This was a very strong sequel and I think I may have actually enjoyed this one slightly more than the first book! It's full of magic, yearning and romance; the plot is very fast paced and keeps you on your toes throughout. Despite the fast pace I think it had a great balance of action and character development – my only complaint is that I felt like the ending was a little rushed. However, overall it was a satisfying conclusion to the duology and if you enjoyed the first book you're going to LOVE this one!

🚨 STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING. 🚨 If you love enemies-to-lovers, angsty yearning, and the most deliciously complicated hero ever—The Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli is about to wreck you in the best way possible.

✨ 4.5 STARS ✨

Okay, first of all… GIDEON SHARPE IN HIS JEALOUSY ERA??? I was EATING IT UP. 🍽️🔥

This book picks up right after The Crimson Moth, and Rune and Gideon? They’re a mess. Like, can’t-stop-thinking-about-each-other-but-also-want-to-murder-each-other levels of messy. Rune is on the run, forced into an alliance with the terrifying Cressida Roseblood (queen of being the worst™), and Gideon? Oh, he’s out for blood. But fate isn’t done playing games with them, because when Rune makes him an offer he cannot refuse, they’re forced into a dangerous partnership—one that has them stuck together, throwing knives and heated insults.

And let me tell you, the BANTER in this book?? 🤌🏼

“You've raised your expectations considerably... Aiming for a prince.”
“On the contrary. These days my only requirement for suitors is that they don't want me dead. Most people would call those low expectations.”


I mean, COME ON.

And don’t even get me started on the tension. The longing. The oh my god just KISS ALREADY energy that had me screaming into my pillow at 2AM. The way Gideon is so torn up over Rune—knowing he should hate her, but completely incapable of not aching for her?? Pain. Pure, delicious pain.

“If this was weakness, he wanted to be weak.
If this was sin, let him be damned to hell.”


😭💀💘

But let’s be real—waiting until 90% of the book for them to fully give in was TORTURE. I mean, I love a slow burn, but this was next-level suffering. I needed just a little more sooner. That’s the only reason I can’t quite give it a full 5 stars.

That said, the twists?? The stakes?? The way love and power and sacrifice are so tangled together in this world?? Flawless. The way it all comes together in the end had me sobbing and clutching my chest like a Victorian widow.

“The problem with love is the more you try to destroy it, the stronger it becomes… Love is the real enemy of the regime, and that’s why you despise it.”


LIKE OKAY, LET ME JUST CRY ABOUT THAT FOR A SECOND. 😭🖤

And can we just TALK about Gideon’s internal monologue for a second?? The way he keeps telling himself he doesn’t care, that she’s nothing to him—and yet, every single time she’s in danger, he’s the first one to risk everything for her. The way his hands shake when she’s hurt. The absolute RAGE he feels when someone so much as looks at her the wrong way.

“What the hell do you think you're doing with my wife?”


I had to physically put my Kindle down and breathe after that one. Kristen Ciccarelli really knew what she was doing with this man.

And Rune?? She is EVERYTHING. Fierce, clever, always ten steps ahead, and completely unwilling to break—even when the entire world is against her. I love how she refuses to let Gideon’s hatred (or his pretend hatred) get to her. She meets him fire for fire, always keeping her head high.

“Jealous? If you wanted to marry me, Gideon, you should have said so."


Shivers. 🖤🔥

And let’s not forget the actual plot because WOW. The political intrigue, the betrayals, the impossible choices. Every chapter had me on EDGE. The final battle? The way it all went down? I swear, I was sweating.

I’m devastated this duology is over, but I feel SO lucky we got to see Rune and Gideon get their ending. Their journey was EVERYTHING—messy, painful, passionate, and ultimately, so, so worth it.

If you love books that make you feral, The Rebel Witch is calling your name. 📖🔥

A worthy conclusion of the series! This was somehow better than The Crimson Moth, and sequels always scare me so much. Honestly loved Gideon in this so much!

I can’t wait to read more by this author, definitely on my to watch list!

This was one of my most highly anticipated sequels of 2025, and happy to say it did not disappoint!

The pacing, the enemies to lovers to enemies again to lovers was such a fun ride , and really kept me on my toes!

