"Spring has washed over him. Everything about him is brighter, as if I'd only ever seen him in shadow and he has finally stepped into the light. The rings of gold in his eyes are richer and deeper, an ocean of sunlight I can't look away from. He looks perfect. If I were the Sun, I'd choose to live in his eyes too."

The Nature of Witches is a beautifully written contemporary fantasy about a witch who has the power of all four seasons within her. The only one in her generation with that ability, she has trouble controlling her powers and they strike out at those shes loves most. Clara wants nothing to do with her incredible power, but she has the ability to make a difference in an increasingly erratic climate.

This story was so beautiful and I soaked up every second of it. The prose really made me feel connected to the seasons and to the weather and I felt transported. At its core, this book is a character-driven novel focusing on Clara's struggles with her incredible, yet destructive powers. She really is afraid that her power will harm anyone that she may come to love, and closes herself off from everyone. Throughout this book, she slowly starts opening up to Sang, the witch who is mentoring her. As her feelings for Sang grow, she is also able to heal from the breakup with her ex girlfriend, Paige. Clara struggled so much with accepting who she is, and Sang was there to always accept her and never push her to be a savior. I really, truly enjoyed their romance so much. Sang was such a sweet, soft, comforting presence for Clara in this novel and I loved how his emotional support was depicted. This book was truly so beautiful and I recommend it for anyone looking for a contemporary fantasy!

I was so excited for this book. I love the thought and feel of it but after starting and stopping a few times I couldn’t get past 52% of the book. The main character feels too sorry for herself and comes across as so pathetic that I couldn’t read any more. Too bad because I’m sure she finds her footing eventually but I just couldn’t get there.

Often times when book comps are made, I find myself disagreeing or wishing the comparison hadn't been made, but in this case: Practical Magic meets Twister was just perfect. Granted it's not about two sisters or even a family, but what it does have in common is this idea of trying to make peace with your own abilities and how magic is deeply tied to an individual's emotions. Our heroine Clara struggles with both.

This is a contemporary fantasy novel so it takes place in current times, except everyone actually knows about witches and works with them because through their powers, which they get from the different seasons, have maintained the climate and balance of the world. But now their control over the atmosphere is wavering and it's up to Clara, a rare Everwitch whose magic is tied to every season, to stop the world from being overrun with natural and climate-related disasters.

It's just such an interesting way to looking at magic and how witches could live in the modern world. I love the idea of abilities being tied to the different seasons and how each set of powers differs between Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer. But most of all, the book is very introspective and character-driven and luckily, I felt extremely invested in Clara. More than anything it's about her coming to terms with her past, the way magic has affected her life, and making a decision about how she wants to live every day forward. There's magic but also themes of friendship and romance. I really didn't know what to expect going into this book (I was mostly suckered in by the cover!) but I'm so glad I decided to give it a chance.

Do I recommend? Yes! If you love reading about witches or enjoy paranormal YA, I highly recommend this.

Book Review | The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Grifffin
YA, Fantasy, Contemporary
Sourcebooks Fire | June 1st, 2021
4/5 Stars


Every witch has one season where they are their strongest, except for Clara . Clara is an Everwitch which means her magic is strong in all the seasons. These witches have used their magic for centuries to maintain climate control. With the atmosphere is becoming more inconsistent and uncontrollable, Clara is the only witch powerful enough to do something about it. Only Clara is scared of her magic because of incidents that had happened before where her magic targeted the people she loved. Clara must learn to love her magic and figure out how to control it in order to help save everyone from the crazy weather changes.


I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved following Clara as she learned to love herself and the magic she has been given. The author did a great job of highlighting Clara’s inner struggle with herself and her magic. I honestly felt like I could relate and I just wanted to be there for her.

I liked all of the supporting characters as well as Clara’s character. I think Sang, the love interest, was a great character that went from stranger to mentor to boyfriend perfectly. I really liked Paige’s character because despite being Clara’s ex she was supportive of Clara and Sang’s relationship and encouraged Clara’s character development.

I’m really glad I had the opportunity to read this book and can’t wait to check out other books by this author.

Thank you, Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book started out a bit slow and left me wondering when the action would pick up. This story is a character-driven story without a ton of action-packed scenes like other books. It is a very good read though. I enjoyed seeing the effects of climate change through the lens of witches who use nature to gather their powers and how that affects their magic. Overall, I enjoyed the book.

