Beautiful, heartfelt and authentic. Rachel Griffin weaves a story full of magic and feelings, drawing the reader along a journey through the changing seasons that is immersive and evocative. I adored the introspection of this book and the focus on Clara's emotional journey, particularly the way her moods and magic were entwined with each season.

A Season for Witches is less of a binge read and more of a gourmet meal. I found myself slowing down, savoring, reading a little bit at a time.

As a Wiccan reader who loves fantasy, I love the premise that each witch’s magic is associated with a particular season. Clara, a rare Everwitch of all seasons, gives really cool perspective on how a witch’s season affects their personality, abilities, and relationships as she cycles through the seasons herself.

The environmental message is also loud and clear: witches are cleaning up non-witches’ abuse of our planet. And non-witches have pushed the limits so far that it’s getting hard to control the chain natural disasters.

Then throw in Clara’s emotional journey as the only living Everwitch, forced to isolate herself and struggling to control her magic...

Overall, this book is a unique concept with a beautiful execution.

I had high expectations for Natufe of Witches & they were far exceeded! The story is both lyrical and swiftly paced. O imagine thos will starbon many 2021 best of lists!

Just like the nature of spring, this book was lovely and beautiful. It was cute and creative with a really unique concept; the way the author linked powers to a season and then described the season themselves was really interesting to read. And I loved that the protagonist changed with the seasons. It added more to her character and I liked how it added something to the story.

The problem with this story, if there was any, is that the stakes seemed too low. I’m not saying death of a loved one because of loss of control is nothing, but I felt like there could’ve been a bigger impact if the stakes were higher maybe, if there was a villain. But there wasn’t. So this doesn’t make the book life changing really, just a lovely story to read.

I liked the internal journey Clara went through, and how she went from being afraid of a part of herself to really accepting it, and in doing so accepting that she was worth something. She was worth love and friendship and I’m glad she realized that. I also loved the romance. The love interest in this book was Asian, which was a nice detail. I like the casual representation, which we always need more of. Sang was also king and soft and he was so adorable to read about!!

The Nature of Witches is a story about life and love and the seasons, and it’s about climate change and having the faith in yourself to fight for what you love and having the faith in others that you trust their belief in you. I really enjoyed this book, and I’m really glad I got to read this early copy of it!!

I thought the world-building was well executed, and the magic system was explained adequately without a huge amount of information dumping at the beginning, which can really stagger the pace of a book. I thought the premise was very interesting, and unique. I enjoyed Sang's characterisation, and would have liked to have seen more from his perspective. I quite disliked Clara's character, however, and perceived her as quite whiny and tiresome. 2.5 stars.

The Nature of Witches
By Rachel Griffin

I've read this book twice now.

The first time during a week's-long winter storm, which plunged parts of the country into below-freezing temperatures for days on end and buried other places below mountains of snow. I wished we had witches in our world to help control the earth's wild-ranging climate.

The second time, early spring breezes were gently urging winter to wane away and shy rays of sun coaxed bashful blooms from the still-cold soil. Rachel's words settled softly in my mind, like the first warm flush of love. I wished more people cared so deeply about our world and each other.

I imagine I'll return to these pages in the hot, humid days of summer, when it's too warm to do anything but read in the heat of mid-day, and again, perhaps, in autumn when cooler breezes swirl falling leaves in little cyclones below the trees. I wonder what I'll wish for then.

The Nature of Witches has one of the most brilliant concepts I've seen in some time. Bold, startling, lyrical, and addicting. Will be purchasing for the library's YA collection.

So this story is about a girl named Clara. She is an ever witch, meaning that her magic is strong in all four seasons of the year whereas other witches have more power in their one particular season. Clara is has lost loved ones to her power getting out of her control and is thinking she may want to give up her power forever.
The witches are trained to control the atmosphere and non-witches, knowns as shaders, have created a climate in crisis. Witches and their power over the seasons is the only thing that can save them.
It was a good story. Definitely a young adult book, light PG romance, short and sweet story line. Just didn't pull me in like I had hoped it would.

Thank you to NetGalley & Sourcebooks Fire for this ARC in exchange for an honest and fair review!

