Rebel 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. Now, Rune is working for Cressida, who is forcing Rune to marry Soren, a prince from the mainland. In exchange for Rune’s hand in marriage, Soren promises to provide Cressida with an army with which to take back the Republic. Gideon has been sent to kill Rune and stop this union from happening.

After discovering Cressida’s plan to locate her missing siblings and sacrifice them to resurrect her dead sisters, Rune and Gideon forge an alliance. Gideon agrees to help Rune return to the Republic and rescue a witch soothsayer. In exchange, Rune will break her engagement to Soren, which would prevent Cressida from gaining access to the army she needs for her planned invasion of the Republic. On the surface, this arrangement appears mutually beneficial. However, both Rune and Gideon harbor secret intentions to double-cross the other. To successfully protect their homeland, they must overcome their mistrust and learn to rely on each other once more. Ultimately, their partnership may prove to be the key to restoring peace to their fractured world.

Rune returns with unwavering determination to save the witches and protect her homeland. The traumatic events from the previous book have left their mark—Alex’s death and Gideon’s betrayal have left her more emotionally vulnerable than before. Despite these wounds, Rune remains brilliant and consistently strives to do what’s right and protect those she cares about. Her perseverance will continue to inspire and embolden readers.

In this installment, readers will find Rune even more relatable as Cressida’s ruthlessness instills a fear in her unlike anything she’s experienced. At one crucial moment, terror drives Rune to attempt an escape, seeking safety far from Cressida’s influence. However, Rune cannot deny her heart or abandon the people of the Republic who desperately hope for freedom and a better future, so she turns back to fight for them.

The shared struggle against Cressida and the scheming of the Republic’s new Commander bring together many characters who were previously enemies. Ciccarelli showcases these unique individuals, giving each distinct motivations and compelling moments despite their limited page time. The unity of these previously at-odds individuals strengthens the hopeful message of the book and shows that there is indeed a better world to be founded.

Gideon undergoes a profound transformation through his relationship with Rune. He becomes more accepting of witches and increasingly critical of his society’s prejudices. Yet Gideon is unable to deny his growing love for Rune despite his ongoing internal resistance. When Rune becomes too terrified to keep fighting, Gideon steps forward to lead the fight for their survival and their world.

Ciccarelli brews a powerful storm for the conclusion of her duology. Rebel Witch features numerous unexpected twists that, upon reflection, clearly stem from seeds planted in the first book’s opening pages. Rebel Witch will evoke a whirlwind of emotions as the novel follows Rune and Gideon as they finally learn to trust each other, despite their painful history.

Though hate and suffering dominate their world, Ciccarelli weaves a poignant message of love and acceptance. The characters’ hateful actions only perpetuate cycles of violence and pain. Ultimately, it is the love between a witch and a witch hunter—two enemies who choose unity over division—that enables everyone to fight for a brighter future.

The book’s conclusion is duly earned through significant sacrifice. Rune dies to secure the future and is resurrected through Cressida’s death. After cycles of hatred and revenge, Rune, Gideon, and their allies choose to build a new world founded on love. They establish a united council with elected representatives from all parts of the island, including both witches and non-witches. Ciccarelli delivers the classic message that love conquers all and that love is more powerful than hate. Rune’s journey to right past wrongs ultimately becomes a journey to find herself. Through accepting herself—flaws and all—she learns to love others as well.

