I devoured this book. And I definitely wasn't ready for it to end. Book 2 can't come fast enough, although I have no idea where they are going to go from that ending.

This book pulled no punches. Every character was, at best, morally ambiguous. I loved the MC, and the magic system was creative and well fleshed out.

Definitely recommend.

Wow. Let’s me start off by saying I was not ready for how much I was going to love this book. It’s that high romantic fantasy where you just have a range of emotions. Witch who pretends to be a silly and dumb elite to hide her secret identify. A witch hunter who keeps being outsmarted by said witch and has a tragic backstory…
The banter is phenomenal. The tension is pretty much started from the meeting of the two main characters in the first couple chapters. They are both trying to use each other to get information for the opposing side. They are constantly fighting yet also respecting the wit the other has.
Rune is a secret witch trying to get all the witches out of the kingdom for atonement of telling the authorities her grandmother is a witch. The magic system does use blood magic so trigger warning for self mutilation. She is smart but I like that the author shows her inexperience really with falling in love. I do feel conflicted on her relationship with Alex. I’m hoping the second novel will really discuss if she actually felt more or if she was just pretending. I was very much rooting for her while also sometimes screaming at the book.
Gideon… I didn’t honestly think I could find a name like that attractive but here we are. He is the hero for the town. The captain of the witch hunters who is obliviously to women. His interactions felt realistic because most of the time he kept messing up. I loved that the love interest was dense in actually courting a girl and tries too hard at times.
The chemistry between the two was amazing. I really just loved how it felt like love between two people that are so similar but also opposite sides. I was happy to say it wasn’t a true love triangle but the younger brother of the love interest does show feelings for the main character. It’s definitely best friends older brother trope for sure. But this is a really captivating story that some parts are predictable but others left my jaw on the floor. I can’t wait to read the sequel!