What to expect:
Enemies to Lovers
Forbidden Love
Forbidden Magic
Witch + Witch Hunter

I was so excited to delve back into this world, and it did not disappoint. I immensely enjoyed this book and found it to be the perfect ending to this duology.

This book picks up shortly after the first and we are thrown back into this world and it's action packed from the get go. I don't think I once found myself bored with the storyline as there was constantly so much going on and getting the dual POV of both Rune and Gideon really made the story flow quickly.

We see both Rune and Gideon struggling with their decisions and feelings, and thankfully they are not kept apart for large portions of the story. The tension and chemistry is so electric between the two and present throughout the whole story and it's completely delicious! There is so much growth in their relationship and we get to see how they handle their obvious distrust for one another and their hurt over what happened in the past. As well as their inability to stay away from each other while also wanting to kill each other just makes the story so addictive. Now, picture all of that, mixed with a fake relationship, forced proximity, major jealousy and betrayal? Their relationship and back and forth completely stole the show.

Overall, this was such a perfect ending to this beautiful and addictive story and it's example of an enemies to lovers relationship has to be one of my favourites, allowing us to experience their incredibly angsty journey in defying the odds their up against. I really recommend picking up this book upon it's release in February 2025!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this early review copy.

I didn't think the Crimson Moth could be beaten but MY GOD, this topped it.

I am absolutely obsessed with Gideon and Rune. This book was full of pure hate, love and passion. This is how enemies to lovers should be done.

I love how character driven this series is, the moments between Gideon and Rune were just everything. And the side characters really stood out in this book, there is betrayal, sacrifice, and bonds formed. This book also has so much more plot development than the Crimson Moth! There is so much tension and excitement, I physically could not put it down.

And the ending had me crying and swearing and completely on the edge of my seat.

PHENOMENAL.

The Rebel Witch delivers an action-packed finale to The Crimson Moth duology, but for me, it didn’t quite capture the gripping intensity of the first book. The story picks up with Rune on the run after Gideon’s betrayal, forced into an uneasy alliance with Cressida Roseblood. Rune’s struggle to balance survival with the growing weight of her choices creates an intriguing moral complexity, though at times her decisions felt repetitive.

The tension between Rune and Gideon remains a highlight. Their dynamic is layered with unresolved feelings and mistrust, as Gideon wrestles with his hatred for witches and the part of him that still cares for Rune. While their interactions are compelling, the emotional stakes didn’t hit as hard this time around, feeling more like a slow burn without the payoff of The Crimson Moth.

The larger conflict—Cressida’s plans to reinstate the Reign of Witches versus Gideon’s determination to protect the Republic—raises the stakes, but the pacing occasionally falters. The middle section felt bogged down by prolonged political manoeuvring, which dulled some of the urgency. However, the action scenes were as thrilling as ever, and the climax delivered a satisfying resolution to the central conflict.

While The Rebel Witch didn’t keep me as hooked as its predecessor, it’s still a solid read for fans of the series. If you enjoyed the first book, you’ll want to see how it all ends, even if the journey isn’t quite as spellbinding this time around.

Big thank you to Net Galley & Harper Collins for the advanced copy.
I have been dying to read this as Crimson Moth was one of the best things I have read this year!

This book is all action, and it’s got everything I love in it, there’s betrayal, who did this, misunderstandings, revolution!
And so many wholesome moments! 💜

The pacing is really good, it kept me hooked and i really couldn’t put it down!
I do wish there had been more magic, There’s quite a lot of the same spell and I found the whole magic system so interesting so would have been good to see more.

I’m not usually a highlighter but particularly loved this quote from Gideon

“Instead he’d found this Rune, His Rune. A mess”

Adorable. He just gets her.

A perfect end to this duology, all of the banter and tension I loved from the first book continued on into the second and wrapped up the plot perfectly!

This was everything I wanted and more from the second book in this duology.
We pick up shortly after the end of book one and we are thrown straight back into the story.
I adore Gideon and Rune, I haven’t been this emotionally attached to characters for a long while. And it’s not just them all the side characters are fully fleshed out and I loved them too seraphine, Harrow, Laila just all of them. And hated the ones I was meant to hate too, Cressida is an incredible villain, so much so that even though she doesn’t get much page time in person just the mention of her is enough.
This is a duology that I know I will read again and again. The writing is beautiful, the characters and world building are great, I could picture it playing out like a movie in my head.
I can’t wait to see what this author puts out next!
I think I loved this one even more than the first.

I'm so disappointed in this series. I really thought I was gonna love it, but sadly it was just average.

I feel like across both books there are some really solid plot points and the characters are good enough that it could've been a really excellent series, but the execution was a bit poor. For example, in this book there were some big reveals (no spoilers, don't worry), which I feel like should have happened in the first book because it meant that this book was trying to do too much, and then the reveals felt so obvious because there wasn't really enough build up to them in my opinion.

I also found that the pacing was off. There were parts of this book which felt quite dull and repetitive and then the big finale happened in the LAST 25 PAGES!

It was fine, but I just expected so much more because of all the hype surrounding this series.