Sexual Content

• Rune is engaged to Prince Soren of the mainland. Rune flirts with Soren and teases him about a special surprise implied to be sex. “When Soren’s free hand settled on her hip, admiring its curve, she added: ‘Later tonight, when the recital is over and the guests are gone, I have something special planned for you.’”
• While Gideon threatens Rune, he can’t help but be drawn to her. “The basest part of him wanted to tilt her head back and kiss her until she told him why she was crying.”
• To save Gideon, Rune flirts with Soren, encouraging him and distracting Cressida. “Soren’s hands roamed freely now. Up her thighs. Under her dress.”
• While Cressida is torturing Gideon, she means to take advantage of him. “When her eyes dropped to his trousers, she found every button undone.” Cressida is interrupted.
• Rune and Gideon pretend to be newlyweds and flirt. “Before Rune could rail against the injustice, he cupped her legs above the knees. The warmth of his palms penetrated her dress, seeping into her skin. Rune’s grip tightened on her seat as his thumbs stroked her. Tenderly, and a little possessively.”
• While she is sleeping in their shared cabin, Gideon sees Rune’s magic scars. “He had the strangest urge to take her leg in his hands and trace the silver lines. Memorize them with his fingers.”
• Rune has a sex dream about Gideon. “They were arguing again—only not with words. His mouth was on hers, hot and insistent. Hers was hungry, insatiable, devouring.”
• To shield Rune from the Blood Guard, Gideon makes out with her. “Hooking her arms around his neck, Rune arched against him. . . Gideon used the crowd as cover to guide her backward, kissing her as he moved through the dancers, toward that dark corner, and pressing her up against the wall. . . he tipped her head back and kissed her harder.”
• When Cressida tortures Gideon, she activates a curse that prevents him from being with his true love. Gideon kisses Rune to show her that the curse exists. “His hand pressed against her lower back, pulling her closer. Burning a hungry fire through her. . . Their kisses turned desperate. . . Rune’s pulse hammered as his palms settled firmly around her waist and he lifted her onto the desk. When he stepped between her legs, pulling her flush against him, Rune hummed deep in her throat.”
• Gideon and Rune kiss each other before Rune plans to escape to the mainland. “His free hand slid into her hair, pulling her closer, lips parting hers. His kiss made her ache in all the usual places. . . She dropped her knife and kissed him back. Gideon’s mouth turned devouring. Rune untucked his shirt from his trousers and slid her hands up his bare chest. . . He shivered and grabbed hold of her thighs, lifting her onto his hips, pulling her securely against him.”
• Soren tries to assault Rune after she breaks off her engagement to him. “She felt his free hand pawing at her bodice. Felt the fabric tear and the dress loosen around her chest. ‘I always get what I’m owed,’ he said.”
• When Rune and Gideon break into a house, they meet two old acquaintances. “Two young men entered the room—both in the midst of undressing, their hair messy, their lips swollen from kissing.”
• Gideon and Rune profess their love, promise to get married, and then have sex. “The fire in her belly grew hotter and brighter with every rocking thrust. Grabbing hold of the bunk overhead, Rune rolled her hips to meet him.” This scene lasts seven pages.

Violence

• Gideon has orders to kill Rune to prevent her marriage to Prince Soren, so he threatens her with a gun. “Keeping her wrists pinned with one hand, he pressed the barrel of his gun to her temple.” Gideon doesn’t shoot Rune because he still has feelings for her.
• After he fails to kill Rune, Cressida captures Gideon and activates a painful curse in his body. “Pain flooded Gideon like lightning. Scorching hot. Bright white. As if she were branding him all over again.” Nothing physically happens to Gideon, but he still feels pain internally.
• While Gideon and Rune are kissing, Cressida’s curse activates and tortures Gideon. “PAIN exploded inside him. Hot and sharp and excruciating. Starting in his scar, it ricocheted outward like a detonated bomb.”
• While being controlled by a witch’s spell, Gideon tries to kill Rune. “Whipping her around to face him, he locked his hands around her throat and slammed her against the mirror.” Rune hits her head and gets a bit dizzy but recovers quickly.
• While being choked by Gideon, Rune manages to grab a pistol and shoot the witch controlling him. “One shot. Make it count. Rune lifted the gun and fired.” The witch dies.
• When Gideon comes to kill Rune, she has a gun ready. “Rune was inside, wearing a white lace dress. Gideon didn’t have time to pull his gun on her, because she already had one of her own. It was aimed straight at his forehead.” Rune uses the gun to threaten Gideon into making a deal with her.
• Right after Rune and Gideon come to an agreement, Soren discovers them. To keep their deal a secret, Gideon threatens Rune. “‘Do exactly as I say,’ Gideon snarled. ‘Or I’ll put a bullet in your darling’s tiny head.’”
• A spy for the Republic catches Rune. The spy says, “‘Turn around, witch, or I’ll shoot.’ Rune let out a slow breath and did as he said. The barrel of his gun was pointed at her head.” Gideon stops the spy.
• The new Commander of the Republic, Noah, has a witch in his custody that can see the future. To make her comply and tell him her visions, Noah threatens to harm the witch’s daughter. “As Noah gripped the sword in two hands, the child tried to back away. One guard grabbed her arms while the other seized her wrist, pinning her little hand to the desk.” The girl remains uninjured, but very terrified.
• Gideon and Rune kiss to see if the curse will activate; it does. “Gideon wrenched himself out of her embrace and stumbled back, his brand glowing ember-red through the white of his shirt. As if a scorching-hot iron were searing his skin.”
• While trying to rescue a child, guards shoot at Gideon and Rune. “With the arrival of reinforcements, the gunfire intensified. Gideon’s gloved hand cupped Rune’s head, pressing her face into his shoulder. . . they sheltered the child between their two bodies.” No one gets injured.
• The child’s mother, Aurelia, threatens Gideon, but no one is hurt. “The witch drew the missing gun and pressed the barrel under Gideon’s chin. He froze as she cocked it.”
• Rune threatens Aurelia, who is threatening Gideon. “So before Aurelia fired, Rune reached for the second gun, still on the table, and aimed it straight at the witch.”
• Rune has a dream that Gideon kills her. “Before she could, Gideon raised his gun. Rune froze, her pulse pounding. . . He cocked the gun, aiming it at her chest.”
• Witches cut off Gideon’s friend Harrow’s ear and then throw her in the dungeon. Harrow “pointed to the spot where an ear should be, [and says,] ‘I stayed alive by catching drops of water from a leaking pipe, waiting to die of starvation.’”
• Gideon gets beaten up for helping Rune escape. “It was the third time Noah hit him across the face with the butt of a revolver, and his ears rang from the pain of the blows.”
• Cressida whips Rune. “Another lash caught Rune across the shoulder. She clenched her teeth to stop the agonized sounds escaping her. As fresh blood gushed from the wounds, soaking her shirt, two more lashes sliced open her back.” Rune is severely injured.
• Cressida invades the Republic. She kills all those who oppose her. “Those who refused to talk were tortured. If they still refused, they were executed.”
• Rune kills Soren when he tries to assault her. “Lifting the gun to Soren’s head, Rune fired.”
• Trying to escape, Rune injures Noah. “Rune raised both hands, as if to surrender. But instead of dropping the knife, she threw it. Straight at Noah. . . The blade sank into his shoulder and he screamed.” Noah is slightly injured.
• Gideon and Rune escape, but Gideon is shot. “The first time she stumbled, Gideon helped her up and a bullet lodged in his shoulder. He bit down on a growl as the pain seared through him.” Gideon is mildly injured but gets treatment and recovers.
• Cressida’s guard corners Gideon and is about to kill him. “[Gideon] expected [the guard] to step back, preferring to put a bullet in his head. But she drew her casting knife and pressed its sharp edge to his throat.”
• Rune saves Gideon from Cressida’s guard by shooting and killing her. “The witch dropped her knife. A second later, she toppled, hitting the ground beside him with a thump.”
• Gideon kills Rune to prevent Cressida from using Rune to resurrect her sisters. “Gideon let out a soft cry, but he didn’t fail her. Pulling the trigger, he sent a bullet straight into her heart.”
• Seraphine, the witch Rune saved in the first book, kills Cressida and uses her blood for a spell. “She plunged the knife straight into Cressida’s heart.”

