Rebel Witch

Welcome to Books I Make My Husband Read, a self-described hilarious and heartfelt podcast where I, Kristy, the devoted book lover, curate an unexpected reading list for my husband, Jon. And that's me. Each episode, we'll dive into lively discussions, humorous debates, and surprising insights on the books Kristy just has to make me read. We're here to explore everything from timeless classics to quirky hidden gems, challenging our perspectives and inviting you to join in on the fun. So settle in, grab your favorite beverage, and get ready for another literary adventure.

Hello listeners and welcome to season two, episode four of Books That Make My Husband Read. I'm your host, Kristy. And I'm your co-host, Jon, the one that Kristy makes read all the books. This week we'll be discussing Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli, the exciting conclusion to the Crimson Moth duology, a novel in which love has never been so deadly. Indeed. I was excited to read this one. I loved Heartless Hunter last season, so I was very much looking forward to reading this book.

Yes, it was your favorite book from last season. Or sorry, it was your favorite book from last year. Not the women, which you read this year, but try to say it wasn't your favorite last year. I did. did. Time is a messed up thing. It is. Before we get into our discussion on Rebel Witch, we wanted to remind listeners that the next two books in our lineup are The Family Experiment by John Marrs.

and The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. I'm glad you took that because I wasn't sure how to pronounce that name. So. Cerulean. You're a designer. You don't know what cerulean is. Just because I know what it is doesn't mean I don't pronounce it. It's true. I said tumultuous 14 times wrong last episode. T-word. So hey, remember, if you want to see our complete lineup of books, including The House in the Cerulean Sea.

head over to our website, booksimkmyhusbandread.com or follow us on Instagram at booksimkmyhusbandread. Yes, and while you're there, drop us a comment or send us a DM if you have questions that you'd like us to answer on the show. Or if you have feedback, we're open to that as well. You can also email us at booksimkmyhusbandread.com and we'll be sure to answer all those questions in an upcoming episode.

Also, we wanted to send a special thanks to our listeners. Our last episode was our most listened to episode to date, and we had the highest engagement during any release window. We really appreciate everyone giving our little podcast a listen, and we are so thankful to our listeners. Yeah, thank you everybody. Really appreciate it. you know, spread the love. If you enjoyed the podcast, let people know about it. And now for that spoiler free book summary that you all have come to love so much.

The witch Rune Winters is on the run. Ever since the boy she loved, Gideon Sharp, revealed who she was and delivered her into enemy hands, everyone wants her dead. If Rune hopes to survive, she must ally herself with the cruel and dangerous Cressida Roseblood, who's planning to take back the Republic and reinstate a reign of witches, something Cressida needs Rune to accomplish. And as the witch hunter, it apparently wasn't enough for Rune to deceive Gideon.

She's now betrayed him by allying herself with the witch who made his life a living hell. Gideon won't allow the Republic to fall to the witches and be plunged back into the nightmares of the past. In order to protect this new world he fought for, every last witch must die, especially Rune Winters. When Rune makes Gideon an offer he can't refuse, the two must pair up to accomplish dangerous goals. The more they're forced into each other's company, the more Gideon realizes the feelings he had for Rune.

aren't as dead and buried as he thought. Understatement. Now he's faced with a terrible choice. Sacrifice the girl he loves to stop a monster taking back power. no! Or let Rune live and watch the world he fought so hard for burn. Okay then, anything beyond this point shall contain spoilers. I didn't think of a punny plot twist spilling thing, so...

I guess we're just going to continue to spill all the plot twists and then mop them up later. Yeah, I guess so. Better bring that mop out first. Anyway, that's cheesy. Spoiler alert ahead.

So tell me what you thought of this book. Well, actually, I went first last time. Are you sure? I'm pretty sure. You're pretty sure? Pretty sure. I'm like 82 percent sure. That's a B minus. That was a normal passing grade for me. Fair. Carry on. I like this book. I did not like it as much as Heartless Hunter.

