I liked the idea behind the book. however I struggled with getting into the book. I wish the telepathy would have been in a different font or some other form so It could have been easier to tell what was going on. I think that was part of my problem, I couldnt get lost in the book because I was having to think and figure out the context of dialogue

The dystopian feel of this book and the world building was done so perfectly I was immersed into this from start to finish.i will definitely be continuing on with this series

I can see why some are saying that this is the next book obsession! It reminded me of an older Divergent. This book was easy to read and is by no means a literary work of art, but it is fun! I am hoping that future books in this series will continue to toe the line between the two sides because to me, that feels real. If you're a dystopian fan - this is your next read!

I went into this book blindly (or as blindly as possible because I have seen it everywhere), and I had a lot of fun!
I got sucked into the story and kept flipping pages until I got to the end in the early hours of the morning - definitely a hallmark of a good book! Entertaining, spicy and fun. I enjoyed it, and am looking forward to see where it goes in the next book.

Thank you @delreybooks for the gifted digital copy for an honest review.
The quotes were verified in my finished copy.

If you were a fan of Divergent, you definitely need to pick this book ASAP.

I loved the world-building of this story. The political system, how everything is just so corrupt, you don't know who's really the good guys there. With Wren's POV, I leaned for her people but when you learned more about the past, you can clearly see that it wasn't better before. For this and because of how the book finished, I can't wait to read the next book to see how everything will unfold. And I would really like it if the next book has one more POV. So we could see the other side of the medal.

I absolutely loved Wren. She is authentic, impulsive, strong and chaotic. She doesn't think, she acts. Her mind works differently.

I also fell in love with the side characters. Especially Kaine !

If you read for the vibes, you're gonna have a good time with this book.

I'll read the next one for sure.

Read this if you loved :

✨ Romantasy ;
✨ Oppressive Political system ;
✨ Military ;
✨ Forbidden Romance ;
✨ Enemies to Lovers ;
✨ Spicy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Promising Start to a Series!

I want to thank Random House Worlds | Del Rey and Author Dani Francis for the eARC of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. For me, Silver Elite is definitely worth the hype. I purchased a physical copy on release day to add to my personal library. That’s how much I enjoyed it.

This was an easy 5-star read for me. While a little lengthy, it had a good pace to the story. My only complaint? Now I have to wait for the second book in the series!

I loved every single second. I could have read it again the next day. It’s a combo of Fourth Wing, Red Rising, Divergent, and Amari and the Night Bros. Love love.

While this wasn't my favorite romantasy book this year, I found it to be a relatively quick read full of adventure, suspense and romance. Those looking to get lost in a story and ignore the real world for a while will enjoy Darlington and Cross as they try to to figure out who they can trust and what's really worth fighting for.

I thought this book was great! It was marketed as "hunger games for adults" but I honestly find that to be false, I think it's more like Divergent and Fourth Wing had a baby (minus the dragons). The banter between the characters was great, there was character development, the plot kept me interested and there was even a great plot twist at the end that has me very excited for book 2. Not sure why this book has gotten so much hate, I found it to be a fun and fast paced read for anyone looking to get out of a reading slump.

1.5
The hype surrounding this book was enormous, and I fell right into the trap. No matter which platform I visited, this book was everywhere.

It was described as a sexy dystopian romance, and the plot initially sounded intriguing. Unfortunately, the book was anything but interesting. While I didn't struggle to get through it, I didn't enjoy my time reading it either.

The main love interest, in my opinion, was quite unlikable—an arrogant character who seemed to have no concept of personal space. Because of this, I couldn't really connect with the romance. All in all he was a massive red flag.

Of course, this is just my personal opinion, and many others seem to have enjoyed the book. So, I wouldn't necessarily say you shouldn't read it—everyone's taste is different and what didn’t work for me, might work for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Silver Elite is a captivating continuation of the Elite series that delivers everything fans have come to love: fierce loyalty, simmering tension, and emotional depth. The stakes feel higher, the characters more layered, and the twists even sharper than before. The relationship dynamics are electric—intense yet vulnerable—and the author does a remarkable job of balancing romance with suspense.

What stands out most is the emotional growth of the characters. Watching the protagonists navigate trust, power, and love in a world where secrets lurk around every corner is both heart-wrenching and exhilarating. The pacing never falters, and the writing is as addictive as ever.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this gem early. I’m already counting the days until the next installment!

Despite some of the other reviews I read prior to reading Silver Elite, I loved this book. Yes it was a little formula,ic but I like the characters, the plot twists, and the romance. Can't wait for book two.

Okay so I’m seeing a LOT of mixed reviews about this one but I have to say I really enjoyed it. While the worldbuilding wasn’t exactly original (kind of a mix between Fourth Wing without dragons and the Red Queen series), the plot kept me intrigued, the vibes were good and the magic systems were cool.

I liked a lot of things about this book, from the pacing, to the stabby female MC, and to the chemistry between Wren and Cross. Plus while nothing was exactly original, it was well executed.

Overall the four star rating is for pure entertainment and vibes as I really enjoyed reading it, and I actually ended up reading it all in one night.

I continue to go back and forth on my thoughts. On one hand, I devoured this book. It was an easy, engaging read. On the other, it felt like the conglomeration of every fantasy and dystopian novel I’ve read in the last twenty years. I recognized aspects of Throne of Glass, Hunger Games, Red Rising, Harry Potter, Divergent, Fourth Wing, and I’m sure others I missed.

Most of all though, as easy as it was to read, I didn’t feel there was any substance. Like just… what was the point? There was no social commentary, no nuance or layers. I’m just.. confused and not sure what it was supposed to be. I’ll still probably read the second one, but a bit of a let down.

