Reviews with content warning for Death - The Nature of Witches

My favourite witchy read this year! The magic system was very unique and I loved it a lot! You have Spring, Summer, Autumn/Fall and Winter witches who come with their own seasonal powers. The protagonist Clara is an Everwitch which means her powers and magic go beyond one season. She is powerful all year around.
It's an YA book, a genre I usually don't read, but it was so well done! The writing style was beautiful and the characters were loveable and I very much enjoyed getting to know them better. I also really appreciated Paige's words to Clara in chapter 36, since Clara slightly annoyed me sometimes.

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midnightrose_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Nature of Witches is a gorgeous debut about Clara Densmore who is a student at the Eastern School of Solar Magic. She’s an ‘Everwitch’, meaning she can control all four seasons and not just one. After much tragedy in her personal life, Clara starts living off campus away from the rest of the students at her school. She vows to get ‘stripped’ of her magic when the next equinox happens, so she’ll no longer be a danger to others. Enter Mr. Burrows a teacher from the Western School of Solar Magic, and a student there, Sang Park. They’ve traveled to the Eastern School so that Sang can help train Clara with his calming Spring magic, and Mr. Burrows can oversee the training. Reluctantly, Clara agrees.

Really lovely debut!

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shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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cassroberts89's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was a wonderful YA read for the season!

Right away, the commentary on climate change is pretty obvious. It was kind of overdone at first (I think the story as a whole got the message across just fine without extra emphasis). While not strictly fantasy exactly, the world-building was a little too straight forward. Rather than experiencing and understanding it, I was just told (not shown) what the world was like right off the bat. These two factors made the beginning a little hard to get into at first. It improved drastically after 4-5 chapters. By then I was hooked.

As the story goes on, we see a ton of personal conflict as well as tension between Clara and all of the people she’s connected to. She is so terrified of accidentally hurting any more people she loves that she cuts herself off and tries her best to tamp down her powers. This, of course, does not do well for her magic or her emotional well-being. Lots of personal growth here ❤️

I wouldn’t go in expecting a very detailed or mature handling of the magical element; this is 100% young adult and reads as such. It’s still a beautiful and fun read, and I’ll hang onto it for when my kids are ready (There are a couple of VERY closed-door intimate scenes. Nothing spicy at all, but not quite what I’m ready to hand my 11yo).

Some quotes that stood out to me:

“My point is that she still loved her magic—we all do, even though it comes with real pain. Pain that you will never have to experience because you’re an Ever. Your magic 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 live your life. Still be happy.”

“But I like winter. Winter is the truest of seasons. It’s what remains after everything else is stripped away. The leaves fall. The colors fade. The branches get brittle. And if you can love the earth, understand it when all the beauty is gone and see it for what it is, that’s magic.”

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instalovewithbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I finally finished this book - not because it was bad but I feel super slumpy the past couple months and reading any books physically has been super difficult. I really loved the ideas of this and I was a bit concerned I was not going to like Clara, but I really enjoyed her as a character even with some of her problems.
Mr. Burrows was the worst and I hate him even if he is was doing his job or trying to be good he still sucked.
Sang was decent, he seemed like a really good guy but for like 50% I didn't trust him until after that first *incident*

Overall, a good story and the hardcover book is so beautiful.

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