3.5 stars

A quick and enjoyable YA. While I thought the plot and twists were predictable, I liked the back and forth between the two main leads. The love triangle was trite, but (spoiler) the ending sort of resolves it. I am looking forward to the sequel.

Witches are no longer welcome in the kingdom and have been systematically rooted out and brutally killed. Rune is more than she appears - vapid socialite to most, but witch rescuer to others. But has she bit off more than she can chew when she decides to try to ensnare Gideon Sharpe, the kingdom's most relentless witch hunter, into her social circle? Or will he instead ensnare her? Swoony scenes will steal your breath, while you wait for the trap to be sprung. Recommended for high school and up

🤍 Thank you for @wednesdaybooks the e-arc of Heartless Hunter by @kristenciccarelli ! 🤍

This. Book. It was dazzling, gritty, exciting, addictive, and romantic. Also, it was so much fun to read it with my book bestie @and.a.good.book!!!

Gideon and Rune were two such strong characters. A lot of darkness has defined most of their lives, shaping them into destined enemies.

But when they are together?! It was an explosion of angsty chemistry.

A witch and a witch hunter. What could go wrong?

If you love:
• enemies to lovers
• fake dating
• Scarlet Pimpernel retelling
• first in a duology
• so. much. tension.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★/5
Steam: one open door scene
TW: blood, violence, death, physical and s*xual abuse (off page)

Heartless Hunter/The Crimson Moth was absolutely captivating from the first page to the very end.. Some of my quick thoughts:

- Ciccarelli's characters were so well flushed out, Our two main characters were equally cunning and clever, which made the Dual POV enjoyable to read. The cat and mouse game between the witch x witch hunter was absolutely addicting. Every time I thought one character had the upper hand on the other, the tables kept turning and turning.

- THE MAGIC SYSTEM. One thing I stan in fantasy books is a hard and well-thought out magic system. I liked that this one was so unique. (TW: blood, self-mutilation) The use of fresh blood and even Rune's menstrual blood was a little ick, but I liked the clear distinction of spells causing a different effect whether the blood was 1. fresh or old and 2. if it was given freely or forcibly taken. The witches also having distinct casting scars and signatures/smells really upped the stakes with them being hunted and purged.

- I agree with a lot of my fellow readers that this book may not have been placed in the correct genre. It definitely felt a new more NA than YA, in my opinion- especially with the traumatic history of Rune and Gideon and some of the subject matter. The amount of chemistry/angst though was just the right amount. 👌🏼

- The overall pacing of the book was pretty consistent- the last sentences of each chapter made it difficult to want to put the book down, which is always a great thing. The last 10% of the book really ramped up and hello?? that ending 🥹😮‍💨. I can honestly say I have no idea how the next book will unfold, but I'm here for the ride.

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday books for the early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts/opinions. In solidarity with the SMP boycott, I will be withholding from posting my review on Goodreads and instagram until the demands of the boycott are met.

NO. NO I REFUSE TO BELIEVE ANY OF THE ENDING. NO THANK YOU PLEASE.

BRING ALEX BACK.

LET RUNE AND GIDEON LOVE EACH OTHER.

TELL VERITY/CRESSIDA TO BE NICE

4.5 stars for Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli!

This books had me hooked quickly. I loved the deception of Rune and getting to see the dual POV of how the main characters were attempting to manipulate and play off of each other. The plot had a great pace and the twist at the end took me by complete surprise. The world building in this was great and fairly straight forward, which I think makes it a great novel for new and seasoned fantasy readers alike . I am very much looking forward to the second!

I could not take this book seriously.

Immediately, I just had a problem with the characters, specifically the love "triangle" between Rune and the brothers. It was a half-baked idea and so extremely unwise and unlikely that Rune would trust Alex with literally anything when she knows how loyal he is to Gideon. Why does she not marry him and then use the intel she could get from him? At one point, it's stated that it would be "impractical" for her to "freely glean" information from him. I'm sorry: In what world does that even make sense? I'm supposed to believe that Gideon is such a ruthless bad boy (at 20, mind you) from his (mishandled) traumas and yet Rune, who was forced to turn in her own grandmother in order to carry on her underground witch rescues, isn't made more ruthless by her own trauma? And yet she has no idea how Alex feels about her but will string him along for help with her witch rescues? How cruel is that??? The emotional stakes are absent.

