This is a 3.5 star for me.

It was fantastically written however it was too calm for me. Im starting to think all witch books are cozy and I was expecting some sort if spark here. Don’t get me wrong, it was enjoyable but it was also very slow.

Clara is an Ever witch, and that means she has access to all the seasons and their powers. Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. She is expected to harness those powers in those seasons to fight off the weather changes. However she hates her powers and believes she’d be better off without them.

She believes her powers are out to get anyone she loves. It has killed the people most important to her and she, and the school, believes she should be isolated so no one else gets hurt. But they also don’t want to lost her power. Not her necessarily but the powers she possesses and what it means to them.

Under the tutelage of someone she doesn’t know, she begins to come into her powers and slowly starts to appreciate it. She also becomes confident in herself and begins to love her magic. But there is always something there to doubt her.

As I said, it was really well written and enjoyable but I just wanted more “action” in this. That’s my own problem though!

I do recommend this for a calm and easy read!

The opening and closing pages of this book feels like I’m being indoctrinated and full of political agenda related to climate change among other things. It’s really off-putting. I almost regretted requesting the galley but I told myself, “it’s going to get better” and for the most part, it did. I gave this book 4-stars because it is well-written and I really enjoyed the quotes from A Season for Everything, the book aka “manual” for Everwitches that Clara wrote. It is a beautiful reflection of what happens in the chapter. It would also be nice if the author, Rachel Griffin, comes out with A Season for Everything by Clara Densmore as well as Alice Hall’s Memoir as companions to this book.

Written in Clara’s point of view, it is easy to see how Clara’s character develops from hating her magic and essentially who she is, then slowly realizing and accepting that she is the only one who can help all the witches because of her power, then the resolution to gain strength, trust, control and mastery of her powers and finally, ending with a full appreciation, confidence and enjoyment of her rare magic.

Though a bit shocking, I completely understand why Mr. Burrows did what he did for Clara’s tests. At some point, Mr. Hart’s soft and overly cautious training methodology will need to mimic Mr. Burrows’ in order to see some progress in Clara’s magic, granted Clara seems to be Mr. Hart’s first encounter with an Ever compared to Mr. Burrows, who has access to training records of Alice Hall’s, the last Everwitch to grace the earth. The only way to test a person’s true strength and character is by the intensity of the trials they face in life. Without any real challenge, life as well as our faith will grow stagnant and then die. Mr. Hart says it quite nicely and to the point: “change is what makes you powerful.” Often times, we find ourselves afraid to change, afraid of the changes and the world tells us to be afraid and to remain as we are but the truth is, we are all born with a fearless, courageous spirit, capable of accepting and adapting to change and that is the power that we need to claim for ourselves, and to embrace in ourselves.

Clara would’ve “given anything to feel whole and normal and right, just for a single day” after reading the first page of Alice Hall’s memoir and just like Clara, when we see, hear or read about someone’s seemingly exciting, glamorous life, we have a tendency to look at our own lives and shine the spotlight on the boring parts of our lives, and we focus on our own discontent. We fail to see the unique beauty of our own lives: the family that we have, the jobs/careers that we have that enables us to have a roof over our heads, clothes to wear, the food we eat, the cars and gadgets that makes our lives a little bit more comfortable when so much of the world live in poverty, hunger, illness, and no family to speak of, no one to share their life with. Sang aptly says, “Your magic [life] comes with its own kind of pain, and you can acknowledge it, hate it, wish it didn’t have to be that way, and still love your life. Still be happy” by focusing on what you do have and being truly grateful for it and developing that sense of wonder for the beauty that is your life, for the beauty that surrounds you, for your very own beauty.

I really liked this thought from Clara about Sang: “He doesn’t define me, but the way he sees me has given me the confidence and the strength to define myself.” Funny how most of us walk through life believing how broken, ugly, unworthy, unlovable we are but then some of us are lucky enough to meet someone who truly sees us and makes us feel whole, beautiful/handsome, worthy and lovable and yet, we feel it is not enough and we continue to define ourselves by believing the lies that the world tells us: we are broken, ugly, unworthy, and unloved. But the fact is, we are whole, beautiful/handsome, worthy and beloved right at the moment of our conception because we are all made in the image and likeness of God, the one who calls us His beloved, filled with His beauty, strength and dignity, who made us worthy by dying on the cross. We should cling to that truth and have the confidence and strength to define ourselves by it and live our lives in joy and peace.

Absolutely BRILLIANT. This story of coming into one's own, climate change and witchery had me completely captivated from the very first page.

I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed every aspect of this story and will likely catch myself reading this novel multiple times.

Clara Densmore is the first witch of her caliber in nearly 200 years. Her powers are a force to be reckoned with but Clara only sees the harm it causes the one she loves. Follow Clara and her story of love, loss, power, self-assurance and coming of age.

As the only Everwitch in her generation, Clara may be the most powerful witch alive. When readers first meet her, she feels very much a passenger in her own life. She did not choose to be born an Everwitch, and seems to wish that it were otherwise. Grief over her parents and close friends is overwhelming and she resents her power even more, for causing it. As an Everwitch, her personality shifts slightly every three months with the changing season, which only reinforces this passenger-in-her-own-life outlook.

