I NEED MORE, I could read about these characters forever and never get bored.. "Because for the first time in her life, she was completely worth herself. And that was worth everything. Even dying for." I knew this book was going to be a 5 star read by Chapter 2. This book was everything I wanted it to be and more, the relationship and character developments. This book has me kicking my feet with glee, wanting to hide under my covers it had everything. Even a Good Girl, I SWOONED. I feel like this pointed out perfectly how you can lose yourself and other people can still see the real you, and you can wake up and realise what was missing. The hardship they went through in this book to try and get to a world where everyone could be safe and happy. This book hits hard and the closer to the ending the way the characters come together for the greater good left me in shambles.

✨5 stars✨

Wow! Wow! Wow!

This sequel and conclusion to this duology was everything!

After reading The Crimson Moth earlier this year and loving it (literally one of if not my favourite read of this year) I was over the moon when I was approved for an ARC. This book made me love both Rune and Gideon even more and that ending… my heart 😂 I cannot wait to receive the finished copy next year!

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first book, and if you haven’t read that one yet… what are you doing?😂

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Following on from the EXCELLENT Crimson Moth/Heartless Hunter, this book seems to skip a little in time between the two instalments. When we last see Rune she has narrowly escaped from the Republic after Gideon finding out she is a witch and scheduling an execution for her and Seraphine. Cut to the start of this book and she's engaged to the prince (who is a **** by the way) of a neighbouring country in exchange for his military assistance to help retake the throne back across the sea for Cressida Roseblood - the suspected dead queen who spent most of book 1 under a glamour pretending to be Rune's best friend.

There is A LOT of "he hates me, she hates me, how could he ever love ME, how would I ever be worhty of HER?!" and this is repetitive, like halfway through book one it was clear they'd both fallen for each other so spending so long trying desperately to cinvince themselves they hadn't was a little eye roll inducing and took time away from the overall plot.

I did enjoy this book but I think it felt quite rushed especally compared with the first book. I was 6% away from the end and there was still the entire plot to round off (I blame the repeated diss chat) and yet it did happen (with a fair bit of suspension of disbelief required). I know it's a fantasy book but it did feel like the fantasy side was secondary to the romance more than it should have been.

I really liked this story although not as much as the first. It’s fast paced, fun and has engaging characters and a good storyline. I hate romance but this wasn’t cringe at all and had lots of good world building

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc

This is the perfect sequel to one of my favourite books this year! An absolutely fantastic witchy fantasy book, there are so many secrets and twists, this book will grip you from the first page and won't let you go until the very last.

If I could give this book 6 stars I would without hesitation

*Rebel Witch* by Kristen Ciccarelli is an engaging fantasy filled with rich world-building and compelling characters. The story follows a young woman discovering her magical powers in a world on the brink of war. Ciccarelli’s prose is vivid, and the world feels immersive. The characters, especially the protagonist, are well-developed and relatable, making the stakes feel personal. However, the pacing slows in the beginning, and it isn’t until about 60% that the plot truly picks up speed. While the ending feels rushed, the intense final sections make for a satisfying conclusion. A solid read for fans of immersive fantasy.

No notes. I’m actually in love with this Duology. It has my whole heart.

The pacing throughout this felt just right. There’s enough action vs plotting / dialogue and it was so difficult for me to put down to actually go out and live my life.

Whilst I’m not a massive fan of miss communication I think this is done quite well in The Rebel Witch because they’re ACTUALLY enemies so of course they’re never going to sit down and talk about their plans and feelings.

The pining and romance is great and it always felt like “I love her/him but I’m worried they’re going to leave me to die or kill me themselves”. Impeccable vibes. The banter back and forth was also so good.

thank you NetGalley and HarperVoyager UK for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my most anticipated book of 2025 after falling in love with the Crimson Moth and the sequel did not disappoint.
The Rebel Witch was packed with politics, tension, romance, angst and a stacked cast of characters who you cannot help but love.
The magic system continued to be very compelling.
Witch and Witch Hunter may now be my favourite set up for an enemies to lovers fantasy.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone, as it serves on many different fronts. Plot, world-building, characters, romance, setting and storytelling.

A duology I will be recommending for all: romantasy, young adult, new adult, even romance fans!

Rune is promised to marry Prince Sorren in exchange for his army so Cressida can wage war on the New Republic. Rune had no desire to marry Soren, nor was she interested in doing the witch queen's bidding. But Cressida had saved her life and she wanted to save the witches.
Gideon has one goal - kill the Crimson Moth so the alliance won’t go ahead.

The two find themselves in an uneasy true after unplanned events. The hunter and the hunted aligned once more, pulled together with fate, love, and circumstance despite loathing each other’s positions.

This lived up to book one for me! It was just as good.

The will-they, won’t-they never got boring or over the top. The fade-to-black was handled incredibly well with the tension and angst better than any spicy romantasy. (More of these please!)

<b>"You are far worse than a thorn in my side," he said, his dark eyes gleaming at her. "You are a knife in my heart."
</b>
This was slightly more troupey than book one - one bed, one cabin, playing the married couple, a love curse, etc.

