Heartless Hunter: The Crimson Moth: Book 1 (The Crimson Moth, 1) Hardcover – February 20, 2024

Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth: Book 1)🌿🌼By, Kristen Ciccarelli5⭐️1🌶️I loved this beautifully written YA fantasy/ romance book!! 💜I’ve seen the mixed reviews about this book and at first was hesitant to read it! But I’m glad I did!There’s not much complexity to the story and the minimal world building is very easy to follow. But I myself was so immersed in it! This book is set in the Gaslight era and I’m such a huge fan of it!The magic system 🩸was very generic but it was also very captivating to me!This book is very character driven and I’m looking forward to reading more about these characters! Especially the three witch queen sisters !The Heartless Hunter follows MMC Rune , a high society undercover witch who is trying to save her fellow witches who are being hunted and unalived by witch hunters.MMC Gideon is a mortal , a part of the “Blood Guard “ and a witch hunter for the New Republic, He is trying to find out who the mysterious savior of the witches “The Crimson Moth” is.Loved the cat and mouse game between the two protagonists and I really don’t mind a (brothers) love triangle! To me it was very minimal in this book and didn’t deter me from loving these characters and being invested in the story!Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and I’m highly anticipating the next book in this series! I would recommend this book!

⭐⭐⭐⭐1⁄2 (4.5 stars)I devoured this book in two nights and honestly? My dark circles are totally worth it.Look, I'm usually pretty skeptical about witch books (there are SO many out there), but Heartless Hunter grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go. The whole premise of a witch pretending to be a proper society lady while secretly helping other witches escape? Sign me up!Rune is exactly the kind of protagonist I love - she's messy, complicated, and sometimes makes terrible decisions, but for all the right reasons. She's not your typical "chosen one" - she's just trying to survive in a world that would literally burn her at the stake if they knew what she was. And doing it with style, I might add.And then there's Gideon. Oh my god, GIDEON. I have such a love-hate relationship with this man. One minute I'm rooting for him to catch the Crimson Moth, the next I'm screaming at my book because NO, YOU IDIOT, SHE'S RIGHT THERE! The tension between these two is absolutely delicious. Every scene they share had me holding my breath, waiting for everything to either explode or... well, explode in a different way 😏The magic system deserves its own paragraph because WOW. The way magic leaves marks on the skin? The cost of using it? The whole blood magic aspect? It feels fresh and dangerous and REAL. None of that sparkly, consequence-free magic here, folks. Every spell has a price, and sometimes that price is steep.Fair warning: don't start this book if you have important plans the next day. The pacing is like a runaway train - slow build at first, then suddenly you're flipping pages at 2 AM because you NEED to know what happens next. The last third of the book? Pure chaos in the best possible way.Also, can we talk about that ending? No, actually, we can't, because spoilers, but WHAT THE ACTUAL—deep breathMy only tiny gripe (and why this isn't a full 5 stars) is that there were a few moments in the middle where I wanted things to move a bit faster. But honestly? The slow burn was probably necessary for the payoff.If you love:--Enemies-to-lovers that actually feels earned--Morally grey characters who make you question whose side you're on--Magic that comes with real consequences--Sexual tension that could power a small city--Society balls with deadly secrets--Found family vibesThen do yourself a favor and pick this up. Just make sure you have the next day free because you won't be able to put it down.Now excuse me while I go stare at my ceiling and process that ending until book 2 comes out.TW: violence, blood, mentions of past abuse, deathCurrently: Recovering emotionally while aggressively recommending this to everyone I know

There are so many emotions going through my mind after reading this!!! This book was exactly up my alley; it has:• Enemies to Lovers• Dual POVs (!!!!!!!!)• Cat and Mouse - Hunt and Chase• An intriguing magical system• TwistsOh my goodness, it was ALL. SO. GOOD. !!!!The dual POVs added so much depth to the characters and made the emotions and interactions much more believable and easily felt; you could really connect with the characters. You also could really understand the tensions on both sides in regards to the hunter and hunted element. The dual POVs also made the enemies to lovers so much more exquisite!!The worldbuilding and magic system of blood magic was unique and I was surprised in a good way to see the author not shy away and utilise period blood as an option for casting because hell yeah - that does make sense, it's smart of the character, and why not make that time of the month useful when it's usually so miserable!Personally I guessed the twists early on, but they were so SATISFYING with how the story unravelled and I LOVE when authors utilise twists for satisfying plot elements vs just for shock factor. Thank you, Kristen Ciccarelli!I thought the pacing was great and each chapter kept me wanting to read more! I wanted to savour this story but also really wanted to know what happened next. I ended up staying up well into the early hours of the morning finishing this book and OH MY GOD all that happens at the end!!I also loved the "calm before the [next] storm [after a huge storm just happened] " vibes of the epilogue that really felt satisfying as a cliffhanger!I cannot wait for the world to read this book!! And I cannot wait to read the next book myself!! One of my best reads of 2023!!