May 24

May 24 Silver Elite

About the book

Author: Dani Francis
Publisher: Del Rey

More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.

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My Review

With all the hype and chatter about this book (and the identity of the author, as this is a pen name), I had to read it for myself — whether to join the conversation for good or ill. In the end, I came out pretty neutral. It was an exciting story that made for a fun read, but it wasn’t a favorite and I’m torn on whether I’ll read the subsequent books.

Set in a dystopic future, the book is about Wren Darlington, who is a mod — short for “modified,” aka one of those whose DNA was altered by the big nuclear war that ended the world as you and I know it. Mods present a range of telepathic abilities, and they are hunted and executed. The veins in their arms typically give them away, as they glow when a mod uses their abilities — but not Wren’s. So when she finds herself forcibly recruited into their most elite military training program, she makes for the perfect spy. If only it weren’t for the sexual charge between her and the enemy commander.

Anyone who loved Fourth Wing will probably love this book too, although the worldbuilding and plot is much simpler (perhaps not a bad thing, tbh). I thought the concept of mods and the different abilities they possess was interesting and novel, but I also found the plot pretty predictable and the spicy scenes a bit mediocre (not enough emotion).

The book’s PR team as positioned it as the Hunger Games in the adult genre, but IMO, the only parallel is that they’re both dystopian. If you really love this kind of military romantasy candy, you should pick it up. But otherwise my verdict is you can probably skip it.