The premise is interesting and it's blowing up everywhere. But the term "hellfuck" sounded like an edgy thirteen year old who just learned to curse and I couldn't get past it. Maybe I'll try again with the audio to see if that bring it to life more.

This book was fun. It kept me engaged and I was interested in where the plot was going. I read it relatively fast. However, it was a bit predictable and I knew where it was going pretty early on. I liked our FMC but I wasn't really that invested in her relationship with the MMC. It felt a little too instalove for me and I also would prefer her with another character. All in all I am invested enough to continue on with the next one.

Ugh. What to say about "Silver Elite". This is going to be a long one, I fear.

I promise I really really gave this book an honest try. I am a huge fan of science fiction, romantasy, and dystopian fiction. I was really excited to read "Silver Elite". However, this book let me down at every turn.

"Silver Elite" is the La Croix of dystopian fiction, in that it once passed a dystopian book on the street and then decided to be one. The worldbuilding is incredibly sparse. The book takes place in a future, ravaged United States embroiled in a conflict between the genetically altered "Modified" and the unaltered "Primes". How did it become this way? We don't know. What is the lived experience of an average person? Who's to say. What does "The Uprising" do? I'm not sure they even know.

Many have criticized this book for its lack of political commentary. Generally, I think it's ok for books to just be fun. While everything (literature especially) is political, not everything needs to be an explicit political statement. However, I feel that dystopian fiction implies a certain level of political acuity. Without it, the book felt very flat. I never really felt invested in the characters or the world they inhabited. I believe that Francis was trying to make some nuanced point about corruption existing everywhere regardless of goal/cause. In reality, it just felt like she wasn't willing to really take a stance on anything; falsely equivocating both sides of the conflict of her own creation.

None of this was aided by the fact that the characters left much to be desired. Wren may be the dimmest protagonist I've ever seen in a book. Impulsive by her own admission, she shows no indication of possessing the ability to think about the future in any capacity. I am generally someone who's fine, even encouraging, of fantasy protagonists having major character flaws at the beginning of a series so there's room for growth. However, when every twist and turn was caused by Wren's unwillingness to have an ounce of foresight it gets real old real fast.

Cross, on the other hand, is a fascist. And worse than that, he's a boring fascist. I was waiting for the shoe to drop (not that shoe, I figured that shoe out at the beginning), for him to either go through some serious unlearning or to have been on the side of justice all along. Nope. His most redeeming quality is that he seems to have a smidgen of respect for innocent human life. Other than that, his only personality trait is that he's hot. The romance between him and Wren was completely lust-fueled and there was no emotional development to be found.

I can barely remember the other characters so I have nothing to say about them. Lyddie and Kaine had a lot of potential to be compelling, but there was no groundwork laid for their ultimate arcs, meaning there was no payoff.

I did a lot of introspection about whether I was just hopping on the hater train re: "Silver Elite" in order to be contrarian or elitist. I don't think that's the case. I really understand why many people will like this book, and I don't begrudge them for that. The book is snappily readable, the quality of the writing/language is solid, it was fast (though inconsistently) paced, and it has that school-setting thing going for it that makes it easy to throw the characters into all sorts of interesting settings and challenges. It's definitely popular for a reason, it just could have been so much more.

Francis (who I think is exactly who she says she is) has described "Silver Elite" as having betrayal after betrayal after betrayal. And she's right, I do feel a little betrayed.

2 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Del Ray for the eARC. All opinions are (certainly) my own.

Such an interesting new dystopian fantasy. Though I'm not quite sure how dystopian it is. The lack of worldbuilding and character development leaves something to be desired. And I think for it to be dystopian the characters should be more concerned and involved with the world around them.

Ummm…so A+ for effort. 😬 Like I’ll say one thing: it had its moments. Like I genuinely liked certain parts. But, no dystopian buildup whatsoever. The writing wasn’t finely tuned to fantasy more like your crappy romance reads. Which brings me to another thing: WHERE WAS THE TENSION, THE BROODING, THE BICKERING? The enemies-to-lovers romance. 😫So yeah….
3

This book has everything...

<img src="https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-28-at-4.07.48-PM.png"/<img>

Badass FMC
Literal Superpowers
A++ Witty Banter
Military School
Dystopian Setting
And...a strong MMC who is a warrior through and through
Mystery Elements and I didn't see the twists coming

The world building and spice is top tier. I can't recommend this book enough. If you are a fan of ACOTAR, Fourth Wing or just fantasy romance in general, you won't be disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and DelRay for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book to begin with - it was a slightly different take on dystopian fantasy, and I liked that Wren knew she was different/powerful going into everything - it set up some quite interesting plot points. Her decision to heal her scars pulled down the rating for me, as while it moved the plot forward it pulled her character development back a little. Overall though I liked it and will be keen to see where it goes in the next two books. It should sell quite well in store for us.

