exists in something that feels so... uncanny valley. Because if it made the point it's making in kind of an abstract, unintentional, and roundabout way, it wouldn't focus on the sexy parts, and instead on the way the rich and in power view the suffering of those oppressed, and that wouldn't make a good story, would it? It was enjoyable, though. That's the craziest part.

4.5/5 stars: Loved this book! Definitely worth the read and I’m looking forward to the next book. I did feel like the length of time she hid her skills dragged on a bit, but the twists that came in the last bit of the book were worth the wait!

I don’t want to say too much and spoil anything, but if you have this on your TBR, bump it up the list! Thank you to NetGalley, Dani Francis and Random House Worlds publishing for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Ignore the drama around this book and READ IT. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, characters, and pace.

Wren is unlike any other FMC I’ve read about. She’s tough. Lonely. Impulsive. And absolutely one of my fave main characters.

Cross is complicated and a mix of all the things.

I can’t wait for book two.

This one kicks off with a strong dystopian setting and a badass sharp shooting FMC, Wren, who’s been hiding her powers her whole life. She’s a Mod- a human with telekinetic abilities—living in a society where people like her are hunted down. I really loved the first-person POV and how sharp and witty Wren was. The world is strict, dangerous, and full of tension, especially when Wren ends up forced into an elite training program run by the very people trying to wipe her kind out. There’s found family, secret identities, and some really solid worldbuilding.

The slow burn romance? Tortureously good! The forbidden sexual tension for these enemies to lovers had me turning pages and squeeling. Cross brings all that delicious broody, grumpy energy that still has me swooning.

I also loved the little squad of side characters that grew into Wrens chosen family. While the story leans on familiar dystopian tropes and a few things were easy to guess, I still really enjoyed the ride. Definitely a strong start to the series, and I’m already excited to see what happens next.

What an epic fantasy romance! This was a thrill ride from the very first chapter all the way through to the end. I can't wait to read more from this author!

Is all the hype over this book actually worth it?? You bet your Prime self it is! Following Wren from abandoned daughter, to grieving niece, to inside spy is full of action, adventure and more than a little spice. This is a must read!!

It’s like Divergent. But also kinda like Hunger Games with the districts/wards. But also like military college (Fourth Wing without the dragons but instead just like humans versus inntinnsics?)
Basically this was a captivating dystopian novel set in a military college where they’re trained to destroy Mods (those with Telepathy that are “aberrations” and “defects”).

Wren is a particularly talented Mod in hiding until one day her skilled marksmanship puts a target on her and her uncle. She gets captured and then recruited into the Silver Block military college, hiding her identity because if they knew she was a Mod, she’d be dead before she could blink an eye.
She’s determined to fail out but the Captain that recruited her (who also happens to be quite attractive, how convenient!) won’t let her leave.

I can’t explain it very eloquently, but I just had so much fun reading this. The vibes were strong with this one. It’s not the most groundbreaking or original story, and the world building is minimal but I had a great time. The telepathy was interesting and sadly we only got a small taste of it in this book. I’m hoping it’s explored more in the sequels especially as Wren learns to use her powers.

It’s predictable at times (no spoilers but there are secret identities that I called immediately) but then there are some twists (particularly at the end) that I DID NOT SEE COMING AND OMG I NEED THE NEXT BOOK ASAP.

There’s definitely some excellent tension and spice between Wren and the MMC, Cross. The “we hate each other so much but why tf are we so attracted to each other” was delicious. I don’t care if it’s overdone, I was eating it up.

This was one of the most unique books I’ve read in awhile and I absolutely devoured it. I’m such a sucker for anything dystopian ESPECIALLY if you toss in some romance. I was absolutely enthralled up to the last page and if I don’t get the follow up soon I will actually scream (nicely, in a nice please send it to me way)

Everyone’s talking about it, you’re seeing it everywhere you look, so let’s get into this book. I’m gonna say something controversial right off the bat you guys…wait for it…I think people are having far more feelings about this book than warranted, good or bad. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with being obsessed with a book, we all love different books and every book deserves to be obsessed over by someone. To me personally, this was a solid read; dark without being depressing, fun without being frivolous (okay a little frivolous but more on that later), not without flaws but not hate inducing. I was furiously flipping pages I’ll tell you that.

