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A review by kaigar96
Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
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
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Genocide, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, Violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Domestic abuse and Death of parent