Silver Elite is a dystopian romantasy fantasy novel perfect for fans of the Shatter Me series, though I was also reminded of the rebellion in Mockingjay as well. Chosen one gets swept up in morally ambiguous politics, trains for a war of dubious loyalty, and kisses all the boys along the way. The pacing of this novel is FAST, but still steady. The characterization could be heavy handed in a "look how much we've changed!" kind of way, but the world building was quick and efficient. Wren Darlington is our feisty FMC (who has too many names, honestly...I counted 4) and she is delightfully competent in that role. She believably is adept at impossible things, and her impulsive nature is equally believable and consistent. She's flawed in the right ways, and her banter is at the tip top of hilarious snark. I read this massive book in two days because it was that interesting.
While the packing was great, the plot fell flat around the 70% mark for me, picking up around 80%, crashing hard at 90%, when I wondered what the hell Wren was doing because despite the first person narration, I was baffled why she'd do something so stupid, and then finally the ending left me in a state of curious tension. I will be sat waiting for the next one, thank you.
A word about the MMC, Cross Redden: He's no Aaron Warner. He lacks Warner's vulnerability. BUT he's legit. Solid 7.5/10 on the "who hurt you, but also how can I support your success as an independent person?" Book Boyfriend Scale.
This one is for the romantasy girlies!
Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for this ARC!

Set in a dystopian world where the population is split into Primes and Modifieds, the latter are persecuted and killed for their psychic abilities. Wren has been hiding her powers her whole life when she is forced to join Silver Block, a military group that hunts modifieds.

Overall, I really enjoyed Silver Elite. I think the marketing did a huge disservice to the book by calling it “hunger games for adults”. The only thing this book has in common with hunger games is the dystopian setting and even that is a stretch. Putting that aside, I did enjoy reading about Wren’s internal conflicts and felt it was fairly relatable. The book did touch on the political conflicts, fascism, and morals under a military regime but it was nowhere near as emotionally deep as Hunger Games. If you are looking for something equivalent to Hunger Games, you will be disappointed with Silver Elite. If you are looking for something lighter and not as emotionally devastating, a book where you still have some decent banter and romance, then maybe you’ll enjoy Silver Elite.

“You’re in my soul, Wren. I take a breath and feel you in my chest. You’re inside of me.”

Read if you like:
⚡️ Dystopian Fantasy
⚡️ Hidden Abilities
⚡️ Enemies-to-Lovers
⚡️ Academy Training
⚡️ Forbidden Love
⚡️ Worldbuilding
⚡️ Political Intrigue
⚡️ Banter

This is a fun fast-paced dystopian-romantasy mashup! It’s so reminiscent of the 2010s dystopian era with the Hunger Games and Divergent vibes except with the style of today’s romantasy! I can definitely see this book (first in a trilogy) being the next new thing!!!

The writing style is very easy to absorb, although perhaps simple at times, and it has all the best tropes, with the hidden identities, academy setting, broody commander love interest, and yet it’s so fresh and had its fair share of twists and turns! I also loved the characters, we have our FMC Wren, who has hidden forbidden abilities, and she’s so fierce and sarcastic and smart and she seems like such a girl’s girl (my favorite kind of FMC!) and of course we have to talk about Cross, he’s the perfect tall, dark, and broody and their interactions and banter are just SO PERFECT! I am so excited to see where this series goes with the next book!!

Thank you to Hambright PR, Del Rey, and NetGalley for the eARC!

This first in a series really stets the tone for the next two books to come. It’s a dystopian/romance. I think some people categorize it as a a fantasy, and I can see why, but then it could also fit into sci-Fi/fantasy. The psychic abilities are naturally occurring, but also not. I don’t want to go into this because it might spoil some of the book. The classic enemies to lovers trope is well done. The tension and hate to tolerance to love was well paced.

Fourth wing vibes- I keep hearing this comparison, and it wasn’t until closer to the end where it finally reminded me of fourth wing. the military training academy and making friends/allies are similar. The relationship between Cross and Wren ressembles Xaden and Violet. by that, I mean to say that it’s predictable. While there are still spicy scenes, the details are definitely held back.

Regardless, I think it was fun and filled with political intrigue, a world to discover and be curious about. I wanna know more about the Blacklands! .

The characters were convincing. Wolf X Daisy forever. But I want to see a bit more struggle from Cross Redden. it seems that he very easily gets through life and it takes little effort for him to also clean/cover up Wren’s messes. Perhaps that’ll change in the next book as the political climate changes.

