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adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 ⭐️ This book gripped me from the moment I started reading it. It had vibes of some of the best dystopian/fantasy books I have read (Hunger Games, Divergent, Fourth Wing without the dragons). It’s part of a series so it ended on a cliffhanger, of course. But I will definitely continue this series when book 2 is released.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Genocide, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Murder
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well that was fun! I walked into Silver Elite not expecting a life-changing work of art and I enjoyed the ride! The dystopian fantasy vibes and so much internet hype hooked me in and I read 500+ pages in just a couple of days. Friends who love fantasy might find this a little lacking in the world building and anyone who labeled this as “enemies to lovers” is fooling themselves, but the story is an easy, bingeable read. I liked the band of recruits working their way through the program and felt the emotion of the high and low points of the plot. There were some things I thought could have been improved (and maybe will in book 2?). I thought there was a lot of missed opportunity in the dystopian setting- the world building that did exist with Mods/Primes, abilities, and the history of the coup was fun, but I think there is a lot that could have been done to create a really immersive setting and history. The pacing felt a little crazy- with a lot of twists and changes happening in the last 100 pages of the book. I wouldn’t have minded an earlier reveal with some space to build. The romance was fine, but we could have gotten a lot more tension in there for good enemies to lovers. And last but but least, there was a really painfully predictable reveal which had me rolling my eyes. All in all though, I would recommend for an escape and someone who wants a fun read. 4 stars, mainly for vibes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I simply will not lie to you. I knew who Wolf was before I even made it to page 100, but this was a fun little ride. Fairly standard first book in a fantasy series—SO much exposition before everything gets turned on its head in the last hundred pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, War
Moderate: Suicide, Vomit, Death of parent, Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"i may be reckless, but i'm not stupid."
bestie. the 19 hours i just listened to begs to differ.
i almost feel like i have to go back and give blood of hercules a slightly higher rating and be nicer to alexis. because alexis was stupid, sure. but she was sleep deprived and almost never took any agency--she just kind of let the story strings pull her along. wren, however? wren is STUPID.
why was this 19 hours long? sincerely.
this book could have been an email. when i'd gotten to the 11 hour mark, i could tell you two "big" things that had happened. there's also an unhinged part of me that wants to go back, cut out any time wren was salivating over cross, and compare word counts to the "non-horny" and "as-is" versions JUST to visually see how much time was wasted describing how unbelievably hot this guy is. like. we kept hearing about how horrible the blacklands were, but when we actually get to them? it's a footnote. it's more an inconvenient stroll through some misty woods. we could have spent time on THAT, but we spend SO MUCH of the book in pointless military schooling or reading wren's personal diary about her big massive crush (that she will remind you again and again she hates that she has) on cross.
"hell-fuck" is a stupid curse word. it's not distractingly bad, but it's too... awkward?? to be believable as something that would catch on. stop trying to make "hell-fuck" happen, dani, it's not going to happen.
anyway. POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW.
what i liked:
bestie. the 19 hours i just listened to begs to differ.
i almost feel like i have to go back and give blood of hercules a slightly higher rating and be nicer to alexis. because alexis was stupid, sure. but she was sleep deprived and almost never took any agency--she just kind of let the story strings pull her along. wren, however? wren is STUPID.
why was this 19 hours long? sincerely.
this book could have been an email. when i'd gotten to the 11 hour mark, i could tell you two "big" things that had happened. there's also an unhinged part of me that wants to go back, cut out any time wren was salivating over cross, and compare word counts to the "non-horny" and "as-is" versions JUST to visually see how much time was wasted describing how unbelievably hot this guy is. like. we kept hearing about how horrible the blacklands were, but when we actually get to them? it's a footnote. it's more an inconvenient stroll through some misty woods. we could have spent time on THAT, but we spend SO MUCH of the book in pointless military schooling or reading wren's personal diary about her big massive crush (that she will remind you again and again she hates that she has) on cross.
"hell-fuck" is a stupid curse word. it's not distractingly bad, but it's too... awkward?? to be believable as something that would catch on. stop trying to make "hell-fuck" happen, dani, it's not going to happen.
anyway. POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW.
what i liked:
- idk i kind of appreciated that every time wren jumped to the conclusion that ivy had stabbed her in the back, it was revealed to've been someone else. maybe it's because i hate wren, but i find that: very fucking funny.
