I enjoyed THE NATURE OF WITCHES very much. I loved the execution of the concept and the unique worldbuilding. It was a refreshing book with a very strong and important message about climate change and human impact on nature. I loved the emphasis of how Clara, her magic, and her personality changes through the seasons. I love the exploration of trauma and coping. Very well-written debut. 5 STARS

I thought this book was really well done. The character development was awesome and I felt the story was unique and creative.

4.5

I really liked this more than I thought and see why people love it. This was very beautifully written and I loved the themes and the magic in this book. There is a romance trope in this book that has always bothered me, but I understand why it's in there so I didn't hold it against the book too much. lol

Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for my honest review. But I did purchase this book and plan to keep it.

I’ve had an idea for a story about witches who combat climate change percolating in the back of my head for a while. Rachel Griffin wrote that story.

A couple things about me: for my master’s thesis, I wrote about climate change policy and am an avid, lifelong fantasy reader.

It’s a rare instance where an author writes a book that mirrors what’s going on in my head so when I saw the premise of this book, I was astounded. Magical witches who control the elements and are connected to a season? I had to read this book.

This was such a fun book, with exquisitely written prose. Rachel Griffin writes atmospheric prose that transports you to the setting extremely well. Our main character, Clara, is not like other witches. No really, she’s an Everwitch, a witch who is not connected to one season but all four. Her magical powers are untrained and overwhelming and she wants nothing more than to lose her powers for good than have them accidentally harm more people in her life – despite the fact that she may be the witches’ last hope in combatting climate change.

The seasons and the weather have grown unpredictable due to human’s selfish pursuit of growth at all costs. The witches are no longer capable of protecting all of humanity from the elements.

Clara goes through a lot of internal struggles as she comes to terms with how deadly her powers are and her journey to self-acceptance and self-actualization – with the help of her love interest (and instructor) Sang and her friend (and ex!) Paige. Sang is such a cinnamon roll character – he’s a spring witch who specializes in botany and grows flowers in order to communicate with Clara how he’s feeling. Paige, conversely, serves as a harder character, pressuring and pushing Clara to her limits.

This is an intensely character-driven story – to the detriment of the world building. I was really quite keen to learn more of the intricacies of the world but we didn’t get that in this story. This world is a modern world with magic, leaning it a bit more on the urban fantasy side, with the school they all attend located in Pennsylvania.
Overall, this was a solid read and pretty well executed, despite some moments of repetition. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I knew it was more character driven since I did hope for more out of the world building.

Special thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for sharing this e-arc with me in exchange for my honest opinions!

I want more books set in this world! I wanted to dwell in the different seasons much longer than this book left us there.

The only reason I couldn't give this 5 stars is I really didn't like Clara - I felt like she was overly self-absorbed. But the story and setting were so lovely, they carried the book to a 4 star level for me.

So I think there were good things about this book and just boring things about this book. I'm down with the idea of it, and like the fact that humans and witches coexisted in this world, but there was a lot of heavy handed shaming for people abusing the atmosphere and causing climate change. Which, sure, but that kind of takes the blame away from corporations who are, like, dumping oil in the ocean.
I didn't see the connection between the two characters that started the romance, but I did like how she grew throughout the story. Kind of your typical YA special character.

I was completely unraveled by the stunning cover and thankfully the story was interesting to. The story follows Clara, and Everwitch (which means that she has the magic of all four seasons). The way the magic works in this world was one of my favorite kinds of magic systems I’ve ever read about. Witches have seasonal magic. So, they have magic all year round, but it’s significantly diminished outside of their season. I loved the setting of a school for witches. I loved that the witches are what keeps natural disasters in check. I even loved the conversations about how humans are killing the Earth. I thought the romance (both past and present) was one I could easily care about.
Full review to come on YouTube.

4.5 stars!

The Nature of Witches is one of those rare YA books where the premise is equally original and captivating, and it's executed very well by a skilled writer. This book is about witches at a magic school in the United States, in a world where witches exist alongside humans, but it is effectively the witches' job to control the worst effects of the changing weather. Witches come in four types - Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring - and they are each suited to manipulating particular aspects of the environment based on their type of magic, and the time of year. In their own season, they are strong; outside it, they are not.

But as you can imagine, climate change (being caused by the humans, of course) is wreaking havoc on this system. Heatwaves in winter, enormous floods in summer, tornadoes in autumn. Witches are struggling to keep it under control, because they simply aren't powerful enough to deal with weather events which are arriving in fundamentally the wrong season due to climate change.

Griffin's idea is genius because it is compact and contained to the specific story of the main character, Clara, who is an extremely rare "Everwitch" - meaning she isn't restricted to any particular season, and she has the ability to unite the other witches' powers. Griffin doesn't say that Clara's powers are the solution to climate change, but climate change adds weight to the burden on Clara's shoulders. And Clara's other problems aren't so much "typical YA", but more heavy, even though they do revolve around a romantic plotline. She struggles with anxiety, and her powers merely help to illustrate the internal difficulties she feels.

This book is a standalone, which gave it a very satisfying conclusion and gave it a leg up on many other YA series, which have a tendency to stray past the point and sprawl into something too large. This book, by comparison, was well contained and even discretely sorted by season. It was easy to read, written well, and at times frankly thrilling. It was only a little bit predictable, once I'd clued in to the author's approach. Generally, I found myself enjoying the ride.

I was enchanted by both the premise and the way it intertwined with Clara's personal struggles with anxiety and learning to love. It dealt with classic YA problems, but through a very grown-up lens. It made the reader consider not only the impacts of climate change, but also the tension between the "greater good" and your own immediate worries for the people about whom you care deeply. Is it possible to find a balance between the two?