I really enjoyed this book. I like the themes, using climate change and weather magic makes this a witch story with a twist. If you like books with more world building though, I wouldn't recommend this one. I think that's why some people gave it bad reviews. This book comes off as a big adventure and dive into a new world with different magic, but it's not. This is more of a character driven story, it deals with Clara trying to figure out her magic and who she is. There is a lot of mind games going on in her head, difficult decisions and feeling guilty but it is also a story about love and trust. I found some parts of the novel to be repetitive but overall it was a quick read that I enjoyed!

The Nature of Witches was such a brilliant read. It was fast paced and had a refreshing take on magic that I haven’t read before. The way magic changes depending on the season and how witches are powerful depending which season it is was amazing to read. The climate elements surrounding the book was expertly handled and highlighted issues that we as readers need to think about.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
#thenatureofwitches
#rachelgriffin
#NetGalley published 6/1/21
#sourcebooksfire
#yafantasy
#climatechange

I found the beginning of the book a bit slow, thus the loss of a ⭐. But I enjoyed the different take on the purpose that these witches have. I haven't read a book about witches in a while but I liked that this one had a purpose. There is an underlying story of the "shaders". Which I believe to be ordinary mortals that have been causing the climate to go to extremes as our real present day climate has changed. If you are one of the people of this world that don't believe that there is truly a change in the climate caused by humans actions then this book is probably not for you.

As I said, the beginning of the book is slow. It was OK. I just didn't have the interest to continue to pick it up. It was probably just the intro. For me, I wasn't to invested in the book until about 30%. That was when I needed to see what happened next.

Each of the witches in the book are stronger in one particular season except for the main character, Clara. She is an "Ever". She is the strongest Witch in the world. There is only one ever in existence at a time and she doesn't like what her power can do. Unfortunately, it has managed to kill some of those she has loved. But her beloved teacher Mr Hart has discovered something to help her control her powers. As well as her tutor Sang. Sang helps her realize just how special and important her powers are.

I enjoyed this different story of witches. I enjoyed the loove story to go with it. I chose the background around the book cover for a reason. As you read the book, you'll see why. I'd love to see more stories surrounding this premise by this author. Maybe some prequels?

#witches
#ya
#fantasy
#nature
#bookstagram #booknerds #bookworm #booklover #bookdragon #readalot #ilovereading #inkdrinker #librarymouse #booknerdbookreviews #bookaddict #bookaholic #bookrecommendation #bookreview #booknerdigan #bookish #gottareadthisbook

Their power is controlled by the seasons and they are responsible for caring for Earth’s atmosphere.
This band of witches are fighting to save the climate from the exploits of humans. In between the fight, there is love, heartbreaks and hard choices. This book has all the ingredients for a good plot.

Thank you NetGalley and Source Books Fire for giving me the opportunity to read this.

Witches have controlled the weather with seasonal magic for centuries, but the world is changing. Heatwaves in winter, tornadoes, flooding, and all sorts of extreme weather have made it more difficult to maintain the magical balance of the weather. Clara, the only Everwitch of her generation must use her all seasonal magic to help, but she’s terrified of her magic. It’s already killed her best friend and seems to violently target those she cares about. Without her full powers, she can’t help, but if she unleashes everything inside of her, it could devastate those she loves.

I really enjoyed this book. I read the galley off and on for a few days, but then when my library hold came up for the print book, I read the entire second half in an evening. I’m in a turning pages mood lately, it seems. I loved that the witches all had a season tied to their magic. They are all strong during their season but are very weak during the other seasons, which makes climate change so dangerous to not only witches who may be depleted but to the normal folk, or “shaders” as they call them, who depend on the witches to control the weather and keep them safe.

Clara is in a unique position and faces unique problems. As an Everwitch, her powers are just as strong but in different ways each season, but she changes with the seasons as well, which makes it hard to be romantically entangled. Summer brings passion but it fades as soon as autumn hits. In the beginning, she believes the world would be better without her magic and is determined to get herself stripped, but as she works on her powers, sees what they can do, and maybe falls a little bit in love, her attitudes begin to change, and she’s faced with the toughest decision of her life.

The characterization was strong. I loved the progression of the story with the seasons and how they played such a big part in Clara’s development. I wasn’t 100% into the romance, but it didn’t detract from the story and it helped with dynamic characterization, so I’ll allow it, haha! Bonus points for Bi representation, especially during Pride month. I definitely recommend if you’re as into witchy books as I am.

