This one kind of snuck up on me, because as interesting as the book sounded to me, it was one of those books that far exceeded what I thought to expect and ended up being one of those books I couldn’t put down, and yet didn’t want to end because I just needed more of it. More of the story, more of the world, more of the characters.
I loved the characters. The two point of view characters, Rune and Gideon, were both compelling and instant favourites that I just needed to know more about. I couldn’t decide who’s point of view I loved the most, and the author succeeded in making me want both equally, which meant when there was a shift, I was never unhappy to see the character change and became equally invested in both sides of the story and what was happening for them. Both were also useful for the opposing sides of story they each had to tell, one the witch, one the witch hunter and successfully filled in gaps on the story that would have otherwise been missed. Suffice it to say I was enthralled by both characters and loved getting the inner thoughts and feelings, as well as perspectives of each. Particularly as it helped to fill in backstory and each of their reasons for their beliefs and doing what they do to accomplish what they believe is right, though opposing.
Beyond that, let’s be real, I am a huge lover of the enemies to lovers trope. And what greater enemies than a witch hiding her identity and a witch hunter trying to seek out and purge the rest of the witches. I can’t stop coming back to how hooked I was by this book for so many reasons. There was Gideon’s past that was often hinted at but not completely explained for a good chunk of the book which I could make assumptions about but not truly know the extent of it. I wanted so desperately to dive deeper into his story and the origin of why he hated witches so much. There was the burning chemistry between Gideon and Rune as they fought to outwit one another, despite not knowing what the others true intentions were. And how valiantly they fought the idea of having real feelings for one another while pretending to court to get information out of each other. I mean, what’s worse than having real feelings for a witch when you’re a witch hunter and vice versa?
And the way the book ended has me more than ready to get my hands on the sequel. It’s going to be a brutal wait because there are so many things that need answers and so much potential for everything to go wrong for the characters. I will definitely be picking up the sequel to Heartless Hunter as soon as I possibly can.
