This book was so beautifully written! So magical and cozy. Definitely a perfect Fall read. In all honesty I never enjoyed reading about a magical world that contained witches until this series! The character development of her specially was so captivating. I couldn’t out his books down! It was such a stunning story I will not stop recommending. It was also very easy to read but not in a way that made it less magical!

I loved Heartless Hunter so much that I immediately jumped into Rebel Witch to see what was in store for Rune and Gideon. This book kept me on my toes from start to finish with the same high stakes and action from the first installment while further developing the relationship between the main characters. With any series, I was worried whether or not this final book would live up to my expectations and it ended up being the most perfect ending! Well worth the wait!

This eARC was provided by the publisher (St. Martin's Press| Wednesday Books) via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Having loved the heartless hunter, my expectations were very high going into rebel witch. Honestly, I wasn’t asking for a lot, just for the vibes to remain consistent to the first book. Unfortunately this book fell flat for me. This is what I assumed the first book would be like, but was pleasantly surprised.
I think the main issue I had with this book was the amount of telling versus showing. Maybe the worst example of this, the greatest pet peeve of readers, that I’ve experienced in recent memory. The most aggravating part was that I didn’t even agree with half of the “tellings”. The beauty of guiding your readers through showing is that some things can be left to interpretation, instead of feeling like you’re constantly disagreeing with the author.
I still think the first book is worth the read, but this sequel doesn’t come close. 2.5 stars

So much going on in this sequel! & our MCs could not catch a freaking break. Whew! This story had me engaged & on the edge of my seat! The suspense was so real. Oh.. & the enemies to lovers vibes from book 1 got kicked up a notch in book 2! + forced proximity. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I ate it up! I had to know how everything was going to turn out but now I’m so sad it’s over and I want more from this world! Ah! I’d say this author did her dang job. I absolutely loved this book / this duology! I’ll definitely be recommending it! 😍

An amazing sequel!!!

I admit it took a week or so for me to get past the first few chapters but after that I was sucked in. So action packed and the ROMANCE!! Maybe one of the best enemies to lovers.

A WITCH...
Rune Winters is on the run. Ever since the boy she loved, Gideon Sharpe, revealed who she was and delivered her into enemy hands, everyone wants her dead. If Rune hopes to survive, she must ally herself with the cruel and dangerous Cressida Roseblood, who’s planning to take back the Republic and reinstate a Reign of Witches—something Cressida needs Rune to accomplish.


Rebel Witch
by Kristen Ciccarelli
Pub Date: Feb 18 2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A WITCH HUNTER...
Apparently it wasn’t enough for Rune to deceive Gideon; she’s now betrayed him by allying herself with the witch who made his life a living hell. Gideon won’t allow the Republic to fall to the witches and be plunged back into the nightmares of the past. In order to protect this new world he fought for, every last witch must die—especially Rune Winters.

AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE...
When Rune makes Gideon an offer he can’t refuse, the two must pair up to accomplish dangerous goals. The more they’re forced into each other’s company, the more Gideon realizes the feelings he had for Rune aren’t as dead and buried as he thought. Now he’s faced with a terrible choice: sacrifice the girl he loves to stop a monster taking back power, or let Rune live and watch the world he fought so hard for burn.

In Kristen Ciccarelli's Rebel Witch, the exciting conclusion to The Crimson Moth duology, love has never been so deadly.

This book somehow makes extortion romantic 🥹 I’m still swooning!

What to expect:
- Witches
- Magic ✨
- Enemies to lovers
- One bed 🛏️
- 3rd person POV

This is an epic paranormal romance with witches and magic and journeys across the sea. This is so beautifully written that I felt like I was transported. This book had me wrecked. I could barely stand what they were doing to each other but at the same time I also totally got it because it was a true enemies to lovers books.

This is a no spice/low spice book. The action and plot are the main focus with the romance as a large focus.

Plot (spoiler free):
The main characters are Rune and Gideon. Gideon Sharpe is a soldier in the Blood Gaurd, witch hunters, and Rune Winters is a witch whose main purpose is to see all witches free after they were sent into hiding by Gideon’s family. At the end of the first book (no spoilers) they both double down on their side. She was going to marry Alexander Sharpe (maybe?). He was her best friend and he wanted to protect her. But then tragedy struck and he was killed. Gideon has suffered so much at the hands of Cressida and the witches and he’s sworn on revenge. But Rune has him rethinking everything. Will he protect her when she needs it most?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥
0 🌶️

Thank you net galley, Kristen and the publishing co for the opportunity to read and provide feedback.

I was very excited to get my hands on this 2nd book. I will start by saying I dislike very much any miscommunication trope and this 2nd book really fed into that heavily... that being said.. I enjoyed the intensity and deep level of writing.. I could not get enough and needed to see it through. It ended exactly the way i needed it to. 4.5 stars I cannot wait to have this one physically in my hands.