Love has never been so deadly. You’ll find the stakes are even higher in this epic conclusion to this romantic fantasy series where a witch and a witch hunter are met with an impossible choice. Everyone wants her dead. Gideon Sharpe revealed who she was and delivered her into enemy hands who want her dead. Rune Winters deceived him. Now she’s betrayed him again by allying herself with the witches who made his life hell.

When Rune makes Gideon an offer he can’t refuse the two pair up to accomplish dangerous goals. They’re forced into each other’s company and realise the feelings they had for each other aren’t as dead and buried as they thought. Now they face a terrible choice: sacrifice one to stop a monster taking back power or watch the world they fought so hard for burn.

A perfect ending to the duopoly. A fast paced plot that will leave you on the edge of your seat, a searing romance that will leave you breathless and stakes so high you’ll do anything just to watch this world fight not to burn. There wasn’t a single moment that wasn’t beautifully written and well thought out by the author. You may guess the ending but that won’t make it any less brutally realised. Will forever recommend this duology.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐔𝐊 | 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐅𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐩𝐢𝐞) 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐢𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢

I was excited to read the second installment to this series. I devoured the first book and enjoyed this one just as much! The pacing was great and i never found a dull moment. I love a book that can grip me from the beginning until the very end and this was one of those stories. I was unable to stop once i started. I didn't feel like i was reading but rather watching a film with how easy the words and plot was flowing. I know a book has truly gripped me if i get to that stage so it was a no-brainer that this would be 5 stars for me.

The tension between Rune and Gideon was sizzling. Their inner conflict of choosing between love and hate was portrayed well and to be honest, who wouldn't fall for Gideon? I know i would. This series is my new favourite and i'm glad i decided to pick it up. Overall, it was a fun read and had a perfect witch x witch hunter duo.

I would like to thank harper collins and netgalley for allowing me to read an e-arc of this book. I'm truly grateful.

Having eagerly anticipated the conclusion to this duology, I was thrilled to see that Rebel Witch not only met but exceeded my expectations. After finishing The Crimson Moth, I wondered if the second book could maintain the same intense momentum, but I was pleased to find that it did so effortlessly. The pacing remained sharp and engaging, sustaining the suspense right up until the final pages.

One of the most satisfying aspects of this installment was the deeper character development, especially for Rune and Gideon. Both characters experienced meaningful growth, with arcs that felt earned and natural. Their evolving relationship was handled with a great deal of care and consistency, which I greatly appreciated.

While I initially thought the narrative might stretch into a third book, especially given the emerging dynamics of the found family theme, the story wrapped up in a way that felt both conclusive and rewarding. It works beautifully as a duology, offering a sense of closure without leaving any lingering questions.

In the end, Rebel Witch is an exhilarating, fast-paced read, full of twists and emotional depth. It’s a series I’ll undoubtedly revisit in the future, and one that will stay with me for quite some time.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc!

From start to finish this book is fast paced and high stakes which I love. A true enemies to lovers - something I will always be on board with. I loved this! I think everyone needs to read book 1 so they can read this as soon as it’s released!

I will be hyping this biology up to everyone!

4/5 stars 1/5 spice

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the e-arc.
This review contains spoilers for book one: The Crimson Moth, but is spoiler free for The Rebel Witch.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒌𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕."

First of all let me say that I love Gideon, always have. This is a story of self discovery and learning to trust again. Just like the first book, Kristen she has such a magical ability to make you feel so many emotions in the way she writes character interactions and inner dialogue.

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

The book starts two months after the ending of The Crimson Moth and gets right into the action. My overall thoughts: This was a good story that was fast-paced but didn’t flow as nicely as The Crimson Moth because the storyline had more aspects to incorporate (the first part of the book is set in a new location, there is a lack of honest communication between Rune and Gideon, there are new characters).

Regarding the miscommunication in this book - there was a lot of it between Rune and Gideon due to their current situation i.e. how book one ended (enemies to lovers back to enemies) and their overarching opposing priorities (Cressida being back in power is the only way Rune can keep witches safe, versus, Gideon cannot let Cressida return to power because she will be a tyrant). They both still have feelings for one-another but the other doesn’t know they both feel the same way thus neither of them are fully honest. Whenever they are about to be fully honest they remind themselves of their opposing goals and decide against it- this circles for a good 60% of the book. Personally I understand why this was realistic and needed to happen but I can imagine some readers may find it frustrating.

There were some moments that felt slightly out of character, mostly Rune, and I was questioning why certain things unfolded the way they did or why characters were making the choices they did. I feel all of my questions were eventually answered as the story unfolded, however sometimes I didn’t fully agree with the 𝑤ℎ𝑦.

The ending was very fast-paced, and although I guessed what would happen, it was still enjoyable. I do wish the last 80% of the book started sooner- this would have meant that the ending was more drawn out and had more depth.

There were some popular tropes that appeared towards the end that may have felt included for the sake of it? But this is only a minor point.

Finally, the book ends with a three months later epilogue that gives us just a little peak into where Rube and Gideon and the political system of the island ended up after the events at the end of the book.

Overall, this book was enjoyable but book one will forever be my favourite.