Rune struggles with her identity. Who is she behind the superficial aristo? Beyond the vengeful Crimson Moth? Can she trust Gideon with who she wants to be?

Again, like the first instalment, I did guess the twists, however, this was a well-paced and satisfying for a duology.

<b>If this was weakness, he wanted to be weak.
If this was sin, let him be damned to hell.
</b>
Thank you to Harper Collins for sending me the physical arc (SCREAMING) in exchange for a review.

Picking up where the Crimson Moth left off, Rune must grapple with the aftermath of her decision to side with the Queen of Witches. Her journey in this book is not just about confronting external enemies, but also about discovering who she is.
The MCs are richly developed and relatable, each bringing their struggles and growth to the forefront of the narrative. Rune's growth is palpable as she navigates the complexities of power and love, making choices that could alter the course of her destiny. Gideon's presence adds a captivating dynamic, his struggle mirroring Rune's own as they are torn between duty and desire. Ciccarelli’s portrayal of this internal conflict is vivid and compelling.
Ciccarelli’s writing is atmospheric and beautifully descriptive. With each chapter, the tension builds allowing readers to feel the stakes and the angst that permeates every corner of Rune and Gideon’s love story. The pacing of the novel is well-balanced, with moments of intense action interspersed with quieter, more introspective scenes. These shifts allow the reader to connect with the characters on a deeper level and understand the gravity of their choices.
Although I found the twists predictable, this did not lessen my enjoyment of the book. Ciccarelli crafts a narrative that is both enchanting and thought-provoking, inviting readers to reflect on their own beliefs and the lengths they would go to protect them.
Overall, The Rebel Witch is a thrilling end to the duology, offering a satisfying blend of romance, adventure, and thought-provoking themes of freedom, loyalty, and resistance to oppression, resonating deeply in today’s world.

Fantastic conclusion to an epic duology - I ate this up so fast!

Kristen has such a captivating way of writing. She brings compelling characters, heart-thudding romance and a plot full of betrayal and thrill that I was hooked on everything. There wasn't much time to breathe between each scene as it was constant excitement, never a dull moment, and even the wind-down scenes were full of heart or enthralling conversations between characters. Rune and Gideon were constantly on a knife's edge that it kept me turning the pages, hoping they'd get through it. Literally on the edge of my seat while reading this rollercoaster of a book!

Pacing in fantasy books is usually hit or miss for me but this was definitely a hit. It didn't feel rushed nor too slow, and I loved the endless twists and turns, the revelations, questioning who to trust, along with the satisfying ending.

And an honourable mention for Rune and Gideon's relationship because this is how you write enemies to lovers. They're actually enemies and it's the constant push and pull which really makes the trope what it is. Wonderfully done.

This is now one of my favourite series of all time, I miss the world already and I can't wait to see what else Kristen Ciccarelli brings us!

“There is a better world waiting to be born, Rune. A world that belongs to all of us. But it will never arrive if we don’t fight”

I went straight from my reread of the crimson moth into the rebel witch.
I had no idea how this one would play out after the ending of book 1.
Rune & Gideon’s journey in this book is complex. Whose side is right in this war, the blood guard are brutal but was the witch queen any better ?

This really had me guessing the whole time, was Gideon going love her or hate her ?

“The basest part of him wanted to tilt her head back and kiss her until she told him why she was crying.”

Would rune ever trust him ?

“What kind of girl falls for someone who despises her very nature? Who wants her dead?”

You’ll have to read it to find out…..

The Rebel witch was a great ending to the crimson moths journey. This is a duology you want to add to your TBR immediately!

Thank you harper voyager & netgalley for this arc

5 stars, 10 stars, no 100 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've never loved an enemies to lovers romantasy as much as this one, Gideon is one of the best MMC's out there and the angst between him and Rune was everything.

The push and pull of my emotions during the "will they, won't they" moments alongside the longing they had for each other had me eating this up page by page. This was non-stop entertainment from start to finish, every chapter and scene offered something to the reader or moved the story along, the pacing was perfect.

I'm sad it's over and I'm likely going to reread the duology again very soon. If you like the following tropes this one is for you and you should pick up a copy when it releases in Feb 2025:

- Best friends older brother
- Enemies to lovers
- Witch vs witch hunter
- Slow-burn romance
- "Who did this to you" jealous and protective MMC
- An amazing use of magic from our FMC

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Magpie/Harper Collins for approving me for an early copy to review.

♾️⭐️

I have never been so terrified and excited to read a book. I think that and the fact I wasn't ready for it to be over is why it took 4 days to finish it. Which in my opinion is a good thing.

The Rebel Witch is everything I imagined and wanted it to be and that's all I'm saying.

Thank you for allowing me to review this ahead of publication because I think I'd had burst at the seems not being able to read it until then.

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC!

4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this and up to 50% is was 5 star. It has everything I love. Enemies to lovers, strong FMC, unique magic system..but it lost the 0.5 star simply because so much happened in the last 50% with new characters that I couldn’t keep up and there was a chapter/event that was just unnecessary, it could have been taken out and it wouldn’t have affected anything.

But overall I loved this, and I think this is an amazing end to this duology !