I feel like there were some things missing from it. I didn't like the time gap. It either needed to not happen or be longer, which we're going to get into. Again, it is a YA book, so I am not criticizing it for being what it is, but I felt as if Heartless Hunter was written a little bit more mature. And this one definitely read like a YA book. again, I'm not faulting it for that, but it was just disappointing.

given, I felt like, maturity in the narrative and the characters in Heartless Hunter compared to this. Sure, that's fair. So, I liked it. I loved parts of it because I really enjoyed the characters. But again, if this was a standalone book, I think I wouldn't have liked it as much. But since it's a continuation, the duology, you know, story of characters I already loved, I felt more...

generous to how I rated it or feel about it in general. Yeah, that's fair. For me, first off, I know this is a big no-no, but I freaking love the cover art of both of these books. It's beautiful. You're not wrong. I'm not wrong. I know that for once. I totally would have judged this book by that cover and probably wanted to read it anyways, but of course, that's assumed I would have known how to find the book in this giant bookstore without you recommending it to me. there's also that. I really enjoyed this book.

I love the world that Kristen Siccarelli is building. I love that there's this like magic realism that I actually felt like it could exist in real life. Things like this could actually happen. I enjoyed most of the characters in this book, which we'll kind of get to. I loved that there was more magic in this book than I felt like there was in the first one, albeit some of it might be a little iffy if it could have been carried out or not by a particular person, which we'll also get to.

Honestly, but you alluded to it in your monologue. I think my biggest takeaway from this book is that I wanted more depth. Yeah, absolutely. And it's because I love the world that she's building and the character she's building. It's like, my God, there's so much more here. I just want, I wanted more. And there are ample opportunities, right? Like there's plenty there to peel back the layers on. And most of what we got was the, love him, I him. I love him, I hate him back and forth, which we'll talk about. But overall, I really enjoyed it. I think I agree with you though, and your other point too, that if it wasn't a...

continuation of a book, I don't know that I would have enjoyed it as much. Yeah. All right. For discussion, let's start at the beginning of the novel. This book picks up two months after the ending of Heartless Hunter. Did the time gap work for you? Do you feel like it should have been longer or shorter? And I already have spoiled my own answer to this, but give me your thoughts on this and then I'll give you additionally why I feel the way I feel. Yeah, I felt similar. It's like in this awkward middle ground.

It's like puberty. Things are kind of changing, but not in a really meaningful way. That's such a weird correlation. take that for whatever image you want to create. I would have preferred it to been like either considerably longer, a year or more, or right from when the last book dropped off. It was just in this weird middle ground.

Like, I wanted to know what happened on that ship between Runa and Cressida. Like, Cressida just killed Alex. And how does she feel about that? Also, she just found out she's been, she's Cressida. She thought she was Verity. We got some things to talk about, girl. For reals. And like, how did her and Serafine's relationship build? she was this mysterious person through the whole first book, and we were just so left to assume that there was this...

pre-built relationship because of Nan and... Well, not even, it wasn't because she didn't know who Seraphine was. She just went to go get Seraphine. Nan had said, Seraphine will tell you everything else. And she never had that opportunity. Like they didn't have a relationship before that. Right, right, right. No, I meant the relationship between Seraphine and Nan. Oh, okay. I guess it was implied that like they had a relationship. Oh, yeah, yeah. So she was inherently trusting Seraphine because of... Yes. Because Nan told her to go find this. Yes.

Yeah, like I said, it was just weird in between the time gap thing. So what else were you gonna say about it? All those things, and I agree with, but also what really didn't work for me and leads into my next question was one of my biggest criticisms specifically in it relates to this time gap is runes evolution of casting spells.

So we leave her in Heartless Hunter and that's a book where she was struggling to cast some of these basic spells. Remember Verity was actually the one coaching her, which I thought was weird. And then obviously checks out because we learned that Verity is actually a very powerful witch, she's having trouble casting basic spells like Picklock. And then two months later, I don't care how much work she's been doing with Seraphine, she's suddenly...

