Packed with fantasy, adventure and imagination, this is a tale which will make young fantasy fans' hearts beat faster.

Ivy is a kitchen maid at the castle, lives in a cupboard, and loves to sneak outside to sketch. When an accident with the dragons under the stove occurs, she's forced to run until a huge creature with a rider stops her and tells her that he's taking her to a school for those with powers. She doesn't believe she has any but is convinced to sign up. At the school, she not only learns more about magic, meets interesting students including royals, but also learns about the Dark Queen. But things aren't all wonderful. The Dark Queen is more than a threat to Ivy and her powers, she's a threat to her life.

After reading the blurb on this one and seeing the lovely cover, I was excited to get my hands on an ARC. The tale and world are quite imaginative and will have young readers hooked by all of the wonderful details and creatures—it's the stuff dreams are made of. Ivy is also a lovely character, who is easy to like and root for as she learns about her own past, meets amazing characters and faces obstacles, which will keep the reader at the edge of their seat. It's a fun start to what promises to be an exciting series.

I especially loved the details and way the author weaves in the world building with little glimpses and not word-avalanches. This along with the whimsical touches create a world perfect for middle grade readers. Even Ivy fits the middle grade roll nicely with her innocence, behavior and thought processes. And this is also where a little problem comes in. According to the story, Ivy is sixteen, but never during the read did I have this impression. She comes across as a very solid 11 to 12 year-old more than most of the time. Normally, this would throw the book into the young adult category and their are brief moments which would suggest this book should be there, but as said, the writing style, world building and most happenings are too young for many teens.

All in all, this is a very fun and imaginative read. There are more than a few obvious parallels to the Harry Potter series, but that doesn't hurt the general flow of this read. It's an enjoyable tale and great for fantasy fans.

I got this book for free from the publisher (stories untold) and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
And what can I say, I am totally obsessed with the world the author has created in this book.
I am usually a little skeptical about reading books with a magic school, because I m afraid it would be very similar to Harry Potter. This book is infact a little similar to Harry Potter in the sense that it has a magic school which teaches about potions, magical creatures and certain charms. But that's where the similarity ends. And the world that author has created is very unique with the rules of it's own. I loved everything about Croswald and Halls of Ivy. And I loved the character of Ivy lovely.
Just give me Ivy Lovely and crosswald related Merch already. She is just so adorable.
The magical classes in the book were pretty enjoyable too. I wish there was more of that in the book though because we get very less of the side characters in the book. It tends to focus only on the main characters and her friends, except the mean queen bee maybe.

Now coming to the storyline and plot, I liked how delicately so many complicated concepts and ideas are tied up in the story and yet it all fits so well together. And when the book ends you are left with wanting to know more of Croswald and where the story would lead for Ivy and her friends.

I would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy or middle grade novels. This will certainly make you nostalgic for all the fantasy reads you have read as a kid or a teenager.

The writer really captures a beautiful world full of lovely characters. You really feel connected to the characters.

I cant wait to read the other parts of this series.

Book Review-The Crowns of Croswald by D. E. Night
.
.
In Croswald, the only thing more powerful than dark magic is one secret....
.
.
Thank you @netgalley for this digital book to read and review.
.
.
This was a cute story about a young girl discovering her abilities. I quickly became invested in Ivy and her situation. The school was exciting and trying to figure out the plot was fun. The friendships Ivy makes throughout the story were sweet. I wish there would have been more back story at the beginning to set up the world a little more but the ending explained this a little better. This is the first book in this series and I already have book 2 lined up in my kindle.
.
.
I gave this book 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and look forward to my next adventure in Croswald.

If you like fantasy, magic, adventure and mystery then this is the book for you! Ivy Lovely is a lowly servant who is thrust into a world she only dreamed of being a part of. Along the way she develops new friendships and finds out about a past that she never knew she had. This is a great middle grade book for fans of Harry Potter looking for their next magical read. This book hooked me from the beginning. I found myself not wanting to put the book down so that I could escape into Ivy's world a little bit longer. Just when you think you have things figured out, there are more twists and turns in store for you (and Ivy!). I absolutely cannot wait to read the next installment of this magical series.

