emmabemba 's review for:

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

3.5

adventurous mysterious tense medium-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

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Okay… I have mixed feelings about this one. I won’t lie — I read it in under 5 hours and was hooked from the start. It was GOOD. Like, really entertaining. But… I still walked away feeling a little meh 🫠 

Let’s start with the good:

The enemies to lovers dynamic? Elite. Rune is a witch, Gideon is a witch hunter, and the tension between them is everything. Banter? Check. Angst? Absolutely. Secrets and hatred bubbling under the surface? YESSS. The fantasy world was also well done — nothing confusing, and the world-building flowed smoothly.

BUT here’s where it fell flat for me:

I expected more from Rune’s character. She’s supposed to be this clever, borderline unhinged badass — and what we got instead? Not even close 😩 She had potential but felt muted and underwritten. Same goes for Gideon — I loved him, don’t get me wrong (grumpy with a tragic past is my kryptonite), but for someone who’s supposed to be sharp, he missed a lot of really obvious clues. Like sir… please be serious 😭

And then… the love triangle.

I don’t like them. I never do. And here? It just frustrated me. I could’ve accepted both guys as viable love interests, but then Alex did what he did… and I just can’t forgive that. No remorse. No real guilt. Just vibes 🥴 And the fact that his actions triggered a whole domino of events makes me even madder. Like bro… REALLY??

The ending though? WHEW. I did not see that coming 😱🔥

So now I’m stuck — do I jump straight into book 2 or take a breather and prepare myself emotionally first?