- that the book ended
thanks, i hate it:
- i can't stand wren, man. she'll constantly think "this is a bad idea" and then do it anyway. and this is like... never "trained" out of her. you'd think jim would have taught her SOME sense of caution or taught her to tame some of her impulsivity, but no. and then does the silver block make her any better? no. she just keeps doing blatantly stupid things and then wears a surprised pikachu face when it backfires on her, like she couldn't have seen this coming even though right before doing the thing she was like "i probably shouldn't do this".
- and on the subject of hating wren, her entire "i hate that i'm attracted to him" thing we hear 134290 times throughout the book--girl: skill issue. if you really hated it, you'd find ways to make him unattractive (even though his treatment of you should be more than enough but this is a brick i'm speaking to). imagine cross in the hours after having eaten some dodgy burritos--i dunno, whatever you have to do.
- on the subject of hating wren (the movie the sequel), ohhhh myyy godddddddd, EVERYTHING having to do with tana fucking PISSED ME OFF. especially after she spends half the book whining about how the resistance won't come get HER.
she then gets her 'best friend' sent to a labor camp, is a little sad about it, but then the next several chapters after that is all about how in love she and cross are??? HELLO??? obviously yeah tana doesn't want to talk to her--which is what they'd need to do to plan an escape--but there is never a sense of urgency to get tana out. - and thanks
for having tana experience SA , dani, that was super necessary, just awesome, just so great, god, everything surrounding tana in those last few chapters we 'see' her in just makes me want to start clawing at the walls. - are there ANY likeable characters here? no, not really.
- there's a scene that's so blatantly copying the "shooting the apple in the pig's mouth" scene from The Hunger Games, it's honestly embarrassing. the moment she saw that her supervisors weren't paying attention, i knew what was coming.
- keeping us in the dark over
whether or not betima was a mod would have been so much more impactful than giving us an answer. it would have served so much better for showing us not only the bigotry and abuse of power. obviously--regardless of the answer--what happened shouldn't have happened. but being left wondering if roe was 'right' would have been significantly more haunting. revealing that cross and wolf are the same person was so irritating . you kind of get the feeling that this is GOING to be the revelation throughout all their bullshit interactions with each other, but when that suspicion is confirmed, it's just so eye-rolling and underwhelming and dumb.- i'm not kidding man, so much of this book is just... "god, look at his biceps when he brushes his teeth, ohhhhh my godddd, his back muscle just twitched, mmm--i HATE that i'm so attracted to him 8ccc--ohhhh but when he looks at me i get so hot and i'm so jealous of that one girl and i don't know why and--8cccc i wish i wasn't like this", and it could have been cut to help us better understand other aspects of the world (THE BLACKLANDS???) but NO. making sure we know that cross is HOT and that wren is insanely turned on is far more important to this story.
- i had something else i was going to say.... --oh. jim's letter at the end? flat out confusing. we don't spend enough time on the subject of the letter (you know, hotness took priority), so when we get to it at the end all i could really think was "...okay???? ...and????". like, i relistened to it three times. if this is supposed to be a big [GASP] moment, boy did it fall short. build up would have been necessary for this, but we sure as shit never got it.
yeah that's it. that's all i care to say, which is more than the book deserves. what's that line from the menu--"you will eat less than you desire and more than you deserve"? sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Torture, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault, Excrement, Car accident
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finally!! Another book like Fourth Wing that I couldn’t put down! I love the fantasy world and character building (and steamy romance). This is a unique fantasy world with a BA leading lady.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Violence
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The story is told in the first person by Wren. In the world of the book, there are Mods and Primes. Mods have one or more powers. Primes have no powers. The Primes rule the country Wren is in. The military (called the Command) of the Primes hunts down Mods. They either execute them, enslave them, or enlist them as collaborators. Wren is a Mod. She lives with her Uncle Jim (also a Mod) on his farm. Wren is caught by the Command. She is under suspicion, but they don’t know she is a Mod. The top unit of the Command is the Silver Elite. Wren is forced to train to possibly be selected as a member of the Silver Elite. Soon after joining the trainee classes, she starts a relationship that is very much insta lust on both sides. The story goes from there. I thought the story moved well. I never got bored. There was a lot of action. I thought there was pretty good world building. The actions of Wren and others often didn’t ring true to me. They didn’t always seem realistic. The Silver Elite training facility was run in a way that was kind of loose for a facility that was training potential members of the top Command unit. There is a lot of graphic sex in this story. Crude language is used. There is a lot of violence and some graphic deaths. I recommend this book to someone who wants to an enjoyable dystopian romance with a lot of action. If any of the concerns I mentioned are a problem for you, you may not want to read the book. Despite this book requiring a fair suspension of disbelief, I found it an enjoyable read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Death of parent