Reviews with content warning for Torture - Heartless Hunter

Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

27 reviews

witcheep's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The relationshis in this book are messy, and I love it! The FMC witch Rune and the love interest MMC witch hunter Gideon both decide to seduce each other for information, but begin to develop feelings for each other. They both have strong-minded friends who have opinions about what they should do regarding the flirty foe, and this makes the relationship even messier.

While the seduction game is ongoing, the surrounding society is trying to slaughter every last witch, and a revolution of rebel witches is quietly forming in the sidelones. There are murmurs of old enemies, whispers of wished allies, and hopes for a future where no one needs to suffer anymore. Both sides must ask themselves what kind of world they want to live in: one where there is room for mercy, or one where the end result can be chased after by any means necessary. Moreover, Rune and Gideon must ask themselves if they can find room for love in their lives between the opposing sides in this current society. The book does this well, wrapping questions of prejudice, justice, classism, and revenge into an entertaining romantasy plot.

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kaigar96's review against another edition

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This book made my heart whole and then ripped it into a million pieces. Heartless Hunter follows a witch (Rune) who spends her night as The Crimson Moth saving other witches from death and a witch hunter (Gideon) whose sole mission is to find The Crimson Moth. The two attempt to court each other to gain information, but begin to fall for each other.

The first 50 pages were slow to get into, but then I couldn't get through the rest fast enough. Usually stories like this have a sudden switch where one of the characters instantly falls, feeling like a different personality. This book doesn't do that. Heartless Hunter has perfected the enemies to lovers trope. Both Rune and Gideon are true enemies who really get to spend time learning about the other. As a reader, you get to learn more about each character and better understand the reasons for their missions as well as their struggles underneath. You can't help but root for these characters as they work through their histories and begin to care deeply for each other. HOWEVER, this is not a story where they fall in love and have a perfect ending. By the end of this book, the characters are still deeply troubled by their pasts and are still very much rooted into their past mindsets. Overall, this book is perfect for readers who are looking for enemies-to-lovers done well, heartpounding cat and mouse, or heartbreaking twists. Please see listed content ratings.

Regarding the ending - I've never been more stressed or heartbroken reading a book.

While I understand the pain Gideon felt, what he did feels irredeemable to me. Obviously he loves his brother and was falling for Rune, but to send both of them to be killed was just.... I'm assuming he'll grow and regret in the second book, but at the end of the day, he's still committing gruesome acts of violence against witches. This is done well by the author so it is completely my reading prefernce, but I just don't enjoy a story where a victim ends up with a person who mass genocided her people and attempted to murder her too

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spatterson7's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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folded_between_pages_of_books's review against another edition

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dark hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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doahdancer's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is going to be my dark horse of 2024. I was expecting only 25% of the amazing story that was delivered. This has epic enemies to lovers, amazing plot twists, yearning, spice, a well designed magic system... when a reviewer I trust DNF'd this book I seriously questioned if I should bother, but as usual, letting myself make up my own mind was the best choice.

Hard disagree with this being labeled YA. This is solidly NA as the themes are intense. Mind the TWs, but barring those, run, don't walk, to read this book.

Sequel coming Feb 2025.

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caitlinspeachyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I struggled to put this book down, I wanted to read it at every free second! I will be thinking of the characters a lot, ugh hurry up February 2025….

I cannot think properly after that ending….what, why, how? I guessed the big twist, but there are clues throughout the book. Now I have to wait 7-8 months to find out what happens…

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kteliza28's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The plot of the story- mortal enemies knowingly using each other, trying to outwit the other for their own gain- is one I enjoyed. I like that both Gideon and Rune were equally sly and cunning. I had more love for Gideon and his back story than Runes though. By the end of the book, with the the chaos and twists, I was beginning to side more and more with Gideon, which is maybe the way it is supposed to be set up for the next book. As a reader, I was left feeling torn about how I should feel.

The loss of Alex was emotional and kind of made me hate Rune. I felt like his death was directly her fault. He’s giving Tamlin vibes a little from how much he desired her and it wasn’t fully returned but he felt he should have her.
I was suspicious of Verity early on but did not expect her to be Cressida. That was a good twist.
I feel like I’m missing some backstory with Gideon and Laila. Their connection seems stronger than just basically co-workers.
The disdain between Gideon and Rune could also use more backstory. I also feel they fell for each other too easily.

I do wish there was more connection I felt to Rune as a reader. I want to root for her but I often wasn’t. Because there is no resolve in this book, I am curious about the next.
I really don’t know how I feel about the period blood usage to cast spells but alright hahaha.

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