A thrilling middle grade novel, The Crowns of Croswald opens an exciting world of magic and fantasy to its readers. I can see this book being read as a read aloud with families and students and being quite captivating. Ivy is an interesting, lovable, and curious character and we do see some character development throughout the novel. My only criticism is that the cast of students was not very diverse (aside from magical powers) and that some of the language I found was a bit too advanced the middle grade age group. This could just be my own limited vocabulary but there were some words I was not familiar with! The other side to this is that young people with adults can look up these words and find out what they mean. However, I think less common and challenging language takes away from the story when you are immersed in the plot. Overall not a bad novel, 3.5 stars.

*Preface I received an ARC from the Publisher and this is my unbiased opinion.

*Spoilers-

I found the story and its concept very interesting, I always love magical academia, growing up - I read a lot of books like this and was excited to try this. The lore was very interesting and a bit overwhelming at times but as is the genre. The descriptions for the school and magical items were impeccable. Ivy, as the mc, was very likable and I enjoyed her progress though the story. The other students, like Rebecca were enjoyable as well. And the tropes of school academia , like the mean girl and cliques was great to see in this setting.

But I did have some issues- I didn’t really see the passage of time, at a certain point, it had been months and I didn’t even realize that. Or that the end of the book was coming to the end of the school year. And the last few chapters, particularly the masquerade scene (I did very much enjoy the aesthetic and the gowns. I am always a sucker for school balls) was confusing. The Dark Queen appearing all of a sudden and her motive for attacking Ivy was …confusing.

But other than that- I enjoyed the story and the overall vibes of it.

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night.

3.5/5 stars.

A fantasy world where Ivy Lovely, who's been living in the Castle Plum for sixteen years, is called upon to attend the Halls of Ivy as a sqwinch (scrivenists in the making). Although the plot of the book somehow parallels that of the Harry Potter universe, it was interesting to read.

The ending of this book was a bit rushed whereas the other chapters were a bit leisurely.

There are sequels to this book, but I'm not sure if I want to read them.

Thank you to the publisher, author D.E. Night, and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Stories Untold Press for the gifted copy of this book, in exchange for my review.

The Crowns of Croswald is unlike anything I usually read. Fantastical. Sweet. Aimed at the young. And yet, I really enjoyed the experience of reading it. I sat down one morning in the midst of a slump and read it straight through. The magical, adventurous and enchanting world was a sweet escape. I highly recommend it.

Croswald is a charming place filled with palaces and quaint shops, but The Halls of Ivy (a magical school) is the real draw. What child wouldn't want to study there? Our main character is Ivy Lovely, a sixteen year old orphan girl who works as a maid. She has only one friend who is a dwarf. But one day she discovers her destiny to attend the House of Ivy alongside the royal and wealthy kids who are there. Ivy is thrilled!

What follows is danger, magic, adventure, silly antics, and mysteries. Of course there are similarities to Harry Potter, but the story is still wonderful and unique. The characters are relatable, and likable.

The book would be a wonderful gift for any child in your life, but especially for girls.

I literally finished this in one day!!! SO GOOD! I need the second book ASAP, The world building, the characters, everything was done tastefully. The magic in the author's words made me feel like I was in the her world physically. It was a much needed escape from everyday life, (even for a day). I really need to go buy the sequel. Alas it is not in the budget for this month. But I will be annoyingly recommending this book to allllll my friends and book club friends! Also a great read for the younger crowd! All around very well written and beautifully done. My Fae and Fantasy heart is very happy after reading this book! :)

Unfortunately no matter how hard I tried I could not bring myself to like this book. I was not entertained and found it hard to stay focused

I was gifted a copy of this e-book from the publisher in return for an honest review via Netgalley. That being said, I did enjoy this book even though it is written towards a younger reading audience. The only other fantasty book series I’ve read have been the Harry Potter series, and there were many similarities. I loved Harry Potter, though, so it’s not a bad thing …just hard to not make obvious comparisons while reading! I did enjoy the descriptive writing even when it was a little choppy and hard to follow at times. Ivy was also a very likable character and I enjoyed following her journey. For a non-fantasy reader, I enjoyed the book and would be open to read the continuing books in the series. Thank you again for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Crowns of Croswald is mid grade fantasy book by D. E. Night. The story follows a 16 year old orphan named Ivy as she leaves behind the life she’s always known and hated and thrust into a new adventure. She learns she has magic in her blood and is sent to a special school to hone her skills. Strange occurrences seem to take place everywhere she goes as she digs to uncover more about her past.

• This story was a quick and fast paced read. The author does a good job of describing the fantasy world of Croswald.
•The book is definitely geared to a younger audience so I felt like some parts of the story were a bit rushed and characters under developed. Some vocabulary would be difficult for this books target age range.
•This story had a very Harry Potterish Vibe to it.
•The story moves along quickly without a lot slow moments.

Overall, it was fun and easy read that I think Mid grade - Young Adult would enjoy!

