I read "The Nature of Witches" in the span of one day. Yes, I was hooked—but more than that, this book felt really special. Knowing the backstory of how the author spent about 10 years writing books and trying to get published, only to have this beautiful book be her debut this year (AND make the NY Times Bestseller List!), well, it's amazing. I was really in awe of this book, how sentences were worded, the beautiful magic system, chapter 35, the creativity, all of the botanical references. It's a beautiful, beautiful story and I'm so glad the world gets to read it.

story just to drI thought this might make an interesting winter read, but it just never drew me in. I am going to try reading it again in the fall, when the natural season's pace starts to slow down again. Maybe it will read better as the year is winding down and a slower paced book will be better read. I have, so far found the story too dragging. Sorry. It seems well written and I am sure many readers will love it. I might too, in October..

This book is absolutely fantastic! I was hooked from the first page and could not put it down. I don't even know how to put into words how much my soul needed to read this. It was exactly what I didn't know I needed.

Thank you Netgalley for this eARC !
3.5
I enjoyed reading this book and the story, but I can't lie and say I wasn't bored or annoyed sometimes.
We follow the personal development of Clara and her improvement as being an Ever and therefore a witch. The development of Clara is really detailed and if you like this, this book is for you.
But definitely not for me, the pace was too slow and uneventful. It is just a book describing a year of the main character and how she improves herself as being a witch (and not in the exciting way). I get annoyed by her and was often thinking that she needed to get a grip and just do something about her issues and not just self reflecting about it and complaining. I felt we needed to empathise with her when actually she annoyed me by being so apathetic.
The romance in the book is cute and actually was more looking forward to hear about him than her. His life seem so much more interesting !
Read it to make an opinion for yourself. It is a meh for me.

The Nature of Witches follows the pattern of bringing Witches into the real world while standing out to focus on climate change and pollution.

Compelling Story
I loved the realism that went into developing the plot of the story. In The Nature of Witches, Griffin gives her Witches a well-rounded foundation to coexist with non-magical folk. Non-magical people can give birth to witches and vice versa. A delicate balance allows the story to move forward out of cliches and predictability while also giving the reader enough backstory to Clara, her power, and how Witches exist in the world.

There are also five types of witches: Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, and Ever witches. All witches are born within one season. Their power grows in the season, giving them specific control over the elements and particular storms and waning outside of their season on the equinox.

They are fighting to put nature back into balance, learning to fight forest fires, heatwaves, sudden tornadoes, and flooding brought on by pollution and climate change. It is a compelling message to the reader that our actions influence the planet because people are losing their lives in these situations, much like the witches try to ease the damage.

The message here is that things need to change; how we humans treat the planet needs to change for things to get better.

Great Characterization
What also makes The Nature of Witches so good is the character growth that goes into developing Clara. Clara, as an Ever Witch, is the most powerful Witch in existence. Instead of diminishing each equinox, they change with the seasons, giving her power over all the seasons, changing her personality, desires, and wants.

However, the power is also too much for her. If she loses control over her power, it latches onto someone she loves and cares about, killing them instantly. So it killed her parents and her best friend, leaving her with this hate she has for herself.

Clara strongly believes that she is a danger to others and can be no help since she has no control over her abilities. However, throughout the novel, following the death of another person she loved, after reading the journal of the previous Ever Witch and training with Sang, Clara learns to accept her power.

It is such a compelling journey to watch unfold as she comes to accept her power and love herself. She spends so much of the novel hating herself and feeling guilty, wrapping herself in loneliness instead of being a part of the group. Finally, Clara learns to open herself up to love, to loving herself, and letting others love her as well.

Clara’s journey is relatable because she spends so much time denying this significant part of herself, hurting herself more than others. No one should deny a part of who they are; that is what Griffin is teaching readers. Every bit of who we are deserves to be loved and accepted.

Final Thoughts
The Nature of Witches delivers readers a compelling read, focusing on character development and climate change.

The Nature of Witches

“𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜; 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨.”—Rachel Griffin

Clara is an Everwitch whose magic is tied to all seasons. But this magic comes at a price. She’s killed people she loves. And an unreasonable amount of pressure rests on her shoulders. She’s the only witch capable of stoping the catastrophic weather events decimating the globe, but to do so, she’ll have to confront the darkness of her magic and learn to control it. But the weather isn’t the only challenge she’ll face. When she begins falling in love with a spring witch, she’ll be forced to chose between him and her magic, unless she discovers a way to have both.

This is first and foremost a story about the pain of loss, guilt, and finding your place in the world. It’s emotional and raw. There were so many beautiful moments. The pages are filled with excellent quotes about the seasons and weather. I felt like I highlighted half the book.

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

Clara’s struggles were splattered across the page in a dynamic arc that took her from fearful and hesitant to powerful and sure. She starts the book wanting to get rid of her power, intent on stripping her magic away so that she’ll never hurt anyone again. But as she learns to control it, she discovers how beautiful it is. The decision to strip herself isn’t as easy as it once was. Through it all, the steady presence of Sang, the spring witch hired to train her, becomes an anchoring point. I loved the relationship that developed between them, built on trust and understanding. Sang never allowed Clara to apologize for what she was. He never blamed her for any of the deaths she’d caused.

