Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

114 reviews

annhenry's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Sexual content

tmholsman_1994's review against another edition

I got this book from my local library because of a review I saw about it and 186 pages in I agree with the review. I was reading it fast because it reads like a tropey YA read that I personally don't care for anymore. I did skip ahead and spoiled the ending for myself so I feel like I'm not missing out on anything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Death, Police brutality, Blood, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, and Self harm

I'm a little sad that Rune didn't end up with Alex and that Alex died. Plus I didn't really ever like Gideon

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual content, Body horror, Torture, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Confinement

kaigar96's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Genocide, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Domestic abuse and Death of parent

spatterson7's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Genocide, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Sexual content, Cursing, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Drug use, Gaslighting, Addiction, Self harm, Abandonment, Torture, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Child death, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

hannahparadise's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Lost potential 😪

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm and Blood

straybutterfly's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Abandonment, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Blood, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol and Cursing

folded_between_pages_of_books's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Body horror, and Death of parent

kitkat562's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

In the beginning and middle of this book I really thought about DNFing it, and if I didn’t I was expecting it to be a 2.5-3 star read. Obviously, that has changed. Holy crap the last 150ish pages of the book had me glued! I’m excited to read the next one, and I hope we get to see more of a badass Rune! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Drug abuse

haleycanread's review against another edition

• 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

3.5

Obviously didn’t hate it, but it was lacking something for me 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Blood