What I loved most about this book was the writing style. The descriptions and imagery are so well done. I also enjoy the magical elements to this book and the world. I had a lot of fun learning the magic system!

*I was kindly gifted an eBook copy of The Crowns of Croswald via Netgalley for an honest review by the publisher.*

The story begins by introducing Derwin Edgar Night, a character whose name mirrors the author, D. E. Night. I noted this same “coincidence” in the title of the book as well but chalked it up to the possibility of the author being inspired by J.K. Rowling’s, The Crimes of Grindelwald.
I did find it strange to see yet another name correlation, but I was intrigued by the initial synopsis and other reviewers noticed similarities within this story and the Harry Potter series, so I continued on.


The character’s we follow are Derwin, a scrivenist who, after completing an apprenticeship, is assigned to write stories and manage the library for the royal family he’s assigned to. (At least that’s what I gathered.)
And Ivy, a lowly scaldrony maid who works in the kitchens in the House of Plum but seems to possess an interest and unspoken talent for scrivenry.


It was difficult for me to fully appreciate the story because the writing style was messy and disjointed. It was clear to me from the prologue, I was going to have trouble understanding what the author was trying to convey from one plot point to the next.

I could feel the author’s passion and excitement for the story through their use of whimsical adjectives but there was so much going on.
The magic system and introductions of the setting and characters weren’t clearly provided. They were thrown around on the page, which is where I found the disconnect.
To give you an example; we would receive a sentence or two about the town setting, then a character would speak, we would read a sentence about magic, then go back to the setting for another sentence or two, and finally end on what the character was wearing all within one paragraph.

The ideas were there however, I felt the author was unfortunately trying to do too much at one time. I think this book would have benefited greatly from a few more edits to clear up details and ensure sentence structures made sense for a cohesive reading experience.

I also wanted to briefly mention that this book is advertised for middle grade reading levels. As an educator, I don’t believe the writing style is set-up to accommodate a younger audience. Challenging a reader with a floral writing style can be enjoyable to read, if not overdone.
However, because the writing style is so cluttered with ideas, the challenging vocabulary takes away from the experience of the story, which I believe will put young readers off.

Unfortunately, because of the choppy writing style which pushed to include everything but the kitchen sink, I just couldn’t connect with the characters or the overall plot of the story. I found myself not caring to learn more or wanting to turn the page so I decided to DNF the book after the second chapter.
Even though I enjoyed all the fantastical elements this book promised to provide, I wouldn’t recommend it to middle grade readers.

Thank you again to Netgalley, D.E. Night, and the publisher for providing me with an eBook copy to review.

I was really excited about this book when it first came out, however by the time I actually got to reading it I had outgrown it. I still think this is a wonderful book, the worldbuilding is stunning. It has such a unique concept and story. It was truly magical. It's a solid middle-grade fantasy and fans of Harry Potter will love it.

Rating:🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
Age recommendation: 9 and above

I was approached by @storiesuntold and offered an e-copy of the book in return for an honest review. I'm so glad they did as I was introduced to a magical world of Ivy Lovely.

Ivy is a scaldrony maid and her only friend is Rimbrick, an ancient woods dwarf. Her life is pretty uneventful until the day she gets an invitation to join the prestigious Halls of Ivy as a sqwinch. Here, she becomes friends with Fyn and Rebecca and it looks like she may finally have found a place that feels like home.

However, wherever she goes, Ivy keeps finding references to a mysterious Derwin Edgar Night (clever! :) and she feels that she must find him. So begins Ivy's quest but it looks like the Dark Queen and her Cloaked Brood will do everything to stop Ivy from finding Derwin and learning the truth about her past...

'The Crowns of Croswald' is a gripping read filled with evil curses, glanagerie bottles and Forgotten Rooms (you definitely don't want to get stuck in one of those!). It's a coming-of-age story with themes of friendship, loyalty and finding your own path. Ivy is a very down-to-earth character and it's really hard not to like her.

When I first started reading the book, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it - I found the prologue quite weak and rather confusing. Luckily, it was just a blip as the story only gets better. D. E. Night created a fascinating world with some brilliant characters. There were moments that begged for more of an explanation or extension and that's my only tiny complaint. I really enjoyed the book and I can't wait to read part two of the series.

The minute I saw the cover for this book I was totally intrigued by it and the blurb pulled me in even further!! The world seemed to have a familiar feel, the aesthetic of it felt homely and the illustrations are amazing but it just seemed to be a bit lacklustre for me personally, there wasn’t enough depth the the characters and it just didn’t quite hit the mark unfortunately.