I don't want to say an expert necessarily, but she knows a lot more. She's extremely capable and all the while it's not like she had only dedicated time to work on these spells. She's, I mean, she's hopefully having a conversation with Vary slash Cressida and what the fuck happened, but also like she's trying to seduce and marry Soren and get him to get the army for Cressida. So there's a lot going on with her and she's advanced her spells this much. mean, that's...

That bothered me a lot. Yeah, I agree. There's just not enough time to feel realistic that all those things could have happened in any meaningful way. So another problem with the two month time gap for me was Roon and Cresta's relationship, which I've pretty much alluded to. Like, what was that like? Did they talk? Did they have a moment? I mean, they were best friends or at least Roon thought they were best. I mean, are

are really good friends. guess maybe Alex is your best friend. But I feel like Rune had to care about her on some level or to some degree. You just even this horrible thing. I think that it's kind of like how she was with Git. I just see the Rune as this person like this is horrible. But also I have these feelings for this person aside from that and apart from that, because she's been such a good friend to me for so long and helped me out and helped my cause.

for her just to like immediately, not immediately because she obviously wanted to get the army for her because she wanted to, like her big motivation was I can't go back to the Republic and be myself. So the least worst option for me, because this is America and this is how we choose our president, the least worst option for me is Cressida. So that's who I'm going to align with. I don't know, I've said a lot, but I just...

I didn't like the time gap because again, it needed to be pick up so I can find these things or be much further out so that I'm not questioning those things and I can see the stuff that has gone on since then, like hopefully through a new spot that they're in. Instead to me, they're in their same spot and they should be talking about all this stuff. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah, it makes total sense. For someone who plays a major role in this book, major role.

We don't get to see a lot of Cressida on the pages. What did you think of this and do you think it was too easy for our heroes to defeat her? Way too easy. Way too easy. very annoyed by that. Yeah. The entire second part of the book, I wanted so much more of Cressida and we really didn't get anything. Well, really through the first two parts of the book, we didn't get a lot of Cressida. And she's like supposed to be this all powerful witch and we're...

were just supposed to believe that she couldn't figure out where Ruining Gideon were? That was hard to buy. I read it at first because I got an early copy. Thank you, Melmo Public Relations. And then I remember when I was listening to it after it was released in preparation for this episode, I thought, maybe I missed something. Maybe something happened at the end when they're at the ruins or whatever.

Maybe I missed something and it was it was more difficult than I thought but it wasn't no It wasn't speaking. Yeah speaking of the ending like I just it was hard to buy that rune could defeat her especially in how she did it right by like breaking the spell that Crested I had basically baked within Gideon in his Brand scars. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah, and then at the same time like placing in

essentially an invincibility spell on Gideon all while she's being whipped to death by Cressida in this time period. It was just, it was a little too far stretch. It did, but she placed the, like she was doing those spells during that time while she's getting whipped. And then it didn't come through to the end what the spells were that she did until the end. But she like reversed it. So instead of being completely under Cressida's control,

and influence, was the exact opposite. Cressida couldn't touch him. So, I know you got to create drama and maybe it's a YA thing, maybe it's just part of the nature of being in that type of book, but I wanted so much more villainy and evilness and I just wanted so much more of that darkness in this book, from Cressida in particular. Yes. Totally did you think? Any other thoughts on like...

She's just such a cool character. Like I just wanted so much more. I wanted her to be, you know, an evil queen and do some terrible things. Yeah. And I mean, she doesn't do some great things, but they're very small. mean, we're going to get to this, but also the criticism in mind, book is like three quarters of this book is Gideon and Rune miscommunicating.

The other quarter is everything else that happens. Yeah. And that really irritated me because they go from the Republic rule to Cressida comes in and has this coup and she's in power a very short period of time then easily gets defeated. And now they have like this essentially like pseudo democracy. Yeah. In like 10 pages. Right. Exactly. Or 30 minutes of audio. Yeah. So.

