Name: Amanda 's review of Wild Is the Witch by Rachel Griffin
Item: Wild Is the Witch
Rating: 2.5
Author: Amanda

Rachel Griffin

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches, comes another high-stakes contemporary fantasy. When eighteen-year-old witch Iris Gray accidentally enacts a curse that could have dire consequences, she must team up with a boy who hates witches to make sure her magic isn't unleashed on the world.

Iris Gray knows witches aren't welcome in most towns. When she was forced to leave her last home, she left behind a father who was no longer willing to start over. And while the Witches' Council was lenient in their punishment, Iris knows they're keeping tabs on her. Now settled in Washington, Iris never lets anyone see who she really is; instead, she vents her frustrations by writing curses she never intends to cast. Otherwise, she spends her days at the wildlife refuge which would be the perfect job if not for Pike Alder, the witch-hating aspiring ornithologist who interns with them.

Iris concocts the perfect curse for Pike: one that will turn him into a witch. But just as she's about to dispel it, a bird swoops down and steals the curse before flying away. If the bird dies, the curse will be unleashed―and the bird is a powerful amplifier, and unleashing the curse would turn not just Pike, but everyone in the region, into a witch.

New witches have no idea how to control their magic and the consequences would be dire. And the Witches' Council does not look kindly on multiple offenses; if they found out, Iris could be stripped of her magic for good. Iris begs Pike to help her track the bird, and they set out on a trek through the Pacific Northwest looking for a single bird that could destroy everything.

Wild Is the Witch

Liz Griffin

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

nabila

This book was fairly predictable. I thought I would like it more than I did. It’s a rather slow read.

Amanda 

Lara Engle

I was not super into this book, and I really wanted to be. It was pretty predictable and the main character was pretty whiny. She seemed immature for an 18-year-old. I spend my days teaching 15-17 year-olds and the majority of them are more emotionally mature than Iris. The middle section of the book was too slow and the ending was frustrating in its facileness. The hardback cover is super cute under the dust jacket, though, so that's something.

I enjoyed this, but I knocked a star off because of Pike in the beginning. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but it is not enemies to lovers when one of the "enemies" is just being an a-hole to the other one. Not that what Iris did was right, but holy cow Pike was a jerk. 

Holly

Christine Bruce

Iris Gray watched her best friend lose her powers after being involved with the death of a friend. She knows the cost of being careless with her magic. She and her mother moved to the north west to escape the targeted attacks against her by non-witches. She and her mother open an animal refuge and hire summer intern Pike- who hates witches with a passion. While venting after a particularly heated argument with Pike, she accidentally loses the curse and puts everyone in the region in danger of becoming a witch. During which the surge of magic could kill a person. 
I really enjoyed Iris as a character, she wasn't perfect, she made big mistakes. She doesn't learn from her mistakes right away. She has self-centered but self-preserving tendencies born from what she went through before the book begins. As a result she's a character that not everyone will relate to, but she's realistic. Her interactions with her mother were too few, her interactions with Pike were top tier rivals to lovers goodness. I loved following her journey through the forest as she came to terms with what she has to do, and what is best for everyone- even when they mean possible bad outcomes for herself. 
I also loved how it all focused on following an owl. I loved the setting of a rehabilitation sanctuary, and wish more of the story took place there. I loved the world building of magic and the way Griffin established the social norms around witches and how they worked within society was so well done and easy to understand. 
Overall an excellent, fun read with strong emotions and a lot of heart.

Mabel Palomera

Wild Is the Witch is a contemporary fantasy standalone set against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest. It has enemies to lovers, a meddling animal compassion, and tender representation of anxiety and PTSD. With a small cast, the relationships are heightened and intimate. Like Rachel’s debut, WILD is a book I wish teenaged me could have read, and one that I will happily reread.

CW: animal distress/injury/death, peril, anxiety and panic disorders, death of friends and siblings (in past)

Wild Is the Witch is a contemporary fantasy standalone set against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest. It has enemies to lovers, a meddling animal compassion, and tender representation of anxiety and PTSD. With a small cast, the relationships are heightened and intimate. Like Rachel’s debut, WILD is a book I wish teenaged me could have read, and one that I will happily reread.

CW: animal distress/injury/death, peril, anxiety and panic disorders, death of friends and siblings (in past)

this books is INCREDIBLE, please read! 🖤 very comfy, heartwarming, lovely, meaningful. 

honey

I liked Griffin's previous book but didn't love it, so I don't know why I expected anything different from this one. The story had so much potential but fell short. I didn't like Iris and couldn't understand her reasoning behind wanting to curse Pike after seeing everything that happened to her best friend, who did something similar. She did something impulsive and then freaked out when it blew up in her face, and I couldn't help but think, "Well, what did you expect?" She made so many terrible decisions and hid things from everyone, and it was so frustrating. Aside from that, I didn't buy the relationship between her and Pike. There were times when their interactions felt too mean and almost bullying, so I didn't believe that a few days of trekking around the woods was enough for them to have a change of heart. Like the first book, I enjoyed all the descriptions of nature and the PNW, but the plot didn't work for me.

Heather Harrington

Beautiful contemporary fantasy set in Pacific North West, with a frienimies romance between  girl who is hiding shes a witch and the boy hates them.

Beautiful settings filled with nature and transports you there. 

I really enjoyed this book, her other book was a five star. So I had to get this one. I love this authors writing and how she pulls you in.

My only complaint is tbe whole book deals with looking for the owl, don't get me wrong I was never bored. I just wished we had a little more. That being said I loved this book it was brilliant and I cant wait to read more from the Author.

Samantha King

Beautiful contemporary fantasy set in Pacific North West, with a frienimies romance between  girl who is hiding shes a witch and the boy hates them.

Full of romamce, witchy magic and nature

Beautiful settings filled with nature and transports you there. 

I really enjoyed this book, her other book was a five star. So I had to get this one. I love this authors writing and how she pulls you in.

My only complaint is tbe whole book deals with looking for the owl, don't get me wrong I was never bored. I just wished we had a little more. That being said I loved this book it was brilliant and I cant wait to read more from the Author.

Sheena

“Wild Is The Witch” wasn’t the greatest witchy romance I have ever read but considering this novel is marketed towards a younger audience, I will give it a pass.
 
What I loved: magical system, decent world-building, writing style, and character background. The premise was there and the introduction of the novel drew me in but that faded with the repetitiveness within the storyline. 
 
What I hated: the forced romance between the main characters—the novel would’ve been better if the author focused on the development of magic, character depth and better structure of the storyline.
 
Nonetheless, I would highly recommended to young readers if they’re looking for a little magic, romance, and adventure.

Virág 

I have loved Rachel's debut novel too, but this book has absolutely amazed me. Rachel managed to craft such an amazing magic system that made me become speechless. The witches can't create or do magic without the magic that is already around us, and I am so in love with this sstem. 

About the romantic part of the book, Pike is such an amazing book boyfriend, he is kind and caring, he would do anything for the people he loves, and wow, my heart. I started sobbing starting at the 25th chapter, and haven't stopped until the last sentence. This book got me completely destroyed. So please please if you are looking for an emotional rollercoaster book that will leave you in pieces then definitely pick this book up. 

So if you like magic, witches, emotional rollercoaster, only one tent, camping in the forest, following an owl, cute love stories do not hesitate and order this book.

Rebecca Raven

Wild is the Witch is a ya contemporary fantasy by Rachel Griffin (author of the Nature of Witches). Iris is a witch. She’s finally found somewhere she feels like she belongs after being forced to uproot her life. Working at a wildlife center she butts heads with intern, Pike Alder. In order to vent her frustrations, Iris creates a curse for Pike: to turn him into a witch. But she never meant to cast it. When the curse is stolen by a bird. And if this bird dies the curse wouldn’t affect just Pike, but an entire area and possibly hundreds of people. Iris can’t afford another indiscretion on her record and what’s more, newly turned witches can’t control their power. The outcome would be catastrophic. Iris sets out with the boy she hates and who hates what she is in order to find the bird that could destroy not just her life, but everyone’s.

This book caught my attention from the start. It was very easy to get wrapped up in the world within these pages. It can always be daunting to enter a new fantasy world that you don’t understand but the magic was explained very well. Griffin used a lot of metaphors to help explain the magic and it was very helpful to crucially understand the novel.

This book really struck me somewhere because in some ways, Iris is a lot like me. She works at an animal refuge (and that’s honestly my dream) and she deals with challenges that Griffin describes so eloquently on the pages. I resonate with these challenges she faces and if was nice to see them addressed in a story. It was really nice to see myself within the pages.

I’d recommend Wild is the Witch to really anyone who loves fantasy and some contemporary romance. I’m mainly a fantasy reader but I love to dip my toes into romance so this novel was right up my alley.


I think Rachel Griffin may just be a new auto-buy author for me. 

Rating: 5/5 stars

Release Date: August 2, 2022

I want to thank Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the eARC of this book. All opinions and thoughts in this review are my own.

Courtney Passio

This. Book. (Insert happy cry emoji). I cried, I laughed and I wanted to chuck it across the room because I didn’t know what to do with my nervous energy. This book 100% feels like putting on my favorite pair of cozy socks, getting the PERFECT cup of iced coffee (no matter how cold or hot it is outside) and slipped under a super warm and cozy blanket. This book was seriously like a hug that I didn’t know I needed. 

The writing style was so immersive and the book was so atmospheric that I just felt myself getting lost in the middle of the pages. I kid you not, the last 50 pages I spent in the garage while my fiancé worked with power tools and played music but I didn’t notice it at all, it was all just background noise while I was sucked into this book. 

Wild is the Witch is about hard life lessons, consequences and persevering through the pain and hurt to try and make things right. There’s bright happy scenes, and extremely open and sensitive scenes. There’s banter and ONE TENT. This is a loath to love kind of situation that just unfurls in the best way possible. But the Owl and how he contributes to this story is EVERYTHING to me and I won’t forget him anytime soon. 

Wild Is The Witch is like a soothing blanket of comfort and coziness; it's all so atmospheric and whimsical, emotionally raw and filled with depth and vulnerability.

"Magic is always present, always close."

Iris and her mom are comfortable and happy where they live. As witches running an animal refuge center, they can help calm animals they encounter and help heal them. When Pike, an intern working at the refuge, expresses his hate for witches, Iris emotions run rampant with fear, which leads to creating a curse for Pike that will never see the light of day. Unfortunately, an owl takes the curse and sets loose. If the owl dies, the curse gets unleashed and it will be life-threatening for anyone around.

"Being a witch isn't just casting an occasional spell. It's seeing the world differently than the way others see it. It's living in the same space but experiencing it in a totally singular way."

Rachel Griffin's writing is one of pure comfort. I felt like I was in a foggy and misty forest, surrounded by magic, with a cup of tea in my hand. As with her debut novel, she crafts a beautiful narrative that is filled with lessons and wonders about nature, all while inspiring readers to be conscious about climate change.

I found Iris to be so relatable, especially with her anxiety; it was conveyed so perfectly and authentically. I saw myself in Iris, in her train of thoughts, her anxiousness over situations she couldn't control.

"But that's the thing about anxiety, it doesn’t care if something is rational or not. It takes hold of your mind and squeezes, tighter and tighter until it can’t be ignored, demanding your undivided attention. It turns from insignificant to allconsuming in the span of a breath, a fog so thick it’s impossible to see through, and no amount of breathing or counting or visualizations undoes it."

Onto our love interest. At first, I was so wary of Pike. His arrogance and cockiness was getting to me, but once we got to know more of him, I couldn't help but be entirely charmed. He brings out a side of Iris that, without her knowing, helps her to get out of her head and become present. 

"When I say something that annoys you, you give me an expression I’ve never seen you give anyone else. So I keep annoying you, just so you’ll make the face you only make for me."

Their dynamic while on the rescue mission of the owl was highly entertaining. They cannot stand each other and are constantly butting heads, but it's in this mission through the forest that they start opening up and revealing layers of themselves, reaching a level of vulnerability they weren't expecting. 

"You're special, Iris. You’re strange and surprising, and I’m endlessly curious about the things that take up space in your mind." [...] "Effortless," he says, reflecting someone who can't possibly be me. "You're effortless."

Overall, Wild Is The Witch crafts a page-turning, thought-provoking, and remarkable story-telling that is eloquent and magical with beautiful imagery that brings comfort, peace, and hope.

IF YOU LIKE:
- Loathe-to-love
- Enemies-to-lovers
- Contemporary Fantasy
- An unruly and meddling owl
- Forced proximity
- Major Pacific Northwest vibes
- There's only one tent
- An ill-fated curse
- Nature in all its glory
- Wolves as pets

Jennifer

aurelia 

No but Pike Alder I LOVE YOUUUU! Iris is such a strong character, and the way she doesn't want everyone to hurt because of her is really relatable. RACHEL'S WRITING IS SOOO AMAZING! And can we just talk about the STEAM and CHEMISTRY happening around Iris and Pike? This book made me   cry sad and happy tears, scream at the chemistry and tension between our two MCs, and made me appreciate the beauty of nature more. 

courtofkayla 

Wild is the Witch is a whimsical novel about new chapters, finding love in the most unexpected ways, and the power of nature and the stories we carry on. 

Rachel Griffin pulls together a stand-alone YA urban fantasy novel that follows Iris Grey, a young witch following an unfortunate accident. Eager to start over, Iris and her mother move to the NW coast. But, after a curse goes wrong and gets snagged by an amplifier, Iris's magic threatens to harm all in her community and the boy she cannot stand, Pike. Together, Pike and Iris embark on a journey into the whimsical nature around them and try to track down the curse. The only problem? Pike hates witches and he can never know Iris cursed him. 

Three Things I loved: 
1) THE THERE WAS ONLY ONE TENT TROPE. If you love there was only one bed... prepare to be shook. 
2) The beautiful writing. I felt like the nature and imagery were so strong in this novel and I felt as if I was right there, magic swirling around me. 
3) THE QUOTES. SO many amazing moments that I had to stop and take a deep breath because they hit me so hard. So many good lessons, realizations, and story elements that left me in awe.

Overall, 4/5 Stars. If you're looking for a quick read this August I highly recommend adding Wild is the Witch to your TBR! Out August 2nd!  

*I was sent an advanced reader's copy of Wild is the Witch by SourceBooks. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own and not reflected from early access before official publication* 

Molly Witt

I can’t tell you the joy that Rachel’s writing brings. But this is the second book of hers that I’ve read that when completed, I am left with a smile on my face and happiness in my heart. This book makes me want to move to the Pacific Northwest and live in the woods. This book makes me stop and look around at nature and take in the pure magic that it is. This book was just fantastic.

nabila &
Wild Is the Witch by Rachel Griffin

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