Silver Elite has the feel of Divergent, Fourth Wing, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, except there are people with psychic abilities. The military style training and fighting factions that's similar to those books takes up most of this novel, but it gives the reader time to get to know Wren. Not to mention the other recruits around her. I feel like Wren as a character is similar to the protagonists in the books I mentioned before. I did like a few of the side characters, especially a flirty one. But because Wren is hiding major secrets, I felt like stuff would hit the fan sooner or later. And it definitely did. There were some twists and turns that were unexpected, which I liked. My biggest gripe with the story, though, was the start of the romance. The inner dialogue about Cross was getting a bit tiring as I was reading their initial interactions. Without spoiling, I thought there was something out of the ordinary happening with the attraction Wren had to Cross. I wasn't as miffed as their relationship progressed. I'm interested to see where the rest of the story goes.

I fear this is going to be a wildly new series that will take the world by storm. I loved the aspects of the magical properties within this military based world. When she witnesses the death of her Uncle Jim and is taken into the military world of potentially joining the Silver Elite, our FMC has to navigate around finding out how to escape, who to trust, and how to survive without being found out as she has a very rare capability that would put her at certain death. There was so much intrigue, lore, and the ending left me absolutely breathless. AND CROSS REDDEN THE MAN THAT YOU ARE. Truly so delighted to have this debut and cannot wait for more. Rounded up to 4.5

3.5 ⭐️ i really do understand the mixed reviews. whilst, silver elite may not change your life, i had a good time! this isn’t some groundbreaking dystopian world to immerse yourself in. there isn’t anything new to report or obsess over. but it was genuinely such a fun time that my criticisms didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment. the beginning felt slow and it took a while for me to get invested but once i was, i couldn’t put it down.

i wasn’t overly impressed with the writing at the start. it felt quite basic and at times, i didn’t feel like a lot of love or creativity went into it. i think this played into the world building. francis’ established a dystopian world but it lacked substance. it’s heavy on the romance (which i didn’t mind) but i think the world building and overall plot suffered because of this focus. that being said, the simplicity of it all made this an easy read. some people might like that but i was hoping for more.

the romance between our main characters, wren darlington and cross redden, was predictable (honestly, i found most aspects of this book predictable). it’s definitely insta-lusty but didn’t venture into insta-love territory, still delivering tension and chemistry with a sweet slow burn.

wren was absolute chaos. i adored her but she also had me wanting to bang my head against a wall. does this woman have no sense of self preservation? thank god this is fiction because there’s no way this woman would have survived otherwise. wren was perhaps the only part of this book that wasn’t entirely predictable, and only because she’s the embodiment of reckless and impulsive behaviour. i now understand how my friends and family must feel watching my chaotic ass.

when it comes to cross, i don’t really have any big feelings to share. that miiiight have been because i was too busy crushing on kaine sutler who was infinitely more interesting. don’t get me wrong, i like cross. and i wouldn’t call this a love triangle by any means. i just don’t think cross brings anything new or interesting to the table. kaine had my full attention though. to summarise my thoughts on cross/kaine: anything cross can do, kaine can do better 🤭

silver elite isn’t a perfect book but if you can look past the issues and enjoy it for what is it, it’s a book i think a lot of people will enjoy.

many thanks to netgalley, del rey and francis for providing me with this arc. all thoughts are my own honest opinions.

while i do wish that there was a little bit more work building and development/understanding of the dystopian aspects of this one i can definitely say i still had fun. some twists were very predictable while i thought others were better developed and left more of true twist feeling. either way i will be patiently waiting for book 2!

i really liked the character development through the book. sometimes i feel with a lot of main side characters they can all kind of blend together but i think dani did a great job of making each character truly feel like their own. i was also able to keep up with who everyone was which can be something i struggle with when there’s a lot of characters. i was glad to see everyone had a purpose.

wren & cross were so fun to read. i loved seeing their banter morph into something more physical and loved seeing both their physical and mental attractions towards one another.

the dystopian elements we did get like the mind reading and telepathy were pretty cool but i wish there was more depth about some of the events that took place. hoping some more things will be fleshed out in book 2 given how this one had ended!

3.75 ⭐️. Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy. This was a fun enemies to lovers set in a dystopian backdrop with easy to follow world building. I will say I wasn’t fully invested until the 40% ish mark, but then it was a whirlwind! I wish there was a deeper dive into the true grit of the dystopian genre as opposed to just some of the elements, which is what this felt like to me. But the cliffhanger definitely has me wanting to know what happens next!

I INHALED this. I know this won’t be for everyone, but if you're someone like me who just wants a nice fast paced entertaining read then you're gonna get it here. I love me some dystopian fantasy romance and this served it incredibly well BUT… the major plot twist I figured out immediately around a few chapters in. It was so glaringly obvious that I thought this couldn’t possibly be the huge plot reveal/twist at the end… but it was. There was another reveal that I slightly guessed but not correctly (trying to be as vague as I can be with getting the point across and not spoiling ha)

Our FMC has powers (telepathic abilities are one of my favorites to read about because so much chaos can happen from it!) and has been using them since she realized she had them. There are some parts of her power that she taps into more and explores more with us but from the start she knows most of it. The reason why I bring this up is because I find it kind of rare to find heroines with magical powers or abilities and them already being in tune with it. I prefer stories like this since I grew up reading primarily YA fantasy (please note Silver Elite is NOT YA and is considered New Adult) if you’re familiar with YA fantasy/fantasy romance they typically all have innocent fragile girls who suddenly discover they have the power to save the world and blah blah. Don’t get me wrong those are still enjoyable but over time it gets tiring and this was the refreshing type of read that I needed. It still had some of the stereotypical small girl themes, “I don’t wear dresses” type of vibe, but like I said if you’re not too picky and you’re just here for a fun bingeable read then I recommend this to you :)