The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin Fantasy Book Review

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin is a beautiful standalone ya fantasy book. It features nature magic, seasonal magic, and complex character relationships.

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The Nature of Witches is one of those books that took me by surprise. I picked it up on a whim. Mainly because of the beautiful naked hardback. I did not expect to like this ya fantasy standalone book as much as I did.  It left me thinking that we just don’t get enough fantasy standalone books, and really, we need more of them!

Nature of Witches Review

This book is the story of a girl at a school for witches. In this world, Witches have seasonal magic. A witch is most powerful during their particular season, and when the seasons change, their powers dwindle. 

Our main character is what is known as an ever witch. This means that she has the power of all four seasons. When the seasons change, so does her magic, and her emotions. 

Her magic is volatile though, and she doesn’t know how to properly harness and control it. With her being the first ever witch in hundreds of years, no one really knows how to help her either. 

She both fears and hates her powers, and wants to get rid of them in the upcoming solar eclipse. But the other witches want her to embrace her powers so she can help bring balance to the world that is failing due to climate change.

The Nature of Witches also leans pretty heavily into the fantasy romance genre as well. Our main character is a bisexual female and we have some really great romance that isn’t too overpowering to the plot overall. 

Spoiler Free Pros and Cons

Alright, if you are interested in reading Nature of Witches, here are some spoiler-free pros and cons that you can weigh. Personally, I loved it and think the pros heavily outweighed the cons. The enjoyment level of this book was really high and while it wasn’t perfect, it was really well done. 

Pros

This book is filled with amazing things. For one, we have a fantasy standalone. It feels like so many fantasy books, especially YA fantasy, learn towards being series. I love series, but it is nice to have a one-and-done stand-alone. 

This book also has amazingly beautiful writing. It isn’t too purple, but it is very immersive. You really feel the seasons and how they change when you are reading. I loved seeing the different seasons and the magic associated with each season. 

We also have a really nice romance. While it is a little instalove, it is still a romance that I love. The male love interest is super sweet, supportive, and respectful. Which I love to see. 

Our main female is also bi-sexual, which as someone who is as well, I really like seeing that in this book. I also really relate as someone who also ended up with a man, but could have easily seen myself ending up with a female as well.

Another pro in this book is the magic. I love anything elemental, and this seasonal magic system is very unique and interesting. We see how emotions and magic changes with the season. 

This book also has a heavy message about climate change. It really shows how we as humans need to care about our planet and do what we can with what we are given.

Cons

While I loved Nature of Witches and there were quite a few pros, we still need to talk about all of the cons in this book. There are a few, but they were nothing major and nothing that really ruined my personal enjoyment of this book. 

To start with, while the magic is really cool, there isn’t much explanation about it. We don’t get a really defined magic system. This isn’t a terrible setback, but it was something that  I kind of wanted more of. 

Also, though I enjoyed the romance, it was a bit installed. We know from the start that these two will be together and they seem to fall for each other pretty quickly, especially him for her. So while it does invert the instalove (with the male instantly loving the female), it is still a trope that isn’t my favorite. 

There is also one character that serves as an antagonist but he gets no repercussions for his actions. It bothered me more than it should probably. He does some messed-up things but never has to answer for his actions and seems to just get away with it. 

Finally, there is the end. This book has quite an open ending. It isn’t terrible, I actually enjoyed it myself, but it does leave a lot of questions. This ending is very much a “life goes on” type ending and we still have some questions, but it is still just satisfying enough.

Final Thoughts

So now that you have seen all of the Pros and Cons of this fantasy standalone, it is up to you if you want to read it yourself. 

I would vote for yes, pick this one up. It is a fun and quick read with nice writing and a fun magic system. Even though it isn’t perfect, it is highly enjoyable! 

I would like to see what you thought of Nature of Witches if you have read it, so let me know in the comments!