A review by mackenzierm
Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

5.0

Rune Winters’ life changed forever on the night of a coup that started a devastating revolution, placing once powerful witches in danger as they are outcast from their positions as rulers. Now, witches are ruthlessly hunted, forcing Rune to hide what she is. By day, Rune is a vapid young socialite, but by night, she is the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues witches from being purged. When a rescue goes awry, Rune tries to throw the witch hunters off her scent by courting their captain, Gideon Sharpe. Gideon is loyal to the revolution and he loathes the decadence Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle witches out of the republic, he is determined to unveil the true identity of the Crimson Moth by any means necessary.

I learned from the acknowledgments at the end of the novel that this book is loosely based on the Scarlet Pimpernel classic (which, forgive me, I have no clue as to what it is). Don’t worry though, I don’t think this lack of knowledge impacted my enjoyment in any way because I absolutely adored this story from start to finish. I was hooked into the story within the first few pages and had trouble putting this book down. 

HEARTLESS HUNTER is an excellent story that is well paced, has interesting and dynamic characters, features plenty of suspense, tension, and several shocking twists (that are delivered seamlessly). It also features a neatly developed magic system requiring blood to cast spells. The plot is intriguing and sufficiently complex leading up to an ending that took me entirely by surprise.

The story is told in dual POV, Rune’s and Gideon’s, which I really enjoyed as you got to see what each character was thinking and feeling, as well as what they were up to. Each is suspicious of the other, so there is a lot of schemes and deception from both sides leading to much tension developing between the two. 

Rune is a complex and well-developed character. I enjoyed the scene where we see Rune acting as the Crimson Moth, which was action-packed and a bit of a nail-biter. Unfortunately, this was one of the only scenes of this nature, whereas the rest of the time we see Rune planning and plotting how to gain intel out of Gideon. Gideon has a dark and traumatic past with witches. It was interesting to get snippets of his past and how he came into this position. I am hopeful that book 2 will give us more development of his character. 

I absolutely loved the magic system featured in this story, with key aspects of the magic explained as the story develops. It is not overly complicated so I believe it would be an easy read for those who are not usually fantasy readers. 

Needless to say, I cannot wait for the second instalment of this duology!

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Wednesday Books, of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review! All opinions expressed are my own.