lindsey olsson – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 359 pages
Author: Lindsey Olsson
Publisher: GP Putnam’s
Release Date: August 1st, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A criminal and a royal guard are drawn into the hunt for a dangerous witch—and an unexpected romance—in this YA enemies-to-lovers romantasy, perfect for fans of Heartless Hunter.

In Orlonea, the Witch is feared above all else. Reborn into each generation, she is the only person with magic running innately through her veins, able to wield magic with a single thought.

So when guards across the city begin to drop dead, gruesomely murdered by violent and vicious magic, everyone knows the Witch has returned—and no one will be safe until she’s killed.

Toran is the Prince’s Crown, the most highly skilled fighter in the King’s Guard. Tasked with the responsibility of leading the hunt for the Witch, Toran tries to focus on his assignment to forget the ghosts of his past. And after he learns of Nes, a thief with an uncanny ability to sniff out magic, he forcibly recruits her into joining his hunt.

As the two face deadly magic and otherworldly threats, their mutual dislike soon turns to something more electric, and they find themselves drawn to each other in ways they’d never imagined. But the Witch is always a step ahead of them, and with bodies piling up, secrets threaten to come to light—secrets that could destroy everything from the fragile trust between them to the very city of Orlonea itself.

IT WAS ALRIGHT.

I kept hoping for this to turn into something that brought some awe, but it felt more mid than anything else. AND also please note, this is not young adult, it’s new adult.

I’m trying to write this review days later and I am struggling to remember enough things to say which I think is a review on its own. It just wasn’t a book that stuck with me. The audiobook is good and I thought things started out well but didn’t hold that for long.

IT IS NOT LIKE HEARTLESS HUNTER. This is why I don’t always love when a summary claims to be like another book because I have often found that not the case. This isn’t a true enemies to lovers (things move to quickly for that). And the heated chemistry is non-existent.

Its predictability was a negative and the disconnect with anything happening was prevalent. Is there going to be a book two??? I don’t know.

Overall audience notes: