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The Crowns of Croswald

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It gave Tinkerbell vibes to me😍 those classic magical realm with persistence main character. The creatures!!!! From beast to elfish and dwarves. The adventure and world building was super nice!!! Give it a go to read this book!!!

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Please note: I am only 10% or so of the way through this, but am finding it a bit of a struggle to get into, so this review is based on what I have read so far.

The Crowns of Croswald is described as "a page-turning fantasy in the tradition of fairy tales, whimsical worlds, and coming-of-age stories." but unfortunately, I haven't found mysefl wanting to keep turning the pages, which may be down to personal factors, but I think some aspects of the book play into this as well.

Don't get me wrong, I like the premise, I love the ideas of the Scriveners, and the Scaldrons, and all sorts of aspects of the magical world D.E.Night has created, but I keep getting pulled out by the writing: odd phrasing that didn't make sense and sentences I had to re-read to make sense of, as well as some over-description that sometimes defeated the purpose in that it made the subject seem more vague or difficult to visualise through the wording.

Also, Ivy: from other reviews, it seems she becomes a relatable heroine, but she reads as very young. As a Middle Grade book, I do expect Ivy to be young, but the text describes her as sixteen which I can't see her being at all, from the way she speaks, her experience, and the start of her story. Ivy does not read as being sixteen, and sixteen would be fairly old for a Middle Grade MC anyway, particularly for one starting to navigate their world rather than exploring relationships with others. For a book which is likened to Harry Potter, with the heroine finding out that she's magic, she seems a few years behind her age. (Harry was 11 at the start of his adventures).

As I said, I'm only 10% of the way through, but I'm reviewing what I've read so far in case I don't finish it. I hope I do; from the glowing reviews from other readers, I'm clearly missing something, so I hope to get time to give it more of a chance and let the plot kick in.

2* for now, mainly for the ideas...

Thank you to the publishers for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you to the author, Stories Untold Press, and NetGalley for the e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I have decide to DNF this title. While I believe it shows promise, for me personally I cannot seem to reconcile the writing style. Some of it is unnecessarily complicated and some of the wording a bit verbose, particularly for a title aimed at middle graders ( I’m Australian, but I believe that’s 8-12 year olds?).

From the first chapter, I felt that while the premise is interesting, if a little bit reminiscent of Harry Potter, factors such as the magical creatures and some if the settings needed more explanation from the outset, rather than being explained a chapter or two later. I also couldn’t reconcile that the protagonist Ivy, while having lived a bit of a sheltered life, was meant to be 15-16. The plot seems to jump around a bit too. These factors along with the writing style made it difficult for me to immerse myself in the story.

In saying that I am a 36 year old woman who is obviously not the target audience, nor do I have children, so if you think this could be something you or your kids would enjoy you should give it a chance! It does show promise, however not for me.

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𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕝𝕖: The Crowns of Croswald
𝔸𝕦𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣: D. E. Night
ℙ𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥: 320 pages
ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5

Likes
🫧 The way of cooking the food is very very interesting. Imagine putting your food in a dragon mouth while you wait for it to cook!! Amazing and very creative!

🫧The book started off with great world building But not much character development.

🫧The book is a great read for the age group it is directed to…. Middle school.

🫧Good foreshadowing in the beginning of the book

🫧 the end was unexpectedly better than I thought it would be.

Dislikes:

🫧 Prologue was too long for my liking at some point I was scrolling through to see how long before the book actually start

🫧A Harry Potter story rewritten or very inspired by Harry Potter that me and @ could find literal sentences that could be directly taken or very minimally paraphrased from Harry Potter throughout the book.

🫧 Character development was lacking and character growth was not there.

🫧 At some point the foreshadowing got too excessive that it started ruining the surprise of the boom at some point

🫧 The “but Ivy did not know that would happen” or “Ivy would later discover that” really put me off. I hate it when such phrases are used.

🫧 One of my very important questions was unanswered by the end of the book and there was no hint as to whether it will be answered later or not

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This book was a good read. I enjoyed that it was fantastical and had a fun energy to it. The magical school aspect kind of reminded me of Harry Potter. It was a fairly quick and cozy read. I really enjoyed the main character Ivy Lovely who was outgoing and lively, I really enjoyed reading about her. This book felt a little young for my tastes but that is probably because I am not the target audience for it. There were also a few times that I felt not quite clear about what was going on or the significance of a scene but that could be a problem with they way I read it. Overall, I enjoyed this book!

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This book was such a magical journey! I really enjoyed it and I actually managed to read it in a day because I just wanted to keep reading. It did start off a little slow, but once I read a few chapters I had to keep going.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book. Ivy’s character development is one that is very prominent by the end of the book as she learns more about magic and friendship. Her friends Rebecca and Fyn help her along the way of this magical journey and even though they might get into trouble they still stick together. Ivy learns a lot throughout this book about herself, and I was very surprised at the ending of this book.