I liked how the author goes into how to dismantle an entire regime or political system. It’s not enough to “cut the head off the snake,” because as long as the ideology is prevalent, it doesn’t matter who’s in the seat of power.

This book is really great if you enjoy the classic YA chosen one with special(more powerful) abilities that greatly aids them in sticky situations.
4 Stars because I thoroughly enjoyed it and I squealed and gasped throughout the book. I recommend this fun read and I’m looking forward to the second book.

Thank you to for the ARC. This was aggressively average.

First of all, the marketing is WAY off. This is a military book, not a dystopian book. This book doesn’t even touch on the political and social injustices happening in the world, it just mentions it a few times. This is a romance with a military back drop. Nothing more.

The entire book was lacking in both depth and emotion.

Wren’s characterization needed so badly to be refined. She was horribly inconsistent and changed from page to page. Could not tell you one thing about her. Other than she has the gift of finding a way to objectify every male in her vicinity. The loop of lustful thoughts about everyone was strange to me. She was never introspective about anyone. She was shallow and boring. I found it very hard to be in her head the entire time.

This book is *extremely* lust-forward and based on the marketing, I was expecting a slow-burn, angsty romance. Homegirl bumping and grinding on everything that moved as soon as she got the chance.

The language in this was unbelievably cringy. The main saying being “hellfuck” UNIRONICALLY? Come onnnnnnnnnn. I thought this was supposed to be early 2000s dystopian but written for adults?! Why did I feel too old to be reading this at the ripe age of 27? Ew, I just keep getting second-hand embarrassment by this.

The SPOON FEEDING OF INFORMATION was out of this world. Everything was a watered-down, sanitized version of what it should have been.

I called “main” plot twists from the FIRST chapter. Like CHAPTER ONE, which kept me from being able to care about the story in the first place. I kept feeling like I was missing vital information the entire time, because SURELY this is not what everyone is hyping up unless there was something truly crazy that happened at the end. Nope, that was it. That was all we got.

I’m ALL for reading for vibes. I wanted to like this, but unfortunately I didn’t.

this book was incredible! I haven’t been this obsessed with a fantasy romance since fourth wing! the perfect amount of plot, tension and romance! I’m counting down the days until the next one!

𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘌'𝘚 𝘕𝘖 𝘗𝘓𝘈𝘊𝘌 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘔𝘖𝘙𝘈𝘓𝘐𝘛𝘠 𝘐𝘕 𝘞𝘈𝘙.

Silver Elite is lighting #Booktok and #Bookstagram on fire as the "new Fourth Wing" and "Divergent for adults". But is it being appropriately hyped?🕵️‍♀️

VERDICT — 1000% YES ☑️

That being said, it's going to be so difficult to convey what I absolutely adored about this story without spoilers, because its the deeper levels and discoveries that set it apart. Which, in and of itself, bodes very well. You want everything to be so intrinsically tied to the story that you can't let anything slip.

So, first off... I love THAT. Always.

Second, I love this book's approach to the duality of morality in war. Things are never black and white, sin begets sin, and rarely is there a clear-cut villain, because eventually, everyone becomes the villain.

So much of that, though, IS NOT explored through soap-box style passages, which I also loved. That can often be heavy-handed and one-dimensional. Instead, Dani Francis explores absolutely everything through the hearts, minds, emotions, and reactions of her characters; learning, stumbling, feeling their way through atrocities.

And these characters...

Wren is such a fierce, reckless, fearless, and hilarious, FMC. She has this dry, dark, sarcasm that had me rolling.

And Cross... ladies... you are not ready...

𝕋 ℝ 𝕆 ℙ 𝔼 𝕊 ✨

⚔️ Badass, Fierce, & Funny FMC
🖤 Enemies to Lovers (Legit)
⚔️ Psychic/Mind Abilities
🖤 He's Her Commanding Officer
⚔️ Meaningful Political Intrigue
🖤 Authoritative MMC
⚔️ Telepathic Pen Pals
🖤 Closely Guarded Secrets
⚔️ Hidden Identities
🖤 Trust No One
⚔️ S3xy Undercover Ops

I think I was expecting more from reading this story with all the hype around it.
I did enjoy it. It was entertaining and fast paced and kept my attention throughout and the nostalgia, it really felt like being back in 2010 the dystopian novel era.

I picked this book up and went into this blind. I had seen some early hype, and I try not to set my expectations too high…but in this case the hype is real!!! I was hooked from the very start! I was so invested in this story and these characters and this author had me in tears before I knew it.

I thought the world building was done very well and this book is pretty fast paced - I finished it in a day! There are some good twists and secrets too.

