Thank you NetGalley & publisher for the eARC of this wonderful YA fantasy novel! Set in the Eastern School for Witches in Pennsylvania, The Nature of Witches occurs in a slightly altered present where world leaders are seeking the help of witches to prevent catastrophic climate disasters. Most witches’ powers are tied to a specific season when they are most powerful. However, Clara is an Everwitch, whose power adapt to each changing season. Unfortunately, Clara has difficulty control her powers, which has resulted in fatal consequences & has caused her to wish she had no power at all. Enter Sang, a student from the Western School of Witches, who has been charged with helping Clara learn to control her power & fulfill her destiny to protect the planet from environmental devastation. Although hesitant, Clara agrees to work with Sang, but only after making it clear that if she can’t control power, she will relinquish it—dooming the earth, humanity, & witches.

Rachel Griffin has created an intriguing alternate reality populated with well-devolved characters. The plot is engaging & when I finished the novel, I wanted more. Such a wonderful read! I can only hope there may be a sequel in the future!

I loved everything about this book. From its focus on global warming, to it's LGBTQ+ casualness. Rachel Griffin has to be a gardener, her ability to paint gardens with her words is astounding. I love the focus on the different seasons--this book is a love letter to each of the seasons. The quotes at the beginning of each chapter were probably my favorite. "If spring is a whispered promise that everything can be made new, autumn is a brilliant sacrifice born of love. Because if the autumn did not love the spring, it would not fall to winter just so the spring could rise." I will be recommending this book to everyone. We need more books to focus on global warming, and this YA fantasy highlights the problem in an original way. Also, Sang was perfect.

I was highly anticipating this release since I read the synopsis on Goodreads last year, so I was so excited when Source Books so kindly sent me a copy of the book!

The Nature of Witches was truly a unique book. I’ve read plenty of books involving witches and elemental magic, but nothing like this. The magic system was such an interesting twist on the traditional elemental magic, where the magic was tied to the season and it weakened when their season ended. So spring witches were most powerful and able to use their magic in the spring months etc. The different focuses of magic within each season was so interesting to read about! (I so want to be a winter witch!) Also the ties between the magic and the worsening of the climate was super interesting. It was clearly commentary on the worsening environment in our real world where intense natural disasters are much more common because of global warming.

I thought Clara was a likable main character. She’s an Ever Witch, which can summon magic from all the seasons (and is SUPER rare.) There was a lot of the “woe is me” attitude, but other characters call her out it on it, so I thought that was good and not super annoying. I adored the side characters the most though! Paige was so spunky and lovable! I enjoyed reading all the flashbacks with her in them. Sang was the perfect love interest! He was so sweet and supportive. Clara and him had such a cute friendship that slowly developed into more.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time reading The Nature of Witches! The writing was gorgeous, and the magic system was so cool. My only complaint would be that sometimes the the plot would drag a bit (this mostly happened in the middle) and I wish we had more scenes where Clara and Sang could showcase more chemistry with each other. Some training scenes felt devoid of any emotional depth as the magic was kind of being info-dumped on the reader.

I would recommend this to any reader looking for some light fantasy that still resembled our real world a little.

Rachel Griffin provides readers with an interesting premise involving the climate, global warming, and witches with powers matching the seasons meant to help balance and stabilize the earth and its climate. Readers are introduced to a moment in time where the witches are at an impasse—their powers no longer able to compete against the constant fluctuations in the climate, until the arrival of our protagonist—a rare Everwitch with powers spanning all four seasons, who is only beginning to learn about her abilities and how to hone them.

The idea is compelling. However, some readers may wish that Griffin spent more time describing the inner workings of this alternate world—the politics and relationships between witches and humans, or shaders as they’re described here; or even additional details about Clara the Everwitch, her parents, the school, the diary given to her by mentor from the other Everwitch born a century earlier. Readers instead are mostly presented with Clara’s internal conflicts about the potential destructive nature of her abilities. While the descriptions do reinforce her psychological struggles with her sense of self-worth and sense of place, for some readers, these internal musings may begin to feel repetitive when paired with the lack of development in the story’s setting. While readers will understand why Clara feels the way she does, many questions about the world in which she’s living may be left unanswered by the novel’s end.