I was offered a free copy of The Crowns of Croswald from netgalley and the publisher Stories Untold for an honest review, which is what follows.

I missed out on the Harry Potter craze, at least in book form. By the time I was really aware of the series I was an adult and several books behind, so I made the decision not to read it. So for better or worse I can not compare this novel to that series as I have seen others do. I also normally do not read books that fall into the YA or younger category, but this sounded interesting and I have three nieces, one who is old enough to enjoy reading and has read Harry Potter, and is always looking for new reading material. I'm glad that I did, because I found this story to be really enjoyable.
Having a young female protagonist made me happy. She was likable but not perfect, which I think is important to teach children is okay, to not be perfect. I found all of the creatures fun to read about; I felt the author put a lot of thought into them and it showed. They were distinctive, I could visualize them after reading the descriptions and I kind of wanted them to be real.
The plot did feel a little predictable to me, but I am an adult, so I am not sure if would be to the same to the age intended. The plot flowed easily; there never felt to be a forced issue to get from point A to B. I really loved the idea of scrivenists and their relationships to their crowns' families. As a whole, the world building was wonderfully done in my opinion. I am interested in how the rest of the series goes from here.
I gave this 4 stars because it is something that I would suggest to others to read, or would gift to someone. As I said, I did enjoy reading this very much, but do not see myself re-reading this, which is one personal requirement to giving 5 stars.

When I was asked to read this book and leave a review I was excited, because I will read anything fantasy and while reading the summary I was intrigued.
The beginning of the book set the story up well and it had me curious about where it was going to go. The main character, Ivy, was very likable and I thought that her character development was realistic and relatable. This world is magical and pretty much anything can happen. Sometimes I felt myself get distracted because I was paying attention to what the author was describing about the world that I got lost about what was happening in the plot. .
Ivy is a maid who through some trials eventually gets let go, and as luck would have it the night she gets let go is the time someone approaches her about a coveted position at a school to harness and craft her magic. I enjoyed reading about her school days, I just wish there were more of it. The whole year passed by and I wanted to read more about her education and her time with her friends and my favorite characters Rebecca and Flyn. As I read the second I hope to see her relationship with both of these characters grow.
This is a middle grade fantasy, which is innocent and definitely character driven. The antagonist was a mystery through most of the story and it left the door open to create second book following their adventures. I will be sure to read the second because now I am attached to Ivy's plight!

I have seen this one show up on my Instagram feed quite a few times and when the publisher reached out, I figured why not! The cover is definitely an eye-catcher and the blurb had me very curious. I also do enjoy a good Middle Grade every now and then!

I wouldn't say that there is anything wrong with this book in particular because I did like it but there were just a few things that kept me from really latching onto it.

Ivy is a good character that is quite special but I had a hard time connecting with her. I felt like her development was a bit underdone. The other characters felt a bit a flat, especially the professors. I did like the relationships that Ivy was forming and it was nice to see that development between her and Rebecca. To me, friendships are so important in books.

The magic in this book is quite interesting and very creative in its own way from the creatures/pets to the books that magically appear again. As for the plot, I think it suffered a bit at the beginning because the pacing was on the slower side but as you continue reading, the pacing gets better and the plot picks up which made for a good read. The book did end on a cliffhanger as it opens up for the next book in the series. I will say that this did remind me quite a bit of Harry Potter. Although that was the case, like I said above, the author does a good job of creating her own magical world and making it something new.

Overall, this was a good read. It definitely was harder to connect with but I can see the appeal for younger kids to enjoy this book.

