Take a photo of a barcode or cover
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved everything about this book! I stayed up obscenely late reading it in one day. The steam, angst, and relationship drama between Wren and Cross was perfect. Dani Francis does a great job creating a realistic world with a complex and unique magic system. I cannot wait to read book 2! Some parts of the book were a little predictable, but there were still a lot of things that surprised me. I really enjoyed the slow reveal of events from Wren's past. I'm not always a fan of enemies to lovers, but Cross was just so perfect for Wren. I also found Wren to be extremely likable; I liked seeing her be strong, yet reckless. Cross reminded me a bit of Xaden from Fourth Wing. (Which is perfect, because all I want is more Xaden/Violet, and this book kind of scratched that itch.)
Content: violence, death, sex, torture
Spice rating: 5 out of 5đ„
Content: violence, death, sex, torture
Spice rating: 5 out of 5đ„
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Death
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I donât understand the hype for this, itâs super meh. The main character is cocky and sex driven. Sure thereâs chemistry between her and her main beau but itâs still very predictable.
How was this a âbest selling authorâ and why are they writing it under a pseudonym? Maybe because the writing is bad. I had to laugh a few times at some stupid phrases. I listened to the audiobook so a bit harder to write down what they were.
The premise seems like it could be good but itâs been taken over by the amount of sex the main character needs to get out of her system. So if youâre looking for that then this is your book.
How was this a âbest selling authorâ and why are they writing it under a pseudonym? Maybe because the writing is bad. I had to laugh a few times at some stupid phrases. I listened to the audiobook so a bit harder to write down what they were.
The premise seems like it could be good but itâs been taken over by the amount of sex the main character needs to get out of her system. So if youâre looking for that then this is your book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Death of parent
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
The beginning inner dialogue of the FMC is a little cringe but the rest of the book is excellent in the way that Hunger Games was excellent when it first came out. Ends on a cliff hanger. I'm looking forward to the second book.
Unfortunately, it has some racy scenes that aren't necessary to move the story forward at all but if you are listening to the audio book they are easy to skip!
Unfortunately, it has some racy scenes that aren't necessary to move the story forward at all but if you are listening to the audio book they are easy to skip!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Giving this book a 3 because I enjoyed the world and there was lots of potential but it really wasnât very engaging until the last couple of hours post-plot twist. The main problem is that the characters lack depth. For most of the book I didnât care for the main characters and especially not the romance. The last couple of hours did make a difference though which is why I gave it a 3. Overall, this book is super overhyped and other books out there that are similar are way better on the character development and romance front.
Narration was good if you are an audiobook person!
Narration was good if you are an audiobook person!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault
This book prides itself in being a return to YA dystopia's "glory days," and I can see why. It fits in with all the forgotten cash grab books of that era. The publisher, booksellers, book influencers, etc. definitely shouldn't have mentioned The Hunger Gamesâif I squint, I can see the Divergent fanfic comparisons though.
This is a romantasy book with a dystopian aesthetic. After talking to some other readers, we concluded this book is what you'd get if you saw Fourth Wing's success and wanted to replicate it without getting immediately slapped with the FW copycat labelânot a successful attempt since this got wannabe FW written all over it. How does one make this stand out from the crowd of dragon romantasies? Slap dystopia on it because THG seems to be having a revival in the cinemas and online, so why not?
Without getting into the problematic aspect of a "dystopian" book failing to offer any substance or commentary on the oppressive system it uses as a quirky little background for its characters to make out, I just thought this was a poorly written book overall. The pacing is all over the place, the writing reads like a high schooler's Wattpad fic, the characters are two-dimensional, forgettable caricatures, and the romance is not an actual romance.
Wren is an insufferable protagonist who is, above all, obsessed with attractive men. She is seemingly only capable of making the worst possible choices in any given circumstance. Despite the narrative constantly hitting its readers on the head with how skilled and talented she is, she can't last in an actual fight and is outsmarted by characters who are as transparent as cellophane. Being stuck with her POV truly did a disservice to the story because she is just so unlikable and selfish. She's always flip-flopping, lacks personality, and barely experiences genuine struggles. Every problem she faces seems to get solved instantlyâusually by Cross; every time the reader thinks she's about to face some repercussions, she gets bailed outâusually by Cross.
