I don't really like super heavy politics and I just couldn't get invested. I really could care less as to what happened to both of the main characters.

3.75 stars!

A solid introduction to a dystopian world where a lot more is going on than is visible at the start. This is the first P. A. Mason book I have read and I enjoyed it enough that I went right out and bought the start of another of her series. Hopefully the next entry in this series will follow soon! I'm looking forward to seeing how things shake out.

This story has quite an original premise whereby portals have opened up around the world
- magical portals . Our heroine has been tasked to uses her magics to learn as much
as she can about an elven captive , especially his language ........... peace being the ultimate
goal .
I was a bit frustrated at times as the story felt a choppy but it soon smoothed out .
The story held many twists and turns with characters that I became invested in and
I look forward to where the storyline will take us next

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Portals from magical worlds have opened up all over Earth. Asha Lopez has been fighting in that war, as one of the soldiers with magical abilities for fifteen years. She unleashed a burst of fire that killed her parents when the portals opened, She had been fifteen. According to P.A. Mason, an Elf was captured and hadn’t committed suicide as Elves usually do. Asha is assigned to the The Elf Captive (paper) to learn his language and more about him while her superiors are involved with negotiations that might bring peace. This is an interesting world. While the tale ended where I expected, I’m looking forward to Aesha’s further adventures in the Elven world.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the Arc in exchange for my honest review.
I really enjoyed the FMC and MMC. I like that she stood by her beliefs even if it was going against what she learned was the “right way”. I just wish I saw more of a connection with them.
I really liked the storyline and the concept! Some parts seemed a bit choppy but overall it was easy to follow the storyline and read.
The description was right about slow burn and don’t get me wrong I love a slow burn but for me personally it was just a lot slow.

I’ve read this author’s books before so was glad to see she was writing a new series. I was actually reluctant to start this, with no idea why, but I started anyway because I know I would like it. This is an interesting and engaging story with a somewhat unique universe. Asha didn’t really click with me at first, but I definitely liked Barney (!) as soon as we were introduced to him. I liked the twists and turns, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

Overall, this book was amazing. Honestly speaking, i’m not the biggest fan of fantasy but this story had me gripped from the start.

The fmc is a strong, determined woman + the treatment of the mmc in prison had her (and me!) in shock.

Despite being enemies, they quickly find they both agree on a lot of things when it comes to ‘the gate’.

Also, love, love, love the military aspect.

All throughout this, i was trying to figure out what the plot twist was going to be + trying to unravel the secrets. I was genuinely making notes and trying to link things up like a crazy woman.

This urban fantasy book caught my attention from the outset - we jump into the scene about 20 years after portals opened that led to incursions of magical creatures and humans manifested magical power, sometimes with devastating consequences. Our main character, Asha, struggles to even use her power because of her traumatic introduction to magic. She has just returned from an offworld mission, and because of her facility with learning magic, she is tasked with attempting to gain fluency in Elvish by interrogating an elvish prionser, the first one that she's known to have been held in captivity for any length of time.

With most books like this, you can guess how the book is going to go - she's going to find herself intrigued, the elf surprises himself with attraction to her, and they happily escape together. It was a pleasant surprise that both individuals feel so strongly about their roles and duties that they tried their best to stay true to their mission - Asha in learning Elvish without torture, and "Barney" in not teaching the more private dialect that wasn't for trade purpose. There really wasn't ever a point where either individual professes undying, unreasonably deep love, just a shared realization that they both wanted to survive what life was throwing their way.

I look forward to reading about the continued adventure - it's wonderful to have an author writing in my favorite urban fantasy genre!

Thank you BooksGoSocial for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was a really good book going to check out more of Mason books highly recommend so happy I got to review 😊

This was a very fun read. More of a military sci-fi and less of a typical fae romantasy. Instead of the different types of non human character being from a place like Underhill, they're from different planets that have accessed earth via magical portals. It does end on a cliffhanger, but it didn't come as a surprise, and I intend to read on anyway. Thank you for the chance to read this ARC!

This was a really fun, although slightly dark fantasy. I really enjoyed it, and honestly probably would have enjoyed it more as an audiobook! Thank you to the author for the arc!