Book Review: The Rebel and the Rose by Catherine Doyle
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The Rebel and the Rose by Catherine Doyle
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the ARC!
Published: December 2, 2025
Series: The City of Fantome #2
Genres: Young Adult // Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (Open Door)
Quick Thoughts: The Rebel and The Rose delivers everything I was hoping for as a sequel to The Dagger and The Flame. While it takes a bit for the plot to get going, once the story takes off, it's an addictive, digestible read filled with jaw dropping plot reveals, a satisfying romance, and genuine character growth.
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Grief/Loss of Family
Violence/Death
Kidnapping
Confinement
Physical Abuse
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Dual POV
Enemies-to-Lovers
Forced Proximity
Quest Storylines
Warring Secret Societies/Gangs
What is The Rebel and the Rose about?
The path of destiny burns with love, magic, and betrayal in this second book in the City of Fantome enemies-to-lovers romantasy series perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Caraval.
From a remote hilltop haven, far from the city of Fantome, Seraphine Marchant and her Order of Flames plot to eradicate shade magic with lightfire. But as Sera struggles to control her blooming powers, destiny calls her back to Fantome—and to the assassin who haunts her dreams.
Ransom Hale can’t get Sera out of his head. As their rivalry grows and he grapples with the responsibility of leading the Order of Daggers, he feels himself slipping further from who he wants to be. Is he doomed to a life in the shadows? Or can he forge another path?
Meanwhile, rebellion is stirring in the kingdom, and a dangerous prince grows in power. Forced to work together by order of the king, Sera and Ransom’s conflicted hearts are tested to their limits. And all the while, an ancient prophecy is unfolding that will change the fate of Valterre forever
The Rebel and the Rose Review
The Rebel and The Rose was exactly the sequel I was hoping for. It has been a while since a book has made my jaw drop multiple times, but this one kept me on my toes.
This story picks up right where The Dagger and The Flame left off, and the main plot a quest where the Daggers and the Flames (former Cloaks, aka the Dagger’s archenemies) are forced to work together to root out a new threat to the kingdom. It had the perfect setup for a ton of tension, forced proximity, fighting, and potential betrayals. Just like the first book, the writing was super digestible too, so I flew through it.
Characters
Both our main characters are flawed, which I think makes the character growth in this book really satisfying and realistic. While Seraphine spends this book figuring out her power and what role she'll play in the kingdom, Ransom is struggling with wanting to leave the Daggers but not knowing if he’s salvageable as a person. The book is also dual-POV so it was great seeing what they were thinking throughout. The found family was once again top tier. I look forward to seeing more of these characters in the final book.
And I can’t forget to mention that the author did a great job writing villains who are genuinely evil and made my skin crawl. The fact that they are so horrible made the stakes of the story feel real.
Romance
Of course, the romance between Sera and Ransom is still a big part of this story. After the ending in the last book, I was bracing myself for the dreaded miscommunication trope. I'm so glad the author didn't take that route. Their feelings for each other were never in question — they were just held back by the circumstances and positions they found themselves in. The romance had tension and longing without the drama, which I love for them (and us).
Pacing
My only complaint is that the story took a long time to set up because we were being introduced to other players, their backgrounds, and then the whole mission they all went on. Once we got past all that context, I couldn't put it down. The magic system with the saints, shade, and lightfire is really interesting too, though I hope we get to hear more about it in the last book.
So, should you read The Rebel and The Rose?
If you loved The Dagger and the Flame, this sequel will not disappoint. It delivers jaw-dropping reveals, character growth, and a sweet and satisfying romance.
I recommend this entire series if you’re interested in a story with warring secret societies, prophecies, found family, and a unique but easy to follow magic system and lore.
Check out this review on Goodreads or Storygraph.
Happy reading!
Kim
The Rebel and the Rose FAQs
Some of the answers may be spoilers if you haven’t read it already. Proceed with caution!
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No, The Rebel and The Rose is the second book in The City of Fantome series. It is the sequel to The Dagger and The Flame.
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The Rebel and The Rose is a 3 🌶️ which means Open Door. Readers are present for the spice scene but explicit details are left out.
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There is one spice scene in The Rebel and The Rose in chapter 26. There is a scene that is steamy but has no spice in chapter 20.
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Yes, the second book is The Rebel and The Rose which came out on December 2, 2025.
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The City of Fantome will be a trilogy. The Dagger and The Flame is book 1 and book 2 is The Rebel and The Rose.
As of the writing of this post, book 3 has not been announced.