The Crowns of Croswald tells the story of our young heroine Ivy. Young Ivy works as a servant near the rather unfortunate sounding slurry fields. Despite a rather bleak existence, Ivy finds herself yearning to read and draw, activities a young servant wouldn't have need to do. After a run in with her supervisor, Ivy finds herself out of work. Thankfully she meets someone who takes her to a fresh new start where she is to be educated. Though her circumstances improve, she still has obstacles to overcome: a terrible classmate, odd encounters at the school's dining halls, and a queen everyone seems petrified of, but that no one likes to speak of.

Ivy's inquisitive spirit leads her to many adventures and near scrapes. D.E. Night does an incredible job creating the Croswald world. From her descriptions of the Halls, to various stone magics, and especially the creatures, the reader could step straight into Ivy's world.

For fans of magic, the underestimated, kids who just don't fit in, or anyone who just loves a compelling story, this one is for you.

The Crowns of Croswald was something completely out of my wheelhouse. It's one thing to watch a movie like Harry Potter and another than it too read about an alternate world filled with magic in meticulous detail. It was awesome at times and overwhelming at other times. I did love Ivy and her characters story of being "the chosen one" but at times felt disconnected from Ivy as the story seemed to trail off. All and all I think young readers will love this book. I thought it was good but definately will steer back towards my favorite genres. Thanks Netgalley for my ARC

The Crowns of Croswald follows Ivy Lovely, an orphan who receives an invitation to the famous Halls of Ivy, a prestigious magical school for budding royals and scrivenists alike. The school opens up Ivy's world and her curiosity leads to a series of adventures that may hold the key to unlock the secrets of her past. And she needs to do so before the Dark Queen can have her head. With her loyal friends by her side, including an adorable dragon, Ivy will discover a legacy that may very well shape her destiny.

When I first heard about this book back in 2017, I initially thought that this was YA, but upon reading it, it is definitely middle grade. While Ivy is sixteen in this book, and other characters are in the same age group, there is a childlike, almost innocent atmosphere to the story that made it feel and read middle grade and that is not a bad thing at all. Though, I wish that the characters were younger to make the characterisation more believable. Ivy is essentially well into her teen years but she had that innocence about her and that sense of wonderment that would be better suited to a 11-years-old or 12-years-old, rather than a teenager because that age typically is all about the angst.

That said, if Ivy was that young, this book would be so much like Harry Potter which really solidified the story as middle grade. It had a lot of similarities, like the magical school setting, chosen one trope, school supplies shopping, and even the classes were somewhat modelled after that. Though, I did enjoy the little twists the author did on the magic system like how wands were quills or crowns and magic bottles. I found the magic system to be my favourite part of the story because of its whimsical nature. What I didn't particularly liked about the world-building was the timeline. I didn't have a firm understanding of the time period of some of the past events and I wished that it was written more clearly because the ending made me even more confused with the timeline

In terms of Ivy's character arc, I enjoyed her love of learning and curiosity. I really liked all her troublesome adventures in the school. What I will criticise on is that her character embodied the chosen one role where the progression of her skills was more so told to us than shown. I would have loved to see the actual growth in her abilities not just be told that she was always on top of her spells, or not just having little snippets into her classes. It felt like the whole learning aspect was more prevalent despite the whole magic school backdrop which was kind of a disappointment for people who love school settings to see characters learning.

The other characters lacked certain depth and Ivy's relationship to some of them also lacked that substance or that natural relationship growth. I would've like the relationships to at least remain platonic for at least one more book to really develop the bonds and interaction.

In terms of the plot it was a fun and entertaining ride. I found it intriguing and the climax was surprisingly action-packed relative to the rest of the book and I liked the display of magic. The reveal at the end was certainly interesting and I'm curious to see how future instalments will play out.

Overall, I liked the story and I found the plot entertaining to read.

Rating: 3.5 My Review: Everyone knows how obsessed I am with Harry Potter, so naturally I’m drawn to magical stories like this one. There are many magical elements and detail in The Crowns of Croswald, however, although many have compared it to Harry Potter.. I felt it to be very different. It’s a beautiful story full of magic. The novel is written in third person, and the world building is very very detailed it does get drawn out a bit, but only gives the reader even more info, and background, This happens during the first half roughly of the novel, the second half picks up so fast, and there’s a lot more happening. It’s not a fast paced novel, but I appreciated that. Sometimes fast paced means not enough detail or character development.

I loved that this novel takes place in a magical school, and a lot of the story focuses on learning, as well as methods of learning. It’s perfect for the age range that it targets, middle grade to young adult audience.

Verdict: I truly enjoyed The Crowns of Croswald. I recommend it to all readers who love reading fantasy, love a great magical read, and an uplifting main character. Also.. points to anyone who can tell me what the authors name and one very important character in the story have in common!

<I>Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy in return for an honest review.</I>

It took me a while to put my finger on exactly what I didn't like about this book. It's not a bad book per se and no one could say that D. E. Night lacks imagination, even despite the fact that the story, in broad strokes, is pretty much the same as <I>Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone</I>. The problem, I found, was that there was too much imagination - too much world building.

Every page is so full of details about the world, and there is always a staggering amount of things happening non-stop that the descriptions have a bit of manic energy about them. Visually, it would probably be really enjoyable to watch. As a book though, the world itself take such precedence over characters and story, that those two elements of the book end up being so generic that they feel like an afterthought put in simply to move the reader through the world. Much of the "plot" is really Ivy being pulled from location to location simply so that another room can be described and the reader can be informed of another academic point about magic and Croswald life. The school scenes especially feel episodic, like Ivy is only in class so this mini-episodes of school life can happen and another generic character can be introduced. Even the parts of the book that are specifically plot points, such as Ivy discovering that her school books have become blank, are dumped in and then immediately forgotten about by the main character. It is hard to care about events in the book when the main character does not seem to.

Overall, I think young readers may enjoy the energy and pace of the book enough to be fine with the bare-bones plot, but the world building will likely not be enough to balance out the other generic elements for more experienced readers.

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a little of Harry Potter. This is perfect for younger readers. I loved the world that the author set up, and the characters. I love how Ivy questions everything and wants to learn. And I love the friendships she forms during the book.

I was a little confused during some parts of the book. I would have liked to have known why the Dark Queen was after her, more information on the Selector and the process of how one is chosen. It seemed to be bare minimum and didnt flow smoothly until a few chapters in.

Let's start off by acknowledging the elephant in the room: we have an orphan of unknown parentage who suddenly ends up at a school of magic, there are magical creatures and shops, and new friends and powerful enemies. In short, there are a lot of similarities to Harry Potter, with a bit of Howl's Moving Castle & Anastasia (the movie) thrown in for fun. D.E. Knight has risen to the challenge, however, and managed to write a fresh and interesting magical coming-of-age story, creating a world that I would love to visit again.

On her sixteenth birthday, we meet Ivy, a spunky and kind sixteen-year-old who cares for the dragons that cook the castle food. She gets kicked out of the castle kitchens for defending one of her little dragons, and so her adventure begins as she leaves the only home she has ever known by catching a ride in a set of small cottages built atop a magical creature that transports magicians to and from a town with no name. Also, the creature creates its own magical storm that prevents the Dark Queen from being able to track the magical cabbies.
Further adding to the spell of this world are books with disappearing ink, a key that causes anything locked inside to be forgotten, glowing creatures in place of electric lightbulbs, and worlds inside of bottles that can be entered.

We follow Ivy through her first year of school as she studies potions, sneaks of the grounds, is chased by bewitched quills, and discovers secret rooms as well as her own identity. She has to face fears, learn to trust others, and cope with loss all while learning the rules of a magical world she never knew existed, and she does it with determination and charm. I look forward to reading more about this young heroine, Ivy Lovely, as she continues to learn, grow, and become more of who she is meant to be.

I've been in a big Middle-Grade mood for quite a long time now, so when I was approached with an offer of reviewing this book I jumped on it immediately. The blurb sounded magical and like something right up my alley. Unfortunately, after reading the book I was left with some mixed feelings.


I'm going to jump right in and not give you a synopsis, because that's just how I roll. While the idea for the book was great, it wasn't too original. Don't get me wrong, nothing is new anymore, everything has been done before in some shape or form, I know that, but the amount of parallels between The Crowns of Croswald and Harry Potter was astounding. Ivy being an orphan, who sleeps in the cupboard, going to a magical school, does that ring a bell? The one mention of money is so reminiscent of J.K. Rowling's system it made me do a double take. The letter of acceptance with a list of things needed for the school term and the street on which Ivy does her shopping... I mean, one of her teacher's name is Filbert Fenix and he's so small he has to stand on a chair and a stack of books. If that's not a reimagined Filius Flitwick, I don't know what is. There's even a Peeves of sorts, he's just called Jester. I could go on for a while, but I think I've made my point.


There are many original bits of the story, too, which could make an incredibly rich and magical world if not overshadowed by he aforementioned things. The story itself definitely had a potential and maybe develops more in the next books. I enjoyed the magic system (though I wanted to know more about it), the way the Startus works, and people turning into tomes, and the bits and pieces we got of the world was quite interesting. Minus the slurry. It's never really explained what it is, and a mention of slurry fields make me think of manure slurry. Was it on purpose? Is it just about fields heavily fertilised with... shit? Or am I wrong? Please tell me I'm wrong.

Ivy was not my favourite protagonist. She was selfish and made a lot of terrible decisions. She wasn't a particularly good friend, either. I think has she been younger (12 or 13) or if the book was more YA than Middle-Grade, I would enjoy her more. I wish we got more depth from the supporting characters, a bit more Winsome (unfortunately he turned into a plot device) and less mentions of Woodley Butterlove loving butter.

Overall, I thought the book had a really huge potential that just wasn't reached. The plot, though busy and exciting, seemed choppy and all over the place. Everything moved too smoothly. The whole middle part of the book was one event blending into the other, and suddenly we were nearing the end of the year - it did not feel like months have passed. I wish the story flowed better, because it's definitely one that could be read in one or two sittings. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would and I found it slow to get through. Too bad, because as I said, the potential was sizeable.

2.75 stars

I’m having some complicated feelings about this book, so I’m going to split my review into Good/Bad bullet points, so I can portray everything accurately.

The Good:
* The action kept me engaged throughout the story. The Crowns of Croswald is nothing if not entertaining.
* I enjoyed reading about Ivy’s various misadventures—some of the things that happened to her were surprisingly funny.
* Ivy herself was a great main character, and I was definitely sympathetic to her plights.
* It’s definitely appropriate for middle grade readers. The tone of the writing is great for that genre.

The Bad:
* I couldn’t help but compare everything to Harry Potter as I was reading—the influence is very clear, especially in the plot, and that made it hard for me to view this novel as a unique work.
* Complicated world-building. I’m still confused about some of the choices made.
* Being thrown into a story is all well and good, but I would have loved if someone would have stopped along the way to explain what Scrivenists are, how magic in Croswald works, and how the crowns work with that magic.

I’m giving The Crowns of Croswald 3/5 stars, because while I had a few issues with it, it was still an enjoyable read for the afternoon.

I love all the magic! This book has some similarities to Harry Potter. I love how the story is well written and the characters are loveable. Also, the atmosphere was amazing, I felt like I was brought into the world with the characters, and I was taken on a journey. I would definitely recommend this book!

I was asked to read this book in exchange for an honest review by D.E. Night’s publicist, Daniela from Stories Untold, so thank you!

