Broken Dove

by Dani Francis ★★★★☆

Like with previous reviews of books in a series, I will start with a warning:

If you have not yet read Silver Elite, STOP READING THIS NOW! 

My review below is of its sequel, Broken Dove, which will contain a summary (and major spoilers) for Silver Elite, but no spoilers for Broken Dove. If you're thinking about diving into the series, my review of Silver Elite is here to help you decide if it's right for you.

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Silver Elite Summary (including spoilers)

If you're preparing to read Broken Dove but need a refresher, here's a quick rundown of key things to remember from the end of Silver Elite:

• Silver Elite's climactic event is the Jubilee, in which several key events take place:

  • While trying to plant explosives on behalf of the Uprising, Wren is discovered by Jayde, the powerful mid-reading Mod who is working with Command. To save herself and her secret, Wren incites Jayde into shooting herself in the head. Cross helps her cover up what happened before anyone can find out.

  • As part of the infiltration of the event, the Uprising leader Adrienne corrupts General Merrick Redden's mind while he's giving a speech, rendering him permanently incapacitated. Wren is conflicted—while she hates General Redden, the brutality of the attack on his mind leaves her questioning if there is a good side in the fight.

• Wren must flee the city, but Cross can't go with her. Instead, he sends his lifelong best friend, Lieutenant Xavier Ford, and tasks him with protecting Wren with his life.

• The pair journey into and across the Blacklands, where Wren spent much of her childhood in hiding with Uncle Jim Darlington. It was later revealed that Uncle Jim was actually a man named Julian Ash, who had deserted the Uprising so that he could shelter Wren at the request of Wren's mother.

• When they stop for shelter at her childhood homestead in the Blacklands, Wren finds a letter that Uncle Jim had left her before his death. In it, he reveals that her parents are actually the infamous "Tin Block Traitors." They coordinated the bombing of Valterra Ridge from the inside, the most devastating attack on Mods in their history, resulting in the death of thousands. Wren’s real name is Stella Hess.

• There's one more surprise for Wren. When she and Ford make it out of the Blacklands to the Uprising extraction point, she's greeted by none other than Kaine Sutler, a fellow recruit who she believed had died during a rescue mission. In reality, he had faked his death, and it is revealed that he is none other than Grayson Blake, the much-talked-about hotshot pilot working with the Uprising. Wren and Kaine/Grayson had a flirtatious relationship during training, and at one point they kissed (before Wren and Cross became entangled). There is sexual tension there.

Broken Dove Review

Broken Dove picks up immediately where Silver Elite left us all hanging. Wren Darlington has made it through the Blacklands to the Uprising's secret base, the Dagger, with Xavier Ford in tow. Wren is questioned by The Authority, a five-person panel of leadership over the Uprising. Both Adrienne (the corrupter from Silver Elite) and Grayson Blake sit on the panel, along with new characters we meet that might just have a connection to Wren's past. Wren emerges from the questioning without revealing her relationship with Cross Redden, but she does tell them that she can incite.

Grayson becomes Wren's guide at the Dagger, introducing her to his friends and helping her to get acclimated, but when someone leaks the fact that Wren is an inciter, she becomes even more of an outsider. To compound her loneliness, she's rarely able to link with Cross. She begins training, both to harness her abilities and learn to control how she incites, as well as helping to train other members of the Uprising in marksmanship. Meanwhile, Ford is held in a cell; while the Uprising may loosely trust Wren, Ford is clearly the enemy, and his days seem to be numbered.

The vast majority of the novel takes place at the Dagger, and it's a deep dive into the inner workings of the Uprising. There are a few missions that take our main characters off-base, but the interactions with Command—and Wren's interactions with Cross—are very limited. Cross's brother Travis Redden assumes the leadership role vacated by his now-catatonic father, and instead of tensions easing they rise. It seems inevitable that war is coming, and Wren will be forced to choose a side.

While many of the elements that made Silver Elite a winner are present here, Broken Dove didn't strike quite the same chord with me. There are even more abilities we come to learn about beyond the seven that were introduced in the first book. There are additional reveals and yet another cliffhanger (that is even more inexplainable than the last), and quite honestly it started to feel like the mysterious Dani Francis was trying too hard to create surprising moments. Entertaining, but not at the same level as the first book, and I'm a little concerned that the series is trending in the wrong direction.

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Quick Facts

• Title: Broken Dove

• Author: Dani Francis

• Publisher: Del Rey

• Release Date: May 12, 2026

• Format: Ebook

• ISBN-13: 978-0593875506

• Pages: 591