4.5⭐️

I cannot believe I’ve finally read it—and wow, what a perfect continuation and finale to this duology. Honestly, I don’t think the author could’ve written a more satisfying ending.

We pick up exactly where book one left off: Rune is on the coast, helping Cressida, the witch queen, rally an army by marrying the prince. But what about Gideon? And that delicious hate-love-hate dynamic? Oh, we were so back, baby 🙈

I haven’t read a book recently where the couple was this politically opposed and emotionally tangled. Like, 70% of the book? They despise each other. But that other 30%? The pining, the passion, the “I would do anything for you” energy? SOLD. This duology is now one of my favorite witchy reads ever.

The pacing is super action-packed—we’re constantly following Rune and Gideon’s journey from the inland to the island of the New Republic and back again. Along the way, we get deeper insight into their pasts, their insecurities, and the emotional walls they’ve built. And the further they travel, the more they open up—to each other and to us as readers.

I’ll admit, there was a moment where I felt Rune was getting a bit too selfish with her goals and vision for the future. But the author clearly did that intentionally, and it all came together beautifully in the end.

This is definitely a duology you’ll want to reread again and again. I already miss it and want more.

Thank you @netgalley for the e-ARC of this book. The review I leave is my own

Okay, I’m still thinking about this book because wow. Rune and Gideon… the tension between them is insane. They start off as enemies and then slowly get closer, but OBVIOUSLY it’s never simple and the slow burn romance had me feeling all the things. I laughed, got frustrated, lowkey screamed at them at times, and yes the angst hit HARD.

The world building is always amazing. The magic feels dangerous and exciting at the same time, and there’s so much going on with politics, alliances, and betrayals that you never know what’s coming next. Rune has to make some really hard choices and honestly, I felt them all with her. She’s such a strong and smart character but also so human, and I loved following her journey.

Also the ending… I did not see some things coming and it left me shook but satisfied at the same time. And to think I’m here only because I randomly bought The Crimson Moth Fairyloot edition because it was pretty lmao, now I’m obsessed with this story.

Thank you SO MUCH to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for the arc.

The Crimson Moth was a 6 star read for me last year so I was super excited to read The Rebel Witch. One of my most highly anticipated reads and I couldn't wait to get back to Rune and Gideon! It didn't disappoint

The crimson moth was one of my favourite reads last year so I was beyond excited to get to read the rebel witch. It was my most anticipated read and it did not disappoint!! This duology will continue to be a favourite that I recommend

A perfect ending to a 5 star duology!

In this magical sequel, Rune is on the run and trying to survive. Very quickly, Rune and Gideon find themselves working together once again.

Kristen ensured that, like the Crimson Moth, the Rebel Witch was fast paced and action packed. The book jumps straight into the action with Gideon and Rune. Despite elements of this book being very predictable, this was a fantastic conclusion to the Crimson Moth duology. I can’t wait to read what Kristen puts out next!

Kristen Ciccarelli did not mess about, and she threw us right back into the plot.

The world-building continues to be immaculate, following with a solid plotline that rivalled the first book. Rune and Gideon lived up to the enemies-to-lovers trope, with the slowburn and angst that I could feel from them. The pacing was fast, the side characters held their own, and I ended up reading the entire thing in one day.

I had the same feeling with The Crimson Moth, but maybe this book just hit me in the right mood, because I enjoyed it very much.

I generally prefer a sequel and Rebel Witch certainly delivered.

We pick up from the end of the last book with Rune and Gideon feeling their angsty nursery vibes and let me tell you I could feel the angst in the real world. The vibes between the two were absolutely sizzling and gosh I just love to read it.

Did I see some of the plot twists coming? Yes. Lets be real, this is an oversaturated genre and it’s very hard to not guess the lines of the story. Did I gasp in shock and awe anyways? Yes, because it’s not always about what happened but how we got there.

Honestly, I’m glad that this is a duology because it left me wanting more and that’s my favourite kind of ending.

What a stunning conclusion to the duet! I could read and keep re-reading these books. The story was engaging and captured me right away drawing me back into the world of The Crimson Moth. There were a few predictable moments as well as some I didn't see coming but overall a very beautifully written story with characters that jump right off the page!

4.5/5 stars

This book is cute, cosy and just fabulous. The jealousy i have over people who got a Proof copy, is insane.

Tropes:
Enemies-to-lovers
Witch X witch hunter
Romantasy

Summary: The much anticipated book following the hugely successful “The Crimson Moth”. The world building throughout the Rebel Witch is nothing short of amazing. Alongside the romantasy element, it was nice to have a solid plot to follow. There is a nice pacing with the book and some very unexpected twists and turns but it never failed to keep me engrossed and ready to find out the answers I was desperately seeking. Rune, Cressida and Gideon were the perfect characters, not just romance but friendship. After what seemed like a lifetime waiting for this book, I was eager to read The Rebel Witch and its safe to say i was not disappointed. Kristen does not disappoint and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next.