That that bothered me because it just felt a little immature compared to I felt how well written I know I'm not criticizing the writing because the prose is actually fine. It's that the depth. It's the depth of it. yeah. You I like there's a surface layer. We're not communicating. These people come in and there's a little bit of fighting and then everything wraps up like with a neat little bow. That's what it felt like to me. Yeah.

It's really that the whole miscommunication trope was really the main reason I gave it four stars instead of five this book. think it was hands down the most annoying part of the book. Yeah. Again, I think miscommunication can go on for the entirety of a book. Don't get me wrong, but it can't go on for the entirety of a book when it's a two book series. Sure. This is a duology. I mean, we got to wrap things up. Let's go. Wrap it up. Wrap it up. Yeah.

I agree. So I know in Heartless Hunter, we both enjoyed the aspects of this being more of a magical realism book than fantasy. Do feel like this translated well into the second book or do you feel like there were aspects of the book that drifted into a completely fantastical universe? I did. I thought the worlds were still felt very real, not overly towards fantasy. They were riding horseback and traveling by boat and trains. were

Kings and royal armies and riding horseback. just thought of like a romance book with some strong guy on the cover. With his shirt off, long hair blowing in the wind. Fabio, sorry. Fabio, was I had to get that out. Oh, that's My mom read a lot of books by Fabio or with Fabio. I'm sure they were great. Anyway. Sorry, I totally cut you That's OK. That was necessary, though. I get it. I understand.

I thought the world was real. I still felt there were tangible things that I could relate to and picture in our world. Even in the introduction of the ancients, I felt like it was possible. Like it was, it felt just as real as in this world as witches could be. So I felt it was still very much like I could picture it in our real world. I didn't go full fantasy on this one. Did you? I think that's fair. The ancients for me, I kind of went back and forth. I'm like, I guess.

I don't know. I mean, you could say the same thing about the witches though, too, and witchcraft and the magic of that. Like, it felt in that same vein. It didn't feel over the top from that. That's fair. That's fair. Yes. It's not a competition. Oh, yeah, right.

As it did in Heartless Hunter, I feel that sacrifice played a huge role in this story. What do you think about the sacrifices that both Rune and Gideon made? So, I actually felt that Gideon was sacrificed more throughout the book, especially in comparison to the first book. And what I mean by that is really from the books.

Opening he's having to prove his loyalty to the Republic each decision that he made really throughout the book He was choosing rune over the life that he had been building and protecting up to that point everything he supposedly stood for but he was starting to really question rune on the other hand I felt like she in this book It was more about survival for her than it was like sacrifice that said obviously she makes the ultimate

She makes the ultimate sacrifice in the end of the book. And I guess she's being lashed by Cressida. She's willing to take death in order to try and save Gideon. I guess that's sacrifice too. I never, you know what? I take back what I said. I was wrong about everything. I was wrong about everything. They're both equally sacrificial. There was still a lot, I think maybe.

What I was trying to allude to was that some of the sacrifice felt like it was maybe getting lost through the miscommunication trope because there was so much of it. That's really good observation. I couldn't grasp it because that kept going on and on. I think that's a great observation. Not just maybe to a reader, but to each other in the level of the sacrifice that they're making.

I don't if you meant to the reader, but I think to each other in the book. In the context of their characters. I think that's a really good observation. What about you? Yeah, I think that we see both of them. mean, not just the ultimate sacrifice, as Rune does at the end of the book. And then on the other hand, we see Gideon multiple times. I going to the train station, staying behind when they were at the house, trying to get Sybil's child. I mean, there's a bunch of instances where, like you said,

He is really changing his loyalty to Team Rune versus Team Republic and making these sacrifices for her because he loves her, even though he's trying to convince himself that he doesn't. Over and over and over again. Right. So I thought as I was reading along that it was pretty obvious that Rune was going to be the missing Roseblood sister pretty early on in the book. How did you feel learning more about her backstory? In general, I was really intrigued about Rune's...