This book gave me SO MUCH ANXIETY. Gideon and Rune are lovestruck fools for each other. The push and pull?! The I don't know whether I should kill you or kiss you?! The betrayals and the secrets and the one-ups and the almost kisses and the PINING and the... just... EVERYTHING. Everything about this book I am a lovestruck fool over.

I don't know what else to say?!

I am OBSESSED with Gideon and Rune. I wish there was a third book. I don't even care if nothing's going to happen in it. I just need to see them happy and free and not in constant fight for their lives. I need them to live their best lives because they deserve it. Dammit.

This was a glorious second book and finale. There is definite potential for a spinoff series. There are a lot of minor characters who deserve their own stories told. And I'd love to read them if ever.

Kristen Ciccarelli remains to be one of my favorite authors ever, ever. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In a word -
Gaslamp Fantasy
Betrayal
Dark
Found Family
Predictable

Jumped right back into the action that we left in the first book! Definitely still dark and intriguing and angsty. There's more betrayal too. Really love the magic system. Some parts felt a little bit predictable, but if you enjoy the characters and the story (I do) then that isn't a problem. Rune felt juvenile (not stupid, but not putting pieces together? Idk) at some points which I didn't understand because she's supposed to be a step ahead of everyone all the time (Crimson Moth, duh). And also, if I have to hear how dainty she is one more time I'm going to revolt. We get it, Gideon is a big strong man 🙄 Anyway, I enjoyed it!

You know when you absolutely fall in love with a book? And then you find out it’s a series. Which is great because then you get to spend more time with the world and characters you fell in love with. And then you find out it’s a Duology, which you (personally) believe is the best length for most series, especially because they can’t have middle book syndrome. Or never-ending series syndrome.

Then you get access to the eARC, which nearly had you audibly screaming with joy. But you realize that reading this book early means that no one is talking about it yet, so you don’t know if it’s going to crush your heart (in a bad way) after loving the first one so much. So, you take a deep breath, and dive in…

Well folks, Kristen Ciccarelli did it. Another absolute banger, and the perfect finish to the Crimson Moth Duology. If that pesky thing called “life” didn’t get in the way, I would have devoured this book in one sitting. The insane tension and banter had me SWEATING. That fine line between hate and love gets me every time, and it was executed perfectly.

In Rebel Witch, book 2 of the Crimson Moth Duology, you see Rune Winters in a new setting, Umbria’s capital, Caelis. And hot on her heels is our favorite Witch Hunter, Gideon Sharpe. With both Rune and Gideon on opposing missions, what happens when we find our lovers-to-enemies with similar goals?

The emotions are high and it feels very tense throughout, but I loved it. Rune and Gideon are both incredibly stubborn characters, which many people may find frustrating, but I found it believable given their situations. Did I want to clobber Gideon over the head multiple times? Yeah, of course. But did I also understand that the events in the first book fundamentally broke him and made him even less trusting than before? Yes, absolutely.

I do think this book was even more New Adult than the first one, so keep that in mind, but it definitely kept the YA vibes overall, and was not too Adult in sexual themes. I gave it 1 chili pepper out of 5.

This duology has easily become one of my favorite fantasy series of all time. I cannot wait to re-read these books in the years to come. While they are not the most intricate and complex stories, they are engaging and fun and do have real depth to them. Ciccarelli writes beautiful, addicting stories with some fantastic quotes throughout.

If you haven’t picked up Heartless Hunter (/Crimson Moth) yet, then I HIGHLY recommend it. If you have and you’re eagerly awaiting Rebel Witch, then buckle up, you’re in for a ride. February 18th, 2025 can’t come soon enough!

I had so much anxiety reading this book. I literally had to stop reading a few times and do the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding method I do with my kids. 🤷🏼‍♀️ BUT it’s because I felt like I was there. The words was so vivid and beautiful and I loved this book so dang much.

I don’t know what it is about the witch/witch hunter trope that makes me go absolutely feral, but just inject that stuff straight into my veins please.

Rune and Gideon. 🫶 Are the absolute best enemies-to-lovers couple and that’s a hill I’ll die on. It was perfect.

What You’ll Find:
🪄 Witch/Witch Hunter
🖤Enemies to Lovers
🐈‍⬛Cat and mouse games
💍Fake marriage
🔥“My wife”
🍊Nicknames

Rebel witch was a delectable sequel to Heartless Hunter, full of enemies to lovers, high stakes and alliances along the way. Did this feel slightly predictable - sure. Was the last 20% rushed? Perhaps. But did I binge this incredibly quickly and enjoy it immensely? Absolutely. Most importantly, Kristen’s prose is equally lyrical and intentional, never feeling cringey nor jarring like many others out there in the genre. A favourite romantasy duology that I certainly will not be forgetting.

