This blog has been a long-time goal of mine. I talked to several bloggers, close friends, and other writers for their thoughts. They ranged from; yes it’s a great platform if you’re an author, which I am. To, it’s a dying social platform, replaced by hipper social media outlets, such as TikTok, Instagram, Snap Chat, and Youtube. Therefore, I digressed and digressed and put it off until I later realized you can sync these social media’s together.
So, with my fingers aching to write, and my excitement churning to start a new project. I still came back to the question.
Where do you begin? My answer. Books.
I’ve loved books ever since my chubby, five-year-old hands opened up Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss and The Forgiving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Which soon lead to my desire to write stories after my twelve-year-old self finished The Princess Bride by William Goldman and I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan. These are but a small hand full of books that inspired me to write and seek out adventures in the world.
So, I decided to begin my blog by writing a review of a book. I binge-read books and tend to read around two to four a month, if not more. I like to read -- mainly middle-grade or young adult -- ghost stories, paranormal, science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, mysteries, and horror. I periodically will read contemporary or romance, but it must be a very compelling, intriguing story, such as Every Thing Every Thing by Nicola Yoon.
Therefore, my blog begins with a book review of The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin a young adult fantasy about -- yes you guessed it -- witches!
The Nature of Witches was released from Sourcebooks Fire on June 1, 2021, with a second standalone novel to follow in 2022. What drew me to this book was the cover. I’m an art major, tinkering illustrator and I’m always drawn first by the cover because, for me, that is the true cover copy. So I must give my props to Nicole Hower with Sourcebooks for an exquisite design. Not only is the jacket well done but the book is beautiful under the sleeve.
So, with a beautiful cover, interesting story about a world of witches that manipulate the weather, this is a great book for my first post.
The theme, which focuses on ecology, climate change, conservation, recycling, and green movements, are spot on and a hot topic. The book explains how “shaders”, the non-witches, are destroying Earth and the environment. The witches can manipulate the weather and prohibit natural disasters, such as forest fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, and even heatwaves. Each witch’s power is the most powerful depending on their season; spring, summer, fall, or winter. They have power in other seasons but are limited until their season, where they are the most powerful. Except for Clara Densmore, who is an Ever Witch and is powerful in all four seasons. The first Ever Witch in over a hundred years. What a great theme and plot! I was hooked.
Until I met Clara. I’m not sure why but I couldn’t really relate or root for her. She came off whiney, flighty, and weak, particularly, for a witch who is supposed to be the most powerful witch in this universe. If I wasn't so entranced with the main plot I would of put the book down. Then came along Sang.
Sang, who is Clara’s love interest, balanced out Clara. I loved the relationship that formed between them. It was a great ploy by the author and made the story more compelling.
The book is in Clara's POV throughout the entire story. I felt as though I was reading Clara's personal diary. It's not like any fantasy book I've read. It focuses more on the romance between Clara and Yang and the internal struggle of Clara accepting and coping with her powerful, uncontrollable magic than on good vs. evil.
Overall, I deem this book 3.5/5 stars. The author did an exquisite job with her descriptions of Clara's magic and how it feels. She also did well portraying the setting of Pennsylvania and the Poconos. If you are looking for a classical fantasy then this isn't the book for you. I would classify it as a romance with fantasy elements. Even though some aspects of the book were drawn out, the read was bittersweet so I look forward to the next book. Mainly because I would like to see Clara’s character grow into something more meaningful as well as see if the plot will rise up, become exciting, and all these loose ends (subplots/backstories) will start to connect.
Thank you for reading my blog about The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin. While you may not agree with my review, please keep in mind, we all have different tastes, preferences. Of course, I encourage you to read the book for yourself to see what you think.
If you did read the book, please comment below on what you like or dislike.