The lack of consequences was one of the biggest things that irked me. We're told this military regime is brutal and unforgiving. We're told they practically commit crimes against humanity all the time, and that no one is safe from them. Yet, from the get-go, we have the protagonist being a smartass to a chief officer of said military, whom she barely knows and is currently a captive of, and she gets no reprimands? It's hard for me to believe this "big bad military" is worth a penny. I have many, many issues with Cross, and one of them is how he immediately softened to her and gave her special treatment. There's zero stakes for a story about a woman going undercover to dismantle a regime that's trying to wipe out her people.
Cross... oh, they'll never make me like you. This man is a cringe-fest. He's the stereotypical romantasy's male love interest. He's supposed to be "broody," "dark," and "mysterious." Instead, he comes off as a weirdo with a hard-on for sending people to labor camps. The narrative presents him as some sort of "lesser evil," which just doesn't work when the male lead is just a POS loser. I think the author was desperately trying to introduce him as this morally grey hottie, but that falls apart when this man keeps spouting some icky, tone-deaf nonsense. Wren doesn't even argue most of the time(even when he's basically saying her uncle deserved to die) . Instead, she'll "argue" in two sentences, then thinks stuff like, "He has a point. Oh, he's so hot."
The other characters were all forgettable because the story hyper-focused on the idiot couple. Kaine held my interest in the few moments he'd appear, but that's mainly because he was one of the few somewhat entertaining characters. The other Silver Block recruits were of no consequence. We never really get to know any of them, so if a character were to die, I didn't feel any emotions. Why would I? You can't make me care about Side Character #6 by telling me about them after they're already dead.
That gets me to another issue: the info dumping. This was most egregious in the early chapters, but it doesn't improve at all, even as the dumps get less frequent. The author cannot show to save her life, so we're instead inundated with paragraphs of what things are whenever Wren has a conversation with a person. The Blacklands mentioned? Cue three paragraphs talking about how dark the forests were and how Wren is such a badass for living in that darkness.
As a dystopian book, this is a massive flop and an insult to the genre. However, as a romantasy... this is also a massive flop. The fantasy aspectâpsychic powers, really should be Sci-Fi, but I've seen this tagged as romantasy more than Sci-Fi so idkâis not well-explained, even with the info dumps. It's an interesting power system though, so I'll give half a star for that. As for romance...
This is not one. This is pure lust. Wren and Cross are infatuated with each other's bodies. They lack a connectiondespite literally being psychically connected , which makes sense considering all they seem to do is make out and have sex. If they aren't doing that, Cross is cornering Wren in some hallway, they're very obviously staring with sex eyes at each other in a room full of people, or Wren is stomping to Cross's office to make out. The author's attempts to pull off the tension-filled enemies-to-lovers trope fall flat. They aren't enemies if Cross is constantly saving Wren from every problem she creates. There isn't any tension if Wren is constantly going back on her own words to go jump in bed with Cross.
I'm starting to get tired of even thinking of this mess of a book, so I will end it on this note:
Silver Elite is a terrible book with bad writing, bad characters, and a bad romance.
Reading for the vibes is fine, but reading dystopia for vibes and escapism and without caring for what the genre's entire purpose is? Weird. I fear I've already seen some dub this as "dystomance" in an attempt to excuse the fact that this book fails to be complex in any shape or form. "It focuses on the romance more than the dystopia!"âthe... romance...? Please just say you want smut... even the author acknowledged that she just wanted "spicy 'dystopia'" đ«©
This is a romantasy book with a dystopian aesthetic. After talking to some other readers, we concluded this book is what you'd get if you saw Fourth Wing's success and wanted to replicate it without getting immediately slapped with the FW copycat labelânot a successful attempt since this got wannabe FW written all over it. How does one make this stand out from the crowd of dragon romantasies? Slap dystopia on it because THG seems to be having a revival in the cinemas and online, so why not?
Without getting into the problematic aspect of a "dystopian" book failing to offer any substance or commentary on the oppressive system it uses as a quirky little background for its characters to make out, I just thought this was a poorly written book overall. The pacing is all over the place, the writing reads like a high schooler's Wattpad fic, the characters are two-dimensional, forgettable caricatures, and the romance is not an actual romance.
Wren is an insufferable protagonist who is, above all, obsessed with attractive men. She is seemingly only capable of making the worst possible choices in any given circumstance. Despite the narrative constantly hitting its readers on the head with how skilled and talented she is, she can't last in an actual fight and is outsmarted by characters who are as transparent as cellophane. Being stuck with her POV truly did a disservice to the story because she is just so unlikable and selfish. She's always flip-flopping, lacks personality, and barely experiences genuine struggles. Every problem she faces seems to get solved instantlyâusually by Cross; every time the reader thinks she's about to face some repercussions, she gets bailed outâusually by Cross.