Backstory, especially when Seraphine was telling rune, know how she was hidden from the previous witch queen at birth how Nan was originally reluctant to even take her in she didn't really want kids Again, this was another place like I wanted I wanted more How did Nan know Seraphine to begin with was she ever fearful of being discovered of who this child was like? There's so much here

Like even to the point where is that the reason that Cressida became Verity because she kind of knew or at least had like an inclination that Rune was in the bloodline? is that the one of the other things I was really hoping to get out of this book and Rune's backstory was how did she, how or when did she start to act as the crimson moth? I really want to know that piece of her story and we just, we just never got any of that. so.

I wish she would have spent more time on those things and less time on the miscommunication piece, but I know we're going to beat that horse dead a handful of times this episode. I enjoyed the pieces we got and again, I wanted more. Yeah, I absolutely agree with that. I wanted more about Nan's story, like you're saying, and I that might play more of a role in this book. I also wanted to know more about Seraphine. I I feel like there are these tiny moments.

where you hear this is in book one too, or in book, in Heartless Hunter also. They talk about how young she looks and she's supposed to be the same age as Nan, who is also the, I see as like a grandma, you know, looking to ruin the way she describes Nan. And, you know, we know she's a witch. She seems like she's very, like there's just like these small things and then boom, she's an ancient.

And I don't even and maybe I need to go back and reread Heartless Hunter, but I don't even think the ancients played a real part or mentioned that much in the first book. And then all of a sudden we get a bunch of these like little snippets. Yes. In the beginning of the chapters. And I was like, well, obviously the ancients are going to be play a big part because they were mentioned over and over. And it just felt like new information.

Again, I just, there was so much here and I wanted the series to be longer because there could be so much more. Yeah. Yeah. I think it still could have been two books. just spend less time on a particular topic. A topic which will not be named any longer. So speaking and giving us a little bit more, a few times in the book, we are given the impression that Rune has the powers of a Sybil, which means that she can see into the future.

Do you think that she is and do you think this leaves the story open for additional novels in the future? I actually wasn't sure what you meant by this question referring to like, I don't. So she sees her and Gideon's children. yeah. Okay. Like multiple times and. Like when she was trying to discover who the civil was and then, or not who the civil was, but who the.

lost sister is and then it winds up being her. But Gideon's the only one that knows that then is that no, like specifically she has a couple of it. She has a couple of visions where she thinks she just has she doesn't even call it a vision. Like she has this thought where she sees herself herself in the future with children, three kids. And she realizes they're Gideon's kid, her and Gideon's kids. But she thinks it's just like a daydream. OK, it's actually a vision. I see.

Yeah, okay, right. mean, obviously there's a ton that could play future novels here, like even just the way the book ended with like this new government and she's a member of the parliament now and it's like, what's that going to be like? How does their relationship, like what does that new world look like? What sort of channel? So I absolutely think there's opportunities for future novels here, even outside of her just being sort of a futures here, Sybil.

Yeah, I think there's opportunity for that. think there's opportunity for a prologue and a like you're saying, how does she become the Crimson Moth? Yeah, I would love to hear that story. I would love to hear this. The fall of the Republic and or not the Republic, the whatever the regime was before the Republic took over. Kristen Ticcarelli has said that she would love to revisit these characters in the future. So love you, too. Also,

So I definitely think that, and again, I don't think it hinges on is Rune a Sybil. I think there's enough here that could be a ton of different things. I think it hinges on her listening to this podcast and discovering that we want more from these characters and then she'll write more. I mean, I wouldn't be mad about that. I'm not going to say I'm upset if she does. Oh, it's funny. OK, so I have to ask you, who the heck is Antonio?

Antonio Banderas. Not that Antonio. So Rune comments that he has a scent to him, which we know is a tell for witches. Like they all have specific scents, but we never get any further indication about him. And did you have any thoughts on his character? I have a few, but I'll let you go first. Oh, thanks. How generous. That's how the podcast works. I caught the scent.

