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Iris Gray is a witch. In her previous town, that wasn’t a secret. But her connection to a situation that led to the death of another teen caused her and her family a lot of problems. Now that she and her mother have moved to Washington state, she keeps to herself and doesn’t share much about all she is. At 18, Iris has finished school, and she just works with her mother at their wildlife refuge. Their magic connects them to the natural world and more deeply to the animals they save. In fact, her only real friends now are the animals.
The job would be just fine if it weren’t for Pike, the college student who is doing an internship at the refuge. He’s pretty much always annoying, and one day he makes it clear he hates witches.
Her grandmother taught her a way to reduce stress by crafting curses but then releasing them. It’s a harmless practice, like writing emotion-filled letters one won’t actually send. When she gets upset learning about Pike’s feelings about witches, she crafts a spell that will turn him into a witch. But then as she’s about to dispel it, an owl swoops in and steals it. That means if the owl dies, the spell will actually work on Pike. That could be really dangerous, in part because it’s very possible he could burn up and die from a sudden influx of magic. But to make it even worse, owls are natural amplifiers, which means a whole bunch of people in the area, not just Pike, could end up in the same situation if the owl dies.
Iris is in dire straits. She’d be responsible for a huge curse and for potential deaths, and then she would have her magic taken from her. So she takes off into the wilderness to find the owl. She has to find it and remove the curse. Her safe and quiet life, the magic that makes her who she is, could all be ruined.
In the meantime, though, her mother insists she take Pike with her on the journey (her mom has no idea what she’s done or why it’s so urgent she find the owl). That complicates matters, for a number of reasons, and makes it more frustrating and difficult.
Wild Is the Witch is ostensibly about magic, but it’s really more of a romance story. It uses the trope or setup of making two characters who supposedly dislike each other spend time together. Here, it’s an adventure in the Pacific Northwest. Nearly all of the book takes place as Iris and Pike camp and hike, seeking the owl. Because of the trope, one knows that of course they will slowly get to know each other better and see past what is on the outside. In this case, romance is on the table, but it’s threatened by danger.
The book is also very much a story set in the outdoors, about being connected to the world around us and respecting the environment. Magic works in tandem with natural laws. So the book isn’t a flight of fantasy; it is grounded in nature and the real world.
I enjoyed both aspects of this young adult fantasy book and appreciated its messages.
Rated: Moderate. Profanity includes 6 instances of strong language: This is at the very top of the limit for how many instances of the f-word can be in a moderate-rated book, but it overall just doesn’t feature a lot of profanity, and several times here, there are pretty intense situations, so it doesn’t feel like it was used gratuitously. There are 15 instances of moderate profanity, about 10 uses of mild language, and about 10 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Characters kiss a few times; they talk briefly at the end about how they’d like to do more. They sleep in a small tent together. There are some precarious, dangerous situations in the wild, with characters getting some bad injuries. Details aren’t gory.
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
