Silver Elite: Review, characters, spicy chapters + trigger warnings
Welcome to your new dystopian romantasy addiction, Silver Elite by Dani Francis! I can’t wait for you all to meet Wren Darlington and Cross Redden.
In this post, I’m breaking down the Silver Elite synopsis, characters, revealing where to find all the Silver Elite spicy chapters whether you want to skip them or head directly there, and talk about the spice levels in general.
I also wrote a little Silver Elite review voluntarily, because I got a chance to read an advanced review copy.
So thanks to my pals at Random House Worlds for that. Loved it.
Watch my Silver Elite review on YouTube here or go ahead and hit play above, if that’s your jam.
If you vibe with it, don’t be shy to subscribe. I’m new and winging it.
But anyways, Silver Elite is smart, fast-paced, and just unhinged enough to keep you flipping pages while questioning the ethics of psychic powers, the abuse of power and your taste in morally grey men.
Happy reading friends!
Silver Elite synopsis.
In the first book of a searing new dystopian trilogy, a young woman must conceal her psychic powers—and her attraction to her handsome, infuriating commanding officer—as she works undercover to take down a brutal government from within.
The world is divided. On the Continent, you’re either a Prime—immune to the biotoxin that nearly wiped out the Earth’s population 150 years ago—or a Modified, one who was enhanced by the toxin, developing powerful psychic gifts.
As conflict rages between the two sides, Wren Darlington lives in hiding. Occasionally running the odd op for the rebel Uprising against the Primes’ oppressive rule, she must keep a low profile. After all, if the enemy finds out that she is a Mod with a staggering four psychic abilities, she won’t just be sent to the labor camps. She’ll be executed—immediately and without trial.
When a careless mistake puts Wren in the crosshairs of the Continent’s military, she is taken captive and forced to join their most elite Silver Block. Unwittingly, they’ve handed her the perfect opportunity for the Uprising to strike a devastating blow from inside their ranks. That is, if she can keep her powers hidden, survive training, and prove herself to Cross Redden, her maddeningly cocky commanding officer.
Despite the explosive chemistry between them, Cross doesn’t trust her—even as he seems determined to destroy the remaining shreds of Wren’s self-control. Yet as the war between Primes and Mods escalates, and as Wren and Cross find themselves unable to stay away from each other, they must decide how far they’re willing to go for their secrets—and how much of the Continent is worth saving.
Get Silver Elite here.
Silver Elite characters.
Silver Elite is narrated from a first person point of view, from Wren Darlington’s perspective. The secondary main character and love interest is Cross Redden, Captain of Silver Block. He’s tall, broody, and doesn't smile.
Main characters.
Art shared by author @authordanifrancis and artist @bethgilbert_art
Together, Wren and Cross are about to set BookTok on fire. Here is a breakdown of our two main characters, followed by a list of all Silver Elite characters we meet in the first part of this dystopian-seasoned romantasy trilogy.
Wren Darlington.
Yellow-gold eyes and bronzed skin with brown hair and cheekbones, Wren is a snarky, sarcastic and soft-hearted, very powerful Modified person, also called a “Mod,” with four abilities: Telepathy, mind-reading, projection and incitement.
She kinda gives Katniss meets Tris energy.
Wren’s been trained to stay guarded her entire life, but beneath the surface is a storm of reckless emotion she barely keeps in check. With four abilities: telepathy, mind-reading, projection, and incitement, she’s constantly toeing the line between control and chaos.
Cross Redden.
Cross is described as having cobalt blue eyes, flawless symmetrical features that could’ve been chiselled out of stone, a strong jaw, tanned, muscular with dimples that are always on the brink of appearing as if he wants to smile but can’t quite let it happen.
Supporting characters.
Below are all the characters, besides Wren and Cross, that we meet in Silver Elite, including a list of recruit names for Silver Block, as well as mentioned characters who don’t appear on-page.
Tana Archer
Griff Archer
Jim Darlington (Wren’s uncle)
Roe Dunbar (Cross’ half-brother)
Travis Redden (Cross’ brother)
Vinessa Redden (Cross’ mother)
General Merrick Redden (Cross’ father)
Officer Matt Hadley
Officer Xavier Ford
Soldier Tyler Struck
Deron Radek
Jordan
Rachel Solway
Robbie Solway
Julian Ash
Controller Fletcher
Elsie
Kelley (Wren’s horse)
Declan
Faye
Jayde Valence
Grayson Blake
Dava
Amira
Ivan
Lieutenant Hirai
Ellis
Dr. Harumi
Adrienne
Wolf
Pasha
Shenise
Eleanor
Theo
Ezra
Wexton Jones
Soldiers recruits in Silver Block.
Kaine Sutler
Lydia “Lyddie” De Velde
Betima
Kess Farren
Ivy Eversea
Lash
Pera
Bryce Granger
Anson Booth
Olander
Glin Cotter
Minh
Peter Berghman
Franks
Noah Jones
Ara Zebb
Mentioned names, no appearances.
President Severn
Betta
Nina
Polly
Morlee Hadley
Oden
Marina Serrano
Jake Hess
Silver Elite book review.
Spice level: 🌶🌶🌶
3/5, moderate to hot spice
Silver Elite is what happens when Divergent, The Hunger Games, X-Men, and Minority Report get into an anonymous telepathic group chat moderated by Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks from You’ve Got Mail, except with the spice levels turnt, and it's probably going to be one of the biggest books of the year.