I thought he was a witch sort of disguised and sent by Cressida. I thought he was going to be sort of like a dark soldier kind of thing. plant. Yeah. But then he winds up helping Gideon with his gunshot wound. The way he talks to him later that evening as he's healing. There was a part when Seraphine...

shows up and they, like, exchange that little recognition or acknowledgement of one another really subtly. was like a couple of words. But I figured Antonio couldn't just be a passive character anymore. Like, he was gonna play a larger role. All that said, his introduction still felt random. I actually didn't even remember his partner, the guy that Rune recognized when they, when Antonio was introduced. What was his name? Do you remember? Bart Winholt. Bart. How dare you forget a man named Bart. I know. Shame. Shame.

I didn't dislike Antonio's character. just, he felt a little forced. I wish there had been more breadcrumbs leading up to him or even just the concept of the kind of person that he was that just didn't have a smooth entrance to the story and given the role that he winds up playing in the end. I think that's it. I don't feel his introduction is jarring or anything like that, but it falls flat. I was excited for it. I'm like, this is a person. Like he's a witch.

I didn't think about the plant thing. That's an interesting idea. And then he immediately kind of warms up to Seraphine and they're doing several things together. And I was like, he's an ancient. So I thought when we see Seraphine kind of like walk off into her bright future at the end, I thought he was going to like walk off with her because he says to Rune, if we...

The people we love in this life, if it doesn't wind up working out, we'll meet them in a second. Which Rune says to Gideon at the end, I was tearing when she says, find me in the next world. was like, cool.

Although I knew she had to come back to life. That seemed pretty obvious too, but it was still a very sad moment. I cried both times. See, I actually didn't think it was that obvious because I knew this was the end of the... I knew this was a two-part book. I let myself believe that she was going to die. I knew someone had to come back from the dead. That's how it... Somebody had. They talked about the first book. They talked about it in this book. Someone had to come back.

full on ghoul style from the dead. That had to happen. Okay, so he says that, know, like what you just said, this world or next. So I thought that was intentional. He's saying that he will love Bart in another world, but no, he ends up being nobody or we don't know. So maybe there's gonna be a whole book on Antonio. Who knows? Unless I just, both of us misread who Antonio is, I just, he ends up being nobody to me.

Yeah, the way that I read him, he was like a channel for the ancients. like the ancients sort of spoke through him. And this one happened to be wisdom. How? Because he's wise? Yeah. Oh. Yeah. Like the way that he spoke about things and the way he communicated. I think... Okay, that's fair. The only reason is the curse. Seraphine wouldn't exist without the curse or wouldn't exist in their world without...

that she was trying to break. And so I think the other ancients are channeled through people like Antonio is the way that I read that. Okay. That's interesting. Thanks. So speaking of the ancients, did you suspect that Seraphine was going to be an ancient? And then what clues led you there? Not exactly. I mean, I figured she was obviously someone special all from the first book.

I figured she was someone more than just a witch, the idea of ancients weren't really introduced until part three. I don't think you get a lot of time to think about it. Right, right, exactly. Because we spend so much time miscommunicating. Again! I had one more in me. Yeah, I mean, by the time they were actually introduced, sure, I had a suspicion that she was, especially when Rune was explaining how she looks the same that she did years ago.

Nan, stuff like that. again, I love this world so much. just so much more, so much more. What, you, what was your take on Seraphine? Like you, I knew she had to be someone. There's enough breadcrumbs, but we don't hear about the ancients till a little into the book. And then not enough, they were like, oh, these ancients are going to...

play a big role because you don't hear about them during the first book. Not enough that I feel like as a reader, you're looking for it. So I was waiting for something. I didn't think she was gonna be this person who came, who's been essentially just hanging around waiting for the right time to do this thing because we don't know. just, ugh. More please.

If you recall back to our first episode on Heartless Hunter, you'll remember that we debated whether Gideon was the true Heartless Hunter or if it was actually Rune, given that the book was released as the Crimson Moth in other parts of the world. In our second book, Rebel Witch, we see Gideon actually being the rebel while Rune is the witch. Do you think this double entendre is intentional? I think it's absolutely intentional.