That said, many readers will enjoy the supportive relationship Clara has with Sang Park. Here, we have a relationship that builds gradually. Their growing sense of trust and friendship becomes the catalyst that forces Clara to examine her inner struggles and strengths, allowing her to learn from her mistakes and begin to develop a sense of acceptance that will support her and her abilities.

4.5 stars

This was probably 4 stars for most of the book, until the last 25% of the book and then it made it up to 5 stars for me. So I'll average it out to 4.5 stars and round down because it took me some time to get there. Perhaps if I were to read it again, I would love it even more, but I'll leave it at 4 stars for now.

Each chapter begins with a quote from a book called "A Season for Everything" and it wasn't until the end that I realized why it was there. The story is told from a first-person POV by Clara, who is the first Ever witch in over 100 years. The system of magic in this book is that there are witches and there are shaders (non-magical). Each witch is tied to one of the four seasons and their powers are strongest during their season, but pretty week the rest of the years. Clara is an exception because she has the power of all four seasons, although her power for each season is strongest during that particular season. The powers are all linked to the weather in some way with their strongest powers being linked to things that tend to happen in that season. The shaders know of the witches and have used them to make all parts of the Earth habitable, including the least habitable places and that has wrought havoc with the climate. Yes, this story definitely has a strong message to share about taking care of our planet and what happens when we become irresponsible. The witches are barely keeping up with the mess the planet has been left in, as extreme out-of-season weather events take place, sometimes out of nowhere. The problem is that during these events, the witches that are experts at these sorts of things are weakest because they are out of their own season. For example, if a blizzard suddenly occurs in the middle of summer, the winter witches are too weak to do anything about it but the summer witches have no talent to take care of the blizzard. From the very beginning, we know that Clara has lost some people close to her because of her talent and it's causing her to fear and hate her talent, but those around her want and need her to use her power because she's the only one strong enough to deal with the havoc of these disastrous weather events.

My biggest complaint about this story was how long it took Clara to step being steeped in self-guilt, self-loathing, feelings of martyrdom, and not wanting to listen to anyone else, even her closest friends. But what redeemed it was her badass friend/ex-girlfriend Paige who drew the line and basically told her to get over herself. And Sang? I completely loved him and I especially loved that he was an Asian American guy who was so much more than a stereotype. Mr. Hart was more than just a teacher and I loved all of his messages to her.

So it was a slow build in some ways with an MC that is not exactly likable, but by the end, I really was cheering for Clara which makes me love this book. As a debut novel, I found this to be a pretty promising start and I look forward to reading future books by the author.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Nature Of Witches has a fun take on the usual magic system of witches. Each witch has magic that corresponds to a certain seasons and there are very rare everwitches, witches who have
magic for all four seasons. The book follows Clara, one of the powerful witches who has the magic of
the four seasons. The witches are trying to undo climate caused by those without magic.
Despite being one of the more powerful witches, Clara struggles with magic and is afraid to use it all even though
she wants to help the world. Clara has a mentor that ends up helping her along the way and goes through a journey of learning and self acceptance.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and the tie to the season for the magic system and would recommend reading it if you like books about witches, magic or nature.

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin was quite a surprise. Thoughtfully written with encouragement to find individual gifts and talents. I also found a few quotes that have found their way onto my wall. Ms. Griffin is creative and clever in her writing. A good read.

I thought this was such a unique story; I loved it! This is a contemporary young adult fiction book with a touch of magic and fantasy that was so well done! I think it helps that I'm a science geek and environmentalist by trade. I was just utterly engulfed in the story and it had the cutest touch of romance. This is a perfect read for any time of the year!

This book felt much sweeter and personal than I expected going in. The description had me expecting a lot of 'you must figure out your magic to save the world or else' energy, and while there is a bit of that, the bulk of the focus is on Clara's growth and understanding of herself and her relationships. And it really works for the story, because in order to figure out her magic, she needs to figure herself out first. I really enjoy good characters and growth arcs, so alongside the fun nature magic, this storytelling really worked for me.

I love seeing how authors approach magic systems, and I thought the seasonal magic was a pretty fun concept. Each witch has a season in which their magic is strongest, and then it wanes the rest of the year, except for Clara who is a very rare Everwitch, so she has full-powered magic all year. This causes her to feel both pressure and isolation. (Good crucibles for our character development!)

And to top it off, we also have a love interest who is just a genuinely good, wonderful person, and he just gives the story some extra sweetness as we get to watch things blossom.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley, this is an honest review.