The first half of the book was a little repetitive for me however the twists and turns still kept me engaged and I absolutely loved how this duology ended

What a marvelous ending to this duology! Rune and Gideon truly have my heart and I love how their story played out. This book is so easy to read and well-written, which made me fly through this book. I highly recommend this duology to anyone basically!!

Ooh this was good! I couldn't wait for more Rune and Gideon and that's exactly what I got and then some. Great rollicking pace that I devoured. Lots of snipyness and a deepening of the already electric connection between our mc's. More in depth politics, betrayals and surprise reveals. Great follow up and conclusion to a dark, romantic high stakes duology!
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the arc, all thoughts are my own and left voluntarily.

What. A. Page. Turner!? I really enjoyed book 1, but this took the story to a whole new level!! I was hooked, invested and amazed at how this story developed.

“I would have married you in a heartbeat, had you asked me. That’s how desperately I wanted to be yours”.

The angst and fight, the cat and mouse chase, it was so well written. I could really feel the lust, longing and tension from book 1. A continuation of where the trust broke. But their obsession with each other is so strong.

“That voice. It was honey to her soul”.

“Being married to you would be the honour of my life”.

This book is filled with friendships, love, trust and the battles that sometimes need to be fought for it all. To have a better future for all.

“It was a world were enemies could be not just allies, but lovers and friends, and most of all, equals. It was a world where no one needed to hide who they really were”.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Kristen Ciccarelli for the ARC, it’s been a pleasure to read!

Sadly, the formatting for this e-ARC was completely illegible on my kindle! I have no doubt that this is going to be an amazing read, so I've gone and given it 4 stars.

The Crimson Moth was one of my top reads last year and I have been waiting eagerly for the sequel. In spite of the political stakes and deadly cat-and-mouse manoeuvring, I feel like the romance held top billing in this story. The yearning! My god, the yearning... Just spectacular.

Outside of the yearning, the book was extremely fast=paced, which kept the story galloping along. The stakes kept ramping up seemingly on every page, with spies and deadly witches and curses all being called into effect. I felt as though Ciccarelli highlighted Rune's vulnerability even more in this book, which kept her very human and very relatable.

10/10. Ciccarelli has been one of my favourite authors since The Last Namsara. She writes beautifully flawed and tenacious characters and her world-building is second-to-none. Even before Crimson Moth I would have read anything she wrote, but the way she's rounded out this duology just cemented her place on my auto-buy list. Brava.

Oh... Well, admittedly, I requested this ARC before even reading book 1 so that might have been a mistake. Book 1 for me was a 3 stars with one thing that really bothered me (a character who was previously victim of SA was pressured to have sex constantly and I found that rather distasteful) a lot but it was ok. Sure, the MCs didn't have much chemistry and there was hardly any character development but I was hoping that book 2 as so often would be actually a step up. I was wrong. This book wasn't for me. I really disliked the constant repetition of dialogues/thoughts, running in circles. Regardless, I'm sure plenty will love this because there are some very popular tropes used.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first book due to the main characters not having any chemistry and also the fact there were a few plot holes. However, I really wanted to give this series a chance as I know a lot of people loved it.
Unfortunately, this series was not for me. And I know that we can’t love every book we read.
For me, there was no chemistry between the two main characters and I couldn’t connect with either of them. The only thing I could see between them was physical attraction, not emotional.
I loved the idea of the plot but it seemed too simple and I guessed it within the first 50 pages.
Therefore, I can only give this book two stars. I will not be posting a review on my social due to this as I do not want to give this book any bad reviews publicly.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for this highly anticipated ARC!

Was the plot somewhat predictable? Yes.
But did I still eat it all up in a single sitting, sacrificing precious sleep hours and was smiling the whole way through? Yes.
And I would do it again.

This was such a great and epic conclusion to this fast paced and magical story. I am absolutely in love with Rune and Gideon. Their dedication to one another is so romantic. Their individual journey and character development was also so well done. The romance tropes?! The tension?! The push and pull?! I cannot. I was literally squealing. Even all the side characters held their own and enriched the story.

Would read again. Cannot wait to jump back into this world.