A witch paranormal about witches that control the weather which then use to control the climate chanes.
the witches has to learn how to control the magic or everything can go wrong..
the story is mainly about Clara who having trouble with her power.
it wasn't what i expected.
voluntarily reviewed.

The best book related to witches I've read since A Discovery of Witches. I love that the witches are tied to a season. There is a small connection to climate change making it a very forward thinking book appropriate for current events. Well written, nicely fleshed out characters, and an excellent plot. I found myself picking it up anytime I could to even read just a page during my free time.

This felt like the most unique story I’ve read so far this year, if not in the many years I’ve been doing reviews. Instead of featuring a traditional antagonist or even a good guy vs bad guy dynamic, the story focuses mostly on the main character's internal conflict and the larger looming conflict of the world struggling with climate change and nature revolting against control. It made for a fascinating read all on its own.

The main character, Clara, is a reluctant protagonist. She fights being the hero of the story repeatedly and it makes for an interesting internal conflict in our narrator. She speaks a lot about changing with each season, which I thought would make for an interesting character, but I didn’t notice a huge personality shift, which was the only disappointment. The side characters were interesting, but not especially complex.

I appreciated the change in the magic system in this world. It often seems like for nature-based magic, like many witch books now feature, the magic has to be based around elements (water, fire, earth, etc.). But the author adds a unique twist to this magic system in having powers be based around the seasons. My only complaint about this is that it wasn’t completely clear what each season had the ability to do and the way the magic worked seemed vague. But I also appreciate that not too much time was bogged down with logistics so the plot could remain the focus.

I highly recommend The Nature of Witches to any fans of the Young Adult Witch genre. The book is a welcome breathe of fresh air to a niche in YA Fantasy that seems to be filled with the same stories and the same magic systems. The plot is intriguing and unlike anything I’ve read before, while the magic system and main character offer something unique to veteran readers.

In case I haven't mentioned it enough, I really enjoyed this book! I love books about witches, and how many different ways there are to write a witchy story, but this one definitely made it onto my favourites list!

Clara is an Everwitch, tied to not one season, but four. She is rare, and she is frightened. There are events in her past that have scared her from fully embracing her magic. As a student, she understands that all her teachers and fellow students are trying to do is help her wield her magic to its full potential. But whenever she gets close to someone, they get hurt. When Sang, and interesting Spring witch is assigned to help Clara, she immediately puts her guard up. She can't get close to him - he'll get hurt! But when the weather starts getting severe and witches start dying out, Clara quickly learns she needs to learn how to control her magic in order to protect more than just Sang.

Clara was a great main character - she had her vulnerable moments, she was smart and brave, and she understood that she had to push herself in order to see results and meet her goals. Sang was the understanding, kind love interest that we all want in our life - he was talented and sensitive, but caring of the people in his life and how he can support them. Paige was a GREAT secondary character - she kept Clara in check, kept her learning and pushing, but also provided that tough-love perspective that was crucial to her character growth. I loved the elemental magic that each witch seemed to have, and how their magic fluctuated based on the season. I'd like to think I'd be an Everwitch, but seeing how rare they are, I definitely think I'd be a Spring witch.

Overall, this was an excellent YA fantasy read, and I am soooooo looking forward for more from Rachel Griffin!

Clara Densmore is the first Everwitch to exist in a hundred years. Unlike other witches whose magic is ruled by a single season, her magic can wield the power of them all.

Her training at the Eastern School of Solar Magic is becoming more important than ever. Witches are no longer able to keep Earth in balance. Violent disturbances are now common and leave nothing but pain and destruction behind. If Clara can learn to harness her magic and somehow stop them from happening, countless lives will be saved. But the ones closest to her will die.

“Witches have controlled the atmosphere for hundreds of years, keeping everything steady and calm. We’ve always succeeded.
We’ve always been strong enough.
But the shaders—those without magic—were swept away by the possibilities of a world protected by it, of a world where every square inch could be used for gain. They began to push the limits of our power and our atmosphere. At first, we went along with it, caught up in their excitement. Then their excitement turned to greed, and they refused to slow down, ignoring our warnings and charging ahead, behaving as if magic were infinite. As if this planet were infinite. Now they’ve overplayed their hand.”