The lack of consequences was one of the biggest things that irked me. We're told this military regime is brutal and unforgiving. We're told they practically commit crimes against humanity all the time, and that no one is safe from them. Yet, from the get-go, we have the protagonist being a smartass to a chief officer of said military, whom she barely knows and is currently a captive of, and she gets no reprimands? It's hard for me to believe this "big bad military" is worth a penny. I have many, many issues with Cross, and one of them is how he immediately softened to her and gave her special treatment. There's zero stakes for a story about a woman going undercover to dismantle a regime that's trying to wipe out her people.
Cross... oh, they'll never make me like you. This man is a cringe-fest. He's the stereotypical romantasy's male love interest. He's supposed to be "broody," "dark," and "mysterious." Instead, he comes off as a weirdo with a hard-on for sending people to labor camps. The narrative presents him as some sort of "lesser evil," which just doesn't work when the male lead is just a POS loser. I think the author was desperately trying to introduce him as this morally grey hottie, but that falls apart when this man keeps spouting some icky, tone-deaf nonsense. Wren doesn't even argue most of the time
The other characters were all forgettable because the story hyper-focused on the idiot couple. Kaine held my interest in the few moments he'd appear, but that's mainly because he was one of the few somewhat entertaining characters. The other Silver Block recruits were of no consequence. We never really get to know any of them, so if a character were to die, I didn't feel any emotions. Why would I? You can't make me care about Side Character #6 by telling me about them after they're already dead.
That gets me to another issue: the info dumping. This was most egregious in the early chapters, but it doesn't improve at all, even as the dumps get less frequent. The author cannot show to save her life, so we're instead inundated with paragraphs of what things are whenever Wren has a conversation with a person. The Blacklands mentioned? Cue three paragraphs talking about how dark the forests were and how Wren is such a badass for living in that darkness.
As a dystopian book, this is a massive flop and an insult to the genre. However, as a romantasy... this is also a massive flop. The fantasy aspectâpsychic powers, really should be Sci-Fi, but I've seen this tagged as romantasy more than Sci-Fi so idkâis not well-explained, even with the info dumps. It's an interesting power system though, so I'll give half a star for that. As for romance...
This is not one. This is pure lust. Wren and Cross are infatuated with each other's bodies. They lack a connection
I'm starting to get tired of even thinking of this mess of a book, so I will end it on this note:
Silver Elite is a terrible book with bad writing, bad characters, and a bad romance.
Reading for the vibes is fine, but reading dystopia for vibes and escapism and without caring for what the genre's entire purpose is? Weird. I fear I've already seen some dub this as "dystomance" in an attempt to excuse the fact that this book fails to be complex in any shape or form. "It focuses on the romance more than the dystopia!"âthe... romance...? Please just say you want smut... even the author acknowledged that she just wanted "spicy 'dystopia'" đ«©
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content
Moderate: Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
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:
Yes
I really liked this! And after the way it ended, I canât wait for the next book because I have QUESTIONS.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Death
Minor: Drug use, Slavery
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A âdystopianâ (an insult to the genre btw) romance where a âliberalâ woman, who is also part of an oppressed group, falls in love lust with a very obviously conservative military man whose entire career is built off of sending people to labor camps đ€ą
Writing? Ass. Romance? Ass. Characters? Ass. The smut wasnât even good???? The standards are in HELL
Side note: Yes, anyone who decides to pick up a book marketed as DYSTOPIAN for escapism deserves to be judged. Iâm begging yâall to turn those dusty brains on please đ
Writing? Ass. Romance? Ass. Characters? Ass. The smut wasnât even good???? The standards are in HELL
Side note: Yes, anyone who decides to pick up a book marketed as DYSTOPIAN for escapism deserves to be judged. Iâm begging yâall to turn those dusty brains on please đ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Genocide, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, Grief
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Silver Elite is a tense action-fueled dystopian that keeps you on your toes (and holding your breath) throughout the entire book. Compelling characters twists and turns and scorching hot romance made this truly a joy to read, and I cannot wait for the next installment! For fans of Divergent and X-Men.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Violence
Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault
Minor: Drug use, Gore, Slavery, Vomit, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis