Ivy Lovely is 16 and she has no idea who she is—or what her powers could be. When she crosses a magical boundary, she discovers a whole new world of enchantment and mystery. Making friends that will last a lifetime—and save her life—she steps into her own abilities and discovers more about her hidden past, magical blood, and the power of Croswald’s mystical stones. But all is not well: a dark history and an evil Queen threatens all that is good. Will Ivy’s bravery and wit be enough?

I absolutely LOVED this book and couldn’t get enough. I am so happy that it is part of a series and I already have the next book lined up to read.

Filled with magic, mystery and tension this book was jam packed from start to finish and I could hardly put it down. Ivy is a fantastic female protagonist that I know young readers will relate to and love. I was buzzing to see if she succeeded in her endeavours and was laughing and crying with her through every obstacle she had to pass.

D. E. Night has definitely created a world and series that I cannot wait to return to. Roll on book two!

This was very cute and whimsical. Middle Grade Fantasy is usually not my thing, but this was a pretty enjoyable read over all and I am glad that I gave it a chance. I think this is definitely appealing to fans of Harry Potter, as it does give off a very similar vibe, but in a new story. Very cute!

“There’s a reason I opened my door to you, Ivy Lovely. The same reason you’ve been hidden away for sixteen years. You are special.”
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This is a middle grade fantasy story that follows Ivy as she goes from maid to a magical school for royals and scrivenists. While there, she’s presented with the mystery of Derwin Edgar Night as well as discovering her own identity.
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I really enjoyed the whimsical magical system created by the author featuring crowns that bestow different powers as well as magical quills not to mention the different magical creatures present throughout. While it’s a small thing, I also really enjoyed the sketches that accompanied the chapter headings. This would be perfect for fans of Harry Potter-esque stories.
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I had two main issues with this story. The first is that several of the magic key terms were incredibly similar with one or two letter differences that meant vastly different things. It was easy to keep mixing them up. I did enjoy how the story poked fun at this: “You all really should start coming up with new names for things, she told the Selector. It’s all very confusing.”
The other item I found lacking was the overall details and world building. The story is deliberately vague in certain areas because of the curse; however, there were other opportunities to work on the world building as Ivy discovered new information and forged new relationships.
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Overall rating 3.5⭐️

This book was a very magical book and took you into a new fantasy world full of creatures, magic, and scholars. Many readers, including myself, may feel seen by the idea of scrivenists, who love reading, writing, and researching in this world.

The novel was very reminiscent of childhood books that I read, and made for a nostalgic read. I think it's a good introduction to fantasy for young readers.

While certain parts of the book felt too fast-paced and made me feel like I was missing something, overall it was a good, easy read. The magic and the determination of the heroine made you want to come back for more. Relationships were built between the characters that you became invested in and wanted to learn more about. I would recommend this book to someone looking for a short fantasy read that is still fun and engaging!

I went into this book not really knowing much about it and I truly fell in love! Ivy is such a great character, she is determined and kind and I was really rooting for her the whole time. I also love all the descriptions of the magical creatures and powers.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the free NetGalley e-book copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is perfect for any middle-grade individual who would like to dive more into the whimsical magical world that is similar to Harry Potter. It was such a nice adventure along the way and to find out all the twists and hidden secrets was so cool! Definitely a fun fantasy read! 10/10 recommend!

Thanks to the author's team for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

YA isn't much of my thing anymore (now that I'm a jaded thirtysomething) but the magic in this book is stunning. Ivy was a great heroine, full of life and a desire to learn. Very reminiscent of the early Harry Potter books where the whimsy to darkness ratio was still fairly whimsy.

Thought that some parts of the book could be fleshed out a bit more - there was a lot interesting things that were glossed over in an attempt to streamline the plot.

Overall -it was cute! Will definitely recommend to my nieces who fit perfectly in this demo & I'm sure will fall in love with Ivy & her magic.

3⭐️

This wasn’t a terrible read but it wasn’t the best.
The pace is choppy at times and Ivy reads younger than 16 but that could be intentional in how she grew up away from the world.
At 50% I still was unsure of the plot and then everything seemed very rushed at the end.

I would definitely say this would be a good read for middle grade readers who like HP as it is very similar.

