Spoiler Review: ‘Rebel Witch’ is a Satisfying Conclusion to ‘The Crimson Moth’ Duology
So many people on Booktok and Bookstagram were obsessed with The Crimson Moth aka Heartless Hunter when it came out. I, however, was not one of them. Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot to love about the first book in this now completed duology, but a couple things really gave me the ick and are seemingly NEVER talked about when people give their reviews. But you know I like to be brutally honest here. For me, the biggest ick was the use of period blood in the magic system. Excuse me, what?! No. Just no. I was completely mortified. And it just kept getting brought up over and over again. Now, I know what you’re thinking, why on earth would you read book two then?! But honestly, with the cliffhanger ending, I had to know what happened! And like I said, there were a lot of things to enjoy about the enemies to lovers storyline and the world Ciccarelli created. I’m pleased to report, no monthly fluids are used in Rebel Witch, and I actually thoroughly enjoyed this conclusion. It was super fast paced and never really let up the entire time, so much so, I was questioning if there was going to be a third book because I had no idea if everything was going to get resolved by the end. Is it beyond predictable? Yes. But that didn’t really bother me. I honestly adore the two main characters, and their dynamic. If you love a true enemies to lovers story, a fake marriage, extremely high stakes, and a villain you truly loathe, you might also love this series.
Things to Know:
Duology conclusion
Enemies to lovers
Fake Marriage
TW: torture, SA
Great banter
Some political intrigue
***MINOR SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT—YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!***
We pick up shortly after where The Crimson Moth (aka Heartless Hunter) left off, and once again, our boy Gideon is on a mission to kill our now escaped FMC, Rune, who has fled to the Continent and is apparently now engaged to a Prince (who’s absolutely horrendous), in order to secure his army for Cressida, the Witch Queen we all love to hate. I definitely don’t want to give major spoilers, but I love how high stakes this story is. Everything truly is life and death, and the impossible choices people must make. It also shows how quickly people attach themselves to power, and will turn on each other to save their own skins.
As readers, we can see how perfect Rune and Gideon are for each other, but they just won’t listen to their hearts. Although by their actions, you can see they do care about each other, even if they’re planning double crosses and betrayals at every turn.
And all I’m gonna say is if you love the dance party scene below deck from Titanic, there are a few chapters you’ll LOVE. I got major Rose and Jack vibes. There is a lot of traveling in this book, and those sequences can sometimes get a little boring or bogged down in books, but Ciccarelli did an amazing job of making these sections super fast paced still, and also high stakes.
Rune is such a great FMC. She’s strong, but still soft sometimes. I love her complexity, her feistiness. At times she can be super selfish, but I love that she’s not a perfect character. It makes her more real. Gideon, I’m frankly obsessed with. There are definitely some lack of communication moments where you just want to shake them both, but they eventually find their way. There are so many moments in this book that felt like a great payoff. We even get a “Who did this to you?!” moment and I was eating that up!
There is a fair bit of torture and attempted SA, so keep that mind for triggers. And as I mentioned before, the “twists” were all incredibly obvious—so much so—that I was yelling at Rune to not be so dense at moments. Like girl, come on! But it was still a fun read. I did have one tiny instance of modern slang that snuck in there, and if you’ve read any of my reviews before, you KNOW that’s a huge pet peeve of mine. “Rune Winters is bad news,” just completely pulled me out of the fantasy setting. It felt super out of character for how everyone speaks. We’re not watching a high school CW show.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and pretty much binged it in a couple sittings. All the props to the narrator of the audiobook—the accents and voices are so amazing and truly helped the story come to life in my mind while I also read on my Kindle. Many thanks to Wednesday Books for an eArc. All opinions are my own.
Fave Quotes:
“The problem with love is the more you try to destroy it, the stronger it becomes. It might look like weakness on the surface. But in truth, it’s tougher than steel. Love can’t be controlled. Love can’t obey unjust laws. Love will always oppose tyrants.”
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“She was like a magnet sending the arrows on his moral compass spinning.”
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“You don’t want her dead because she’s a witch…You want her dead because she didn’t want you.”
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