Wren is supposed to be the bitchy, cocky asshole of an FMC, and she was all of the above, but honestly I really liked her. Call me a contrarian, but I love a bad bitch. Her responses to her environment made sense to me. Not saying she’s relatable, she’s like the antithesis of me. She’s impulsive and reckless and will rush head first into a bad decision, but she’s also self aware and I love that in a girl. Yes, she has a bit of a thing for danger and guns but God forbid a girl have an adrenaline addiction. Her adjusting to being among her enemies and getting closer to them even as she’s supposed to hate them is very human and realistic if you think about it. Of course, her attraction to Cross is almost laughably quick and uncontrollable and again, is understandable while not entirely sensible.

Cross, on the other hand, feels much more two dimensional and far less badassey than we are told he is. I can’t tell if that’s deliberate and a sign of things to come or just a miss. I also don’t love his dialog (idk how to explain this). Their banter feels forced sometimes and sometimes hits just right. I did think they jumped the stages of their relationship far too quick, and I could’ve used more tension, but again, maybe that’s deliberate? Time will tell. Either way, I was invested in them by like 60%.

The writing comes off a little clunky and took a little getting used to, and we don’t get sufficient explanation of how a lot of things are possible so the world building ends up feeling superficial (like the uprising spy network and being able to transport easily to you know where). Although I do think the setup is all there for the fight against their systems of oppression in the coming books, unlike a lot of reviews seem to be insinuating. We can’t get everything in the first book. The book makes you uncomfortable and makes you sit in that discomfort, as a dystopian society should. Yes, I do think the moments of reckoning between Cross and Wren were far too anticlimactic and it felt like they just took everything in stride far too quickly, but I’m starting to think there might be reasons for that. Anyone who reads romances and gets the beats probably saw one of the more obvious reveals coming, but the last couple pages changed everything and make me real excited for the next installment.

I loved this book! It was exactly what I needed. I love Wren and Cross and their dialogue and chemistry. I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

I'm not entirely sure if I enjoyed this book as much as suffered through it. The dialogue was clunky, awkward and repetitive. The characters were bland, boring and forgettable.. there was soooo much 'telling' and no 'showing'! And literally nothing happened in this book! The ending was also very unsuspensful. Every "twist" this story had was super predictable and I saw it from a mile away. I felt zero connection to our FMC- she was just ok. This in no way entices me to read the next books... this could easily just be a stand alone. I was excited to read a dystopian world again, but this fell very flat.

DIVERGENT x FOURTH WING

There's a lot of discourse about this book, but I, for one, truly enjoyed it and will impatiently be looking forward to the next book! The worldbuilding was gradual and fascinating, the pacing was excellent, and the romance--though I loved it--has an opening to continue to grow in future books.

I was impressed. And yes, there are some tropes and moments that feel like they were copy + pasted from other books, but I'm someone who enjoys tropes like this, so I didn't mind it at all.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Tropes:
🖤Enemies to lovers
🖤Slow burn
🖤Forbidden romance
🖤Dystopian fantasy

Spice Level: Moderate 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Wren is a telepath which is forbidden in her society. But this hasn’t stopped her uncle from training her to hide it. When her uncle is suddenly taken away, she makes it her mission to save him and along the way gets swept into being a double agent and join the silver elite squad and a whirlwind romance with her enemy. She doesn’t know a thing about her parents, her real name, but she knows one thing, she’s been friends with Wolf since the age of 6, someone she has only met long-distance telepathically. Will she get her revenge as a double agent, find out about her past, or even meet Wolf?

What I Loved: Storytelling was on point in this story. There was no lack of detail spared and it contributed to a well-rounded story that really is going to wow you at the end. It had everything you need in a romantasy: action, betrayal, goofy best friend, morally gray characters, dangerous enemies, crazy plot, exile, a cliffhanger ending that DOES NOT make you suffer and that is ALL I will say to not spoil it for you. The characters were definitely loveable mid-book and the romance build-up did not suffer in the story as you would think a slow burn would create. COULD THIS BE WRITTEN BY SJM UNDERCOVER?! Yes, I think so.