The Nature of Witches is a story about a young girl named Clara, who happens to be an Everwitch: a rare witch who can change and control all four seasons. In a world where climate change is an imminent threat causing deaths of shaders (non-magical humans) and witches, the power of an Everwitch is dire. This power, however, comes with a steep price of the lives of those she dares to love.

Let’s start with some pros about this book. For starters, the elemental aspect of the witches. It was so interesting to read about how the different seasons tied into the witches’ magic and ultimately dictated aspects of their personalities. Summers were warm and passionate, autumns quiet and reflective, winters cold and blunt, and springs soft and calm. Second, I enjoyed the romantic aspect of the novel. The love interest, Sang, was a very sweet botanist who simply wanted to study and draw his beloved plants. He was the adorable, golden-retriever, ray of sunshine character that always warms my heart. These characters can be difficult as they can often read a little boring, but I did not find this with Sang. While I would’ve loved to delve further into him, his personality, and his background, his dynamic with Clara was still lovely to read as it unfolded.

Onto the cons, and why I ultimately ended up giving this story three stars. This story felt like not quite enough to me. Things were touched on, but never delved into enough that it was satisfying. The threat of climate change felt weak and easy to solve. The surrounding characters were not given genuine personalities, rather than just assigned roles that they played in the main character’s life. And the differing personalities that were assigned to seasons were not depicted in our main character. One of the biggest hurdles of being an Ever for Clara was her changing between seasons, but we did not see that. She ultimately remained the same, only appearing to change based on her feelings with Sang or based on her character development through the story.

Overall, this book had such an interesting concept that had me wanting to read it but unfortunately it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I kept wanting more, more of the other characters, more of the magic system, more of an antagonist and overarching plot that was outside of the main character’s internal struggle. Despite this feeling, I do not feel this was a bad book or anything of the sorts. It was just a bit simpler of a read than I was expecting initially going into it, and I would have liked to see the story and characters more fleshed out. However, I can see another reader loving this book who may be searching for a YA fantasy with a simple plot featuring atmospheric writing and an entirely internal, character driven story as their next read. I would recommend this book to those readers looking for such a novel.

I was really really interested in this book, and I was really happy when the publisher let me have an eARC of it. And I wasn't disappointed, this book completely blew my mind.

The beautiful way the author shows the little personality changes as the seasons, and how she slowly adapts to changes even better. As a person who really disliked her own body and herself for a really long time and felt like I don't fit in anywhere, I could relate to her during a lot of times. And the way she accepted herself over time, it reminded me how I did this too, and it was amazing. I cried a lot during this book, it made me become so emotional.

The relationship that starts sprouting in the book and goes all the way until the end, well, I might have fallen in love with him too. He is so caring, and his affection towards plants and tea is relatable, I wish he could be my friend.

I recommend this book with my whole heart, it swalloped my heart and took it on a magical adventure, long before I could notice. And it was totally worth it, this is a magical journey that you don't want to miss.

I SO wanted to love this book, but to be totally honest, I had a really hard time getting through it until at least halfway through when the plot picked up in pace and I had an idea of what was happening. This story has so much potential to be amazing, but I felt like the plot needed to be fleshed out more; it needed more details and more backstory so that I didn't feel like I was dropped in the middle of a hurricane and expected to know what was going on. Plainly speaking, this book left me wanting more and asking myself, "that's it?"

As for the characters, I didn't know what to make of Clara at first, but as the story progressed I started to like her as I got to know more about her and saw her progression. Clara's growth felt a lot like the writing of the book: really rough at first, but slowly got better through the story. The supporting cast was good - I liked the diversity of personalities involved and the similarities to the season they aligned with.

Overall, a good start, but in my opinion this needs a bit of work before it becomes magical in my eyes.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to provide an honest review of this advanced reading copy!

2.5 stars, rounded up.
My full review will be posted on my blog on May 31st, 2021.

It’s hard to put into words how I felt about this book. The summary of the book implies that Clara will be fighting climate change or love. That is not what the book is about. Clara grows immensely in this story and you get a chance to see it. However, she never is approached with an earth-shattering, high-risk situation. In fact, Clara is only ever faced with her own selfish defeatism. This made her a frustrating character read.
I will say, this was a quick read. The pacing is quick and consistent. I wanted to like this book, it has all of the elements of things I love, but the execution missed the mark.