Ivy’s friendship with Winsome was something I really enjoyed in this. She had a kind, helpful and loyal mentor while she was trying to discover more about this world and he truly cared about her and their friendship throughout this book.


The writing in this book was very atmospheric and DE Night made everything easy to imagine and it made the book more magical. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes Middle Grade Fantasy/Young Adult Fantasy.

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Full Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher, Stories Untold Press, in exchange for my honest review.

First off, I wish this book was around when I was growing up, since I was and am strongly interested in the fantasy genre. D.E. Night created a beautifully-written world, in which any reader—no matter the age—can easily fall. After reading this first book in the series, one can expect a wonderful adventure ahead.

The story’s protagonist, Ivy Lovely, finds refuge in the Halls of Ivy, after fleeing an unfortunate, parentless upbringing. At the the Halls of Ivy, a prestigious school in Ravenshollow of Croswald, Ivy seeks out curiosities and meets new friends along the way. Looming over the entire magical realm, the Dark Queen’s constant unforeseen presence creates another curiosity to which Ivy feels deeply connected. Throughout her first year at the Halls, Ivy gradually learns of her mysterious past and ties to Croswald’s critical history.

I gave this book 4/5 stars, because of D.E. Night’s very skillful world-building. I struggled a bit with some of the dialogue—that’s not to say it was not good; it merely paled in comparison to the situational imagery crafted by the author. I was a bit confused at times by the characters; I mixed up certain characters at times and wished they had been fledged out a bit, particularly Colleen Holley Woodley Butterlove. That being said, Rebecca Connell was probably my favorite and seems an eager sidekick to Ivy’s future adventures.

All in all, I would highly recommend this book! To be honest, I was in a bit of reading lull and this booked helped me out of it.

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Going into this I knew this book was middle grade Fantasy, so I was excited to read a fun, easy adventure. And this book does have a lot going for it - an interesting magic system, all kinds of magical creatures, and a magic school.

However, despite all of this, I really struggled to get through this book. The writing was a little overly verbose (sometimes felt like there was obscure wording just for obscure wording's sake, that kind of thing). On top of this, the plot was a little all over the place and I often would get kind of disoriented. Overall, this left me fairly disappointed with this book. I wanted to like it more but these items were just too much for me to really get into it.

Finally, I do want to note there are a lot of comparisons to a certain middle grade fantasy series in reviews for this book. While there are a lot of superficial similarities (which do feel a little too specific and are honestly kind of distracting in how close they are), the story itself does differ quite a bit.

I probably won't be finishing this series myself, but if you're someone who doesn't mind the writing style and plot-pacing this book might be worth picking up!

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What a fun read!

If you have middle school age kids I would add this to their summer reading list.

Magic, adventure and fun characters made this an easy 5 star review for me. Following Ivy’s adventure and growth through the chapters kept me engaged and looking forward to returning to the pages everyday.

Enjoyed the pictures at the beginning of every chapter, felt it added to the magic of the book and set the tone for what was ahead.

This is book one of a series so if you enjoy the first pick up the rest.

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Thank you to the author and NetGalley for gifting me an ecopy of this book in exchange for a review.

Sadly I have decided to DNF this book as I cannot seem to get along with the writing style. I think the story is very intriguing and I was very excited to discover the magic of the story however I feel that the writing style is just not for me as it feels unnecessarily over-complicated and wordy in places, especially for a middle-grade/YA story.

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I was sent a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Crowns of Croswald was a wonderful story, brimming with a magical world full of imaginative concepts. The writing style is light, addictive, and accessible for younger readers. This book was full of so many fun ideas: cabbies that can fly, magical crowns, and a boarding school full of strange creatures and ghosts.

However, I could not rate this book higher than 3 stars because I could not connect to Ivy (our main character) as much as I hoped to. I wanted her to be more than the 'chosen one'. The story itself is very fast-paced. I think because there was so much happening, I was not able to appreciate her as much as I hoped to. That being said, I am intrigued in seeing where the story goes next!

I recommend this to younger readers (age 7-12)! (I honestly think I would have enjoyed it more if I was a younger reader)!








I would recommend this book to

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I went into this book completely blind and was pleasantly surprised from the first line. Imagine Harry Potter with a long lost princess who doesn’t know shes the princess. Even though this is clearly YA but i was still highly entertained and loved it.

Got this free ARC from NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review.

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The Crowns of Croswald
Author, D.E. Night
Pub date: 7.21.2017

Thank you, Stories Untold Press and author, D.E. Night for the opportunity to read and review this magical middle grade novel!