I actually think in a way Gideon in this book almost kind of becomes a variation of the crimson moth in his own kind of weird way, like through his constant efforts to conceal Rune and help her escape through all various situations like the dressing room, the boiler room on the ship, or when they're escaping the castle to save the Sybil's daughter. Like all these instances, he's actually helping her escape the way that the crimson moth would help witches escape.

in the first book, so I thought that was kind of interesting. But stepping back, like all these characters, honestly, you could consider rebels, they were all rebelling against Cressida, or like they were rebelling against swapping out one evil for another, essentially. They were kind of desiring a whole new world that hadn't existed yet. As I'm talking, I'm like, is Seraphine the rebel witch? She's the only one not doing what you're saying.

She's not swapping one reality for another because that's the one she wants to live in. She's trying to correct an old wrong, really. And then, you know, essentially like go on into greater pastures. Yeah, yeah, I like that theory. I don't think that's really what Kristen Securilli meant when she named it Rebel Witch, but. We can have Rebel Yeah, I love talking about it as if we know. Yeah, totally. This is what she meant for sure, 100%.

Do not doubt us. Stamp the Provo approval. We read. Oh, goodness. So anyway, I think you could apply that piece to a lot of the characters and a lot of the things. think honestly, I think we could apply that to a lot of things in our real world these days. Now things like we want to be rebels against the certain witches of the real world. You're so kind. Anyway, what? Burn it down.

I ran it down. Did you think that was a double-insider intentional? I don't know. I mean, I brought it up. I just thought it was really interesting because we talked about that specifically about the title. Who is the real Heartless Hunter? Why is it Crimson Moth and the UK and I think other places versus Heartless Hunter? But I also think it could mean other things. And maybe that's intentional that it can mean what the reader kind of like wants it to mean. So, we love books. Yes, absolutely.

Something fun we did a couple of times in season one was casting characters if this was adapted into a film. So who would you cast as Gideon and Rune or any other characters that you would like to cast? That's the end of the question. I don't know why my inflection was wrong. That's the end. Okay, so clarity. Am I allowed to pick actors that you don't know?

Or do I have to pick people that you do know because you're so angry about that in the last time we did this? So angry. So angry that we've never done it again. That's not true. Well, it is true we've never done it again. Not because I was angry. I know. I'm just joshing. I feel like it was spilling your plot twist. You Googled it instead of just people you thought. Well, yeah, that's how I prepare.

Thanks Google. So you can't cast someone just based on Googling them. You have to know their body of work. Well, sure. Like, yes. Fair. Thank you. With that said, I have a couple of options. OK. Now for Rune, first, first I'll start off. Also, I just want to say that there is a strong chance I'm not going to know who these people are, even if they are very popular, because I am just not good at those things. So. Understood.

I tried to be more mindful of that with my choices this time around. So, with that said, to start off, I know these characters are meant to be a little bit younger. So if we park that thought for a hot second, and my option for Rune would hands down easily be Keira Knightley. I think she would be awesome in the role of Rune, but I don't think she's young enough if She'd also have to dye her hair.

Yeah, to a that I don't think would be flattering to her. I think you're not going to Yes, she is. Just to be clear. When you really not going to like my other. So if age was back in play, could say we could say who would we cast for making up rules as we go along. It's our podcast. That's right. There are no rules. We could say who would we cast?

Like you saw the reels if Avengers was made in the 80s. They would cast. So this this film was made in the 90s or 2000s, whatever. I'm not sure exactly how old she is. Probably my age. So like maybe nine, maybe like 90s, early 2000s. That could be. I mean, we could we could do that. But anyway, what are your other ones? OK, my other ones for more like now would be Haley Steinfeld.

I think could be a good rune. I think she has like an attitude and sort of a rebel-ness about her that I think could work for the role. But the other one that I thought could be an interesting little twist would be Anya Taylor-Joy, the actress from Queen's Gambit. I know who that And she's also in that new thing now, The Gorge. where she looks AI. Yeah, in the posters, yeah. So that's who I had for rune. I only had one...