'The Nature of Witches' is a beautifully descriptive tale of seasonal magic, weather challenges, and Clara coming into her own.

This standalone contemporary fantasy sets climate change into a new light for young adults. Climate change is an extremely important issue throughout the world; weather events are getting stronger and more frequent around the globe. In The Nature of Witches, shaders (non-magical peoples) have, despite numerous warnings by the witches, refused to change their behaviours involving the use of the Earth and the harm they are doing to it. As a result, the witches, who are maintaining the climate, are losing control of the weather as normally out-of-season weather ins present and the witches of that season's magic is not capable of dissipating the weather.

In this world, Witches are born on the equinox or solstice and control the magic of that season. Each season's magic ebbs and flows around the seasons and each season of magic is different from the others. Summer full of passion and strength, Autumn which is full of easy transitions and power, Winter is cold and pointed and spring which is calm and tranquility. Normal witches harness the power of one season; they can experience the full, no-holds-barred brunt of their power for three months out of the year. In the other nine months, they are almost a shadow of their on-season selves. This is where Clara comes in. She is an Everwitch, meaning that her magic is strong and changes to match the current season. She is the first Everwitch in over a century and her magic is uncontrolled and harmfully seeks out those she loves when unleashed. Clara is the last hope for the Earth in the Witches' fight to maintain the earth's balance, but she must first learn to control her magic and decide if she what she can live without: her magic, or those she loves.

Clara is in a bad way when we are first introduced to her. She is isolated and emotionally closed off. She hates her magic and has plans to rid herself of it. After a weather event that changes her relationships with her teachers, she decides that what she is doing is not helping herself and she must make a choice. Sang is an advanced studies botanist who is also tasked with helping Clara harness her potential as he has no connection to her emotionally and therefore is safe from her magic. But the time they spend together may put him at risk as they develop their friendship.

This book is written in Clara's POV. It's 360 pages so the events are fast paced, but at the same time there is room in between to take a breath, so it is not jammed packed with action. The characters are well developed. This tale of overcoming self-doubt, self-loathing and growth is beautiful. The debut novel bu Rachel Griffin was an inventive, engaging read that should appeal to a large number of readers!

The Nature of Witches was an enjoyable book with a different look at how Witches interact with non-witches and their reason for being. The story is about one with in particular with special abilities that haven't been seen in a long time and how she and the other witches learn to cope with her special abilities.

Debut author Rachel Griffin’s writing was absolutely enthralling. I could almost taste the nature bouncing off the pages. Clara was a character that really clicked with me. She was sweet, full of fire, compassionate, empathetic, everything I want in a main character and more. Clara even made me cry in several beautifully written moments. This has to be one of the most unique magic system I’ve ever read; climate change and witches, although fantasy, held issues so similar to our real world context. As if it couldn’t get any better, there was a heart warming love interest to fill that romance gap. The Nature of Witches is not a must have, but a NEED on your TBR list. I’ll be purchasing a physical book for my library collection for sure so I can save all the quotes that spoke out to me.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. (via Netgalley)

I was intrigued by the premise of this story and ended up really enjoying it. The author does a great job of world building, make it easy for me to create a mental picture of what was happening in the books.

While I think this novel has a creative base, I cannot bring myself to love the story. Clara is a confused teenager with a personality that changes often. Its as if the author envisions her to be so many different things that she cannot be cemented. And while I had hopes for this story to be magical and original, it was neither of those things. I found a girl who is insecure and wishes for love above all other things, constantly chasing different people in desperation. I would argue this story was 95% romance. Although I fought away a headache trying to finish this book, it wasn't all that painful- more boring then anything. This story did not meet my expectations.

This was a book that I Really enjoyed this read and I would recommend to others easily, I will be looking out for other titles by this author.

For a debut novel, this one is pretty good. There were a few hiccups in the writing in my opinion though. The author was really repetitive throughout and it felt like it took away from the story. Once we got into the story without all the explanations and repetitions, it was pretty good. I liked how Clara grew as a character and how her and Sang worked together. I really enjoyed their story.

Clara is an Everwitch, the first one in centuries. Unlike other witches whose magic is tied to a single season, Clara experiences and has control over them all. Witches have been maintaining the climate for centuries. For too long, the shaders (non-magical humans) have been taking advantage of the planet, trying to dominate and develop it, thinking that no matter how much they exploit the earth, the witches could control the effects. But the planet is reaching the point of no return and witches are dying, depleting themselves trying to control the volatile atmosphere.

Clara is considered one of their only hopes, the strength of her magic seeming to be the needed solution. But she fears her power and its tendency to hurt the ones she loves; to the point that she might try to rid herself of her magic forever.

I thought it was really inventive to present witches and their magic in the context of our modern day climate change crisis. Overall an engaging, immersive read that would appeal to a broad audience!

Thanks to the publishers, author, & NetGalley for the e-ARC of The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin.