So many tropes and nothing interesting done with them. And with a name like 'Rune' how is she not suspect no. 1 for the Crimson Moth?

This one was not for me.

This captivating and enchanting romanticy is stunning. I couldn't read this fast enough! But now I'm left hanging waiting for the next book!! I need the next book to know what happens next!!! I loved Ruin and Gideon's story. Loved this so much this is going on my to keep shelf!
I just reviewed Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC.

The storyline was interesting, especially the nuances with the witchcraft and the consequences of spells. There were some tropes I also enjoyed. This was shaping to be a 5 star read until I got to the 85% section and then the main characters made a slew of decisions that were perplexing and disappointing.

My frustration with the ending is overpowering my thoughts on this book. I’m at 3.5/5 stars. I feel like I’ll still read the next book as I’d like to see how this ends. I’m really hoping things can be redeemed as I think this will be amongst the most popular fantasy books of the year.

A witchy game of cat and mouse? Yes, please! This was a really decent fantasy however I don’t know if I personally would classify this as YA.

In a world where witches are deemed out to be purged from their society, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth. A witch vigilante that rescues other witches, only when a rescue goes awry, she decides to get close with the enemy for intel.

I really enjoyed the writing style of this book, well written in my opinion. The story was a bit hard to get into at first as I didn’t think it started off real strong but I did come to really love this cat and mouse game. Enemies to lovers is always fun! I enjoyed Rune’s chapters over Gideons but I don’t really have a specific reason other than I liked Rune’s character more. Gideon was not a good person and I disliked his character entirely. The chapters are decent and the story, once it picks up, flows nicely.

There’s more romance as the story evolves and there is a bit of a love triangle, kind of. While not the best witchy book I’ve read, it was still interesting and I’ll probably read the sequel.

3.5 stars

Heartless Hunter starts strong and introduces a young witch who is plotting and actively rescuing other witches in her society! I absolutely loved the tropes in this book! We saw enemies to lovers, cat and mouse, witch and witch hunter, and fake dating (or are we really dating?) and love triangles! Would absolutely recommend!

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review, and all opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!


The Crimson Moth is just as good as the stunning cover leads you to believe, and the cover is so gorgeous. This book is about a young witch who had to endure a horrible choice to keep herself and other witches safe when the Blood Guard takes over her town, slaying witches and their sympathizers. Rune, the main character, pretends to be a carefree socialite, loyal to the Blood Guard, while keeping her identity as the Crimson Moth, Witch Viggalantie, a secret. However, that secret is at risk when she ends up falling for Gideon, a ruthess witch hunter. 


I loved this book!! The writing was excellent. It was engaging from the first page, and the characters were likable and flawed in realistic ways. I found it to be a very quick read that I didn't want to put down, and I will be very quick to order the sequel when it comes out. I loved the twist at the end, and I think they wrapped up most of my questions while leaving a good amount left for the next book. I definitely recommend this book and can not wait to get a physical copy! 4.5/5 stars!

This was so good! I love a good witch story and this one is top notch! It has dark, spooky vibes. You get the perfect amount of hints for the secrets along the way. I felt it was paced really well.
Rune was a great FMC. I loved that she never was completely fooled. She was very good at playing her part.
Gideon was almost perfect too. I think he was equally intelligent but he lets people manipulate him and his thoughts. I can’t wait for him to start thinking and choosing for himself!
This book is a true Enemies to Lovers and I loved it so much! It was really great having a dual pov too because you can sympathize with both characters and both sides of this fight. This book hooked me from the beginning and I never fully knew what was going to happen next which is the best! I loved how the whole ending came together too. Enemies to Lovers to Enemies again. Yes! I love it and I can’t wait for the next installment! Also, the cover of this book is perfection to me. I love everything about this book 🖤
5/5 Highly Recommend if you want a good enemies to lovers, witch fantasy! So so good!

Thank you St Martins, Kristen Ciccarelli, and Netgalley for the eARC!

WOW 4.8/5 stars

I am still processing this book! I really really enjoyed this story, the characters, the twists and turns!

Plot:
It was a little slow to get into, the first 10% was a build up, but BOY after that - we took off and it was a never ending cycle of secrets, lies, and plot twists. I mean the ending alone had my mouth drop - literally drop.