This one wasn't as good as the first book but still highly enjoyable and entertaining. I love this series!

If you love enemies to lovers then this series is definitely for you! Really enjoyed this dulogy and the chemistry that was in this! It was fast paced and entertaining, definitely one I could read in one sitting!

Rebel Witch was an epic ending to the Crimson Moth duology. I absolutely loved these books so so much. Rebel Witch got me out of a reading slump.
I was obsessed the whole time Gideon and Rune were together. The side characters in this one were really well fleshed out and kept things interesting. The fast paced plot kept me invested the whole time and made it difficult to pull away for real life things. This book brought so many emotions! I feel like it could have been a trilogy and I would be here for it. It ended perfectly, though and I have zero complaints. Forever one of my favorite series. 5 crimson stars! Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the ARC!

Rebel Witch…. I don’t think this was what I expected, but I loved this anyway. I ended up listening to the Audiobook after release (as I couldn’t get into the e-book) and I LOVED IT.

The ending felt a little rushed, with the Rune/Cressida/Gideon/Gun showdown, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. 5/5 I would read again.

3.5⭐️

I enjoyed the Crimson Moth so I was really looking forward to this one, and while it didn’t disappoint, I think I still liked book one just a little more.

The Rebel Witch felt a little slower and more drawn out but I do think it was a satisfying ending to the duology and I will definitely read more from this author.

The rebel witch is the first al book to the crimson moth which i loved one of my top reads of the year and in my opinion this was better this puts you right back into the action so fast paced I couldn't stop reading the found family in this was amazing the love between the main characters was epic what a fantastic duology

A fun conclusion to The Crimson Moth Duology. Action packed, tension filled and heavy on the yearning. Constantly keeping you on your toes with the cat and mouse vibes and wondering who will eventually outwit the other. The ending did feel a bit rushed, but nevertheless I enjoyed it more than the first one.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for providing me an eARC to review!

Unfortunately like many series where I found the first book 'fun' rather than 'good', the charm didn't stick around for the sequel :/

It felt like a lot of plot points were being shoehorned in to justify a sequel, so they felt predictable and clunky. I mean are we really revealing the secret relative thing this late in the book???? I wouldn't mind if we were having fun along the way but I found the Gideon/Rune dynamic in this book extremely annoying and it felt like we were constantly grinding the (barely there) plot to a halt for relationship drama. And when the 'plot' involves genocide and persecution it feels like an especially egregious choice to make.

Gideon's witch hunter friends are laughably bad at their jobs and give him way too many chances even though he demonstrably sucks and will never kill Rune so all tension was gone from that storyline. It just felt like everyone was being dumb to keep things moving, and when 'things' are just the protagonists making out, arguing over something stupid, and one of them getting captured briefly before being easily freed by the other, over and over again...it gets old pretty quick. I also hate when the threat of sexual violence is used in the place of good villain character development - it feels so cheap and doesn't treat the subject matter with the respect it deserves.

I think fans of Once Upon a Broken Heart might enjoy this there are a lot of the same elements. For me, though, this was a very disappointing end to what could have been a fun series :/

After a frustratingly repetitive first act The Rebel Witch comes into it own with more magic filled tension and action as the characters come together to fight against a common enemy.

An interesting conclusion for Rune and Gideon

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

“The Rebel Witch” by Kristen Ciccarelli is probably one of the books I was most looking forward to this year. “The Crimson Moth“ was an absolute highlight for me and I couldn't wait to find out what happens next with Rune and Gideon's ill-fated love.

It took me a moment to find my way back into the story, but then I was immediately hooked.

The tension between Rune and Gideon is superb and their story is enemies-to-lovers at its best. And the story was intriguing too. I was really excited and was afraid that the two of them would get caught.

Unfortunately, it was the middle part of “The Rebel Witch” that didn't convince me. Even though the actual story was exciting, it dragged on a bit here. I also found Rune's and Gideon's behavior mostly illogical and couldn't understand their decisions.

The ending was exciting again, even though I thought it was going to be like this.

I give “The Rebel Witch” 4 out of 5 stars.

The Crimson Moth was among my favourite books of 2024, so my expectations for The Rebel Witch were high. I love it when a book not only meets, but exceeds expectations1 The conclusion to Rune and Gideon's story was action-packed and full of angst and yearning. It's a slow-burn as the two main characters have to learn to trust each other again and have to overcome their own beliefs in order to be together.

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys the witch x witchhunter trope, beautiful settings, rich lore and high stakes with strong emotional development for the characters. If you haven't yet started reading this duology, you should definitely pick it up. And perhaps set aside a weekend, as I reckon you won't want to put the books down!