Book Review: Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

It has been years since I last read a book by Kristen Ciccarelli. This was The Pirate Thief, the final book in the Iskari series which I really enjoyed. However, this was before pandemic times and before my reading preferences shifted slowly but steadily away from young adult and especially young adult fantasy. I still read these books ocassionally, but I’m very picky now. However, when I saw reviews for Heartless Hunter, I became curious. This is the first book in a new series about a witch and a witch hungter. Not that unique, but there are plenty of positive reviews which, of course, sparked my curiosity. I was a little confused though, because this book has been released as both Heartless Hunter and The Crimson Moth. I still don’t get the difference.

About the book

Book Review: Heartless Hunter by Kristen CiccarelliHeartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
Series: The Crimson Moth #1
Published by Wednesday Books on February 20, 2024
Pages: 416
ISBN: 9781250866905
Genres: Fantasy, Young adult

A steamy game of cat and mouse between witch and witch-hunter, played out against a backdrop of opulence, secrets, and bloody history.

On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.

Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe – a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution – who she can’t help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Kristen Ciccarelli’s Heartless Hunter is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch…is falling in love.

My thoughts

As I stated before, my expectations were quite high, although I was realistic before I dove into this book. There are lots of positive reviews, but I’m not matching well with most of the current hypes and I barely read YA fantasy anymore. Fortunately for me, this book didn’t let me down. I’ve started the audiobook, but I didn’t like the narration so I switched to ebook. Once I did that, I was able to get into the story real quick.

The book is quite heavy on switching POV. However, there are just two POVs, for both main characters Rune and Gideon. It was clear whose POV I was following because of the names mentioned at the start of each chapter. Rune is a witch who secretly smuggles fellow witches out of the Republic into safety as The Crimson Moth. Gideon is a ruthless and heartless witch hunter who despices witches and wants to catch The Crimson Moth once and for all. He suspects Rune, because the witches get rescued by using her merchant ships. To find out, he tries to court her. Meanwhile, Rune is deciding to court Gideon all the same once a rescue goes wrong, to find out where the to-be-rescued witch is being held. She pretends to be a socialite so nobody suspects her and therefore attends a lot of parties and drags Gideon along. Can they build a life together or will Gideon find out Rune’s secret?

I have to say that both Rune and Gideon were interesting characters. Gideon seems to be ruthless, but he has his reasons to loathe the witches. This will be revealed at some point in this book. Behind the facade of the heartless hunter, he is actually very caring and protective of the people he loves amongst which are his brother Alex and later on Rune. Alex is Rune’s best friend, so naturally she and Gideon run into each other a lot. Rune is very good in keeping her secrets and not raising suspicion. I often thought her secret would be uncovered right then and there, but still she managed a way to turn away the attention from her. Both Gideon’s and Rune’s backstory is revealed and therefore we learn a lot about their motives. These are the basics for this entire book.

The writing was fine. Not perfect, but accessible for the YA reader. It’s easy to get lost in the story and therefore easy to finish the book. The language used is not Difficult and the world is well-craffted. I had a feeling that this world is based on 17th or 18th century England during the witch hunts there. However, we only get glimpses of this world, we dodn’t really get to see the palace or Rune’s family estate. I believe we might get to see more of the world in the next book. Despite of this, I was able to picture the setting whilst reading.

The story was alright, allbeit a little predictable. At least for me. I also liked the pacing, it has been a while since I’ve read such a fast-paced YA fantasy novel and actually enjoyed it. Nevertheless, some revelations didn’t surprise me at all unfortunately. Apparently the final chapters did surprise me and I was not expecting that anymore. Both earlier revalations and the ending are intriguing enough to raise curiosity for the sequel.

Although Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli has its flaws, I’m curious for which direction thestory will take in the next book. It has been a while since I’ve enjoyed reading a YA fantasy even though it’s somewhat predictable. The characters are well written and the world was easy to picture. This definitely has to do with the accessible writing style and the fast pacing. Overall, I’m glad I picked up this book and didn’t stray away from it because of all the raging reviews.


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2 responses to “Book Review: Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli”

  1. […] Heartless Hunter by Kristen […]

  2. […] wondered if she would ever publish another book. She eventually did, and what a pleasant surprise The Crimson Moth […]

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