Great YA fantasy debut about witches. The Nature of Witches follows Clara, a rare everwitch which means that she has magic that is strong in all four seasons as opposed to just one like most seasonal witches. As an everwitch, Clara's magic is stronger than that of anyone in the last century and she must learn to control it. Throw in a love interest and this made for a great YA read. Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the copy to review.

Also, love the cover art and wish I had a hard copy instead of just the ebook!

4.5/5

“Be wary of those who will let you apologize for who you are.”

In the world of this novel, witches have an affinity not for a certain element, but for one of the four (English) seasons. Clara, our 18 year old protagonist, is an extremely rare Ever witch - she can connect with the magic of all four seasons. The activity of non-witches is causing the atmosphere to become unstable and everyone hopes that Clara’s unprecedented magic will essentially save the world. But her magic has an unfortunate side effect of tending to kill the people she loves most, so eventually she’ll have to choose - will she save the world like only she can? Or will she dare to believe that she might deserve a life of more than just isolation and loneliness?

“Just remember: the choices you make today will be felt by who you have yet to become.”

This book was a total cover request for me! I just adore that cover! I had no idea what to expect but I really enjoyed this book. I can see how it may not be for everyone - I can see how some may not appreciate the languid pace, the character focussed approach, the frequent description of weather and nature. Personally, I loved it. It brings me to mind a little of the way Circe by Madeline Miller felt to read - thoughtful, pensive, almost melancholic at times, but also hopeful. It is not a fast paced or action read. Almost the whole story is based at the school where Clara is trying to learn to control her magic. We move through all the seasons with Clara and I really liked the way the structure of the book tied in with the themes.

My slight niggle was that, as someone who lives in a place where the Aboriginal people have six seasons that in fact make a lot more sense for this place than the four English ones we try to force on it, the story does require you to accept the idea that four seasons are something intrinsic to nature, something that literally tick over at midnight on a fixed day. But okay, it’s a story about magic, it’s not meant to be real, and it’s a unique take I haven’t seen before, so I was able to put that aside and just accept it as part of the world created.

There is a romance that features heavily as part of this story and it is the most beautiful, wholesome love story. If you’re the kind of person to equate drama and tension with an exciting love, then this one isn’t for you. This is a deep, sweet, moving kind of love story and I adored it. Sang’s presence doesn’t define Clara, but rather provides a space in which she can become her truest self, and I thought it was wonderful.

“A mess is something that needs to be cleaned up. You’re not a mess… You’re a force to be reckoned with.”

Worth mentioning also is that while Clara’s love interest in this story is a boy, her ex is a girl and also features heavily in her story and choices. Her sexuality is not something specifically addressed or made a point of, and I thought that was kind of nice - it feels like in this world, this is something that is par for the course and accepted.

“Never let anyone make you feel bad about the things you’re capable of. Some will insist you step into the shadows to make them more comfortable. But I'll tell you a secret: there’s enough light for all of us.”

Ultimately this is the story of a girl’s journey to truly appreciating and accepting herself for who she is, and learning the power and strength to be found in our connection with those around us. I thought it was beautiful.

“You have to believe you’re worthy of the life you want. If you don’t believe that, who else will?”

This was a really sweet YA contemporary fantasy. I was initially drawn in by its unique premise: seasonal witches who help combat climate change. This story follows Clara, an Ever witch – meaning she her powers change depending on the season, rather than being tied to one season like everyone else – as she learns to accept her powers and realizes that they aren’t something to be afraid of.

This is definitely a slow burn story. There isn’t too much of a plot besides watching Clara as she trains to use her powers and learns how to trust the people closest to her. I found it interesting, especially because the love interest, Sang, was so sweet and I enjoyed reading about his love for botany. However, I think that this story suffered from a lack of a real antagonist. Was it the professors? The climate? Clara herself? There needed to be something a little clearer that Clara was struggling against, rather than a handful of half-developed conflicts that are never fully settled. The ending was also a little too convenient for my liking and I wish the stakes had been higher.