Meh, for me this felt like at typical YA book. There were things I really liked about it though. Set in current times, but witches are accepted part of society and play a big part in helping to control the atmosphere/weather. But their job is getting harder because of climate change and humans trying to “tame” parts of the world that shouldn’t be tamed. Each witch is affiliated with a specific season, except our main character, Clara, who is an Everwitch and can work powers from all 4 seasons. She is literally the most powerful witch in two generations. Alas, Clara is a little brat and constantly is “poor poor me.” It gets old really fast. Now, I’m not saying she hasn’t had a tough life (her magic killed her parents and best friend on accident). But witches are literally dying from trying to control the crazy weather and her teachers think she can help stem the tides. But what does Clara do? She contemplates if she can get rid of her magic. And training and actually trying to figure out how to use her magic? It feels like she just doesn’t care. She eventually does, but its is still like boohoo I’m going to sit in my cabin in the woods and brood. I did appreciate some of the secondary characters that called out Clara on pretty much being a brat, but that was few and far in between. So – cool magic system, terrible lead character. Hard pass.

Rachel Griffin's climate change fantasy The Nature of Witches starts with a clever and intriguing idea, but the execution is heavy-handed and overly simplistic. The worldbuilding is one of the weakest elements of the book. I don't want tons of exposition dumped on the reader right at the top, but the world in which Clara and the other seasonal witches live didn't feel rich or full, like a world that had existed before the story begins, or a world in which billions of other people besides Clara have lived. (Or, apparently, a world in which people are capable of traveling, say between hemispheres, since the concept of off-season magic is weirdly reductive and underexplored.)

The writing is too simple, too, with characters just sort of blurting out their motivations to one another; it all just feels rather clumsy. Speaking of characterization, the idea of Clara's personality changing with the seasons is intriguing, but doesn't actually seem to occur? Her personality as we see it through her inner monologue and her actions & words to others seem fairly consistent...at least, consistently bratty and sullen toward the people trying to help her.

I love the idea of connecting witchcraft and climate change, and I’m all for a good Chosen One story. But I couldn’t get into Clara’s big driving choice between saving the world...and a crush. Girl. Save the world. How is this even a question?? The solution to her dilemma is a borderline deus ex machina, without any decent build-up (sure, it was always going to be related to that event, but the research is dropped out of absolutely nowhere, with no reason to think that's a thing that could happen or help).

Frankly, at the end of the day, this book was a fun idea that resulted in just a boring, disappointing story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the advance review copy!

I’ve been in a real witchy mood lately and was so glad to finally jump into this one! It was more of an urban fantasy, which isn’t my typical genre. It’s okay- it’s good to branch out!

Clara has been through a lot of terrible things. Her magic, which is so strong, attacks her loved ones. She’s living with what essentially feels like a curse. Those around her want her to tap into it and let go because they need her to save the world. I had a hard time with the way people treated her, especially her teachers. It was a bit much at times. There is one who is quite confusing. It seems like he was made out to be a villain but not really. We don’t get a good explanation there. I did enjoy watching her throughout the seasons, which I found a cool aspect.

One of the main themes in this book is about how we are destroying the Earth, aka climate change. The point of this book is that there are all these natural disasters happening when they shouldn’t be. They are running out of powerful enough witch magic to combat them. It pulls a lot of similarities to what, we as humans, are doing to destroy the Earth.

The romance was enjoyable and a slow burn. What I really loved was Sang. Omg… he might be one of my favorite romance interests in a long time. He was so sweet, caring, and just the best. Sometimes I felt like the chemistry was a bit off between him and Clara.

There are times that the plot drags a little bit, especially in the beginning. Otherwise, this was a quick read for me. I finished it in a couple of days. I did feel like the ending was the opposite and a bit rushed. It all happened so quickly and I didn’t like how things are thrown at the last minute.

Overall, this was an interesting and quick read for me. I loved Sang so much and he’s probably my favorite thing about this book. haha. If you enjoy reading about witches and nature then I think you will like this one!

This was the book I have been waiting for and didn’t even know it. I was caught up in the story right away, and couldn’t put it down, devouring the entire story in a single day.

The story combines the idea of witches with power that is tied to the sun and seasons, and fighting against climate change. Naturally, I loved the idea. Each season has it’s own weather challenges, and the witches from that season have certain personality traits and struggles. As the weather becomes more erratic, the consequences for the environment, and the witches trying to manage it, become more harsh and dangerous.

