Thank you to NetGalley and Stories Untold for the complimentary digital copy in exchange for an honest review. This book tells the story of a 16 year old girl who has spent her entire life as a scullery (scaldrony) maid in a magic-less kingdom but one day, on her birthday, everything changes. What follows next is a fast paced adventure at a magical school full of cute magical critters and fun unique magic as Ivy, the main character, discovers the secrets of her past and who she really is. The story has some complex world building and more magical items, spells and creatures than I could count. There are many rather unique elements to it but there are some aspects of it that are vaguely reminiscent of some beloved kids stories such as Snow White, Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter.
Although I really quite enjoyed the world created in this book, I did think it suffered a bit from issues of pacing and the characters fell a little flat for me. It did feel a lot like my grandma sitting beside the bed at bedtime, spinning a yarn that was a bit off the top of her head. It could work great for young readers but it made for a somewhat difficult read for me. I finished the book because the story and magic kept me going but I haven't yet made up my mind if I would continue to read more from this author.

I really enjoyed this book! It is super imaginative especially with all the cool creatures we get to meet.

This book has the magical school trope which I can’t get enough of, however, there were so many aspects of the story that are original to this world, you don’t feel like your reading the same boarding school story over and over again so it kept me engaged throughout the whole book.

Would definitely recommend this for any young reader who wishes to escape reality for a while and immerse themselves in the magical world D.E Night has created.

This book was great. As a lover of the Harry Potter series this definitely caught my interest early, without being a copy paste type books. I felt Ivy was a character I liked quickly and i enjoyed the quirkiness of the side characters.

I gave this book 4 stars because it was written well and the characters were well fleshed out BUT it's very very similar to Harry Potter. This isn't necessarily a bad thing in general, but it does make your mind wander to compare the two.

This was cute! It wasn’t really my style so that’s why I gave it three stars, but I did really enjoy the writing style and the author’s voice.

Pairs Well With: Bedtime Story snack

Thank you to @netgalley and @storiesuntold for the ARC digital copy. My thoughts are my own.

The Crowns of Croswald is an enthralling, fantasy novel best suited for middle-school age readers. While the heroine (Ivy) is a young woman, the story is full of mystical creatures, magical spells and enchantments, evil queens, Dwarves, dragons and more.

Ivy is a kitchenmaid at Castle Plum, alone except for her friend Rimbrick- a dwarf with knowledge of her past that he keeps hidden. While out of the castle one day, Ivy is picked up by a strange carriage and whisked away to The Halls Of Ivy- a school for magical youth (scrivenists) and the royalty they serve. With no idea why she is there, and a sneaking suspicion there is more to her past and identity than she is aware of, Ivy begins making friends and learning everything she can about the new world around her.

I found the beginning of the story a bit hard to understand- there were a lot of new terms being introduced, new characters, and I believe a fairly large time-jump. As the story progressed, there were moments I went “Oh! THAT’s why this happened” and I was able to piece it together, but I did feel a bit lost in the initial few chapters. Additionally, the timeline of the story seems to be represented by moon phases, and not knowing what that meant, I didn’t know if a day or week or months had passed from one chapter to the next.

I felt the story was strong in the sense of character development- Ivy was a character I was pulled towards, rooted for, and felt I understood. She was brave, inspiring, a good friend and had a good sense of self, despite not truly knowing who or what she was. Her friend Rebecca was unique and a great compliment to Ivy; I also found myself wondering if Fyn would play a larger role in the next few books (I look forward to reading them!).

As a Mom, I enjoyed reading this story and would definitely read it to my kids as they get a bit older. I think it has a beautiful message about being brave and loving yourself, and doing the right thing even when it’s hard.

If you enjoyed Harry Potter, the Chronicles of Narnia or Lemony Snickett’s work over the years, I think you’ll enjoy this series as well!

Review:

To start - I am in my mid-30's and tried my best to read this book through the lens of the target audience, which is middle-grade readers. The writing and general storyline were whimsical and charming. The author's descriptions created good imagery, and I could really see the characters' personalities and the scenes in vivid detail. D.E. Night has a vibrant imagination.

As for the storyline, I had a somewhat difficult time understanding the main point of the plot, but it was an enjoyable sequence of mini-adventures. As an adult reader, I generally prefer books with a more cohesive storyline and overarching theme. This book is best for readers under 14 years who have a faster-moving attention span and need frequently changing scenes and excitement. Overall, I believe this book would make a cute movie.