Still, I ended up enjoying this read and I think that fans of light YA fantasy and YA contemporary romance will really enjoy this!

Let me start off by saying that I don't normally go for this type of book. But I figured I'd give it a chance and was very surprised. I liked that this book highlighted climate control as it is an issue that deserves to be addressed. I also really enjoyed the magical aspect of the book and found myself intrigued by how it all worked. I was not a fan of Clara, the MC. She was whiny and stuck in her own head even as everyone around her constantly tried to reassure and comfort her. It's overemphasized how powerful and necessary she is to the world. Still, this did little to slow the momentum of the story. It had quite a bit of action and as time goes on you realize there is even more to the magic than initially thought. It was the strong writing that allowed Clara to remain palatable and keep the story moving. By then end, I was thoroughly enjoying the story and was sad it came to the end. I would recommend this book to others and will keep an eye out for more from this author.

Clara never asked to be an Ever witch. Life would have been much easier if she had been a witch with seasonal powers, like everybody else, but no. She had to be born with powers in every season, the first Ever in over a hundred years. With a power she's afraid to use because it is most attracted to people that she loves, and it has already killed both of her parents and her best friend. She can't wait until the eclipse, when her powers will be sapped and she'll be able to get close to people again! Until then, she's living alone in a cabin behind the school dorms, staying as quiet and unnoticeable as one can when everyone thinks she has the power to save the world.

Except, a new teacher has come, and while he is an ass, his teaching assistant is way too cute, too sweet, too EVERYTHING. He wants to help her embrace her full powers, stop being afraid of getting close to people, and actually LIVE. But can she?

Reader Notes: OMG, I couldn't put this down! I love Clara, and Sang, and even the awful teacher had his moments. The characters and emotions are so real, I forgot that I had to learn about an entirely new world while I was reading it.

What an interesting premise and unique storyline. I think this is a great telling and relatable for anyone looking for an introspective coming of age tale. That being said, I found the characters to be a bit one note and the relationships fell flat. I think this would work well for anyone that has a deep love for witch lore and different takes on the use of elements and seasons/weather.

Thank you netgalley for the advanced readers copy.

I received an early e-arc of The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I thought the concept of this book sounded cool (and it has a pretty cover!), Kinda urban fantasy? Witches whose magic is tied to the seasons? A cute love story? A witch who has the power of all the seasons? Yes, please.
The Nature of Witches opens with the main character, Clara, having trouble dealing with being an Everwitch (her magic is tied to all seasons), she's also dealing with grief and PTSD caused by accidentally hurting her loved ones because of her magic, the story then follows Clara's healing and acceptance of her magic. The book features a bisexual MC, a cute, supportive friendship to romance that's kinda slow burn, and a love interest that helps Clara become more comfortable with using her magic.
The magic system was one of the best parts of the book, I read a book with a similar magic system to this called Seasons of the Storm, but the seasonal magic in that book fell flat, whereas the Nature of Witches dives deep into seasonal magic, its ties to the earth and climate change. I also just watched Fate: The Winx Saga, and I'm getting similar vibes from this book, from the magic system to the school setting and the problems that Clara is dealing with using her magic.
4/5 stars, I would recommend if you're looking for an urban fantasy standalone featuring witches with seasonal magic and a cool (well written!) magic system!

What if you were the most powerful witch of your generation?

What if that power killed your best friend?

Witches have maintained the climate for centuries, but as shaders (Non-Magic people) continue abusing the earth, the witches control begins to falter. Clara is an Everwitch, a rare powerful magic tied to all 4 seasons. With the weather becoming worse, Clara must learn to use her power despite the pain it caused in the past.

I read this book straight through in like 4 hours.

The world building in this book is fantastic, probably in part because of how similiar to reality it is. I enjoy the building of a great big fantasy world as much and the next person, but sometimes I just want to get into the action ASAP. In this book I didn't have to read 200 pages of world building before I got to the action.

This book focuses a lot on climate change, but not really in a preachy way. It makes it pretty simple to understand.

It took a little bit for me to become attached to Clara, but once I was I couldn't put the book down. The romance was cute, but I like that it wasn't the main focus of the book. It was really about learning confidence and self acceptance.

Overall a wonderful book with great lessons all around.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.