Clara seems to be the key for managing this, but she’s reluctant to use her magic. In the past, her magic has killed the people closest to her, and she’s been lost in grief, fear, and guilt. The school has been pushing her to practice, but has also isolated her, and she’s internalized this need for isolation. She spent a lot of the book having a one-woman pity party, and it got frustrating to watch her work so hard to push people away when they clearly wanted to be around her and be supportive.

I liked seeing how things flowed throughout the story. Sang was one of my favorite characters. The relationship between him and Clara developed so naturally, and I loved how it was written. It felt genuine to see the people around Clara break through the walls she had built up around herself.

This was a really enjoyable story, and addresses some really deep themes in a powerful and beautifully written story. The way that each season is experienced differently and the connection to the different parts of the year made me appreciate the world and how it changes throughout the year. However, it also makes me hope that we can all show our world a little more love. This is a book that is going to stick with me for quite some time.

Thank you SOURCEBOOKS Fire and NetGalley for the ARC. This book was quite unlike any other witch story I've read in awhile. I enjoyed the concept of how witches bend and watch over the weather. The books events flow seamlessly and the characters are easy to define and follow. I will say the inner monologue of the main character was a little much, she came across and childish at times. I also felt she was very slow to grow as a character, especially under the circumstances shew as under. I would suggest this novel to anyone who likes a good witch story with a different twist.

I'm really not sure how to feel about this one. I enjoyed it, but now I'm left feeling like it was incomplete. I'm not sure why, considering it resolved itself quite well. It may just be because I'm writing this late at night, and I'm kind of tired, but I expected to feel more at the end.

I know she's a minor character, but Paige is my favorite thing about this. She was such an amazing friend to Clara, and I loved how she never hesitated to call Clara on her brattiness. Because Clara did spend most of the book like everything revolved around her, so it was nice to see someone who didn't share this belief.

I also loved the concept of this. The idea of witches attached to a season was so interesting, and I thought it was done super well. You could tell that the author put a ton of time into developing this world and fleshing out the magic system. The way this resolved Clara's magic did feel a bit picture-perfect, but the book was starting to drag, so I'm happy it ended where it did.

My main problem with this has to be the romance. It was a driving factor, but it held the least appeal to me. I liked Sang, and Clara didn't bother me, but them together was lackluster. I didn't feel the chemistry between them, which was disappointing.

Despite not receiving the emotional punch I wanted from this book, I still really enjoyed it. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for the author's other works.

Thanks to Netgalley and Rachel Griffin for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

A magical novel of witches and the seasons that they are attached to in this story of the control of nature. I found it a very interesting premise. The characters are interesting and the story captivating.
I loved that Claire was an 'everwitch', attached to all seasons. Her power is vast and she has to learn to deal with her own changes with each season.

Huge thanks to SourceBooks Fire and Netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This sci-fi and fantasy novel follows Clara, a weather witch, as she learns to control her dangerous and powerful magic. Because of losing people in her past, Clara is reluctant to use her magic, but must, because she is the last hope to stop the climate disasters now befalling the earth.

This novel was an interesting one. As a novel concerning the effects of climate change and an alternate universe of witches, I walked away with two stories. The story of earth's future, and how cool it would be if witches actually controlled the weather. This story was simple, straightforward, and a quick, easy read. The romance in the story was adorable and the main love interest a cupcake all by himself. I enjoyed this story and found it to be a good comfort read. I think if you love witches, and you just want an easy read that you can plow through this is just the right book for you.

I gave this story 3.75 stars. I won't be reading it again because I just didn't connect with the main character. However, I still would recommend it to others if you have a strong interest in climate change or just love witchy stories.

Clara is a 17-year-old Everwitch, which means she is a rare witch whose magic is tied to all 4 seasons, rather than just one. Each season comes with changes to both her magic and herself, and she's struggling to control her magic, as it has a tendency to endanger the people she cares about most.

I struggled a little with getting into this book, but by the end I had really enjoyed it. I love the unique magic system of being tied to a specific season, and I enjoyed seeing how Clara's character changed with each season. Climate change directly affects the story as well, as shaders (humans with no magic) are causing climate change, which is killing off witches because they're having to use their magic during their off-season (like summer witches having to deal with a heat wave in winter, when they're at their weakest), which depletes them. I loved that touch.

