I freely admit it: I had not expected to fall this hard for The Crimson Moth by Kirsten Ciccarelli. But boy, did these characters steal my heart!

Note: The first book of this duology has another title in the USA, namely Heartless Hunter.

Attention:  I will be reviewing both books of the series in this post (gradually), but everything apart from the first book will be hidden so that you will not see any spoilers for the rest of the series (unless you want to, of course).

The Crimson Moth / Heartless Hunter

The Crimson Moth (or Heartless Hunter) is a Young Adult, enemies-to-lovers, Romantasy inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel (An early 20th century novel about an Englishman disguising himself to rescue French aristocrats from the guillotine during the Reign of Terror). Our FMC, Rune, is an undercover witch with a secret identity, the Crimson Moth. She spends her nights trying to free witches before they are put on trial. An old promise to her grandmother means that she absolutely has to rescue one witch in particular, but to do so, she needs to seduce the head hunter, Gideon.

Such a captivating tale

If I had checked the community rating on Goodreads prior to starting this book, I would probably not have been as surprised by how good this book was. 4.19 out of 5 stars with more than 260.000 reviews! That’s amazing! And well deserved too!

Although I was initially bothered by the amount of repetition, I soon forgot all about it and fell in love with the main characters. The MMC is very interesting (I always love a dark, traumatised hero), and I was delighted to find out that the book was narrated in dual POV. I feel that this was absolutely crucial to understand both characters and get a good sense of what was going on. I also really liked the dynamic between Gideon and his younger brother Alex.

It might sound weird, but I really liked how short the chapters were. I am still struggling with concentration issues, and these short chapters helped me to continue reading for extended periods of time as they literally pulled me from one page to the next.

The story distinctly reminded me of Zorro, another childhood favourite (I know, I know, it’s actually The Scarlet Pimpernel, but I didn’t grow up with that story). Weren’t we all a bit in love with Don Diego when we were younger? I might still be, if I’m honest. It’s one of the first things my boyfriend and I bonded over, so whatever reminds me of Zorro will always hold a special place in my heart.

There’s only one thing that bothered me a bit: I got the impression that there were some timeline issues related to the death of Gideon’s Family. It could be, however, that Alex simply didn’t know or was lying, but this didn’t become clear to me.

Without a single doubt: five gemstones out of five!

Recap book 1

In the following section, you’ll find a recap that you can use to prepare for the next book. Of course, this is by definition full of spoilers, so it is hidden behind a spoiler tag. Enter at your own risk!

Want a recap before starting the next part? (click here, contains spoilers)

World:

In the past, the country was ruled by three witch sisters queens. A revolution ended their reign,however, and witches are now hunted down and executed by the Blood Guard. Recently, witches have started to be rescued before they could be put on trial. This mysterious figure’s magical signature is a crimson moth.

Main characters:

Rune Winters: A seemingly superficial heiress who is known for being so loyal to the regime that she even outed her own grandmother as a witch. Nobody realises that she’s actually a witch, the Crimson Moth.

Gideon Sharpe: Captain of the Blood Guard and therefore a witch hunter. He has been traumatized due to his relationship with the youngest of the sister queens, Cressida. Alex’s brother.

Alex Sharpe: Gideon’s younger brother who is said to have killed the youngest sister queen during the revolution. He’s Rune’s best friend and has been in love with her for ages. He’s one of the only two people who know Rune’s other identity.

Verity: One of Rune’s best friends and the second person who knows Rune’s secret.

Harrow: A friend of Gideon

Laila: A collegue of Gideon

Plot:

During the revolution, Rune and her grandmother received a message from Alex saying that the hunters were coming for her grandmother. Knowing that Rune would be found guilty for harbouring a witch, they decide that she should be the one to reveal her grandmother’s identity. Because of this, Rune is hailed as a hero of the new regime.

As a last promise to her grandmother, Rune said she would look for another witch. Unfortunately, she has now been captured and is set to be executed. In order to find her location, Rune decides to charm Gideon. Gideon has more or less the same plan: seduce Rune to determine whether or not she’s the Crimson Moth. Neither of them plan to actually fall in love with the other. But of course they do.

After a cat-and-mouse game that takes almost the entire book, Rune is arrested by Gideon. She’s saved just in time by her “friend Verity” who turns out to be the witch Cressida in disguise. During the battle, Alex jumps in front of a shot aimed at Gideon and dies. Because of this, Rune accidently reveals the extend of her power. She leaves with Cressida, and Gideon vows to hunt Rune down.

Book 2: Rebel Witch

Review coming soon!

Notes on the Crimson Moth Duology

Age Category: Young Adult

Representation: Mental health

Trigger warnings (click here, contains spoilers)

Warnings for severe case of PTSD, as well as narrated rape.

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the first book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores:

Amazon.nl: Hardcover Edition

Special editions

Fairyloot featured The Crimson Moth in their February 2024 Young Adult Fantasy subscription. Their edition has an exclusive cover, a reversible dustjacket, illustrated endpapers, foiling on the hard cover, digitally sprayed edges, a bound-in author letter, and a digital signature. I absolutely adore the crimson moths that are drawn on the edges! And while I do love the art on the endpapers, I’m not too sure why Rune has pink hair. She’s described as Strawberry Blonde, sure, but shouldn’t that be pinkish blonde rather than cotton candy pink? Maybe I’m missing something (English is clearly not my native language).

In 2025, Fairyloot has announced their special edition of the second book. This edition will feature the same customisations as the first one, minus the author letter. Furthermore, this one will be manually signed rather than digitally.

Similar to this

I personally cannot wait to read more by this author, and I am in luck! A few years ago, Fairyloot also featured another book by Ciccarelli in their Young Adult book box, namely The Last Namsara. This book tells the story of a princess who has to become the best dragon slayer of the realm. Not exactly what I would look for in a dragon story (don’t kill the dragon!) but I’m definitely intrigued.

Rune’s secret mission reminded me a lot of the FMC in Defy The Night by the amazing Brigid Kemmerer. This series is loosely inspired by Robin Hood and tells the story of two unlikely allies who have to work together to provide medicine to the people. My review can be found here.

If you are looking for more forbidden romances between a witch and a witch hunter, you should probably also check out Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin. In all honestly, this series wasn’t my favourite. However, as it remains very popular, I still think it’s worth checking out. My review can be found here.