The publisher of this book, Stories Untold Press, reached out to me on my Instagram page (@mrsclarkcatlady) to review the first book in this series.

I really enjoyed this book and will happily add it to my elementary school library! As a fantasy fan, I was drawn into the world immediately and started making connections to other stories that I have read. There were very obvious comparisons with Harry Potter (young child with a hard upbringing going to a school for magic), but I don't think it impacted the story.

Right from the beginning, I was intrigued by what scriveny was and appreciated that there were little mysteries throughout the plot that kept adding to the intrigue. There were many surprises along the way and lots of action. In a way, it felt perfect for the target audience of middle-grade students (grades 4-6) because it was fast-paced and descriptive. However, as an adult reader, I felt like it skipped around a bit and I was left with some questions.

Overall, I loved the world that this book created and would like to read more books in the series to see where it goes.

📚 Book review
The Crowns of Croswald
🖋️ D. E. Night
⭐⭐⭐/5

If you are a fan of fantasy and magic then this book series is for you!!

In the first book, The Crowns of Croswald, t is described how the protagonist Ivy , a sixteen year old girl, discovers her magical abilities and tries to familiarize herself with them. Along the way she catches the attention of the Dark Queen and all the action begins.

As a fan of Harry Potter books, I couldn't say no to that. I really liked the descriptions of the magic school, classes, dorms, etc. The characters are well written while Ivy is a strong and powerful female. The author with her writing introduces us to a fantastic world full of dragons, potions and mythical creatures. Here, I want to point the fact that both the main character and the villain are women. Also, an interesting addition was that the second main character was named after the author.

It is a quick and fun read full of adventure and magic. Definitely I want to read the second book too as it is very promising.

" The Crowns of Croswald invites young readers to explore themes of stepping into their own magic, discovering their true selves, and battling evil head-on. "

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and author for leaving my honest review.

Crowns of Croswald is about Ivy Lovely who has grown up in castle Plum as a scaldrony maid (a maid tending to dragon like beasts whose mouths are used as ovens). When she is abruptly forced to leave she immediately gets picked up to go to a magical school and discovers she has magic of her own. Leaving might however have some consequences Ivy could never have foreseen.

The thing I enjoyed most about this book was its unique magic system. Right from the prologue I loved the idea of sqwinches with their magical quills and as the story progressed and showed us more of the world and magic I fell in love more. The unique creatures, the magical quills and the crowns were amazing to read about and kept me intrigued throughout. Some of the names within the worldbuilding were a bit in your face, but making up names seems like a hard job so it is not too bad, definitely not considering this book is meant for a younger audience.

Ivy Lovely is quite the impulsive character, which gets her in quite some situations that could have been avoided, but were a fun experience. She was a well-rounded character that was fun to read about. Rebecca and Fyn were also a delight to read about. There were some more stereotypical side characters, such as the typical mean girl Damaris, which I personally do not really like.

I did really enjoy the school setting this book has. I have always loved academia in books, so that did not come as much of a surprise. That being said, I do think some things within the book could have benefitted from a little more detailed description as it was hard at times to imagine what the room or characters looked like.

The overall plot was nothing special I would say. It is something that I have personally seen done a lot already. It’s a storyline that has been put into a different jacket quite often and that I have consumed quite much already. This made me see some of the reveals coming miles away, unfortunately. I would just say that it is a storyline that is no longer something I seek for in books as I have seen it done a lot.

The writing was solid. I would say that it is suitable for the age category of the book and that it was easy to read. As said before I could do with some longer descriptions of the current setting, but overall the writing is solid.

To conclude I would say this is a very good read for a younger audience, or people just starting to venture into the genre. While it is not a personal favorite I would recommend it to people if they are seeking a book like it!

This book was such a blast! I want more worldbuilding! Not because it was lacking but because the world is so wonderfully and interesting I just want to be able to explore it all!
I've never ever read of a more interesting magic school than this one!

I want myself some of these adorable creatures pretty please I am in love !

I absolutely cannot wait to read book two and discover more of the amazing secrets of this world and our sweet main character!

Very well written, just not my type of book. I really wanted to get into this book but had a very hard time since it is not the type of story I normally read.

