Red-Haired Ash Reads

Ten years ago dimensional gates appeared around the world and changed life for everyone. Adaline is an Assessor who goes into the breaches to identify magic metals and medicine all to help Earth try to repel the enemies in the gates. While she has gone into over 100 gates, this gate ends up different and she ends up trapped in it with only a dog for company. Now she has to find her way out of the breach so she can get home to her kids. 

When I saw Ilona Andrews was releasing a new book I was so excited because I love everything they write. With this book I couldn’t put it down but I also didn’t want to finish it because I knew it would be a while before the next book was released. 

Adaline’s story of being trapped in a gate and then fighting to survive was fascinating and action packed. This whole story mainly revolves around Adaline and her dog Bear as they make their way through the many tunnels to find a way back to the exit. We see Adaline go from a scared woman to a badass warrior as this book progresses, and I loved every moment of it. Also I loved Bear’s progression as well. She was a scared german shepherd in the beginning but by the end she was a warrior doggo who would do anything to protect Adaline. 

While this is mostly told through Adaline’s POV, we do get some chapters set in the human world told by the Guildmaster of Cold Chaos, Elias McFeron. What POV we got of Elias was really interesting and showed a man with principles. I really enjoyed his POV and his dedication to protecting Adaline’s children, and entering the breach to find out the truth about what happened. I am just really interested in learning more about Cold Chaos now. Also, I love that he didn’t kill an animal just because it was an alien. 

Ilona Andrews has created another fantastic world with this book. The gates and the creatures within were just fascinating and very original. I love learning about all the different aliens and seeing the return of some old aliens (if you read the Innkeeper Chronicles anyways). I really can’t wait to see what will happen next for Adaline, and how Elias and Cold Chaos will be a part of it. 

Overall, I loved this book and how kickass Adaline was. I can’t wait to read the next book to find out what will happen next for her and Bear. I also wonder if we will be seeing more crossover from the Innkeeper Chronicles. 

TW: death; violence; poisoning; abandonment (past and present); suicide mentioned; torture and planned starvation; death of wife and son mentioned; cancer mentioned; anxiety; toxic parents; 

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