Wild is the Witch by Rachel Griffin

I was so excited to get approved for the audiobook ARC of Wild is the Witch from NetGalley/Recorded Books. I loved The Nature of Witches and couldn’t wait to get started on this one. Pub date: August 2, 2022

From Goodreads:

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.

Thoughts:

I read The Nature of Witches, so wasn’t familiar with this audiobook narrator. It took me a minute to get used to her rhythms. She did a great job differentiating between characters and projecting their emotions. She did that job almost too well, to the point that I was annoyed with Iris and how upset she was with this boy! It made her come across as younger than stated. That annoyance faded as we moved into the main part of the book and the characters got to know each other.

While their relationship changed gears quickly, especially on Iris’ part, I enjoyed how they got there. They had some hard conversations (which Rachel Griffin handled very well), and they sat with the discomfort/information. It was refreshing to have their thoughts communicated so clearly, in relation to each other and their misconceptions.

Iris still kept a secret and it came back to bite her. She stepped up in the end and that conclusion had me in tears. Who knew I would get so attached to an owl!?

Wild is the Witch was a solid 4⭐read for me. It was a bit angsty at the beginning, but it is YA, so I can’t knock it too much for that. The character growth and the depth of their conversations were a breath of fresh air. The magic system was cool and organic, it made me wish I could use magic like that. If you enjoyed The Nature of Witches, cool magic systems, animal, and camping – you should check this one out!