For middle grade fantasy fans, lovers of creative creatures and magical characters, The Crowns of Croswald is an action-packed and fast- paced novel for you!

In this magical, coming- of- age story, Ivy Lovely is about to learn exactly who she is and of a mysterious and enchanting new world. There is action, adventure, mystery, darkness and of course, plenty of light. As Ivy discovers more about her past, her magical blood, and the power of Croswald's mystical stones, readers are taken on a brave and mysterious adventure filled with magic, dragons, potions, and more.

I am now introducing this story to my children who loved Dragon Masters, Narnia, Harry Potter, and Wings of Fire. They are thrilled because there are now four book s in the Crowns of Croswald series!

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I wanted to thank the publisher for letting me read this for free for a review.
First of all, reading this book was like drinking hot cocoa on a cold winter day. It made me feel warm and it made me smile.
I was going to give this book a 5 star at first as it started really well. The story was compelling and the narration was quite enchanting. The world building was really great and I felt like I was in the Halls of Ivy. I loved the characters and Ivy but not a fan of Fyn. I wanted more of Rebecca.
When it came to past halfway of the story, I felt like the pace got slow and then the next chapter, so many events were happening at the same time.I felt like it needed more chapters to fully get into the story. That’s the reason why it’s only 4 stars.
I liked the book overall and it got me out of my reading slump. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

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Looking for a fun, fast paced read you can share with your family? Check. A magical school and a royal family shrouded in mystery? Check and check. The Crowns of Croswald quickly enshrouded me in the magical world of Royals and Scrivenists where magic flows but is strictly ruled by the looming shadow of the powerful yet secretive Dark Queen. The moment the story began, D.E. Night’s tale of 16 year old Ivy Lovely took me on a delightful adventure where we continue to meet lively and enjoyable characters, such as the mysterious man that only Ivy seems to know of and the spunky Princess Rebecca whose dream is to trade her royal crown for a quill and live out her dream as a scrivenist.

Though reminiscent of the spirit of Harry Potter discovering Hogwarts, it does a great job of creating its own enchanting world full of lore, magic, and it’s easy to become lost in the story. I would (and will) be reading this book with my youngest, who’s headed into third grade, but for my eighth grader, who is currently obsessively creating his own Dungeons and Dragons worlds, this may be too “young” for him in his opinion.

Personally, I love reading tales in all age ranges and thoroughly enjoyed it. I will say that though it was nice that the pacing moved quickly, it sometimes skipped over months at a time and I did feel a loss of getting to know more about the main characters and their growth and story arcs during those time jumps. I have so many questions that were left unanswered at the end of the book and am so thrilled that there are more in this series so I can continue my journey with Ivy. If you are an older reader used to incredibly detailed descriptions and prefer action similar to that of Lord of the Rings or A Court of Thorns and Roses, this may not be the read for you. If you have a young reader that finds long, overly wordy books difficult to get through, then this will be an amazing read!

Ultimately, The Crowns of Croswald was a fast read and one I would definitely recommend for readers that have a love of fantasy, mystery, and an adventurous main character who has a knack for always getting in trouble and has a fondness for blueberry pie!

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As I've learned in my writing class, it is best to start with the positive points and then move on to critique. So I shall follow what my teacher told me and start with the good stuff in this book, because despite the lower rating, there was a lot of really interesting bits.

I really loved the magic system that was used in this book. The royals of Croswald wear crowns with a magical stone, each stone specific for a certain type of magic. The Scrivenists are 'normal' people, born with magical abilities. They use these by their photographic memories and sketching with their magical quills. I found it a tad strange that both magic users followed the same classes, although have very different types of magic (at least, in my eyes).

The book also had a really mysterious and intriguing prologue, one that immediatly wanted me to know more, read on and discover all the secrets in this new world. And what a world it is. The old street with its magical shops springs alive in my imagination, the shopkeep has a very special personality and it fits his dusty, rickety shop. This shop is also used to have a little info dump, but its really well done and you barely notice the smart writing trick. Because of all the magical things the shop owner and characters in the first few chapters namedrop, you get the feeling of a story that is alive, colourful and full.

We get glimpses of magical classes, which are pretty interesting, although I sometimes forgot what exactly the point of some classes were. The Glanagerie class for example, looked a lot more like a plot device than anything else.

And so we have arrived at my little points of critique. They might be a bit nitpicky, and they might also just be because I am 21 and this book is clearly meant for younger readers. But here goes.

The first thing that stood out to me, from chapter one immediatly, was that the main character either acts too young or is too old. She does not feel like a realistic 15 going on 16 year old, even if you account for her being sheltered from the world. I feel like the author wanted to make her a bit older to make way for the romance that is probably going to happen more in the next books. Talking about that romance, if Ivy is almost 16, and a first year, and Fyn is a third year, doesn't that make him 18 years old? Is the line at which you are not a minor anymore different in your fantasy world? Because I found this a bit.. Icky. Definitely because of how the MC acts I kept envisioning her as a 12/13 year old.

