Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Anhaga
AUTHOR: Lisa Henry
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 220 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 23, 2019
BLURB:
Aramin Decourcey—Min to his few friends—might be the best thief in Amberwich, and he might have a secret that helps him survive the cutthroat world of aristocratic families and their powerful magic users, but he does have one weakness: his affection for his adopted nephew, Harry.
When the formidable Sabadine family curses Harry, Min must accept a suicide mission to save his life: retrieve Kazimir Stone, a low-level Sabadine hedgewitch who refuses to come home after completing his apprenticeship… and who is in Anhaga, a seaside village under the control of the terrifying Hidden Lord of the fae. If that wasn’t enough, Kaz is far from the simple hedgewitch he seems.
With the Sabadines on one side and the fae on the other, Min doesn’t have time to deal with a crisis of conscience—or the growing attraction between him and Kaz. He needs to get Kaz back to Amberwich and get Harry’s curse lifted before it kills him. Saving Harry means handing Kaz over to his ruthless family. Saving Kaz means letting Harry die. Min might pride himself on his cleverness, but he can’t see his way out of this one.
The Hidden Lord might see that he never gets the choice.
REVIEW:
You know, I really liked this book but I had a few issues that just bothered me. And not about the writing or anything like that per se, but about the relationship between Min and Kaz. Min should have done the right thing from the beginning when Harry was ok but didn’t. He just left him collared and at his fate. Until Harry woke his ass up.
Min is in a no win situation. I feel for him. Harry has been like a little brother to him for over 5 years, when he took him under his wing and out of the streets or whatever he was into. So when Harry was captured and cursed with a mark on his face, Min knew he had no choice but to do what these evil men wanted. These Sabadines are not good men and it shows in all they do. But Min can’t leave Harry to die. So he goes after Kaz like they ask to retrieve him. When he gets to Kaz, he makes a few discoveries that no one seems to know. Kaz is gifted. And with gifts he didn’t expect. But because he’s half fae, he has to collar him in iron and chain him. He doesn’t know what all Kaz is capable of and seeing just a small glimpse is enough to make him nervous. He eventually releases the chains but not the collar, knowing they are hurting him. And Harry is not happy he’s still chained at all. I wasn’t either. When they get back to the Sabadines after a rough journey, Min is starting to finally realize he cares a lot about Kaz and doesn’t want to let him go. But he thinks he has no choice. They try to break Kaz out but it fails. But what they don’t realize is how much power Kaz really has and who his father really is. And the prison they put him in comes to ruins as he shatters it and destroys those holding him. And because of the anger, no one but him may make it out alive.
I’m still so frustrated with Min. I understand the deal with Harry. He doesn’t want him to die. But he could have acted much sooner than he did, with as good at stuff he’s supposed to be. I’m still upset he kept poor Kaz collared in iron when he could have released him so many times. Especially when he realized he was really starting to care for the man.
And Kaz. Gah, that poor baby. Lied to and treated like the shit on your shoes his whole life until he got to go away for a while for his prentice. That saved him. He was so lonely but it saved him for a while. At least til Min showed up. He was told his mother was dead, his fault, his father raped her and he was a monster his whole life. None of which was true. It was used to manipulate him. And my heart just broke for this poor boy who just wanted love and to be free.
I think you guys will like it. I’m just still miffed at Min. Maybe I will get over it soon lol.
RATING: 
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