It is however, I think, perfect for middle grade readers who are just dipping their toes into the world fantasy. Especially if they have read certain books about a school aged wizard. It’s fun and totally magical, and I would totally recommend to anyone a little younger than me!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the e-Arc

The Crowns of Croswald is a magical middle-grade adventure set in the world of Croswald. Overall, I liked the story. It was a quick and fun read and it made me curious to find out more about the magic system, the characters and the world they live in. I couldn’t help but notice that there are some similarities to Harry Potter, which is why I think this series could be a magical new discovery for every fan of that series, or for the next generation of young readers who would rather read about a bookish teenager saving the world from a Dark Queen.
The story follows our main character, an 15-year-old orphan named Ivy Lovely, as she discovers the world around her after growing up in a castle situated in a field full of flowers that are dulling all kinds of magic. One day, she leaves that “bubble” behind, while running after her pet dragon Humboldt, and a man suddenly shows up. He introduces himself as Mr. Lugg, a scrivenist (the magicians in this world, using quills as wands), and gives her a letter inviting her to a magic school, The Halls of Ivy. Though wondering if she could ever fit in at such a prestigious school, she is nonetheless excited to start her studies to become a scrivenist herself one day. Ivy is a bookish girl; she has a thirst for knowledge and loves to read and sketch in her free time.
At the Halls of Ivy, Ivy meets her fellow students, both royals and future scrivenists, including Fyn (third-year scrivenist student) and Rebecca (roommate, royal). Together with Ivy, those two form some kind of Golden Trio, and during the school year, they will support her in any way they can. While studying different kinds of magic and fantastical creatures, Ivy’s also trying to find out more about her past, the parents she never met, the mysterious man called D. E. Night that no one seems to remember and a Wandering Family, now that she has a library full of magical books at her disposal.
I enjoyed the combination of academia and mystery. I also liked the way the story developed as Ivy learned more about the world she lives in, the magic that’s in her. The world-building is great; the author managed to build a magical and curious world that might take inspiration from other magical worlds, but still creates a new world that’s there for the reader to discover. Ivy is, as her surname suggests, a lovely character that’s relatable and you just love following her through Croswald and her discoveries. The ending makes me curious about how the rest of Ivy’s story will proceed, what more there is to explore in Croswald, so I can definitely see myself continuing this series in the future.

I DNFd this one.

I've seen so many people saying this is the new Harry Potter and I just couldn't vibe with it at all. I really wanted to like it but I just couldn't get into it and didn't want to pick it up.

However, I am aware that I'm not the target audience and although I do read the odd middle grade, I tend to prefer middle grade that has spooky elements.

I was hesitant at first to read this book when it was offered to me by Stories Untold (instagram). It’s been a while since I read a middle grade fantasy book. But since it’s a fantasy book, and I love that genre so much, I gave in.

I’m glad I did!!! First, the book was indeed magical. You can imagine how the entire world looks like just by reading it. Second, the story picks up immediately around chapter two when they introduced Ivy Lovely. I’m so used to fantasy books picking up around the middle already. I guess the author wrote it in a way that those teens who are just starting to read, or trying to get into reading will further be inspired to finish the book and love it.

Over all I love it. I recommend it to my daughter as well. She likes the film adaptation of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter but those series requires reading commitment for her very young age. 😅 But this book is a fast and easy read which I’m pretty sure she’ll devour in a day or two as well.

Such a fun, whimsical fantasy that swept me away into its magical world. I struggled a little bit in the beginning to keep everything straight, but I’m positive that’s only because I’m an aphant and can’t see anything in my mind.

Ivy Lovely is a Scaldrony Maid and has grown up in a castle surrounded by slurries. When she finds herself ousted from the castle, she is suddenly thrown into the adventure of a lifetime! She’s told she has magical blood, a sqwinch, and will be admitted to study at The Halls to become a Scrivenist. Throughout her first year of study, she makes friends, gets in trouble and attracts the unwanted attention of The Selector one too many times. What is so special about Ivy Lovely? She’s even brought the Dark Queen to The Halls!

What a magical story and book! Throughout the entirety of The Crowns of Croswald I felt as though I was transported into a magical realm and taken on an adventure with Ivy, the main character. This story definitely had points that reminded me of Harry Potter without being too similar and so if you’re looking to fall into a new magical world that is reminiscent of the vibes that the Harry Potter series gave off then this is perfect for you! As I was reading, I was picturing a movie playing in my head and would absolutely love to see this on the big screen one day. I do wish that I had read this when I was younger as I feel that I wasn’t able to fully connect to the story due to my age but it was wonderful, nonetheless. This is really the perfect book to get younger teens into fantasy and reading as it was easy to read and quick paced. Thank you so much to NetGalley and D.E. Night for the eArc copy of this book!

I liked this book and thought it was entertaining. It is YA, so keep that in mind! The world building and magic of it is fun and not like anything I have read before. It is a fast paced book for the most part, but I did not find myself connecting with any of the characters.

This was a magical feel good fantasy. I truly loved this book and could tell that the author was inspired by some of their childhood favorites like Harry Potter however this story was all their own. I loved the idea of a magic school for royalty and their potential advisor/sorcerers. The magic system itself was also interesting for example the Scrivenists (wizard/witches) had photographic memory and could use their quills to do some spells. That alone would have made this book worth reading but the author also included a lost princess, a curse that had to be broken, evil queen, a love interest and some other mysteries. I felt totally immersed in the world of Croswald and would therefore recommend every young fantasy reader pick this up.