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

The world building was interesting. This is set in a contemporary magic school setting in Pensilvania where witches in our world are a normal thing. Their purpose is to control the weather and keep the earth safe from catastrophic events. Unfortunately the “shaders,” those of non-magic, are destroying the atmosphere. Freak weather events are becoming so common, the witches can’t handle it. They’re dying from burnout. But Clara is supposed to change that. She’s the first Everwitch in almost a century. The only problem is, there’s no other Everwitches to help her master her magic. She’s got to do that all on her own. So we get to see her develop control and learn how her magic works.

I wasn’t sure how I’d like this going in, but I fell in love with the story. It was fulfilling to watch Clara start at a low point and claw her way out. This is mostly a character driven story, so the plot is pretty chill. There wasn’t tons of action other than a few major weather events. But it was still so good! I truly believe a character transformation can be just as enjoyable as an edge-of-your-seat action plot. 𝐌𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝟒.𝟓/𝟓⭐️

This was such a wild ride! Clara is such a relatable character and you really get to walk in her shoes as she learns to control her magic. The author's words really painted each scene beauitfully. I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to get into the Fall mood.

Honestly, I just didn't care for this book. I'm bummed about that, because I felt like everyone got the hype once it was published.

I loved this one!! The author had such beautiful world building and an engaging story. I loved the character development. I can’t wait to read more from her!

Sooo I loved this book so much that I NEEDED my own copy... so because of this and my lack of impulse control that is exactly what I did. I think Rachel Griffin is an amazing author. I think that she created a brilliant world that gave me a little bit of the practical magic vibes I know and love, but with it's own twist. Not going to lie sometimes I wanted to shake Clara because she frustrated me, but I also think that made her character development that much better. Also the botanist was probably my favorite character.. I adored him. I just think that this book was honestly perfection. I am a sucker for witches so I am pretty picky, but this book just was perfect in my eyes. I also thought the cover was beautiful and I cannot wait for more from Rachel Griffin. I am obsessed.

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC that I only just recently managed to get to, but I’m glad I did.

I really, really enjoyed this book. The concept of witches who are influenced by nature was so interesting to me right off the bat. I just thought the whole concept was great.

The main character Clara was well written and very relatable. Her backstory was interesting and her progression throughout the story was satisfying and heart warming. I think my favorite character in this story was Sang. The chemistry between Sang and Clara was very fun and really propelled the story and brought it to another level for me. Once things started to kick off with them I was totally and fully hooked.


I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more work from the author.

This was an interesting book for me. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did I was entirely sold.
The Nature of Witches takes a very old concept, witches with nature magic, and turns it into something fresh and new. In this world, Witches are not just strengthened by the nature around them, but they control it, for the benefit of the whole planet. But capitalism has gone too far, and now the nature of the world is fighting back, with storms and weather that the witches can no longer control.
Clara, an everwitch who is not bound to a single season, ends up in the middle of this battle, with the hope of the world resting on her shoulders. But Clara is fighting her own battle, a fight with grief, with love, and with the knowledge that with the upcoming eclipse, she could give up her power and finally breathe.
This was a beautiful novel, mixing messages of climate change with love, and what we would do to save the ones we care about. But it's also about self-love, and about taking care of yourself.
I adored this book, and I can't wait to pick up Griffin's next book!

I loved this. The transition that Clara goes through to learn about and love herself is beautiful. I can’t even imagine how hard her live was after losing everything she cared about. I was touch by her story and hooked from the beginning.

Sorry for the delayed review, I had it all ready but then lost the note book I had it all written it down on. So here we go!

The Nature of Witches is a chaos of a mess, just like the weather. The story didn’t go the way you expect it to and when you think things are finally chilled out, you’re hit with a new surprise. You are swept into a storm of emotions. I cried, I laughed, I was angry, I was depressed, I mourned! I went through so many emotions in one siting along side the event and the characters. And you don’t have much time to sit with the feelings either because your flung into something else so quick you get whip lash. I was battered after this book, I was hurt and I needed time pull myself together after everything that happened in this book.

I really enjoyed the pace and the characters, I enjoyed the feeling of being wrapped up in all these seasons, specially Autumn! Im really for summer to be over! This book was great! Highly recommend!

I loved the change up of the typical elemental magic in this book. This was a great debut that kept you wanting to read.

This was an excellent YA Fantasy novel, with a unique premise! I would definitely recommend trying it!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

This book lived up to everything I thought it would be, with the protagonist Clara having the unique ability to use her powers in every season, as an Everywitch, this book takes you on a journey with Clara as she also changes with the seasons. The themes about acceptance, climate change, and relationships are woven so seamlessly throughout this book with a gripping conflict that has you questioning whether Clara will give up her powers to be with Sang or leave him to save all of the witches.

As practical magic is an all-time favorite movie, the influence of the movie was obvious but in a fun way, making it more enjoyable to fans of the 1998 film and never distracting.

This was beautiful, atmospheric, moving, and powerful! Clara's story is one of acceptance, love, and forgiveness for herself which moved my heart. Her relationships were hard, but worth the love and and risk.

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin was definitely a stunning read. I will be looking out for more by this author.

This was such a breathe of fresh air!
I am always in love with witch involved, nature driven magic and let me tell you Rachel didn't disappoint. I loved these characters so so much like the fact I don't get to have my own sang is just unfair. truly unfair. I hope that one day Rachel returns to this world even though this journey was so wrapped up perfectly.