Overall rating; 5/5

Well i absolutely ate this up, I could not put it down. The tension between Gideon and Rune 🤌, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this duet as i had heard it was more on the YA side but my word it was so good. There was moments where my heart was in my ass, I was worried I was happy, I was angry, I felt all the emotions. I really don't have a bad word to say if I'm honest.

Thank you so much for this free arc in exchange for this honest review. Thank you for granting my wish aswell - I hope your pillow is cold tonight <3

The epic sequel/finale to the Crimson Moth duology had me hooked from the get go. It follows on directly from the first book and it is so action packed I was shocked. No moment of this book was boring. I will forever be in love with this story and how it has gripped me.

The first book set this up perfectly, allowing for so much action and intrigue. I adored the choices made for the characters’ locations, allowing for the tension to build dramatically. There were so many typical romantasy tropes, but they were done so artfully that they felt new, and the story felt fresh. I was absolutely kicking my feet at the interactions between characters. And I adored the way the author left hints to some massive reveals throughout both books! This series definitely works best as a duology, allowing for tension building and connections between characters that may not have been as hard hitting had the series been longer!

I have to admit that I liked the first novel a bit more, but it was great to be back in this world. I always love stories about witches and the chemistry between our main characters is great. The problems felt a bit repetitive but this was to be expected and also felt realistic as these problems can’t be solved easily. This is a fast-paced read and I’m sure everyone who enjoyed the first book will enjoy the sequel. I’m excited to see what Kristen Ciccarelli will write next.

First of all I wanted to express how lucky I was to receive the arc for ‘The Rebel Witch’
I didn’t think it was possible for the sequel to top ‘The Crimson Moth’ but it certainly did. I was immersed from the very first page and honestly didn’t want to put the book down. I am fairly new to the fantasy world, but I felt this was a great start and easy to follow without too much world building. Despite some errors within the book and some spacing issues on my E Reader I barely noticed it, because the story and the writing just sucked me in. I shall definitely be recommending this one to everyone I know. It’s safe to say I shall be reading more from this wonderful author.

The second book in the Crimson Moth duology. I absolutely loved book one and I was so thrilled when my NetGalley ARC hit my inbox. I love Rune and Gideon and this is a real enemies to lovers. Their dynamic did not change in book two and I was all here for it. Probably one of my all time favourite book couples. The tension, the yearning and forbidden love was SO good!

I loved the double POV and short chapters which made that a very easy read. Reading Rune's POV and thoughts and also getting Gideon's POV of recent events works so so well for their story telling. This is "miscommunication" done well, because it just makes so much sense for them and the story.
The book is action packed, with twists and betrayal.
The pacing is fast and I flew through the 400+ pages. I sometimes felt like everything happened a little too fast for my liking though. Some parts felt very rushed and they should have gotten a few more pages, to wrap up everything neatly in my opinion.
I still very much enjoyed this duology and can recommend it to all my fantasy/romantasy friends. Rune and Gideon have my heart.

Thank you to Kristen Ciccarelli, Harper Collins & NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

My first five star read of the year and I’m still not over this being the most perfect sequel! I can’t tell you how much I adored it. It was such a satisfying conclusion to the series and I know I will think about these characters forever.

This is a series to be read and reread and I already can’t wait to be reunited with Rune, Gideon and this world. The romance is so beautifully written, it’s honest, candid and the most stunning portrayal of two people who will fight all odds to be together. If you love forbidden love, enemies to lovers and slow burn romance, this witch x witch hunter duology is so undeniably perfect for you.

I will now be searching for something to fill this Rune and Gideon shaped void . I truly adored this duology with my whole heart and I cannot wait to recommend this duology to everyone!!

Thank you so much for my early copy Harper Collins!

I really loved this book; and I'm so glad we still had the cat and mouse game between Rune and Gideon!

Their relationship dynamic was delicious, and watching them constantly try to outsmart each other was one of my favourite things. The book took place two months AFTER the ending of The Crimson Moth and although we were told what had happened, I'd have loved to see more of the immediate aftermath.

However, I couldn't put this book down.

The only criticism I have is that it ended too quickly.

After the plot developed (and new things came to light) this could have easily been turned into a trilogy, so we got to delve deeper into new character additions and watching the two sides work together more.

But it was still an enjoyable read.