Magic, new mythical creatures, a school for those gifted with either royalty or magic and a main character who thinks she's a nobody who turns out to be somebody. For the most part, it checks off every box on a middle school must-have list, but “The Crowns of Croswald” by D.E. Night didn’t give me the rush of excitement I was quite hoping for.

“The Crowns of Croswald” follows the story of Ivy, a young girl who escapes from the eyes of her overseer Helga and ends up attending a magical school called The Halls of Ivy. At the school, royals and magicians both go to learn skills that they will go on to use in their adult life. At the school, Ivy ends up learning a lot more about herself, her family and the world she lives in. At the same time, she meets friends, both royal and magical, teachers and even a boy she likes.

I both enjoyed and didn’t care much for this book at the same time. Starting with the negatives to get them out of the way, and giving Night the benefit of the doubt, it’s hard to write a magical middle school book series when so many already exist. Having read most of the Harry Potter books, I feel like I have a rose colored magical lens that I read magic books through and it’s hard not to draw similarities, especially since this book has so many.

The main character starts out in a bad situation that they’ve been in for a while. A mysterious person comes and tells them they’re going to a magical school where a better life awaits them. You have the standoffish characters who think they’re better than the normal students who make fun of then. The professors look extreme and always seem snobby and appear that they know more than letting on. The main character gets their way after breaking the rules, they find out somebody is after them who ends up being the main villain for the series, they find out they’re much bigger than they could ever imagine and then everything changes from here on out.

If you’re looking far enough away and squint, it sounds like Harry Potter or one of the other numerous middle-school books along the same lines. I don’t feel that personally there was enough for me to call it a unique story, but that doesn’t make it bad necessarily.

Now on to what I liked about it. Night has a gift for storytelling and world building. Even though it is not aimed for my audience and age range, I thought she did a magnificent job creating a unique world and tying things back together in the end. There were a lot of names that would pop up sporadically in the book and I thought I was going to have a hard time remembering the importance of each character, but it was easy and enjoyable.

And although I found a lot of similarities between her book and characters to the work of other authors, her characters are still enjoyable and the story is still fun. To any middle schooler or even late elementary schooler, I could easily see this becoming a well beloved book at a library or book fair.

The Verdict
D.E. Night’s first book in her ongoing series is a fun yet repetitive story that takes readers on a journey that feels a little too familiar at times. Despite the story, Night’s world building and storytelling creates a book that is unique to her and sets the world up for future installments well. It’s a quick and easy read for anybody looking for something not so deep and fun. I will definitely be picking up the second and possibly third one.

4.5/5 stars (rounded up to 5)
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ivy Lovely is just your ordinary scaldrony maid. Her life revolves around taking care of the scaldrons in the castle she is employed at. However, everything changes when she is suddenly whisked away to the Halls of Ivy--a school for royals and scrivenists to practice their skills. Like the other students, Ivy attends classes and practices her magic, but something about her is different. Things that aren't quite normal keep happening and she can't help but wonder why no one else has the same issues. Many secrets have yet to be revealed and Ivy is determined to set them free.

This book was a delightful and entertaining read! It's a middle grade fantasy novel and is the first in a trilogy. I can't help but acknowledge the Harry Potter feel of this book! Despite having some glaring differences from the Harry Potter series, this book has a very similar feel to the series as well. The Halls of Ivy reminded me of Hogwarts and I adored the magical creatures seen throughout the book. The little hairies that provide light and the scaldrons sound rather cute! The magical aspect of this book is it's most defining feature and I love the way the author set it up!

The characters are also quite interesting. Ivy, a curious girl who can't help but get in trouble; Rebecca, a girl determined to define her future herself; Fyn, a boy with a knack for showing up just at the right time, and many more! I can't wait to see what trouble they get themselves into in the the next book!

Ultimately, this is a wonderful book for middle grade readers! With magical creatures, funny and meddlesome characters, and lots of adventure, this is sure to be a great fantasy series for younger readers!