Hello everyone! Today I am teaming up with Wednesday Books to bring you a book preview of Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli which comes out on February 20, 2024.
My Thoughts:
Book: Heartless Hunter
Author: Kristen Ciccarelli
Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars
I would like to thank the publisher, Wednesday Books, for sending me an ARC.
In this one, we follow Rune and Gideon, who live in on an island. Witches once ruled this island. A revolution happened and now being a witch is illegal. The Blood Guard, of which Gideon is a captain in, hunts down witches and ends them. The people must turn in anyone who is a witch. If you don’t, then you will face the wrath of the Blood Guard. The Blood Guard is on the hunt for a prize: the Crimson Moth. She is a witch helping other witches escape the Blood Guard and death. Gideon lives for the hunt. The only thing is that it’s Rune he is hunting. Rune is a party girl and enjoys high society. She is a witch. While she puts up this front of being a high society girl, she spends her nights getting witches out of the island. She knows her time is coming; she knows that she is suspected of being the Crimson Moth. Then, something unexpected happens: she and Gideon end up falling in love. Now, the cat-and-mouse game just got a bit more dangerous.
This is a young adult romance fantasy. It’s a trend that I know some people are getting tired of seeing, but I hope it doesn’t go away soon. While I don’t love it whenever the romance is the sole focus, I think it adds more to the fantasy genre. In this one, we have two people who are trying to avoid each other at all costs, but, yet, they end up being brought together. They did not intend to end up as a couple, but it happened. I love seeing the progression and formation of this relationship. I also happen to love enemies to loves, which is the trope this book leans heavily on.
Not only do we have the romance-fantasy bit going on, but this one happens to be very fast-paced. However, it’s not fast enough that the plot and the world-building are lacking. Now, keep in mind that this is YA, so its world is not as developed as some adult titles. We don’t get a lot of the world right away. We know that there was a revolution and that witches once were on top. At first, we don’t know what really happened and the end still has holes. We do know that witches mistreated some people and people thought they were too powerful. Again, it’s kind of vague until we get into the meat of the story as to what happened. I’m not going to go into details about what happened because I do want to keep my review spoiler-free. Once it is revealed what happened, we can see why certain people turned against the witches. It also explains why some characters are the way that they are.
While we do have a romance, the other characters add so much to the story. Rune has built up this core group of friends, who will do anything for each other. It is through this core group of friends that Rune and Gideon are familiar with each other. Seeing how woven everything shows me how well thought out and plotted this story is. We get glimpses into the characters’ pasts and get to see how their interactions with others moulded them into the people they are in the story. Some of them have a shared past. I mean, Gideon and one of Rune’s best friends, Alex, are brothers. They have a shared background but have handled the past differently. Rune has her scars and it is these scars that turned her into the Crismon Moth.
This book did not disappoint at all. It’s fast-paced, exciting, and full of high stakes. This one deserves to be hyped and deserves to be a bestseller. Don’t let the fact that it is YA turn you away. It reads like an upper level of YA. With that being said, there is content here that is not suitable for younger YA readers.
This book comes out on February 20, 2024.
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