This is a very original contemporary YA fantasy/magical realism book with a strong statement on our environmental impact and the resulting climate change. The writing is lyrical. I really enjoyed the rich descriptions of the weather and the plant life.

It’s a very character-driven story. I really wanted to love the story and its characters, but main character Clara struck me as self-centered, emotionally abusive, and very “woe is me”. She wasn’t a strong heroine, and I flat out didn’t like her. I cheered out loud when someone finally called her out on it. I appreciated the diversity of the characters, and I would have liked to read more about Paige and about Sang in particular. Along with Mr. Hart, they’re the most likable characters.

I would have liked more world building — especially details about the school, how Clara ended up there, the relationship with Shaders, how Sang’s spring magic was so effective in the off-seasons... The pacing was a little slow for me in the beginning but gradually improved; perhaps that is because the book description gives too much away. I read 60% of the book before it got beyond the description & into new territory. Parts were also repetitive, particularly Clara’s emotional state and her uncertainties.

Overall the story has good messages to share, and I’m glad I read it.

Y'all, I finished this in a day. I couldn't put it down! I loved the different perspective of magic in this book. We usually see it with wands or incantations, but I feel like this was a fresh approach and it was refreshing. You go through all the emotions in this book alongside the main character and seeing how she progresses and her development is amazing. Add thia book to your TBR list right now, you won't regret it!

"We let things get too far out of control. We should have demanded action from the shaders years ago, when we first realized there was a problem." For centuries, witches have been cleaning up the mess of humans. "The Nature of Witches" emphasizes how humans have created such a climate crisis, but they keep forging on as if nothing is wrong, hoping the witches will save them. The parallels this books makes to the real world is very interesting - Unfortunately, we don't have an Everwitch to pull us out of the irrevocable shitstorm we have created on our planet.

Clara, the main character, has a journey throughout the book trying to come into her full powers. She struggles with past lost, present relationships, and future decisions. She wasn't a character I truly connected with, but I was still invest in her journey.

What I liked most about this book was the description of the witches, and their connections to the seasons. The concept of having a witch be in a dormant-like state in their off season was new to me and set apart this book from other books I have read in this genre.

Overall, I am very impressed with this debut novel by Rachel Griffin, and I look forward to reading more books of hers in the future.

I really enjoyed this spin on a tale of witches. I loved the modern aspects of the book, depicting witches who live in modern times in a realistic America. With global warming, the witches must help control the weather, which is becoming unpredictable. This was a great way to discuss the changes happening in the earth due to what we, the “shaders,” have done for so long to the atmosphere. I enjoyed the characters and the writing was beautiful.

2.5/5 rounded up to 3 because I love the cover.
Thanks to the publishers, author, and Netgalley for approving me for an e-arc of The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin.

The premise is amazing!! Seasonal witches who are stronger during their season and weaker the other months out of the year, but our main character Clara is an Everwitch meaning she harnesses all seasons within her magic. These witches are struggling to deal with climate change that humans (known as shaders in the book) have continuously ignored the warnings of. Although the witches have tried to reason with the shaders previously, they were unsuccessful and now are struggling to keep global warming at bay with the use of their magic.

This sounded like a book right up my alley because I love books about witches and I also do my best to make others aware of what they can do to help Mother Nature. Sadly, the premise and idea behind the book is amazing, but I couldn’t stay interested throughout the entire book. I trailed off about halfway and couldn’t get back into it. A lot of readers seem to enjoy this though so I would say if you’re considering reading it, give it a shot!

What a refreshingly new take on witches! I enjoyed the connections between the seasons and how these witches are being trained to help balance climate change. I would’ve liked more on the magic, training, school, overcoming a bad guy, etc… This turned more into a romance story and overcoming one’s own fears of getting close to someone. The magic took a back seat. The second half took a more middle school vibe than one for high school teens. Overall a strong start that faded for me.

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin

9781728229423

384 Pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: June 1, 2021

Fiction, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Teens & Young Adult, Magic, Witches

In this world, Witches are born on the equinox or solstice and control the magic of the season. Clara is the first Ever Witch is almost a century. This means she changes with the season and can control magic of each season. She is powerful and not in control of her magic. Anyone she has a connection with is at risk.

Sang comes to the school as a graduate student in botany. One of his tasks is to work with Clara and help her gain control. Unfortunately, she starts to get close to him and her magic knows it. She pushes him away to keep him safe. Now she is debating staying for the eclipse so she can be stripped of her powers so she cannot hurt anyone again.

The book is written in first person point of view and is fast paced. It is divided into seasons so we can see how magic changes with the seasons. The characters are well developed. I really enjoyed this book and the author’s writing style. I look forward to reading more by her in the future. If you like books about magic schools by Chandelle LaVaun, Michelle Maddox, or Megan Montero you will definitely like this one.

I loved this book. I read it in one sitting. This is the story of an Everwitch a witch whose magic works in all seasons rather than just one. She doesn't want to use her magic and is scared to hurt others with it. I found this book hard to put down and would recommend it to anyone interested in magic.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.