Heartless Hunter (Crimson Moth, # 1)
By: Kristen Ciccarelli
Publication: February 20, 2024 by Wednesday Books
406 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Witches
Source: Borrowed from the elibrary
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Goodreads description--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 The Crimson Moth is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch… is falling in love.
Historically, I don't have a good record with books that feature witches. Something about this subgenre of the fantasy realm I just find unappealing. In this case, I didn't mind it too much.
Rune is the witch in question. And this world requires blood to complete spells. Most witches use their own blood to work magic. But dark magic is done by those who take blood from others not freely given. The worst is if someone is killed so their blood can be used in some kind of spellwork. This kingdom used to be ruled by witches. But they turned dark and now witches are hunted down. It's a case of one bad apple (or three) spoils the whole bunch. Rune has been working in secret to get other witches to safety. But she was unable to do so for her grandmother. Her grandmother was exposed as a witch and Rune had to turn her in to the authorities in order to turn suspicion away from herself. It broke her heart to do so, and ever since, she's had to play a role to keep up appearances.
Gideon is a witch hunter. He has been burned (literally) by a witch who lost herself to dark magic. And so he takes the stance of all witches being evil. He's suspicious of Rune, but everything seems to be working in her favor and not against her as he originally suspected.
Rune takes on the idea of courting Gideon as a means of getting his suspicion off of her. And Gideon takes on the task of courting her to get close enough to see if she is a witch or not. But you can guess that the relationship between these two end up getting complicated.
There was a twist that wasn't really a twist if you ask me. But that's okay.
Listening to this on audiobook was a fast listen. I listened while I was working on painting a sign for my daughter's 10th birthday. The sign took longer than I expected, but I didn't mind at all since I was able to keep listening. The narrators did a great job. Because it was an audiobook, I don't have any quotes to share.
Heartless Hunter gets 4 Stars. This might be my favorite witch book to date. I just don't usually enjoy this subgenre. I want to see what's going to happen next. Have you read or listened to Heartless Hunter? What did you think? Let me know!
This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of fantasy, paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.