Magic system/ world building:
The witches magic was SO cool. It was quite complex for what read like a YA book. But not hard to follow. Written well.

Characters:
MFC - UGH to die for. I loved reading her POV. She was such a likeable character. She was secretive, but sensitive, thoughtful and had critical thinking skills. A little impulsive at times, but with such high emotions and the trauma history, it all worked.

Our MMC Gideon - I liked him, a lot. He definitely had the most back story and I am interested to see where the story is going for him. HE'S A HURT LITTLE BABY and I just want to hold him. The author wrote him so well, morally grey on the softer side.

Side characters - I just wanted a DASH more about them, but when I got to the end, I understood why we didn't get as much as I hoped for.

The Love Triangle- Just a LITTLE bit was missing for it to be a true love triangle. But I felt the pull the MFC was feeling.

Overall - This was a fantastic read and I highly HIGHLY recommend fantasy readers to put this on their TBR !!

When I say I AM SOBBING

WHAT!?!?!?!

I wasn’t expecting any of that and I am HURTING for it. This is why I have a love hate relationship with arcs, although I am IMMENSELY grateful to have been approved for this one.

I need to have this book released and book 2 in the works like yesterday cause that ending??

NO

I REFUSE.

This was SUCH A GOOD book. The concept, the worldbuilding, the relationships, the TWISTS WHAT?!

I need more.

That’s it.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an arc of this book.

I will say that if you like Serpent & Dove (at least book 1) you'll probably like this one as well. It's really about the same level of interesting things happening and romance as S&D. However, there are definitely are a few differences.

I think the main difference is that it definitely feels a bit more enemies -- I guess I have no idea how to explain it. When I was reading it I was really getting S&D vibes. But it was good enough on its own and I'm definitely invested for the second book.

I think the major thing that I kind of wished about this book was that -- it's hard to explain. I felt like something was missing and I don't know what it was but like it's a solid four star read for me. I was really invested but I have no idea how to explain why I felt like something was missing. Or maybe it was just so similar to some other books I've read about witch hunters and witches that it just it just didn't give me what I was looking for.

I really enjoyed our main character. Rune, I thought she was really intriguing. I definitely liked her arc in this book. I think that there was one part towards the end I was kind of unhappy with but overall I really did like her arc.

This book definitely is very on the end of morally gray and what's good versus evil like what side is good? What side is bad yet at the same time it was done in a way that you kind of still - there's a side you want to root for.

I thought the book was really well written. It was really easy to get into it flowed and it was a dual point of view book. So our two main characters Gideon and Rune both had chapters in this book and we kind of get two points of you so it was kind of interesting to see that.

Overall, I think this was a really solid first entry and a new witch hunter witches enemies to lovers YA series. Although it definitely had some more little more, I wouldn't say it's explicit spice. It's definitely not as as tame as some other YA books. So just before warned about that it's not closed door.

I think the thing that most about this book is that I really wished some of the side characters were a little bit stronger. I felt sometimes they were left behind for the main characters and that they didn't add too terribly much to the book. I feel like this really plays into the end of the book as well. Just that I think things would have been much better at the end of the book if the side characters were stronger.

I am very excited for the next book in the series, so I am looking forward to it!

From page one, this gave me Serpent & Dove vibes. I mean, c’mon. A witch and a witch hunter falling in love and damning the consequences? I’ve read this story before.

But honestly, that basic principle is where the similarities end. I was hooked on this story and Rune and Gideon from there very first page, and I was wholly unprepared for just how much I would love this book.

First, our girl Rune. Living in plain sight as a witch, the infamous Crimson Moth who has spent the last few years setting free her fellow witches when the Blood Guard captures them to save them from the purging. She’s fiercely loyal to her cause, and she’s such a badass. Some of her antics had my heart in my throat, terrified she was going to get caught. But she’s so damn clever that it was impossible for the hunters get their hands on her.

Gideon is my new book boyfriend. A sexy, grumpy hunter who hates witches with every fiber of his being even though he’s falling for one? Say. Less. Gideon has been hurt deeply in his past because of the witches, and he’s on a mission to track down the Crimson Moth and put an end to the witch rebellion once and for all.

These two together—fated. Despite everything working against them, it was impossible for them to resist the pull.

This book was full of adrenaline, heart, grief and trauma, and twists and turns that’ll keep you guessing until the very last chapter.