I absolutely fell in love with Heartless Hunter and was so so excited to revisit the world of the Crimson Moth!
Sequels can be incredibly challenging, There are so many expectations and it can be difficult to create a story that all fans are going to enjoy and appreciate.
With Rebel Witch, I enjoyed the overarching plot and the bare bones arcs of our main characters. When it comes to the details, I feel the story struggled.
This story attempts to address the challenge of having two main characters and love interests that are being torn apart by the world around them. For three quarters of this book, it seemed as if foolish and unnecessary obstacles were being thrown in the way of our two main characters with regards to their romantic relationship in order for them to come together at just the right time, which in turn cheapened their connection and the bond they had built throughout the first book. The execution of their relationship could have been handled differently, keeping the tension, but not squandering what made their relationship so special throughout Heartless Hunter.
All of the time and energy that was devoted to dropping obstacle upon obstacle in the way of the romantic relationship at the core of this story led to disjointed and uneven pacing for the plot. It felt as if our two main characters were being put together and then pulled apart repeatedly, but at the expense of providing more depth and detail to the world around them.
I did every much enjoy the end result with regards to plot and romance, but the ending of this story felt so so rushed, pushing the reader forward before they're able to enjoy and appreciate the strides being made by our favorite characters.
I do recommend reading Rebel Witch to close out the Crimson Moth story, but I think expectations should be tampered.

Rating: 3.5/5

WOW!
First of all thank you so SO much to ST. Martins Press for approving me for an e-ARC.

The ending to book one was absolutely explosive and so heart breaking. Kristen did not hold back so to say I was nervous to start the sequel is an understatement. However, just like with book one, I was hooked immediately from the beginning. The tension between Rune and Gideon is EVERYTHING. It is so so good I love it.

So naturally, I binged this book within two days. :)

I do have some complaints with this sequel that I didn't in the first book. Firstly: this book's focus was almost entirely on the romance and there wasn't as many subplots or rich interactions with side characters/friends. If anything they fell a little flat compared to book one. Secondly: the back and forth between Rune and Gideon (like one running off and the other going after them or some kind of act that proves their love) did start to feel repetitive. It definitely didn't take away my interest at all but I feel some of those parts could have been swapped with meaningful friendship moments. Thirdly: We didn't really get any resolution for Juniper suddenly changing to Cressida. Like we didn't get a talk or anything revealing if Cressida actually cared at all for Rune or not.

My final complaint is one that I also had with book one which is: If this is a YA book, why is there so much focus on segg (and why so descriptive?)

Overall, this sequel was so epic and exciting! I cannot wait to read more from Kristen. Thank you again to St Martin's Press!

I wish this had a bit more of a recap at the beginning but overall it was Just as good as the first and I’m sad the adventure is over.

WOW. I stayed up way too late binging this.

I read this book in two sittings. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. This one starts off with a bang and does not let up the whole time. It is full of action and angst. The enemies to lovers in this book does NOT let up until the very end. I was shocked by multiple revelations in this story. My heart hurt for Gideon and Rune for the majority of this book. They were star-crossed lovers that couldn't find a way to be together. 😭😭
“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.”
The ending climax was SO good. Kristen really knows how to tug on your heartstrings and weave an incredible story. I'm so sad that Gideon and Rune's story is over. I need a novella of their HEA!

Thank you so much to the author and Wednesday Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A 5 star series!! My heart rate was through the roof the whole time and I loved every second. The tension, angst, magic, and high stakes of it all had me engaged the entire book, which is so rare for me. Enemies to lovers DONE SO RIGHT. I LOVE RUE AND GIDEON!!

I had the biggest book hangover after reading Heartless Hunters (my favorite book of 2024) and could not wait for this second installment. I dropped everything to read this when I received the e-arc, and I absolutely ate this book up!

After Gideon reveals Rune's true identity, Rune goes on the run. To stop herself from being killed, she's forced into allying herself with Cressida who plans to take back the Republic and reinstate a reign of witches. Gideon refuses to let the Republic fall to witches, and wants to kill every last witch, including Rune. When Rune makes an offer Gideon can't refuse, they wind up working together and forced into each other's company.

This book had high tension and excellent banter. The progression between Rune and Gideon from enemies to reluctant allies was fun to follow along. I absolutely swooned over the ending of this book and thought it was the perfect conclusion! My only knock to this one, the plot is slightly predictable. Regardless, I enjoyed the book and can't wait for everyone to read it!

Thank you so much Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the free e-arc of Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli in exchange for an honest review!

Pub Date: February 18th, 2025

Wow! First of all, I was extremely excited to be approved for this ARC! What a great sequel to the first novel. Usually sequels fall flat for me but this was even better than the first. I would 100% recommend for those who are fans of this series or genre!