The Nature of Witches

Written by Rachel Griffin

Narrated by Laura Knight Keating

Clara Densmore is an Everwitch.

For centuries, witches have maintained the climate, their power peaking in the season of their birth. But their control is faltering as the atmosphere becomes more erratic. All hope lies with Clara, 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 finally 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 for him, 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 everything.

From a stunning new voice comes a story about a powerful witch who must decide if using her volatile magic to help the world is worth the price of losing the person she loves the most.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705046715

Rachel Griffin

Rachel Griffin is the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches and Wild is the Witch. When she isn’t writing, you can find her wandering the Pacific Northwest, reading by the fire, or drinking copious amounts of coffee and tea. She lives in the Seattle area with her husband, dog, and growing collection of houseplants. Visit her online at rachelgriffinbooks.com or say hi on Instagram @TimesNewRachel.

Reviews for The Nature of Witches

[Billie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Nature of Witches
by Rachel Griffin

I listened to the audiobook through Scribd and it’s a YA about a girl who was born with a rare magic, one that gives her the power to control all seasons instead of the single season magic all other witches are born with.

This story takes place in a world like ours but witches are real and work with the humans, Shades as called in the book, to keep the atmosphere under control, but because of the Shades, and their desire to live all over the world, there's 'global warming' and the weather is out of the control and the witches are no longer able to control it, and in attempting they die because when a tornado happens in winter, those with 'winter' magic don't have the power to stop it because it's not their magic, and the spring witches, whose magic tornadoes fall under can't do anything either because winter isn't their season.

Good thing Clara was born at this time. Now she just has to learn to control her magic.

But her powers come at a cost, and that is what this story is about. Not the weather, its destruction, or really any action. It's a story about her fears for the most part, what her magic has, and is costing her. Oh, and it's a love story.

I was disappointed. I was hoping for more substance, more action, instead of a coming of age/love story. It's first-person so there's a lot of me, me, me, etc.

Very slow. What little action there is, is very blah.

It wasn’t that bad, the writing pretty good, but the blurb was deceiving, so I'm giving it a weak 3 stars.  


*Sidenote~ The audio is not suitable to listen to with earbuds. You can hear pages turning, and when the narrator inhales but worse, the spit in her mouth as she talks. It was very.... bothersome.

[Amy Fortin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This kept my attention. I will be buying a coffee for my niece for her birthday in November. I didn’t realize it was young adult until I was already 3/4 of the way in.

[Stephanie Toerien · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Amazing idea for a story! But I feel like the story itself was a bit of a let down. Still a okay read, just like it missed the opportunity to be great.

[Erica Brown · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Nature of Witches is officially one of my new favorite books! It was so beautifully written and the emotions came across so clearly that I felt for Clara throughout the book. As an Ever, the author truly makes the reader feel for Clara and the fear she embodies when it comes to her magic and the connection when she begins to work with Sang. The author so wonderfully establishes the confidence Clara begins to feel and the clarity once she realizes that her magic isn’t something to fear, but to respect and admire.

[Kayla Maddox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Such a simple book about self discovery and love. I loved the quotes in it and some really resonated with me.

[Latasha Renay · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A light hearted, low stakes, witchy, coming of age story, perfect for the fall. It was the perfect book to break up some of the darker ones you tend to lean towards at this time of year. Clara's story of magic felt almost symbolic at times for mental health.

[kimberly · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very well written, an engaging plot, a solid romance, and a creative magic system. What's not to love?

[whatdoreads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed listening to this book! Nice plot, but I expected a bit more action or something haha

[Candace Dewsbury · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book had so many opportunities to be great. The idea of climate change at the center was excellent however the main character lacked so much depth and growth.

[iris muller · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this book so much!!! It was amazing , I honestly will read listen to another book by this author!!

[Lexie Kerby · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book had a lot of cool elements and ties together nicely.

[Shalane Du Preez · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Such a stunning book. Innocent, young and light. I enjoyed following Clara and her seemingly young yet complex issues. I actually enjoyed their magic system as well, for me... It was quite unique - using the seasons and referencing the raging fires across the world. Trully a cute read

[oldandnewbooksmell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Witches have maintained the climate for centuries using their connection to the sun, their power at its highest in the season of their birth. But now the climate is changing and becoming more erratic, storms are happening in their off season and witches are being depleted trying to help. The pressure lays on Clara, who is an Ever witch, a witch that is connected to all four seasons. But Clara doesn’t know if she can live with her magic any longer and wonders if standing in totality of the solar eclipse (an act that will get a witch stripped of their powers) is what will make her happy.Firstly, I really loved the description of the season and how well and amazing Rachel Griffin did at describing them - I always felt like I was with Clara when she would talk about them. I also loved the way the seasons’ connected with witches and how their magic moved and worked…“...I’m greeted with the transitional magic of autumn.Then the aggressive magic of winter.The patient magic of spring.And the intense magic of summer.”Secondly, and I don’t know if I would be describing this correctly, but this book just felt so soft while I was reading it. Crazy things were happening in the world but the connection the witches had to Earth and the Sun were just so soft… I just really adored it. I adored the characters, the atmosphere, and the writing style. Griffin proves you don’t have to have crazy big plot twists to make a book compelling and captivating. The only thing I didn’t fully understand was Clara’s change of mood… how she could like someone but come Autumn, she wouldn’t? But the other season would generally intensify the liking/loving part?? I think I may have just missed something, so it wasn’t anything that set me back on enjoying the book!Overall, this book was nice to curl up with under a thick blanket at the end of the day. It had beautiful witchfilled world building, likable characters (except one teacher), and a compelling plot. Anyone who likes teenage witches learning to be the best they can, would really enjoy this book!