The characters in Heartless Hunter are well-developed and with great, individual personalities. It was a great storyline and was well written, but honestly, it wasn't my cup of tea. I can see this being a hit with so many readers.

A delicious witch x witch-hunter romance with so much swoon and intrigue. If you liked romance dynamic in Serpent and Dove, you'll love Rune and Gideon. There is something so perfect about an enemies to lovers witch/witch-hunter romance and this book fulfills on the trope so well!

Heartless Hunter follows Rune, a witch whose whole world changed when she was forced to make a heart-wrenching decision in the aftermath of a revolutions. Witches were once the most powerful rulers and now they're ruthlessly hunted. Rune must hide what she truly is and not what she portrays – a vapid socialite. In reality, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who saves witches from being murdered. Everything is going fine until a rescue goes wrong and she decides to gain intel to fix her problem by wooing the handsome and notoriously ruthless witch Hunter, Gideon.

What follows is an incredible tale of secrets, bloody history, cat and mouse dynamic, and steamily swoony romance as Rune and Gideon dance around each other with ulterior motives that could wind up with one of them dead. Or, in love.

I loved Rune and Gideon's romance and I was obsessed with the dynamic between the two. Witch and witch-hunter enemies to lovers romances are so top tier!! Rune was such a strong main character who is really cunning and duplicitous while having a huge heart. Gideon was so misunderstood and as much as I loved him, man did he frustrate me with his witch hate! But overall, those two are such strong characters and I loved the growth and betrayals they experienced and caused. Alex is a sweetheart and I loved the dynamic he had with Rune for the most part. Same with Verity, her best friend who helped her on the missions and saving witches. The cast of characters is really good in this one!

Okay, that ending was sooooo heart-wrenching. I cannot even. No spoilers but wow to the two major twists!! Was not expecting either at all and I will not be getting over either anytime soon.

I loved the world and cannot wait for the sequel as it seems like it might focus more on the witch's and that's what I felt was slightly lacking from this first book. While I loved the introduction to the magic system and witches in the first book, I did want more so I'm really looking forward to the direction the sequel appears to be going in. But what we did see of the world and the magic was super interesting and I loved the twist on blood magic and revolution.

Overall, this is a really strong first book in a new duology and I definitely think it deserves all the hype it's getting! Check it out when it releases in Feb!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing and ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Kristen Ciccarelli, Netgalley, and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for the eARC. Much appreciated!

I do feel like I say this with a lot of YA these days--especially these days, particularly in the last six or so years--but this had potential that was simply not realized. Either by the author who doesn't yet have the skill, or by the publisher/editor who did not let her. YA has several edges over Adult--it's often more carefree, fast-paced, and charmingly romantic, but this one fell flat in one big angle where it could have excelled in.

Worldbuilding.

The world simply wasn't built enough for a rich, imagined world, and YA is often bogged down with expectation--that it has to have a certain amount of romance (it doesn't; I know plenty of teens who are fine without a strong romantic core), that it has to be paced in such a manner to keep a teen's attention (understandable, but slower burn stories are absolutely important), that readers are only capable of worldbuilding as an aesthetic rather than a function. That is a big part of how it fell flat for me.

HEARTLESS HUNTER had so many great concepts--enemies-to-lovers, witches, vigilantes--that were not fully realized within the book. A lot of it felt toned down for an YA audience, with several Adult themes, whereas I felt if it had been a proper Adult novel, all these concepts mentioned above could be dug into more deeply to enrich the narrative. I suspect, also, that several readers are going to have issues with the SA storyline, which needed to be examined more thoroughly in order to be respectful. I'm not saying these issues cannot be explored in YA (they should) but I don't feel the author had the skill or nuance to handle it correctly for a YA audience. I would be very reluctantly, as a librarian, to recommend this to a teen looking for a a respectful, honest, or raw depiction of SA in a fantasy setting.

The romance also did not feel as authentic as it should've, and I stand by my opinion that enemies-to-lovers is the hardest trope to pull off correctly.

Overall, I don't think this is a bad book, and I hope the author keeps developing their skill, but ultimately, this is a "been there, done that" sort of story where that's been done better elsewhere. I have rated this book three stars (closer in my head to 2.5) because I thought the prose was solid and the potential is clearly there. I hope this series truly flowers in its sequels!