My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for approving an advance digital copy of The Rebel Witch, by Kristen Ciccarelli in return for my honest review.

This sequel is one of the hotly anticipated early 2025 releases within the fantasy/romance audience, after the first book in The Crimson Moth, Heartless Hunter biology became a standout favourite early this year.

I had high hopes and expectations for the sequel, I really did enjoy the first book and found the pacing, world building and characters and their motivations and relationships an easy and fun read.

Unfortunately this sequel didn’t meet those goalposts. The duology is aimed at young adult audience, so I absolutely am not expecting literary prose wanting heavy parsing for meaning or content needing fully adult brains/cognitive development to empathise with or be able to relate to where the characters are at - however, the description was so sparse, most of the book was spent inside characters heads, telling the reader information from several points, repeatedly. If there was an award for “tell don’t show” this would get my nomination.

There were (throughout the book and several times) entire scenes which became almost nonsensical and the blocking/timing just took me out of the story entirely as I tried to work out *how* these characters had survived as spies/guards to this point given their naivety and inability to put two and two together and form a plan.

I lost track of the deus ex machina, from random horses awaiting ‘borrowing’ to characters who happened to be clanging on pipes at just the right time. The book felt a lot more wobbly on plot, bringing in tropes and sub tropes and nods to other fandoms (Titanic? Divergent? What you doing here?!) seemed to be a priority, and the miscommunication between characters bordered upon parody levels.

The actual underlying plot idea was pleasing enough, and the cast of side characters and interweaving relationships and history was (sustain disbelief) entirely suitable and in place and gratifying for the YA romantasy this is. However the execution is wobbly and overly clunky, and this book as I read it is hugely unpolished. (This may, to be fair, be fixed in part through final edits).

I felt like half of the characters in head thinking and telling the reader information several times in a row (please assume the reader has the capacity to pick up and put together clues!) could be cut to make room for more descriptive prose and time taken building the relationships and world and being *shown* what is happening.

For a second half of duology, it is disappointing in terms of leaving me feeling connected to the world and characters, however those wanting action (and who are prepared to have the outline of it and infill themselves!) and multiple resolutions for characters and plot points from the prequel, will be made happy enough, I think. I will look forward to reading the finished, published copy and hope with lower expectations I will simply enjoy the ride.

2.5 stars rounded to 3 for the ease of read and the fact we all need a comforting, no stress, feel good and a bit silly bowl of chicken soup read once in a while.

This has been one of my most anticipated sequels and I still can’t believe I actually got an eArc! I dropped all my current reads for it and it was everything I could have hoped for and more!

Picking up a short while after the events in The Crimson Moth, Rune and Gideon cannot catch a break. The tension between the two is just exquisite. Redoing enemies to lovers is a hard one to get right for sequels but this is a masterclass.

“It might look like weakness on the surface. But in truth, it’s tougher than steel. Love can’t be controlled. Love can’t obey unjust laws. Love will always oppose tyrants.”

This was fact paced and easy to inhale. I loved getting to know more about some side characters this time round and seeing them overcome their histories and forge new paths.

For the amount of stress this book caused me, it was such an enjoyable and easy read.

I was so excited for this book and it didn’t disappoint.
The writing style is as beautiful and easily readable as the first part. I had to devour this book in one sitting.
It had it all: the interesting magic-system, the tension, the political and moral conflict and the romance. The perfect ending to a perfect story.

REVIEW: The Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli 🦋

Release date: 27/02/2025
Book two in the Crimson Moth Duology 🦋

SCREAMING!! I cannot explain to you how perfect this book and this duology is, I loved the Crimson Moth and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the Rebel Witch! This is a series that is now my literal personality!! I devoured this book and could not put it down!! 🦋

I loved the fast-pacing, the dual-POV made me literally squeal at times and it was such a good continuation of the first book - it was great to be back with Rune and Gideon ❤️

This book was the perfect sequel to The Crimson Moth / Heartless Hunter and I CANNOT WAIT for you all to read it! Kristen’s writing is pure perfection and this duology takes a throne as part of my all time Roman Empire series’ ⭐️

Thank you again HarperVoyager and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

When I read the first book I was already sceptical about this being a duology. I felt like so much of the story would fall short and sadly it did. I will say that if you only care about the main plot and the romance this might be a fantastic read for you and would def recommend if you read and liked the first one. However there were a few things that fell too short for my taste. Maybe we get a spin off ?

What I liked:
- the back and forth between Gideon and Rune is lovely, we see two broken people questioning their insticts, their feelings. That part was well done imo
- nice ending, Im hoping for some spin-off for the side characters?
- I like her writing style a lot, it draws you in and does not let you go
- overall its an acceptable conclusion for the two books and I dont feel like much was left unfinished

What I didnt like:
- Gideons arc came a bit out of no where and was way too fast in my opinion
- Cressida was barely even in the book and there was so much potential so have a well fleshed out villain but we barely got anything from her
- I still dont know a lot about the magic and the spells and how it all works and what works and how you can alter spells etc. In the book there were some very convenient spell saves that the reader could not really have seen coming cause we dont know how the magic works or at least not enough

Thank you to netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for providing me with and ARC in exchange for an honest review