The Nature of Witches – Review

Hi everyone! As you can tell by the title of this blog post, today I’m sharing my review for my ARC of The Nature of Witches! This book releases on June 1st and I’m very excited about it, and you should be too!

The Nature of Witches
by Rachel Griffin
Series: Standalone
Release date: June 1st 2021

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: ★★★★★

Practical Magic meets Twister in this debut contemporary fantasy standalone about heartbreaking power, the terror of our collapsing atmosphere, and the ways we unknowingly change our fate.

For centuries, witches have maintained the climate, their power from the sun peaking in the season of their birth. But now their control is faltering as the atmosphere becomes more erratic. All hope lies with Clara, an Everwitch whose rare magic is tied to every season.

In Autumn, Clara wants nothing to do with her power. It’s wild and volatile, and the price of her magic–losing the ones she loves–is too high, despite the need to control the increasingly dangerous weather.

In Winter, the world is on the precipice of disaster. Fires burn, storms rage, and Clara accepts that she’s the only one who can make a difference.

In Spring, she falls for Sang, the witch training her. As her magic grows, so do her feelings, until she’s terrified Sang will be the next one she loses.

In Summer, Clara must choose between her power and her happiness, her duty and the people she loves…before she loses Sang, her magic, and thrusts the world into chaos.

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So I’m usually not the biggest reader of contemporary fantasy, but the synopsis of this one was so interesting that I had to give it a shot. I absolutely LOVED the addition of climate change and how that impacted the story, and I wish we had even more fantasy books that had climate change as a topic!

I’ve mentioned before that I have a degree in conservation biology, and helping to preserve our planet is a big deal so I definitely enjoyed making the connections between this world and the real one, and I thought it had a lot of powerful messages both relating to how we re handling climate change as well as how we see ourselves as individuals.

Clara coming to terms with her magic resonated with me, especially when it comes to body image. At times it was a little irritating how she was so set on isolating herself and didn’t give the people around her a chance to make their own decisions, but it’s also understandable as she was trying to protect them.

The tag line saying this is Practical Magic meets Twister I think is pretty accurate, but instead of just tornadoes it’s all types for weather events. I loved the detail that went into describing how these storms started and how the witches predicted them.

Now let’s talk a little about the magic system, which I also loved. The idea that witches have magic tied to a single season, and when their season is over their power dwindles was a fun spin on elemental magic. I also really liked that there were Everwitches, who were incredibly rare but had magic for all 4 seasons! It was also really intriguing that personalities were based off the type of magic, and Clara changed from season to season.

Finally, I loved Sang! He was a great contrast to Clara and I loved the two of them together. Her relationship with her friend Paige is also an interesting one, since they were in a previous relationship until their best friend died because of Clara’s magic and so she pushed her away. There’s definitely still some feelings there, and the dynamic between the three of them was great to see.

This is a thought provoking, quick read, and I honestly think that a lot of people are going to love this book and the messages it has. If this sounds at all interesting to you, definitely give it a chance!

Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.