Wild is the Witch

by Rachel Griffin

There’s something special about holding a physical ARC in your hands. While I didn’t get sent this lovely directly, I am still so happy I’m able to hold and read it all the same. So, thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for making this lovely ARC!

Enough about my love of physical ARCs – onto the review!

Before I dive into the book content, I just want to state this: I’ve picked up two books this month so far, and they both have made me want to create. Which isn’t a thing I can say about a lot of books, but I’d like to state for this one. It’s a feeling I love to experience, and this book gives me that feeling.

As usual, I’m going into this more or less blind, but you can find the summary on Goodreads here if you’d like to read it before deciding if you want to read the book!

The magic system is fascinating. I love the idea that it works alongside science and all things currently existing in the world. While it does also make for easier worldbuilding, I love that it plays with the assumed rule that magic works either in opposition of the rules as we know it, or it laughs in the face of our real-world limitations. This magic system compliments our world rules as we know it, and I think it’s a brilliant idea!

Iris is such an interesting, complex character. I love her backstory, her reaction to that backstory, and her core “flaws”. I feel seen in parts of Iris, and that made the reading experience that much better. While I do think she went a little far with the curse, I do 100% understand her logic in arriving at that being the perfect spell for her purposes. While I do think her history should have prevented her from thinking this was a good idea, she also, in her defense, had no reason to believe it wouldn’t go like every other time she’s done this. An argument could be made, which is why this book isn’t a five star read for me, but that’s literally it’s only flaw, honestly. At least, outside of small grammar things here and there that I imagine will be fixed before final print.

Pike Alder. He’s also an interesting, complex character, and I love his story arc more than Iris’s, if I’m being honest. He went through the most change beginning to end, in my eyes, and watching him go through it is the best part of the story [outside of the parts of Iris I see in myself, of course]. I absolutely love the way he interacts with Iris, the dynamic between them. It’s 100% going to make me pick this book back up even when I should really be working on my craaaaaaazy behind TBR.

Recommendation: Honestly, the only person I wouldn’t suggest this book to are the people who hate what this book contains, and no one else. If you even remotely like witches, even you even remotely like nature, if you don’t mind the one-bed trope, if you don’t mind enemies-to-lovers, if you don’t mind short books, if you aren’t looking for a heavy or epic fantasty read [or you’re looking for a book to “cleanse” between reads!], seriously, pick this up. So good.

**I’M DYING TO TALK SPOILERS, SO YOU’VE BEEN WARNED! SOOOOOOO MANY SPOILERS AHEAD, YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW! COME BACK WHEN YOU’RE READY FOR SPOILER-TALK!**

SERIOUSLY, I LOVE IRIS AND PIKE. I think Pike is an odd name, but I love the character himself too much to care. I love their dynamic, I love how he’s secretly had a crush on his witch-coworker all while loathing witches to his core, I love everything.

I also love owls, so that doesn’t hurt.

I think I gravitate towards friends-to-lovers more than enemies-to-lovers, but it’s stories like this that make me question that. I definitely don’t have a favorite, but I love the progression of Iris and Pike’s relationship. So. Much.

As minimal as the magic system strikes as being, I love it. I love the division in magic “specialties”, and I love that that doesn’t PREVENT witches from performing other kinds of magic, but rather making them strongest or best in one area.

On a semi- darker note, Iris’s history is tragic [and her best friend’s history is more so, to be fair], and I think it’s fair, especially at the age she was, to have it impact her life so very much. While her whole personality isn’t defined by it, a lot of how she lives her life is impacted by it. I mean, could you imagine being either girl, watching that poor boy burn for his desire to be a witch? That’s going to leave a deep, lasting mark on your life, especially as a teenager.

On a not-dark note, this story had me wishing I could go out to the Pacific Northwest in my backyard [which I currently cannot]. I’ve always wanted to visit and spend some time up there, but haven’t yet gotten the opportunity. This book makes me want to prioritize that. It also has me wanting to find my local zoo or sanctuary or whatever I might have around here and go visit and appreciate the work they do. Which are all side effects I think Rachel Griffin was trying to impart [or, at least, would be happy she did impart] with this book, and it’s definitely a success with me!

Rachel Griffin’s books leave a mark on me that I can’t quite explain, but I find myself loving them and adding them to my “possible reread” list, which is crazy because that list is short. [At least, in comparison to how long it could be.]

I’m a little behind on catching up with reviews, but I’ve been writing them, so hopefully we’ll see a influx of them soon, and I hope you enjoy them all! Stay tuned for more, stay kind, be thoughtful, and keep reading!