Clara is at times very woe-is-me because she's so afraid of her magic and afraid to endanger the people around her, which was a bit frustrating and sometimes repetitive. But slowly, she grows to appreciate her magic and fear herself less.

Of course, I loved the romance. Usually, for Clara, she has summer flings, when her romantic feelings are at their highest, and those relationships are gone by autumn. But she meets Sang in Winter and has a partner as she learns to develop her magic through the seasons, which I adored. I loved that her character growth didn't rely on him, either--he helped her realize how to accept and love her power, but ultimately she came to that conclusion on her own, which we love to see.

All in all, I enjoyed this book! And I love that it was an urban fantasy standalone--I feel like that's a rarity. I'd recommend picking this one up if you're a fan of urban fantasy, especially if you're looking for something a little different.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of The Nature of Witches!

The Nature of Witches is a lyrically written novel that weaves a story of healing and learning to love yourself with an important message on the impacts of climate change on the world. In this world, witches have helped maintain the climate for centuries but as shaders (humans without magic) have continued to expand their grasp on nature the impact begins to be more apparent as the weather begins to become increasingly unpredictable. We follow Clara, an Everwitch who, instead of gaining her powers from the season she was born in, can harness powers from each of the seasons. Her powers are not easy to control and pose a danger to anyone she begins to care for which has caused a lot of loss and trauma.

The book is sectioned off by season and as I previously mentioned the writing was lyrical. Since Clara is an Everwitch her affinity for each season shifts as the book does, always referring to her power in the first person. I adored this aspect of how the story was written because the author painted so many beautiful lines into the writing. Clara would so lovingly describe each season that it made me continuously fall in love with nature. There were so many descriptions not only about nature but also about Clara's own healing that made me look forward to rereading with my physical copy so that I can highlight all the parts I want to remember. I think that the way that this book framed how wonderful the natural world can be with the overarching stress of imminent climate change drove home how important it is to fight for the world we live in. We can take the beauty for granted sometimes without realizing that it is up to humans to protect and fix what we have ultimately damaged.

As the seasons changed and the plot progressed Clara underwent her own transformation. She began the book incredibly closed off and terrified of what could potentially happen to anyone that she might accidentally get too close to. Her magic has caused a lot of pain and grief and by losing people she loved Clara feels that the only way she can protect those around her is by bottling up her magic and her emotions. Enter Sang, a student from another school who ends up befriending Clara and helping her learn how to navigate her fears. This portion of the plot was heartwarming. It was lovely to see Clara begin to become unapologetically herself and accept herself, her past, and her magic for exactly what it is. Not only this but I loved seeing how Sang was so communicative because it was a fresh take on a romance. I found this honesty and communication to be a wonderful addition to the story and I think it did wonders for helping show how Clara evolved over the course of the book.

This was an amazing debut from Rachel Griffin. The Nature of Witches was beautiful and heartwarming and I quickly fell in love with the story. It has a strong message of not only the healing power of nature but also how important inner healing and self acceptance are. It tied magical aspects into the real world problem of climate change and had a powerful message about how important it is that humans need to work on a way to combat this. I'm already looking forward to rereading this.

In a recent author panel Rachel Griffin described this as a "love letter to the Earth" and that is the most perfect description of this book.

This is easily one of the most unique, witchy fantasies I've ever read! I love urban fantasy (fantastical stories set in the real world) and I absolutely devoured this one. This story has it all - a chosen one who wants nothing to do with their destiny, the sweetest cinnamon role love interest, commentary on global warming, and beautiful depictions of a nature. You can really feel Rachel Griffin's wonderment for the world and nature throughout this entire book.

I really loved the twist of the chosen one trope in the books because Clara clearly wants nothing to do with her destiny. And I loved the growth the heroine goes through as she discovers to love and accept herself and her place in the world. She changes with every season and must learn to embrace that change - which is an arc I think a lot of readers will be able to relate to. And overall the way the author was able to weave in these impactful themes was expertly done.

Sang stole my dang heart. He is so soft and sweet and wonderful. He is the cinnamon role hero we all need. I really loved the slow burn romance between these two. It was extremely heartfelt and beautiful.

Overall I was completely swept away by this debut fantasy. And I'm so excited to see what Rachel Griffin writes next!

This review is live on Goodreads and will be posted to my blog on 6/11 @ 9am!