Perfect for readers who love: The Handmaiden’s Tale, Divergent, The Hunger Games

starting this off with the fact that i need the second book immediately. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. this felt like a movie playing out in my head. full of TENSION, banter, suspense, betrayals. the ending??? wow.

this story is about a divided continent between primes (immune to a biotoxin) or modified (enhanced by the toxin). enter our fmc wren who is a mod with unique psychic abilities who is forced to join the continent’s silver elite military program. she uses this opportunity to infiltrate and aid an uprising. in this program she meets cross who is her commanding officer. they have a growing attraction with the best banter because they “loathe” each other.

i absolutely love cross. like the nickname he has for wren… “dove”… major swoon. you can tell he cares about her from the start even though he “shouldn’t” as they are on opposing sides. the taunting they do to each other knowing they have this attraction oh my gosh. i love them together so much.

tropes and themes: dystopian, high stakes, forbidden romance, secret powers, hidden identity, rebellion, and a divided society

This was a very tough read and review for me, because I do my best not to DNF books but this one pushed me closer than I've been in a long time. The marketing and hype around this has been intense, and I do think the book was mismarketed. Wren is not the next Katniss, and I would not tout this book as being truly dystopian. Just because a book takes place within a somewhat dystopic future doesn't make the story itself dystopian. I would classify this as much closer to romantasy along the lines of Fourth Wing, etc.

75% of this book was a long slog. The FMC Wren is more back and forth with motives and intentions than the girl who dies first in a horror movie, to the point of almost seriously detracting from the story. You viscerally hate Primes and what they've done to you, more than anyone the General, but omf his son is sEw HoT and you can't resist yourself?? The romance was far too forced, even with the entirely guessable plot twist regarding the romance. Wren also apparently can turn off and on attraction at will with anyone else, which is only minorly (massively) confusing.

All that being said, I think the bones for a good story are there. The last 25% of the story truly kept me hooked, and threw in a few surprises I didn't see coming. Less focus needed to be made on the romance, and this book would've been much better in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to rate and review this book!!

The first half of the book was just okay to me. Not bad, not good. Just okay. It's written well, lots of funny dialog. Nothing really happened, though. Just a lot of just talk about past events that I found extremely repetitive. I quickly understood where the Fourth Wing comparisons came from. Academic setting. FMC being in said academy against her will. The friend group, etc. It also reminded me of a few other books. Except these other books excucuted the tropes found in in "Silver Elite" a lot better in my opinion. The "angst" between Wren and Captain Cross felt generic and predictable. The back and forth of Wren wrestling with her conscience about her feelings towards Captain Cross were completely contradictory and kind of annoying. The world building is miniscule. We stayed in the same setting for over half the book. I was so bored!! I couldn't take it anymore. I've seen so many people going crazy over Silver Elite since it came out. So maybe it's just me. I'm just not easily satisfied when it comes to Romantasy, so that's why "Silver Elite" and I had to part ways. DNF at 50%

Silver Elite is by far one of my favorite books of 2025. I could not put it down. I loved the FMC, her backstory, the way she meets the MMC, some twists I saw coming and others that had me completely shocked.

My ONLY issue with the book was the fact that the ending felt super rushed. I wish there was more information there. But I get that’s why we have the second book.
Which BTW, I need immediately!!

I will be thinking about this one for awhile…

I had an absolute blast with this one. I thought my days of dystopian romance novels were in the past but here we are, this was an amazing dystopian and I had such a good time with it. I got such Divergent/Fourth Wing/Shatter Me vibes. I loved that we got dropped immediately into the world and figured things out as they unfolded. I'm excited to hear more about the magic system. It was intriguing to see the different abilities and how they measure up. I can't wait for the next book in this series and it just came out!

Thank you to @NetGalley @delraybooks and @hambrightpr for a copy of this ebook.