Drugs and Alcohol

• Rune is eating with Gideon and is too nervous so she “took another sip of wine. The familiar fog of intoxication was creeping in, blurring everything beyond their booth and muddying her thoughts.”
• Gideon’s friend, Antonio, offers to make him a sleeping drug. Antonio says, “Perhaps a sleeping draught, then? We have the ingredients in the kitchen. I can make one for you. It will help ease the pain, at least for tonight.”

Language

• Profanity is used rarely. Language includes damn, fuck, and hell.

Supernatural

• Cressida plans to resurrect her sisters, Analise and Elowyn, with forbidden magic. “Analise and Elowyn were long dead, and resurrection spells required the sacrifice of someone closely related to the deceased—like a parent, sibling, or child.”
• Seraphine, the witch Rune saved in the first book, uses a spell to kill Cressida and transfer her life force to Rune, thereby resurrecting Rune. “The witch queen gasped and the symbols on Rune’s skin glowed moonwhite. As if joining in with the breath she took, coming alive as Wisdom’s magic stole Cressida’s life force and poured it into Rune.”
• Rune finds the curse Cressida used on Gideon. “TRUE LOVE’S CURSE is an Arcana spell. It prevents a victim from being with his true love by inflicting pain whenever he touches her skin to skin. . . Once cast, TRUE LOVE’S CURSE cannot wear off. Only the blood of the victim’s true love, spilled in a sacrificial act, can break it.”

Spiritual Content

• This world believes in seven sisters who created the world and magic, called the Ancients. “In the beginning, there was darkness. Until the Seven Sisters laughed and a world burst into being. . . Before moving on, they chose a select few to watch over the world in their absence. To help these guardians love and protect their creation, the Seven Sisters gave them a gift. The gift of magic.”
• Rune has a prophetic vision. “At that thought, a strange thing happened. An image flared before her eyes, like a waking dream.” The vision was of an older Gideon running around with three children, presumably his own.
• One of the Ancients is summoned, takes human form, and becomes the queen’s advisor. “But Wisdom took pity on Althea and allowed herself to be summoned.”
• In the first book, Rune attempted to rescue Seraphine, a witch and an Ancient.
• Right after saving Rune, Seraphine leaves to rejoin her sisters. “Six figures appeared at the water’s edge. Each one shaped like a woman, glowing faintly. As if they were made of moonlight. . . And then she was gone. Turning away to join her ancient sisters.”

by Annamaria Lund