I adore middle grade fantasy, so obviously I was drawn to this book but was extremely lucky to be given a netgalleu addition by the author. The Crowns of Croswald explores finding your own magic, which is such a fun but important subject for this books audience. Night creates an exciting world full of magic, adorable creatures and brilliant characters. I loved the protagonist, Ivy, and couldn't help but think I would have wanted to be her (and still do) as a child. I hope to see this on more bookshelves soon!

I finally got around to reading this and honestly I'm not sure why I put it off for so long!

I've always been a huge fan of Harry Potter and this book was just up my alley! The world building, the writing and the characters are all super entertaining and well-written. I am a huge fan of strong women as main characters and I absolutely loved Ivy. The fact that the main villain is also a woman is a big plus for me too, and love the fact that so much is still unresolved. Looking forward to the next book!

What a lovely and magical book?! The first thing I enjoyed about this book was the world building which was appropriately done. The creativity was awesome.

I recommend this to young fantasy lovers.

The Crowns of Croswald (The Crowns of Croswald #1) by D. E. Night
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Fiction, Fantasy, Magic, Adventure, Middle Grade

This is a middle grade book set in a magical world full of adventure and mystery. The majority of the story takes place in a special school for magic so with that and the magical aspect as well as the adventure Ivy has been thrown into, it’s hard not to think of Harry Potter. However despite some similarities, overall it is quite different. I loved the world the author built. It wasn’t too difficult to understand but also not overly simple. By the end of the book things definitely weren’t resolved and I can only imagine what Ivy will discover next and how the threat of the dark queen will develop.

The Crowns of Croswald is book 1 in a coming of age series geared toward families to read aloud/middle grade students.
The story has elements of the magical worlds of Harry Potter, Narnia, Wonderland, and lands from other books you never wanted to end.
Do you and/or your middle grade student enjoy dragons, magical quills, potions, and mythical creatures? If you do, pick up a copy and give it a read.

⭐️Rating: 3/5
✍🏼Author: D.E. Night
📖Genre: YA Fantasy

💭𝑀𝓎 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈:
This entire book reminded me so much of Harry Potter. Ivy’s character development was really magical to read, and it was filled with excitement and new adventures. The discovery aspect of her character was probably my favorite part, but once she came into her own… I didn’t love it as much as she wasn’t as likable of a character. I would have loved to see more detail around the supporting characters as well, I felt like it was heavily focused on Ivy.

I struggled a little with the plot in understanding where this was headed and where Ivy would end up.

I really enjoyed the magical land and fantasy, D.E. Night did a fantastic job being descriptive which allows the reader to really get lost in this book! I think younger readers will enjoy this book a lot. I’m rating it a 2/5 primarily because of the heavy similarities to Harry Potter and it was sometimes distracting separating the two. Again, the plot wasn’t very clear until it was. I think as an adult in my 30s, it wouldn’t be something I pick up and want to read again.. but this should be great for a younger audience.

Thank you NetGalley and D.E. Night for the digital copy of the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Rounded up from 3.5 stars.
First, let us just get the most obvious point out of the way. Yes, this has severe Harry Potter vibes.
Now that doesn't have to be a very good or a very bad thing. In this case, it was complex. In some places it felt amazing to get the nostalgic feeling of Hogwarts taking over but - a book needs to be mostly original (unless it is an actual retelling) for it to fully work. The amount of parallels I can draw from that series is astounding. Not necessarily in the best way. Too many similarities I'd say. The vibes are good, don't get me wrong - they just seem a tad bit more similar than they ought to be.

What worked in this book? Well, Ivy is pretty awesome.
A middle-grade fantasy series with a female lead is not something as common as one might want it to be and for a rare entity, you have higher expectations. And Ivy delivered.
The world-building is good and I do absolutely admire the original aspects that the author has brought to the book. A very intriguing fmc and an enigmatic female villain that we know pretty much nothing about yet, even after book one - two BIG wins in my opinion honestly. It really is interesting to learn about Ivy's past and I do want to find out what is up here and why the villain became the villain.

I felt that the writing was slightly anachronistic for the setting. Certain words and phrases don't actually fit in with the otherworldly, fantasy space that this was set in.

Thank you Netgalley and D.E.Night for giving me an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.