A spoiler-free review about the first book in “The Crimson Moth” romantasy duology about a young witch who must keep her identity a secret in a place where her kind is loathed and hunted
Hello and happy Wednesday everyone! Also, happy March! Wow, we’re really into March now? Damn, how has this year gone by so slowly yet so quickly at the same time? How annoyingly weird.
Anyway! Let’s dive into this week’s book: “Heartless Hunter” by Kristen Ciccarelli. This was an ARC I got a while ago and, me being me, only just got to it this week. I also just found out that this is the first book in “The Crimson Moth” duology. Which, coincidentally enough, is the name of the book in the UK/International version, according to Kristen Ciccarelli’s website.
US version: “Heartless Hunter.”
UK Version: “The Crimson Moth.”
Both? “The Crimson Moth” duology.
Get it? Got it? Good! From here on out, I shall call it “Heartless Hunter” because I am in the United States.
Also, this is going to be a shorter review because I’ve been writing a lot of spoilers in my reviews lately, and I need to stop that. Especially for new books. So I’m keeping this spoiler free! Which means I can’t go too in-depth.
Here’s a quick synopsis: “Heartless Hunter” follows a young woman named Rune Winters, a witch who hides her true self from everyone except her two best friends, Alex and Verity. By day, Rune plays the role of a vapid socialite very well; she goes to fancy parties and dinners, has a box seat at the opera, and wears only the finest and up-to-date clothes. By night, she works undercover as The Crimson Moth, a witch who rescues her fellow brethren (sisteren? *insert colon with a capital p emoticon here*) from being slaughtered by witch hunters by breaking them out of prison and smuggling them off the island in her family’s merchant vessels.
When a witch Rune’s Nan (who has been “purged” by witch hunters) told her she must find has been arrested, Rune devises a plan to get close to a high-ranking witch hunter to find out where the witch has been taken. She settles on Gideon Sharpe, a man who is relentless in his pursuit of witches – and Rune’s friend Alex’s older brother. However, Gideon has plans of his own when it comes to getting close to Rune, and if he succeeds, no witch is safe. Including Rune herself…
My star rating for “Heartless Hunter” is a solid 4 out of 5.
So here’s the thing: I finished this in about a day. To me, the book was a very fast read. I honestly wasn’t expecting that. I’d be like, “Okay, I read for a bit. I probably got about another 10% under my belt,” then I’d look and see I just whipped through like 30% in about an hour. Whoops?
With that being said, I enjoyed this book. While it wasn’t mind-blowing, it kept me entertained. There were many elements from other YA books I’ve enjoyed in the past, so it felt familiar while having some fresh details throughout.
The magic… system? Rules? I don’t know, we’ll go with “system.” The magic system was simplistic, but I liked it like that. I don’t like magic systems where I need a dang instruction manual to keep track.
In order to cast spells, the witches need blood. The fresher the better. The more blood they use, the stronger the spell. They can use their own blood, but when witches cut themselves, a bright silver scar forms on their skin. Because of this, they’re easier to spot by witch hunters. So they either use blood from another source or cut themselves in easy to hide spots. Witches can also use other peoples’ blood, but it must be given willingly, otherwise the magic used is considered “dark magic” and that’s a dangerous path to take; the magic is more powerful and “easier” to use, but the power consumes the witch over time.
The plot of how both Rune and Gideon are using each other for their own gains amused me; very “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” Rune uses Gideon, a high-ranking witch hunter, to try and gather information about an incarcerated witch she needs to find. Gideon uses Rune when he finds out that The Crimson Moth, the witch that’s been a thorn in his side for a while, has been using Rune’s merchant vessels to smuggle witches off the island they inhabit. Meanwhile, the more they try to “woo” each other and get what they want, the more the lines blur between love and duty. As per usual, I say!
The big thing for me is the subject matter. While this is being marketed as YA, there’s some pretty heavy stuff in here. Without giving too much away, there’s a lot of trauma basically every character experiences. Rune has trauma from the people who hate and kill witches, and Gideon has trauma from the witches themselves. (Hence his extreme hatred of them.) It’s in the past, so the trauma is talked about and not completely on the page in graphic detail, but it’s still rough to read. The trauma is vast, and I’m surprised this isn’t marketed more as a New Adult book instead of Young Adult.
Another thing: because there’s blood magic involved, there could be moments where the use is a bit… queasy. I wasn’t too bothered, but there was a moment where I raised my eyebrows thinking something very specific was going to happen, but it didn’t. Thankfully. I think I would’ve been a bit “icked” by it. I mean, a witch has got to do what a witch has got to do, but still.
The setting of the book is… interesting. I think it’s supposed to be Regency Era-esque? With fantasies it’s hard to tell. While I got that vibe from the environment, fashion, and locales, the dialogue would throw me off sometimes. It felt quite modern to me, and sometimes it didn’t? Maybe the author was trying to do a mix of different eras, but I couldn’t tell. Because of this, there would be lines I’d read where it would pull me out of the book for a second like, “Huh?” But it wasn’t enough to annoy, it’s just odd.
The pacing of the book was good, with the exception of the finale which I swear ramped up to 11 in about two seconds flat. I’ve been writing spoilers in my book reviews lately, so I’m trying not to do that this time since the book only just came out a couple of weeks ago.
There are some twists in the end; for the most part I knew the twist was going to happen, I just didn’t know 100% of it. There was a red herring that was such a red herring that it almost made me circle back and go, “Wait, but what if they’re trying so hard because it actually is…?” This is what happens when I overthink everything! The twist came, and while I knew it was some derivative of what truly happened, it wasn’t as eye-rolling as I thought it would be. It just made sense in a way, like it made the climax click, ya know?
I did not appreciate the ending. Not because it’s bad, but because something bad happened and it made me sad. Was it melodramatic? Hell to the yes; daytime soaps, eat your heart out. But I… guess it had to happen? I don’t know; I don’t think it did, but it was a situation that pushes both protagonists into the next phase of their lives. (And their relationship with each other.) So maybe it did? It made sense, I’m just not happy about it.
The book ends on a pretty big cliffy. I’m curious to see what comes next, so I’ll definitely check out the next (and final!) book in the series. Are duologies the cool new thing nowadays?
Have you read “Heartless Hunter” yet? Is it on your TBR list? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Until next time, my lovelies!
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