The story would've been a lot more believable if the author went the Harry Potter route and made the main character that age. Talking about HP, some of the characters and things were very clearly either a HP reference or very inspired by the books. The money system, for example, the shopkeeper that reminded me of Olivander, Mrs. Butterlove who is a bit like Molly Weasley and Damaris being Draco. But, overall, it was not too overwhelmingly HP inspired, the classes where different, the school as well.

Talking about that school, it was super confusing and annoying that the main character is named Ivy, and the school is named the Halls of Ivy. After the plot twist at the end, I can see why the building is named this way, but it is never even explained? A lot of things aren't really explained well enough, or are resolved too quickly. Rebecca finding a quite cheap way out of the room, although she is supposed to be afraid? Ivy immediatly trusting a strange man hidden away behind a wall, even though everyone around her says he's been dead for ages? I get why the plot needs him and he is a good character after all, but the reader never gets the explanation as to why she trusts him. As an older reader I can connect the dots, but younger readers are gonna have a hard time following.

The explanation at the end of the book should also have been foreshadowed a bit more. As well as her magic being explored. In my eyes she now goes from knowing no magic to suddenly unlocking everything. Its a weird growth. Even when she says she's been learning more magic, it doesn't sound like she has, because we never got to see it.

And to be a tiny bit nitpicky, the houses are described as Tudor-style and the suits as Regency, but these are time periods of this time, not of the world Ivy lives in, I feel? Or is this an alternate history story in a way?

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book. It was a very quick read for me (about three hours I think) and I did like the magical elements and studying nerds having a main role in a book for once. But I am just not the right audience for this. But if you'd given this to eleven year old me? She would've loved it.

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This was a great example of fantasy. I enjoyed the story and think this world was fascinating to read. I highly recommend this series.

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Ivy Lovely, a 16 years old girl  who has lived as a scauldron maid at castle Plum. She likes to spend her time to sketching,  reading some books with her friend—Rimbrick, and dreams of going to the Halls of Ivy to learn how to become a Scrivenist. 

One day, on the morning of the Moonsday an incident forced her to leave the Castle. When she crossed the border, she discover that she has magic inside her and it made her end up to Hall of Ivy. Her adventure started there, She tried to find out about the things happened around her and find out about who she really is. 

It is similar to Harry Potter, but it's a different world and have its own stuff.

Aku cukup menikmati ceritanya, walau sampai pertengahan aku masih agak bingung ceritanya mau di bawa ke mana. Tapi dari pertengahan sampai akhir ceritanya mulai seru dan aku dibuat penasaran sama apa sih hubungannya Ivy sama dark Queen. Gaya tulisannya juga enak diikutin. 

I love the world building—I really like the concept about the Glanagerie and the Hollow Shaft, it's really amazing! And also magic system in this books, some of the students have stones with specific magical that they have to learn to control. 
 
Untuk tokohnya, aku suka karakter Ivy, dia pemberani dan penuh rasa ingin tahu, walau dibeberapa bagian aku merasa sikapnya agak kurang konsisten. Terus kadang aku ngerasa dia ini agak kekanakan untuk ukuran 16 tahun :) Sayangnya aku juga ngerasa ceritanya terlalu fokus sama Ivy jadi tokoh lainnya kurang keliatan gitu. 

If you're a fan of Harry Potter an like to read middle-grade books, you may like this book series.

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I thought this was a great book! I absolutely loved the storytelling and world building. The world was definitely unique but really fun! I will say that the world building wasn’t too heavy either. I also loved the main character Ivy. She wasn’t annoying or overbearing like a lot of YA characters are, which was a relief. The plot twist was a little predictable, but it’s ok because I liked it. I also thought the magic system was pretty cool because the royals and scrivenists had different types of magic. The writing was really clear and pretty easy to read for the most part. Overall it was a fun quick read!

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For the past sixteen years, Ivy Lovely has been nothing but an ordinary scaldonry maid. When Ivy crosses an enchanted border, magical powers she didn’t know she had come to life. She ends up at the Halls of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their own magic. When Ivy’s magic and her life are threatened by the Dark Queen, she races to discover the truth about her past before it disappears forever.

This book was so magical! Ivy was a likeable character, as well as Rebecca and Fyn. I also loved learning about the creatures and the world of Croswald. Although this book is aimed towards a younger audience, this was a fun and easy read. If you like Harry Potter or fantasy, this is the book for you!

Thank you @storiesuntoldpress for gifting me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

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