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kaleyrdaniels 's review for:

Silver Elite by Dani Francis
2.5
adventurous medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was my first venture into the ever-popular “romantasy” genre and, uh… oh boy.

The book was written in first person, which I’m not a fan of usually. In this case, it made the narrator seem immature. She sounded like a teenager, which cheapened the tone, and detracted from the story feeling like a true dystopian fantasy. For example, the FMC’s favorite curse word was “hellfuck”, but the frequency of which she used it carried the vibes of a teenager swearing in front of her friends to seem cool and mature. I found Wren to be of the stereotypical FMC variety: insanely attractive to every single man, more tomboy than girly-girl, badass and insanely intelligent, and rejective of femininity in favor of being tough (as if the two can’t coexist). 

The world-building was pretty weak, with exposition dropped in at random points that broke immersion. In addition to that, the narrator’s repetition of facts, flashbacks, and conclusions throughout the narrative became distracting. I felt like I was told the same thing three times, on multiple occasions. Despite the immature tone of the writing, there was a fair amount of violence, though it was not excessively graphic. The sex scenes were brief and semi-frequent (around 5), but not especially notable; though I am personally not a fan of smut in books either way. 

The FMC’s attraction to Cross, her commanding officer, felt based solely on his physicality- she also often commented that she felt like her body was betraying her by how it reacted to his presence. I don’t like that trope. Certain plot points were predictable, such as Cross actually being Wolf, the FMC’s childhood telepathy-friend. That said, there were some well-done twists that I really didn’t see coming, including:
 • Lyddie’s betrayal of Wren
 • Wren’s parents actually being traitors
 • Kaine faking his death and being revealed as the famous pilot

I also appreciated that Cross didn’t turn on Wren after learning her true identity. It would’ve been easy for the author to create drama by making him turn on Wren, but instead, he was accepting and loyal, which was refreshing. 

Reading Silver Elite felt like watching cheap reality television: it wasn’t particularly good, but I finished it anyways, and somewhat enjoyed it. I don’t think I’ll be looking for the sequel, but I don’t feel like I wasted hours of my life reading this one. It was a fun, easy read that got me out of a bit of a slump.