Wren has been in hiding for years - she is a Mod and has psychic abilities. She lives on The Continent where Mods are hunted down and unalived. She makes one mistake and finds herself in the middle of enemy territory. But maybe this id an opportunity to take them down from within.

She is surrounded by an elite squad known as Silver Block led by Captain Cross… Oh the tension!!! Wren and Cross have this great back and forth and I loved their banter. She’s a total badass and he is brooding and…well no spoilers!!!

I have seen a lot of guessing as to which author’s pen name this is…and I am not sure who it is! I am so excited for the next book!

✨What To Expect:
🦅 Dystopian Romance

💋 Enemies to lovers
🎭 Hidden Identity 

❤️‍🔥 Forced Proximity
🖤 Forbidden love
🔷 Alpha MMC
🔫 She’s A Badass

🪖 Military academy
🔮 Psychic Gifts
⁉️ Action & Suspense
🔥 Slow Burn

𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐘 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐬
(𝖠𝖱𝖢)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️

“𝐈𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮... 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬" - 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔

*𝑹𝑬𝑽𝑰𝑬𝑾*

Wow guys…wow, i fricken LOVED. THIS. BOOK

As a girlie who doesn’t read fantasy often i was so nervous for this book because of all the hype it was getting but it seriously did NOT disappoint.

The little flashbacks of the FMC when she was a child were just so adorable 🤧

Chapter 46 folks….chapter MF 46!!!! 🤧😩

AND that ENDING…omggg actually unwell, i need the next book more than i need air 🙏

Overall, I just loved everything about this. The plot and storyline was SO fun and the characters…more specifically the MMC, oh that MANNN was scrumptious ill tell you. I will be honest and say that its not an absolute masterpiece but it was a book that i had so much fun with from the get go AND it got ya grl out of her 2 month slump 🤷‍♀️.

If youre seeing this take it as your SIGN to pick up this book asapp 😏 you wont regret it hehehe

Thank you so much to Dani Francis and Netgalley/Del Rey for sending me the proof copy in exchange for my honest review! 🥹

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀:
💙𝖣𝗒𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗉𝗂𝖺𝗇 𝖥𝖺𝗇𝗍𝖺𝗌𝗒
🕊️𝖲𝗅𝗈𝗐 𝖡𝗎𝗋𝗇
💙𝖥𝗈𝗋𝖼𝖾𝖽 𝖯𝗋𝗈𝗑𝗂𝗆𝗂𝗍𝗒
🕊️𝖯𝗌𝗒𝖼𝗁𝗂𝖼 𝖯𝗈𝗐𝖾𝗋𝗌
💙𝖤𝗇𝖾𝗆𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝖫𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗌

Lots of love,
Lillie Xo

This book was an absolute blast! I literally couldn't put it down and read through it really quickly. All you need to know is that there are people who have powers and there is a regime in place that aims to kill and/or enslave as much of them as possible, and our main character has been put in a very unfavourable position.

Thank you to the author and publisher for this ARC🫶🏻

4.25/5⭐️

What a read!! I could not put this book down! While the plot was gripping and so interesting, the characters really ramped up the unputdownability to me. The internal battle that Wren fought through the whole book was so interesting to me, and at times I couldn’t work out if I was on her side or not which is my favourite in a fantasy or dystopian book.

The ending felt slightly rushed to me with quite a few reveals squished in but OMG I NEED BOOK 2 YESTERDAY. You can really feel that there are so many more secrets to unfurl. I did predict some of the reveals at the end so they didn’t hit quite as hard but I still have so many questions! Will be snapping up book 2 ASAP.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

I've heard so so much about this book but will try to figure out my own thoughts haha.
I would say for me the writing could have been better/more polished but I devoured the book and finished it in like 3-4 days.
I totally understand the Fourth Wing comparisons.

Don't read on if you don't want spoilers (but not everything that follows is a spoiler)

what could be considered "bad writing"
- i have not counted how many times Cross says Wren's name but there are at least two times where she thinks something like he doesn't say my name a lot so when he does it does something to me
- not "bad writing" but something i dislike is Cross being described as so manly/masculine. "Don't tell anyone. It will ruin my manly reputation." (he says as joke but still) and "He exudes a raw masculinity that leaves me mesmerized." (lol) and "His long fingers wrap around the whiskey glass. His hands are mesmerizing. Large. Radiating strength. [...] And his chest is taunting me. Why does he have so many muscles?"

i liked the pilot plot twist!
Xavier made me think of Liam in Fourth Wing, both asked by MMC to protect FMC.

I felt like this book was not really working towards a big fight or smt at the end, which you normally have. Wren was training, did some ops, then had to escape.

in conclusion, don't expect this to be the new hunger games, lower your expectations a bit and it's a fun read!