The main character is 16 years old, but acts much younger (around 12-13). The story would have been a little more believable if she was younger, as the way she behaved, her mannerisms, the way she spoke, and the general themes of the book seem more appropriate for a younger age. The book contained a lot of larger and more complex vocabulary than you would typically find in a middle-grade book (ethereal, pallid, ephemeral. rakishly, prodigious). For parents who are reading this book along with their children, this makes the book more interesting and gives it depth.

Synopsis:

The main character, Ivy, is brave and curious, with a good heart and sense of adventure. Ivy is a 16 year old working for Helga, a cruel woman who holds her essentially captive to do chores and work as a scaldron maid (essentially a grunt worker that cooks and takes care of magical creatures similar to dragons). The story is filled with the magical adventures of Ivy as she navigates her first year at a magical school for royals and scrivenists. Similar to Harry Potter, Ivy is snatched up when she turned 16 and brought to the magical school to learn about her abilities. During her first year, Ivy completes various "missions" during which she tries to uncover a magical secret.

I enjoyed this book, sixteen year old Ivy Lovely is discovering who she is and where her powers will take her. Young Ivy’s life working in the kitchens of a castle seems very set, but when she escapes with the youngest scaldron and finds herself in magic school, her life takes on a whole a new magical journey.

Perfect for young readers and fans of Narnia and Harry Potter.

3.5 ⭐

✨The Crowns of Croswald follows Ivy Lovely, a young girl who discovers she is magic✨

I've seen a lot of comparisons of this book to Harry Potter, and while there are some similarities, I think Ivy's story easily stands on its own.

I really enjoyed the world building in this book. There isn't a ton of action but I didn't mind that because I was so intrigued by Croswald, it's magic and it's history. The different types of magic (Scrivenists vs. Royals, quills vs.crowns) we're really interesting. I also LOVED all the magical creatures present throughout the story! Dragons, and hairies and shorehorses...oh my!

Ivy was such a loveable character. I adore her friendship with Rebecca and her possible romantic connection with Fyn. I can't wait to see how these relationships grow in the rest of the series!

There were a few times I was a little confused but I'm hoping things will become clearer as I read the series. I am very interested in learning more about the Dark Queen!

Overall, this was a fun, easy read and I am looking forward to reading the next book!

Thank you Netgalley, Stories Untold and D.E. Nichgt for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Harry Potter who?

Wow, let me tell you, this was a ride right from the start! (And I don't mean just in the cabbies!) Magic, dragons, magical quills, magic schools, royalty....so much fun from start to finish! I loved Ivy and how she grew from where she began, but she still kept her wits about her and helped the people she cared about. Not to mention, keeping her head when she found out who she really was! The writing was just as magical as the story and the imagery was wonderful.

The only thing I would've liked to see more of is the dark queen, and how/why she was after Ivy. We see her in the last couple chapters, and we see her Cloaked Brood through the book, but she's only really mentioned before that. Maybe we'll see more of her and her evil schemes in the other books!

I'm looking forward to reading more from D.E. Night and learning more about Ivy's magical life!

I honestly really enjoyed reading this book. This is a delightful YA fantasy story involving a young lady with magical abilities and a magic school where she finds herself belonging. I have to agree that this book reminds me a lot of Harry Potter it definitely gave me some Hogwarts vibes with the magic and the classes and that intrigued me to want to read the whole series.

Thank you Net Galley and Stories Untold for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book gave me very much Harry Potter vibes (without the problematic stuff). The Crowns of Croswald follows Ivy, your typical normal girl who finds out she has powers. She stumbles across the Dark Queen who threatens Croswald. Ivy, along with the friends she makes along the way, reflects the past in order to defeat the Dark Queen and save the world she has begun to love.

I wanted to like this book, but it just never got interesting. Most of the book was world-building and setting up for the next books in the series. There was no action or anything engaging whatsoever. The writing was okay, but the plot was so dull. It felt like the book was attempting to be dark academia, but it wasn’t because of the lack of action and there was no darkness. Furthermore, I didn’t know what was going on half the time as there was not enough detail or description.

3.75⭐/5

In this middle-grade fantasy book, Ivy finds herself at the extraordinary school that she never thought she would be able to attend.

I loved the world-building, and the creativity used for the magical creatures (especially the hairies). It was very easy to understand it and follow the action, and the writing was truly amazing.

However, the events themselves are quite similar to the ones in the first HP book, especially in the beginning, so this can go one of two ways: you either like it, or dislike it for this reason.

The action was quite dull in the first half of the novel, but it picked up after, and that's when I started being intrigued by it. I wish I could have seen some development in Ivy's character, because often she was unlikable, brushing off other student's concerns towards her plans.

I didn't like the pace at the end, it was too rushed compared with the rest of the novel, but it made me curious to read more about Ivy and her adventures, so it wasn't a complete loss.

