Review by kristakp - Rebel Witch

kristakp 's review for:

Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli

4.0

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book features a true enemies-to-lovers plot with miscommunication at its basis. This makes sense to me as miscommunication is probably the best way to perpetuate and transform the enemies to lovers. However, I still deeply hate the miscommunication trope. I held on with this duology because I was intrigued by how this would resolve, but it led to several fundamental annoyances that are difficult for me to overlook. First, Gideon's machismo and jealousy was very irritating; this could have been made better for me with more internal conflict and disgust for his own feelings.
Second, the realization and acceptance of Rune and Gideon's own feelings didn't feel entirely natural; more like the author thought her characters' miscommunication had run its useful course of giving the audience moments of dramatic irony. This shift towards the acknowledgement and acceptance of their feelings should have started sooner and had been reaffirmed by the other person more. I do believe that the characters love each other by the end, but their journey could have convinced me more.
Furthermore, I called every ending plot twist for both books--this was somewhat satisfying, somewhat irritating. The world building could have been beefier.

Content Warnings