Sang Park came to Eastern to advance his study of botany. At least, that was the original plan. Sang’s magic is like that of any other Spring witch, but his contains an unmistakable feeling of calm. He’s tasked to help Clara lose her fear of the immense power inside of her.

Spending every day with Clara, Sang catches a glimpse of a girl who is not only a powerful force but someone who loves with all that she is. Falling for her is easy. Convincing her that her love won’t destroy him will take far more time. But time is not on their side. The storm is getting closer and Sang must show Clara that she has the strength to hold both her magic and his heart – forever.

“Even kissing Sang, dancing with him under the stars, laughing with him so hard I cried—that was fighting too. Fighting for myself, choosing to believe I deserve more than a life of isolation and fear.
Choosing to hope.
I put my trust in myself and my magic, hoped so badly that I’d finally learned to control it, and I ended up devastated. That’s what happens when you let yourself hope. It crushes you like an avalanche, cold and heavy and suffocating.”

Rachel Griffin brings the seasons alive with The Nature of Witches! In an almost wistful prose, she illuminates a tale so filled with longing and love that it seeps right into the soul. The closer that Clara gets to understanding her magic instead of denying it, the more urgent the feeling becomes.

It’s empowering, provoking, and inspiring all at the same time. And it’s so easy to let it sweep you away.

Witches are in control of our atmosphere. They guide the seasons and help prevent disasters. Clara is an Everwitch, she channels the power of all 4 seasons instead of just one. She is the first in over 100 years, coming just when climate change has made the Earth’s atmosphere unstable. However, her power is unstable, uncontrolled and kills those she loves.

The premise of this book was fantastic, and timely. However, the execution was not quite what I was expecting. This is very much a character driven story, focusing on Clara’s problems in harnessing her power, rather than the imminent threat from climate change. Instead, we get a lot of long looks between her and her love interest.

On the point of her love interest, I felt he was very cliched. He waltzes in like a hot kdrama oppa just when she twists her ankle and then carries her home on his back. I love to see Asian representation but I was a little frustrated that it came in the form of such a bland guy and an Indian doctor named Singh. Employing weak stereotypes and tokenism frustrated me.

Overall, I expected more about climate change and was prepared to introduce this to my students for the book club based on that.It wasn’t a bad story, it’s just not what I signed up for.

Nature of Witches is a unique tale of a witch who is fighting with her inner self. Well I was impressed with the story line because it was different. The witches in this story live with the different seasons of the environment. Every witch is strong in either summer, winter, spring or autumn. But then enters Clara who is an Everwitch, meaning she is strong in every season but a great power comes with its own drawbacks.

So Clara is struggling with her power and her heart who is not ready to accept it. I liked the plot and the characters. The writing style was good and the element of romance, suspense was to the point. I also liked the fact that it was fast paced. So overall a good fantasy novel with a different take.

Thank you @netgalley for the Arc of this beautiful book.

I would like to thank the publisher for providing me an e-arc in return for my unbiased review. I am DNFing 20% in.
Nothing inherently wrong with the book. I'm just not particularly attached to the MC. I've also seen plenty of similar plots.

3.5/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I have a few mixed feelings about this book. My general thoughts are that I really enjoyed this book. I loved the magic and that witches have magic for a particular season. That really kept my attention because I wanted to learn more about this magic system itself. The part that I seemed to have difficulties with are the characters. I felt like the main character got bullied and used by the teachers because of her magic. It frustrated me to no end because there never seemed to be any repercussions for their bad actions. They were mean and taunted her and seemed to ignore and erase how she was feeling. Overall it was a good read but there were some frustrations. I would recommend it if you are interested in it. I think it could be a surprising read.

This book was pure therapy for me. Not only did I discover what kind of witch I am (autumn and proud, baby!), I found myself confronted with some of my own experiences with anxiety. Clara's magic seeks out those she loves and hurts them, just how anxiety can effect those closest to you. Her technique of inhaling her insecurities, troubles, and doubts and then exhaling them all away is something I routinely do. I was oftentimes overwhelmed witnessing Clara's search for self-acceptance. I saw my pain in her pain. My fears in her fears.

Besides being a mirror to my soul, this book is wonderfully written. The language is pensive and full of melancholy and I fell in love with it. This world where witches control the climate is incredibly intriguing and feels really fleshed out. As glad as I am that this is a standalone, it's difficult for me to let go of this world. But that's an autumn for ya ("Autumn magic builds on an undercurrent of thankfulness and sorrow").