Well, that's not true. I only had one guy for the now that I thought could work for Gideon again, but you're going to scold me a little bit because I don't totally know him, but he's in 1923. Okay, you can't pick someone you don't even know. I can, I can because I... my God, this is against the rules. If you look at his photos on IMDB, he is almost exactly what I visualized in my head. Wow. Okay. What's his name? Brandon Sclaner. Oh yeah.

That is I actually know who that is. He's in. What is it? What is it? What is it? The Colleen Hoover? It ends with us, right? Right. Brandon. He might be in that anyway. So I thought the way he looked like exactly who I had in my head as I'm reading it. When I found him on IMDb, I'm like, holy shit. Did you just hear yourself when I found him on IMDb?

Okay, so Parkim, if we go back to the, if this was made in the 90s bit, I also thought like a Tom Hardy or a Michael B. Jordan could be like really cool characters for getting into. B. Jordan would be chef's kiss. Yeah, he would be legit good. So that's who I got. Thanks for playing. Thanks for participating. Okay, so my option for Rune is...

Sydney Sweeney. yeah, okay. Solid. I don't actually feel like I have a great option for Gideon, but I think Cate Blanchett should be Cressida roseblood.

Pretty good. Right? Yeah. I was like, I, that's a perfect choice in my opinion. So I couldn't get off that. I couldn't think of anyone. The person I kept coming back to for Gideon, again, this would be much earlier, was Theo James. okay. All right. I buy it. Do know who that is? I do. Okay. I do. Just checking. You never know. I was surprised you know who Anya Taylor Joy was. So good job. Well,

I know who she is because I read The Queen's Gambit, which is a great book, and then I watched the series after I read it. And so I know things. You do know things, just not many pop culture things. That's why we have other friends for that at trivia. That is true. That is not my strong suit. That's me either. Anyway, that was fun. I'm glad you brought that back into this mix. Yeah. So do you have any final thoughts on the book? And of course, always, would you recommend this to our listeners? I would.

Just go in knowing that you'll be annoyed by the miscommunication trope. But if you can get past that, there's still a lot of really good writing and storytelling. You have to read Heartless Hunter, though. It's not a book you can read before. It's not a standalone. But they're pretty short. Yeah. Yeah. I would recommend. Yeah.

That was a great pitch. thanks. I was just trying to think how I wouldn't repeat myself from things I already kind of said through the episode, but I enjoyed the characters. I enjoyed the dynamic. I enjoyed sort of the unveiling of things. If you keep in mind that it's a YA book, then I think it's really enjoyable. If you're looking for more out of it, you might just be slightly disappointed. But again, I gave it four stars and then I enjoyed it. Would you recommend this book to our listening audience?

Yeah, of course. do think that despite, again, we, I think we're being a little nitpicky for the purpose of conversation and to have fun. But I enjoy the book. mean, I enjoy the characters. I look forward to future books by Kristen Ciccarelli, not just in this, but reading something else that she that she writes. And, yeah, I really enjoyed it. Thanks.

I would absolutely recommend it. You have to read Heartless Hunter first. I do think Heartless Hunter is the better of the two books if I'm gonna rate them, but I felt good about reading it. I enjoyed it. And not the total, a little too cherry on top, wrapped up in a bow for me, but again, I think that's more like the YA. Yeah, agreed. You know, everyone makes it to the end. I need some people to die. I know, I need more villainy, more evil, more darkness. More evil, yes.

Well, on that note about death, want to remind everyone that the next two books in our lineup are The Family Experiment by John Marrs and The House in the Cerulean Sea by an author by TJ Klune. Yeah, there. That was funny. And as always, don't forget that a free way to support our show is by leaving us a review and rating us on Apple Podcasts. Also, if you don't want to us, but you have a question or feedback.

You can email us as we mentioned at booksimakemyhusbandread at gmail.com and we would love to hear from you. But we would also really like it if you rated us. It's a great way to help people discover our show. I guess that's it. That, my friends, is another one in the books. It is. And who knows, maybe this will be the one your husband reads. But read Heartless Hunter first. Absolutely. Take care. OK, then bye bye.

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