Bookstagram: @larslovelettertobooks

I did enjoy this book HOWEVER, the first one was way better imo!!! i found that a lot of the plot points that happened got resolved so quickly and conveniently and I would of liked them to of been drawn out a little longer.. and it was very predictable. But it was a fun romantasy read perfect for this time of year tho!

This was fun and a good conclusion to the duology. The first half did drag quite a bit as it was a lot of character development and setting up for the second half, but the second half was action packed and super fast paced. Overall a fun light romantasy with a great ending.

This book immediately starts with tension between Rune and Gideon and I loved every second of it 😍

This was a good ending to the duology, there was a satisfying ending with a few twists and turns along the way. The only reason I couldn't give 5 stars is because the ending was rushed, which was a shame as the first half of this book was perfect.

Rune and Gideon stole the show from start to finish and I love them as a couple, I absolutely love that they challenge each other and yet they can't keep their hands from one another and they sacrifice for each other 😍

Overall a great duology that I will re-read again and again in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I read this in one weekend! This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint.
This is everything I need in a romantasy duology!

The story wraps up so nicely, I loved the ending and loved the tension and angst between Rune and Gideon!
This is also one of the coolest magic systems I’ve read about.

Some of the tropes:
- witch x witch hunter
- only one bed
- enemies to lovers

Will write a more detailed review closed to release date!

Kirsten Ciccarelli is now an auto buy author. Can’t wait to see what she writes next.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Crimson Moth is such a legendary duology/series/story! I will always love it, I will always miss it, and I will always think about it! Rune and Gideon are the definition of excellent and epic enemies to lovers romance, with both characters having done some bad decisions without being horrible people!

The Rebel Witch is an outstanding second and last book in this series/duology, and perhaps even better than Crimson Moth! Higher stakes! More flirting! More longing! More who hurt you moments! It has everything we need and everything we dreamed of!

I loved the plot! I loved the romance! And I loved them as individual characters! The amount of growth they made in this book was outstanding!

Rune has been on the run, "forced" to side with Cressida and "forced" to seduce a prince in order to get access to the prince's army. She was lonely and in so much pain after her friend's death that I truly felt for her. I also felt for her whenever Gideon said something that miscontrued her words. Gideon didn't do it on purporse, he legitimately believed what he said, and Rune realized that he even had every right to believe what he believed, and it pained her that even though she told the truth, it wouldn't make a difference. Enter the YEARNING OF THE CENTURY! Even when she was jealous, the author portrayed the scenes with such incredible emotional resonance that it felt that the scenes weren't there for tropes but so that Rune grew by processing her myriad emotions. And I loved the twist of her character arc! I loved that we saw her afraid because no one is unafraid all the time.

Gideon also grew so much in this book. He has suffered so much at the hands of witches, and yet, he still saw the injustice, he still saw witches as people in this book, and he found the courage to call them all out. He truly saw both sides of the turmoil, the witches suffering from witch hunters and humans suffering from the witches, and I was so proud of him. I also loved that we saw his competent and strategic side as well as his leadership. He is such a natural leader, inspiring loyalty and admiration from everyone, and I loved seeing him getting the respect and the highlight of the hour!

The side characters were GREAT! I loved Harrow and Juniper, Bart and Antonio, and Leila! They brought out an amazing character ensemble that made sense in its diversity! All of them were fleshed out with enough background to make them shine and stand out in their own way, without eclipsing Rune and Gideon.

The author is truly a plot and enemies-to-lovers romance mastermind!! We experienced so many twists and turns, and yet, Rune and Gideon were always the focus without diminishing the power of themes and societal justice and equality.

These books are legendary!! The ultimate enemies to lovers romance in upper YA, and a delicious push and pull with scorching chemistry! Everyone should read these books!

3.5 stars. A good end to the Crimson Moth duology with some twists and the romance element turned way up. I will say, the ending of this book felt very rushed compared to the rest of it. I had to reread the last twenty pages a few times to make sure I understood it. As well, some pretty integral characters such as Bart and Antonia are only introduced really in the last third which makes their place in the book feel like a not-quite-right jigsaw. However, I enjoyed the story overall.

Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC.

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Oh my god I am obsessed! What a page turner!My favourite read this year ! My favourite duology ever! I honestly have no words.I have been waiting this for 10 months and feel so lucky to have received an early copy of it I could cry. I started this today and I finished it today. I could not put it down. Gideon and Rune were everything! an absolute perfection and I cannot fault it.I want to cry because I finished it and already start a reread! I have no words honestly! I feel a major slump looming!All the stars in the world are not enough to rate this book! A must read! thank you thank you and thank you!

Rune and Gideon!!! Oh wow… they are just perfection. There is literally nothing I would change about them and their dynamic. They had me giggling and kicking my feet. I am obsessed with them, this series and everything Kristen Ciccarelli does.

The story picks up a few months after the events of the first book and Gideon is on the hunt to kill Rune as promised. However, Rune makes Gideon an offer he can’t refuse and the two are forced to work together although they don’t trust each other. The more they’re forced to rely on each other, the more the tension grows and the more things are said that can’t be taken back.

You’ll just have to read it to see for yourself!