[montzaleew · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Nature of Witchesby Rachel GriffinSOURCEBOOKS FireI first want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this incredible story! Wow, I can picture this on the big screen! It would be amazing!This is a world where witches help control the weather and other disasters that the regular people (Shadows) have messed up. (Pollution, global warming, deforestation, etc.)The witches are each born on an equinox and that is their season they are strongest in. It's been over a hundred years since there has been an Ever, one that has the super power of all four seasons.Clara is that Ever. But she also has to find a way to control it. She killed her parents when she was just five and her friend at school while practicing. Witches are dying at an incredible rate trying to do this massive job without an Ever. But she is scared she might kill someone if she lets her power go again.There are a lot of small but important side things going on and at times. But I want Clara to zap the heck out of one of the teachers! He is so mean!There is a romantic element too. Sang is a botany student who came to do advanced studies with the mean teacher. But he has to teach Clara instead. They develop a bond but it's complicated and sad and wonderful at the same time.It's a teen/young adult book but without a lot of the typical angst. Lots of great fantasy, magic, friendship development, learning to trust yourself and others, and that touch of sweet romance. I really enjoyed it and I don't normally like young adult or teen books. The only teen angst in here is a witch that doesn't want to kill anyone else. I'd say that's an okay angst to have!Love the characters, (except one teacher, lol), wonderful world building, realistic dialogue, and terrific ending! I want to see it on the big screen!!!

[krau0098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Series Info/Source: I got a copy of this book from NetGalley to review. This is a stand alone book.Story (4/5): I really enjoyed a lot about this story. It explores a lot of topics; climate change, coming of age, and has a love story too. The story is pretty linear and fairly simple. There isn't a lot of action but the magic system is intriguing and Clara spends a lot of time in thought and introspection. This story does have some problems as well. The idea of there being only one Ever witch that can address the whole world's climate problems is a bit ridiculous, this is kind of briefly addressed towards the end of the book with a single sentence but was dealt with clumsily. Also the way things wrapped up with the eclipse seemed completely contrived and out of the blue and didn't really jive with the rest of the magic system.Characters (4/5): Clara was a bit whiny and vanilla for me. She spends a lot of time complaining about what she can’t do rather than what she could do. I do sympathize with her past and the fact that her power has hurt people she loved, which scares her. I enjoyed Sang a lot more, he was just such an amazing character. The other side characters are okay but feel a bit underdeveloped.Setting (4/5): This is set in the near future where extreme weather has become even worse because of damage to the environment (which was weird because I just finished “Migrations” too which was set in a similar setting). The setting is on the East Coast in a rural area. I loved the idea of seasonal witches and the way the magic system works to help them modulate weather. This was creative and well done.Writing Style (4/5): The story structure is fairly simple and is told completely from Clara’s viewpoint. I loved the epitaphs at the beginning of each chapter and how symbolic they ended up being, that was very clever. The writing was well done, flowed smoothly and the description throughout was beautiful. This is a bit more of an introspective book and we spend a lot of time in Clara’s head following her thoughts. It was well done and the book has kind of a quiet peaceful tone to it despite all the intense weather scenes.My Summary (4/5): Overall I really enjoyed this. Aside from some small issues around how the story was tied up, this was really well done and really beautifully written. I would recommend reading if you think the combination of weather magic and climate change sound intriguing. This is an excellent debut novel and I will definitely be checking out future books by this author.

[lea.pearl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well, I think I have a new insta-buy author!I absolutely love stories about witches so when I saw the description of The Nature of Witches, I had a pretty good feeling I would love it...and it did not disappoint! The story is so unique and intriguing!Clara is in training to master her magic as an Everwitch, which means she naturally changes with the seasons. Not only her magic changes, but the way she feels and how she perceives the world changes as well.I was able to connect to Clara and really felt her pain and her happiness...and, for me, that's a sign of great writing. The story is set up around each season and comes full circle so the pacing is quick, making for an easier read. Now, don't mistake "easier" for "lighter" as this book will rip your heart open if you let it.This story is one of love and longing all while Clara finds herself through her magic. It really is a wonderful tale all-around and I highly recommend diving into it!And, I would really love to be able to control my own mini thunderstorm in my palm...justsayin' :)Huge thank you to Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley for the e-arc to read and review honestly.

[verkruissen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.