The highly anticipated sequel that lived up to the hype. I loved where the story went and how to dynamic between the characters devloped.

3.8⭐️

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the first book (despite its predictability), however the Rebel Witch didn’t grab me as much. Rune and Gideon are still a great couple, and I enjoyed their banter and “fighting”, (and I’ll never complain about a one bed/one cabin scene), but the pacing was a bit off in the second half, and the trust issue back and forth was a bit frustrating after the umpteenth time.

However, overall this was still an enjoyable duology!

Rebel witch was the perfect follow up to Crimson Moth! It was fast paced and full of yearning, betrayals and more yearning. The forbidden romance between Rune and Gideon is one I will never forget. It had me kicking my feet and giggling and sobbing at different points. A perfect enemies to lovers duology - I just wish there were more to come about them!

big big big thank you to the publisher and the author for this arc.

5 stars (with a red moth fluttering over them).

it is absolutely no secret that i loved the first book in this series, and i will make it no secret that i loved this one as well. easily one of my favorite series, ever. no doubt.

the thing that really did it for me, i think, throughout these books, was the tension. it was delicious, and i gobbled it up like a starved man. ridiculously good. the way the cat-and-mouse game never really ended, keeping me on my toes, it kept me hooked the entire story.

and don't get me started on these characters. i love them all. (except, you know, the bad ones.) i'm glad that the ones who deserved it got their redemption arcs, and though i wish i saw more of some of them, i am glad for what i did get.

anyway, i am going to bed now (this book has kept me up two nights in a row). i will definitely cherish and reread these books for a long while to come. 🥹💗

Full review pending! Loved it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book! I just adore the world you have created, the characters just jump right off the pages. I’m so sad the duology is complete!

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!