This book is a genre, YA Fantasy, that unfortunately isn’t my top choice and as a very reader they have sooo many great books in my preferred genres than there is time.
I previously sent this book as a will not give feedback; however, I have come to the unfortunate discovery that NG in a way punishes you when you DNF a book.

I never do star ratings on books for DNFs, but if this is how it must be I will give my DNFs a 2 star.

Thank you NetGalley, Stories Untold, and D.E. Knight for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Description:
In Croswald, the only thing more powerful than dark magic is one secret…

For sixteen years Ivy Lovely has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary that separates the mundane from the magical. When Ivy crosses the border, her powers awaken. Curiosity leads her crashing through a series of adventures at the Halls of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their magical blood and the power of Croswald’s mysterious gems. When Ivy’s magic—and her life—is threatened by the Dark Queen, she scrambles to unearth her history and save Croswald before the truth is swept away forever.

I really enjoyed this book. This isn't my normal genre of choice, but I am glad that I was given the opportunity to read it. As stated in other reviews, I get Harry Potter vibes from the story, and as someone who grew up reading Harry Potter, I was immersed in The Crowns of Croswald almost immediately and had a hard time putting the book down. If I wasn't reading I was thinking about the book and wondering what was going to be happening next. I love it when a book can do that.

I found that some of my hunches about Ivy ended up being correct (no spoilers), but I found myself immersed in the book right up until the very end. I found the story line easy to follow and personally I liked the main characters. The descriptions of Croswald and the magical world are great. So much information and wonderful descriptions. For me, it didn't take away from the main story line. I felt that without it, it wouldn't have felt complete and maybe a little lost. I now want to read the rest of the series just to know what happens, or my curiosity will get the best of me.

A book full of magic and life! It reminded me so much of Harry Potter. Though I'm not much of a fantasy reader, D.E. Knight did a wonderful job with world-building. This is the foundation of the book where readers can truly immerse themselves into their world. Ivy is a like-able character and I loved following her experiences an adventures.

Review - Crowns of Croswold (Book 1)

Ivy Lovely knows two things: that she hated Castle Plum and that being a scullery maid is not that it's all cracked up to be. After fleeing - and somehow bringing one of her assistants in tow - Ivy finds herself flown away into an adventure she only thought were in the fairytales...

While I loved the premise and the simplicity of it all, I found the tone to be confusing at times. There were elements that I really enjoyed - the dragons were a personal favourite - and others that I did not - such as there being such little talk about the Dark Queen and her minions in the early chapters. At times I found myself tangled in the immense level of worldbuilding that sometimes surrounded chapters and the concepts were also a little hard to grasp. I find that a longer lead up into the world, along with the events that surround the ultimate ending, would greatly improve my love for this book. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me.

What I liked about the book is the world building! The story really has its own magical fantasy world. The story also really has Harry Potter similarities. I think it would be nice to read about it for middle graders.

But if I'm honest it isn't really my kind of story, maybe because I'm not a teenager anymore....I don't know.
I took me a while to get in the story and there wasn't enough character progress. I missed something in the story, it felt a little bit flat for me. So I had difficulty with finishing the book.

I really hate to give a negative review l, because an author always puts heart and soul in a book, but this one wasn't a succes for me personally!
But thank you for the opportunity to read it! Hopefully it will be a succes for a younger audience!

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a free e-book copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a nice fantasy break among the high fantasy I had been reading lately. We follow the main character when she is forced to leave the only home she has know and it turns out that she is to attend a magical school. This may make you think that it is very similar to Harry Potter. I thought it different though. I loved that the magic system is different from what I have read about before. I love the idea of royalty and the idea of scribes and the various spirits and dragons. What exactly the scribes are capable of, wasn't really explained too well. I hope that and the magic system in general will be addressed more in the next volumes.

Another thing that stood out for me, was that it was harder for our MC to make friends. A lot of these books make the main character have their best friends from the beginning of the year. That doesn't happen here and to me, this was a lot more believable. I always had problems making friends at school too. It felt like a bit of a relief here.

Ivy's true identity was rather predictable for me, but it didn't make it any harder to read or made it boring. I did have my suspicions about one character though and that turned out to be wrong, but hey, it could still happen later on. Some of the additional characters were also a lot of fun to read about.

All in all, a very enjoyable read.

This magical coming-of-age tale is such a delightful read! It’s intriguing, charming and creative. There’s something about this book; it’s so colorful, like a movie. Your imagination can’t resist it. Strong recommendation for this first of a series.

I thought this was going to be YA but it reads much more like middle grade. Plus it kind of reads as if it's just Harry Potter where HP is a young girl instead of a young boy.