Hello debut author Dani Francis where have you been all our lives.
To set the scene, I had just finished Sunrise on the Reaping and was deep in that post-book mourning period, where I expected to DNF five books and fall into a spiral and had accepted that my next read would be The Great Disappointment.
Instead, Silver Elite said, “Get up, loser, we’re going reading.” And I did.
By 15%, I’d already been emotionally compromised, handed an entire sociopolitical structure, and exposed to themes of surveillance, systemic discrimination, a bit of genocide and the ethics of psychic powers.
That brings me to Wren, our FMC. Wren has got a gun 🎵, (sung to the tune of Janie’s got a gun), a conscience, and one of the most entertaining internal monologues I’ve read in a while.
She’s a witty, sniper-trained telepath who has Professor X meets Katniss energy. Wren would for sure shoot an apple out of a pig’s mouth just to prove a point.
She grapples with power, surveillance, and consent in ways that add depth beneath all the action and romantic slow-burn tension. She’s overpowered but she knows it. And she’s wrestling with what that means.
And then there’s Cross. He’s definitely going to take over BookTok by force. Tall, dark, hot and haunted. He was probably mixed in a lab where they blended Four, Xaden, and Rhysand.
Not gonna lie. Silver Elite does have some of your favourite well-used romantasy tropes. But they don’t feel tired. They feel reinvigorated and handled with narrative purpose.
There is a whisper of a love triangle, but don’t worry, everything gets resolved fairly cleanly, handled like an adult (thank you) and I actually kinda liked it?
There's also an Orwellian undercurrent, but it never feels derivative.
In the spirit of full transparency, I saw the Big Reveal coming from very early on. In fact, I had it circled in red with arrows. But sometimes, seeing it coming doesn’t dull the impact.
Sometimes it makes it better, because the anticipation is half the fun. And in this case, it hit exactly the way it needed to.
Nevertheless, I won’t pretend this book is flawless.
It leans hard into its romantasy flair, so if you're after layered dystopian commentary or intricate worldbuilding, this probably won't scratch that itch. The dystopian elements stay pretty surface-level.
So if you approach this more as romantasy with dystopian seasoning, rather than a deep dive into systemic collapse and profound dystopian themes, you might just fall for it too.
For me, the romantasy lover in me was too busy blushing and kicking my feet like I was reading ACOMAF for the first time to care, hence my rating is definitely a vibes rating, rather than a critical one.
It's chaotic. It’s spicy. It’s emotionally intelligent and self-aware. There’s a quiet subtlety in the way it exposes the cracks in our world through the lens of another.
This book gave me the same high I got from reading the romantasy greats, while still feeling like something new. I devoured this as fast as I could whilst life and adulting got in the way.
I will be camping outside Dani Francis's inbox until book two drops.
Thank you so much to Random House Worlds | Del Rey for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.
🎵 Silver Elite music playlist:
‣ Daddy Lessons by Beyonce
‣ Janie’s got a gun by Aerosmith
‣ This is America by Childish Gambino
‣ Sleeping on the Blacktop by Colter Wall
View my review and follow me on GoodReads here. I chat about books a lot.
Silver Elite book FAQs.
SPOILER ALERT:
Some answers may spoil the book if you haven’t read it already. Proceed with caution.
Is Silver Elite part of a series?
Yes, Silver Elite is book one in a trilogy
What are the content and trigger warnings in Silver Elite?
Murder
Death
Death penalty
Fantasy drug use
Mental illness
Sexual assault (off-page)
Prison
Discrimination
Bigotry
Genocide (off-page)
Grief
War
Explicit sexual content
Medical content
Medical trauma
Forced institutionalization
Cursing
Torture
Schizophrenia/psychosis
Classism
Injury detail/body horror
Confinement
Slavery
How many chapters are in Silver Elite?
There are 55 chapters plus an epilogue in Silver Elite.
Is Silver Elite spicy?
Silver Elite is slow burn but gets pretty red hot spicy!
Spice level: 🌶🌶🌶
3/5, moderate to hot spice, with plenty of sexy moments.
What are the Silver Elite spicy chapters and spice levels?
Whether you’re looking to avoid the spice and still enjoy the story or jump straight into Silver Elite’s spicy chapters, I’ve got you covered!
I’ve mapped out the swoony, spicy chapters and rated the heat using a trusty capsicum-to-chilli scale. Because sometimes you want cute and mildly steamy, sometimes you want to combust and sometimes you want to avoid it altogether.
Here’s where to find all the chapters that earn that spice level emoji rating.
Chapter 28: 🫑
Chapter 29: 🫑🫑
Chapter 31: 🫑🫑🫑
Chapter 32: 🌶🌶🌶
Chapter 35: 🫑
Chapter 37: 🌶🌶🌶
Chapter 42: 🌶
Chapter 45: 🌶🌶
Chapter 48: 🌶🌶
Enjoyed reading Silver Elite? You may also enjoy reading:
The Serpent & the Wings of Night | Six Scorched Roses | The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King | The Songbird & the Heart of Stone | Slaying the Vampire Conqueror
A Court of Thorns & Roses | A Court of Mist & Fury | A Court of Wings & Ruin | A Court of Frost & Starlight | A Court of Silver Flames
Fourth Wing | Iron Flame | Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
One Dark Window | Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig
