[Emily’s Review]: Wild is the Witch by Rachel Griffin

Wild is the Witch
by Rachel Griffin
Pages: 352
Published by Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: August 2 2022
Genres: Paranormal, YA
Source: Publisher
Format Read: ARC, eBook
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After a night of magic turns deadly, Iris Gray vows to never let another person learn she’s a witch. It doesn’t matter that the Witches’ Council found her innocent or that her magic was once viewed as a marvel—that night on the lake changed everything.

Now settled in Washington, Iris hides who she really is and vents her frustrations by writing curses she never intends to cast. And while she loves working at the wildlife refuge she runs with her mother, she loathes Pike Alder, the witch-hating aspiring ornithologist who interns with them.

When Pike makes a particularly hurtful comment, Iris concocts a cruel torment for him. But just as she’s about to dispel it, an owl swoops down and steals the curse before flying far away from the refuge. The owl is a powerful amplifier, and if it dies, Iris’s dark spell will be unleashed not only on Pike, but on everyone in the region.

Forced to work together, Iris and Pike trek through the wilderness in search of the bird that could cost Pike his life. But Pike doesn’t know the truth, and as more dangers arise in the woods, Iris must decide how far she’s willing to go to keep her secrets safe.

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Rachel Griffin is truly a wordsmith.
I love her writing because it is intentional, beautiful and ambient. Her books are generally just pleasing to read.
She has such a knack for creating a mood and atmosphere in her books. Her novels with stick with you because of it.
It also doesn’t hurt that they are also aesthetically pleasing. Everything from the cover art, to the font is chosen with care and it enhances the reading experience tenfold.

I’m obviously a fan. I feel as if you all should be big fans too. If you weren’t already convinced after reading A Nature of Witches, then Wild is the Witch will definitely solidify Rachel as a one click author for you. I’m sure of it.

Basically, Iris is a witch, in hiding and deeply untrusting, because of some really messed up shit that happened to her and a friend of hers when she was younger. She and her mother moved to the Pacific Northwest to start over and they opened a wildlife sanctuary. Pike is an intern who works at the sanctuary and did I mention this is an enemies to lovers novel? BECAUSE IT IS. That’s all I’m giving away of the plot itself. There might be a slow burn, a slightly unnerving obsession with an owl and a really cool magic system that boils down to humans relationship with nature itself. But for real, that’s all you’re getting from me.

This book is moody. MOODY. MOODY.
The characters, the setting, the relationships. It’s 100% melancholy and the misty rain in the redwoods.
You’re going feel affected. You won’t be able to help it.

” Free. Wild. Beautiful. “

The romance in this book is slow burning and innocent. The culmination is satisfying, but the means of getting there is very much “slight touches and stolen glances”. Iris and Pike had major first love vibes and Pike said all the right things. They were sweet together and their relationship was heartfelt.

I had only two qualms with this book.
The first, is that the owl was almost too significant.
It almost became a distraction while I was reading. There was just so, so much significance placed on it that it sort of took away from some of the other events that were going on with in the book.
The second, is that I wanted more.
Wild is the Witch is absolutely not lacking. In any department. It was a good book. However, I would have absolutely loved if Rachel Griffin had expanded on some of the characters. Given me more romance, more backstory, more of the magic. I just wanted more! Because I liked what I had right in front of me so much. Does that make me a greedy reader?
Give me an inch and I’ll take a mile.
So yeah, the book didn’t NEED more, I just WANTED more. Which I guess is a personal problem, now that I’m looking at this more objectively.

The ending was nice. It was open ended in that the characters were left in a good place, but the story was tied up nicely. You will feel confident that everyone involved will be happy in the future, but nothing was wrapped up in a nice neat bow. Again, moody. Which I loved.
It was my favorite type of ending. A “happy for now” and a “Probably happy in the future” but it wasn’t a traditional Happily Ever After.

Wild is the Witch left me with sobby eyes and a melancholy feeling.
I really enjoyed it.