Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I rarely see an ad for a book and I immediately have to buy it. Not for lack of wanting to. I just don’t have enough money to buy every single book in the world. Most of the time, I see an ad and it goes onto my Amazon Wish List of Books I Will Eventually Buy. But every so often there is something that immediately sparks my interest.
So when I saw Heartless Hunter was about a superhero witch, I almost immediately pressed the pre-order button. Superheroes have been a special interest of mine since I was four years old, and witches and magic came with adulthood. So combining those two? I didn’t need to know what the plot was, I was sold. And hoped I wouldn’t be disappointed.
Instead, it somehow blew all of my very high expectations out of the water.
The best way I can describe the main character of Rune is a ditzy Bruce Wayne. To the public she is naive and a bit stupid, a massive flirt, and most importantly extremely rich. It just so happens that having that specific identity is a fantastic way to get information out of the children and siblings of government officials. She masquerades as the Crimson Moth, named after the sign which appears when she does magic, a vigilante who works to help witches escape to a more magic-friendly country across the sea using her family’s shipping company.
Gideon on the other hand, is the nation’s top Witch Hunter. Known for killing two of the three Witch Queens during the revolution that brought on the new government, he is the one people go to if a Witch needs to die. He’s been on the tail of the Crimson Moth, working hard to discover her identity as she is believed to be the cause of a string of murders throughout the city. But secretly, he misses the life he would have had as a tailor. And it’s an amazing mix of a stereotypical warrior with a soft passion that needs to be seen more in all mediums.
What follows is a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with Rune deciding to court Gideon to get information on a powerful witch she swore to save, and Gideon going along with it to see if his theory of Rune being the Crimson Moth is correct. Despite the fact Gideon needs to see her naked to see if she has any of those pesky casting scars, their romance is actually much sweeter than expected. Rune and Gideon see through each other’s masks to see the pain that came from the revolution. Each of them are outsiders, and they find comfort in each other, despite Rune’s pesky secret identity getting in the way. There is one spicy scene, but if you’re going into this book thinking it’s going to be a five alarm spice fire, you’re going to want a different book.
I felt like the magic system in this book was very innovative, because it was a take on blood magic I hadn’t ever seen before. Witches discover their magic during their first period, which bleeds pitch black instead of red. From there, they use blood to cast their spells. When using blood from themselves, they get a casting scar - where it shines silver to show the magic that was used. Many witches would create tapestries of their scars in the before times, but now? Scars are supposed to be hidden, because even the smallest glimpse of one means arrest and death. Rune, however, figured out a workaround. She uses her period blood to cast magic, collecting it during her monthly cycle and using it sporadically over the course of the month. With the majority of Witch Hunters being men, the fact that absolutely none of them even had the thought of period blood felt so insanely true to life I couldn’t help but laugh at the concept. For days. It was such a brilliant workaround I couldn’t believe that more of the Witches didn’t think of it. It was so genius, that you could tell this magic system was created by a woman who knew no man would think of periods first, or second, or even last.. Because Ciccarelli is absolutely right about it.
Now, I do have a giant trigger warning for potential readers, because Gideon’s backstory does deal in sexual coercion. It’s very rare that sexual violence is shown against men in literature. It’s even rarer that it is done well. Ciccarelli clearly did her research in a way that shows Gideon is a victim, and what was done to him is horrific, but that’s not the only thing which matters about him. That is a very hard balance to achieve, and I feel as if Ciccarelli was able to successfully find the balance needed.
The twist at the end, which I will not spoil, was also slightly predictable. I personally like that most of the time, because being able to put together the plot pieces and figure it out fills me with joy. It also can be argued this book is a love triangle, and tht the third prong is the pairing of Rune and Gideon’s brother Alex. Where Alex is in love with Rune, I never got the feeling his feelings for her were reciprocated. He is her best friend and co-conspirator, and even though Rune does try to do the relationship thing with him, it intentionally feels off because she’s trying to fit herself into an image Alex has that she knows isn’t for her. I found that reassuring because it could have been a very traditional love triangle, but it’s completely resolved by the end of the book. After all, a Witch Revolution is coming, and we don’t have time for love triangles when the fate of the world is at stake.
I can’t wait to see what happens next in Rune and Gideon’s story, and one thing is absolutely certain: I already hit the pre-order button for Rebel Witch, and I will be reading it the day it comes out next February.