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?
The Crimson Moth. Book 1
I'd say, this was an easy 5 stars from me, considering the range of books I've read though I have a small range of books to compare to.
It's really fast-paced and dynamic story. With two people deceiving each other for a purpose but falling so hard in love, yet they now struggle between what is right and what their heart wants. We slowly but surely find more things about this world and about these characters, what weighs them down, what made them as people, what they become if they come closer to the person most dangerous for them. This is true enemies to lovers, like a true feud instead of weak antipathy between two people. I honestly am not a fan when this trope is used where people are not actually "enemies", this is such a strong word, but it has been watered down. In Heartless Hunter the two characters are like two opposite sides with a deep pit in the middle they can't cross. An underground witch that wants to save as much of her kind to atone her sins and a hunter, who set his eyes on all the witches he deems dangerous and capable of anything. And something that is brooding in the air, like something is about to happen.
I found the world quite interesting, we witness a New Republic, new regime after the previous reign of witches was purged. The witches are hunted down and purged, while their sympathizers are branded and scorned. It may serve the proof that the previous regime was horrifying, but also that new one was not as good as promised to be.
There are many instances that prove that witches were quite cruel in their power. Starting from the ruling Sister Queens, who we find were responsible for the death of many and one of them especially, Cressida Roseblood was responsible for the death of almost entire family of the MMC, Gideon Sharpe. One of the characters like Harrow bears the wound from being mutilated. Thus we can assume that the ruling ones were not the best ones. But there is an undercurrent behind it between the lines that not all of them were like that, at least not Rune's nan, Kestrel. We know that Rune herself does not bear any malice in her and it is her atoning for her past that she now helps the apprehended witches to escape.
Kestrel Winters were reported when the revolution happened, but as her relative Rune would be sentenced to death along as well and she was asked by Kestrel to report her and save herself. Thus she became the darling of the revolution and famous witch-hater. This allowed her to conceal herself in plain sight, live a double-life. And since she was helping the witches all along she was also hunted down. Hunted by Gideon Sharpe, the Blood Guard captain.
Gideon Sharpe is a famous figure, he was the one who led the revolution along with others and killed two of the Sister Queens. Some may find him heartless, like Rune does at first, but his past holds such a deep darkness and despair. If you hear about his past, the fate of his family, how he saw so many consequences to what witches can do, he bore no sympathy for them. And it was understandable. What Rune saw was only the good part, I think she partially was shielded from some darker things by Kerstel. This darkness she later faced face to face.
It has also a good drama. Especially the inner emotional struggle of the two main characters. Because these two come together with an agenda, but without realizing they fall for each other, yet this relationship was tainted by deception, they stand between duty and love, what they consider right and what their heart dictates. And so many things were involved. I think overall it's a well-layered relationship.
/SPOILERS/
If I were Rune, I would have trust issues after this. And not because of Gideon, but of course because of Verity.
If you think back how Verity asked her to have suitors and marry one so they could gather intel and then think of Verity's true identity, it's such a striking use of someone without their direct knowledge. Like Rune thought all this time that she was helping those witches, but who knew she basically gathered forces for someone else. All her sincerity towards a friend was not real.
I think the book has such a striking moments of - soft-heartedness leads to no good end - this happens when we realize that Alex never killed Cressida Roseblood, this happens when we realize that Rune's idea of helping now led to new uprising. And now she trapped herself with a person she least wants to face.
Ngl, I thought things were fishy the first time Rune mentioned the strong perfume of her friend. With a book like this that lies down the foreshadowing quite early. Not to mention that we know that Rune was not responsible for those gruesome deaths, which leads us to think it's someone else and someone cruel. Later it became apparent who it was of course. Although now that I think about it the hints were obvious, but I usually like to read without trying to deduct things much and the pace of this book was fast enough just to gallop through pages.
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Wonderful experience. Glad I picked it up. No matter what others think of it, all our opinions are subjective, but this was a hit for me, exciting plot, exciting characters❤
RATE: 5/5.
P.S.: Alternative cover, which is also spectacularly beautiful.
