“I may not know Rune Winters, but I know the Crimson Moth. And she is no caged thing.”
Oh yes, we love a good satisfying duology! The Rebel Witch takes everything that was so bloody fun and addictive about The Crimson Moth, and then just cranks it up a notch. It’s got all the angst, so many feels, surprisingly high stakes, lots of twists and turns, and just the best type of melodrama; I eat this shit up.
Now, even though there is a little time jump between the wild ending of book 1 and the start of this sequel, I was instantly reimmersed and reinvested in this story. The tides have shifted in the war between the witches and witch hunters, and Rune and Gideon both have their own important role to play on opposite sides of the deadly conflict. But even though they should be sworn enemies, they find themselves yet again inexplicably drawn together by fate, circumstance and maybe, possibly… love?
Honestly, The Rebel Witch has all the best romantasy tropes and Ciccarelli just executes them to perfection. Enemies-to-lovers (done twice?), only one cabin/bed, fake marriage, forced proximity, a love curse, and just all the best snarky banter. Also, Rune, Gideon, my loves… denial is a river in Egypt!!! Truly, these two are the champions of lying to themselves, and I was highly entertained by all the inner turmoil, mutual pining, the will-they-won’t-they, and the electrifying tension. Plus, I always prefer focusing on the emotional connection rather than the physical/sexual attraction, so I was personally all here for the fade-to-black spicy scenes that fit perfectly for the YA age range.
But what’s even better is that all these fun romantic shenanigans never come at the expense of the plot progression or strong character work. The world organically expanded and deepened as we got to visit new places and dove into more history and lore, and I loved seeing even more wicked witchery on display. Moreover, both the dynamic duo at the heart of this story and some of the side characters (be they new or familiar faces) had some surprisingly touching individual arcs and really got their time to shine, and I just loved going on this wild journey of rebellion, redemption, courage, and love with them all.
And I mean, sure, the villain of this story is just a mustache-twirly, over-the-top, irredeemable drama queen who you can love to hate; sure, some supposedly shocking plot twists and reveals were painfully predictable; and sure, the hectic ending was maybe a bit rushed and unbelievably perfect… but who even cares? It all came together brilliantly for me, and even if I knew full well that we’re dealing with plot armour galore here, I was on the edge of my seat and completely along for the ride the entire way through.
If you enjoyed The Crimson Moth, then I truly can’t see how you wouldn’t enjoy The Rebel Witch. I swear that Ciccarelli must have channeled some dark, arcane magic while writing this duology, because otherwise there is zero explanation for why it is as dangerously addictive as it is. This is everything a sequel, and indeed a finale, should be, and I can’t recommend it highly enough if you just want to escape into a fun yet mature YA fantasy romance that strikes the perfect balance between the action and emotion.