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an electronic advanced reader's copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately I didn't get to read it before it was published, but the good news is that you can now go pick up a copy immediately after reading this review.

This book was simply breathtaking. I saw that someone described it as "Practical Magic" meets "Twister," and I thought that was incredibly apt. In the world built by Rachel Griffin, witches control the climate and the environment, and this book follows young witch Clara for one momentous year of upheaval in her life, as she is learning her powers. Clara is an exceptional main character for a young adult book; mature, composed, and thoughtful, her strength and resilience was a beautiful theme throughout. I loved the intersection between magic and climate change, and any YA book that centers feminist themes is a winner in my eyes. Five stars from me.

This book was so hyped up on booktok and bookstagram and it definitely lives up to the hype.
I went in blind and it was a nice surprise that the story develops in present time. The book tackles climate change and how much we humans are ruining the world we live in. It makes you reflect on this topic without being too pushy about it.
The magic system is done and explained very well. It goes along with the story without feeling a huge info dump. Again, I guess it helps that is in present time. Also we are learning more things along with Clara. The book has the magic school trope in it, which I enjoyed a lot. The fact that there are four types a witches (well except Clara's case) and that is set in a school, it triggered my Hogwarts brain lol.
The characters are very likable and each of them shine on its own. Sang and Clara together are just (Ches kiss) not just in a romantic aspect but overall in their interactions.
Finally, and this is why I knocked out one star. Even though the book is written beautifully and I enjoyed the setting, I felt like the book was a flat line of a story. I never felt like the main conflict was crucial. It left me with a feeling of "that's it?". I would have liked for the story to be pushed a little farther. Other than that the book definitely lived up to its hype!

Oh, and can we talk about this gorgeous cover? I couldn't stop staring at it.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley (Thanks!!!) I enjoyed it so much that I also had to get a copy for my self.

This book was romantic and beautifully written. Rachel has a way of making you really FELL what you’re reading through her words. The descriptions of the storms and the magic was so compelling. I cannot wait to read more from Rachel Griffin!

This book had an interesting concept. I really wanted to like it. Unfortunately I just couldn't click well with the main character.

This was an interesting take on witches. It's a world where witches and humans live together but not in harmony. The witches pull their power from the earth and are separated by their ability to do seasonal magic, there is only one who can pull magic from all seasons. Clara was a heroine who got stuck behind her woe is me attitude for most of the book. It was hard to get through it as most of her story is depressing. Paige, her ex bff and ex gf, was right when she said she stays being unhappy. What I did like about the story was the elemental magic and how much world building was done for that. There was almost a scientific quality to the magic abilities.

WOW!!
This book is perfect for fans of Practical Magic. I love the magic and world building and everything seemed to flow really nicely. I love the aspect that the witches are connected to a season or the weather. These characters will stay with me for a long time. I found myself relating to paige the most.

This cover is very eye catching. I find myself draw to it when I see it on the shelf. Fabulous fall read.

This was just okay. I think maybe I wasn’t in the mood for fantasy when I read this, or maybe I was expecting a bit more. It reads a bit like YA with some adult themes. I really liked the premise of this book, I just felt like it underdelivered. 3/5 stars

I loved this book, the unique use of elemental magic and the commentary on climate change, it was the perfect witchy book.

I went into this book without knowing anything about it. I knew from the title that it had something to do with witches, but other than that I was going in blind.

As the book began I really enjoyed the way the author created a unique magic system that utilized the different seasons and also dealt with the destruction we have done to our planet through pollution and climate change. It sits in a really unique genre where it is technically fantasy, but I think even a reader who normally only reads contemporary could enjoy this magic system and not feel overwhelmed.

I am not the biggest fan of character driven novels, so I think that I am not the intended audience for this book but I still genuinely enjoyed reading it. I liked that the main character was openly bisexual and appreciated the diversity in the story.

My biggest complaint was that the story felt a bit like a book version of the Disney movie Frozen. From the moment I saw that she was attempting to control her powerful magic through isolation, I felt like I knew exactly where the book would probably go.

For me, this is a three star book, but I think someone who likes character driven novels would enjoy this one even more. I think fans of Payback’s a Witch and Midnight at The Bluebird Cafe would enjoy reading this.

I wanted to like this one but I felt like something was missing. I also did not like the main character. I felt she was whiny and I couldn't stand listening to her anymore. DNF

4.5 stars!


Absolutely loved this one. Such a great read from start to finish.


I think my favorite thing about this book was probably the magic system/the plot. I just loved the idea of witches having their powers connected to each season, and the main character being connected to all four seasons and therefore being a very unique and rare form of witch! It was just such a fun and unique idea, specially considering that witches are so common in ya books! It just worked so well. And having the conflict that moves the plot of this book be climate change was just perfect!

I also loved the main character Clara and all the other characters that were introduced! Sang was just such a cinnamon roll, an overall sweetheart! I also adored Paige, and am super hoping she maybe gets a book in the future (pleaseeee). Also, it was so easy to ship Clara with both Sang and Paige, I just couldn’t chosen I really hope we get more books in this universe and get to know more of the witches that study in the school, because I just loved this concept so much!


I think the only thing I wished was for this book to be a series (like a duology) instead of standalone, because some things felt rushed, like the romance. But overall this was so good! I super recommend!

The book was beautifully written. It read slightly young for me and while I loved the magic of the witches, I felt like the topic of climate change could have been discussed more. This book is really sweet and I would recommend it to anybody. It's a very quick read and the cover is also stunning.