I absolutely enjoyed this book! It’s marketed as a middle grades fantasy, which isn’t a genre I am usually drawn to, but this book can appeal to all ages. The world building is flawless and the setting was somewhat reminiscent of Hogwarts, to me. That is NEVER a bad thing, in my opinion!
Ivy’s story reminds the reader that our self worth is not always reflected in worldly possessions. Even when we live a humble existence, we can still be destined for greatness.
The Crowns of Croswald is an ongoing series, with the fourth book’s pub date just around the corner.
This first book in the series gets a definite recommendation from me for anyone who is into the magical fantasy genre. An absolute must if, like me, you have a child who falls into that middle grades category. My son and I will definitely be finishing this series together!
Thank you to author D.E Night, Untold Stories Press, and NetGalley for the free digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Crowns of Croswald is a pretty magical read with interesting new creatures and a never-seen-before magic system set in a whole new world. However, my enjoyment of the book was greatly hindered by the fact that many of the magical elements, as well as the plot, were just too similar to Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone, and I found myself unable to fully immerse into the world because of this.

This was a great book! I received a digital copy of the Crowns of Croswald in exchange for an honest review.
This book introduces a young girl named Ivy who works in a kitchen with Scaldron dragons. When one of the dragons gets sick Ivy gets kicked out on the street and must venture on her own away from her work and her home. She is picked up by a cabby who has been looking for her and Ivy is told that she has magic and will be attending a magical school. He drops her off to buy supplies. But once she gets to the school, the adventure and magic really begins! This book immediately pulled me in and I loved the characters and the story. I love books that have characters with powers and magical schools! This is a book that middle graders, teens, and adults should enjoy 😊

I love the premise of the world and magic system in this book. Infused with a lovely little love story this shaped up to be a beautiful well rounded read. Even starting off a little slow for my normal taste it ended up being well worth the build up.

Thank you D.E. Night for allowing me a copy through NetGalley for my honest review.

I was looking forward to reading this, I don't normally read middle grade novels but the story sounded perfect for me. I did not finish it. I was somewhat disappointed. It almost felt like it needed to be edited more. The language and writing read a lot younger than I was expecting. I just found it hard to really get into the story because of that, it kept pulling me out of it. But you know it would be perfect for like someone in primary school who is starting their dive into 'bigger' books.

For fans of HP, magic boarding schools, and lost princesses who don't know they are queens... I'm not a huge fantasy reader but there is something about magic that is so fascinating.

What a fantastically fun middle-years read! As an adult I really enjoyed The Crowns of Croswald and will absolutely pick up the rest of the series in the future, and I know that 14 year old me would have obsessed over the characters, world and magical story.

The series was compared to Harry Potter to me which I think is a decent comparison. What captured me early on was the fun language. The author uses such colourful prose and really is artful with the picture of fun words painted on the page.

I enjoyed the characters, world and especially the domesticated dragons - can’t imagine cooking my food on a frying pan in a dragons mouth haha!!

This type of science fiction isn’t exactly my first choice when it comes to reading fiction however I was reached out by the publisher so I decided to give it a shot & I actually found myself enjoying it. It’s a middle school grade reading level & since I have a 12 year old sister her and I read it together. We really enjoyed Ivy’s character the best. The poor girl went through SO MUCH & found a way to persevere through it. I thought that she was a good role model for young readers (even though she technically got kicked out of school! LOL) I also enjoyed the magical concept behind the story line, it gave the whole book a “Harry Potter” kind of vibe but still kept it original with certain qualities such as the magical stones. Overall, I think kids would really enjoy it!

Happy Reading everybody!

*I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Thank you so much to Net Galley and Stories Untold, the publisher, for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I gave this book 3.7 stars.

y grows up as a maid and is constantly mistreated by her supervisor her whole life. However, at 16, she escapes the castle where she worked and finds out she has magical abilities when she's given an invitation to enter a famous magical school, where she's meant to unveil many secrets and mysteries.

I saw this as a late middle grade/early YA fantasy story.

The writing style was appropriate for the target audience and sometimes gravitated towards the lower end. It made this book a quick and easy read without being too simplistic.

The story is full of well-known tropes, such as "the chosen one", "the evil queen", "the servant that ends up being the heir", etc., which makes the plot quite predictable although you never really know what's going to end up happening until the last chapters. This may be biased given that I was expecting something completely different or the previous information to be misleading.

However, I did enjoy reading this and it took me back to my adolescent years. I would have given the world to have a female chosen one badass heroine's story for emotional support and validation. Ivy is not perfect; she makes mistakes and is too sassy at times, which gets her into trouble, but she's real and doesn't really need a partner's love to succeed, but friendship.

I feel I still need an explanation to how certain things were too easy they didn't make sense even in a fantasy story, such as her friendships and her winning over the bully.

The world building was quite well done and I could vividly imagine every character and place described throughout the story, including the colours.

If you want a fast-paced, tropey, and beautiful fantasy story with a happy ending, this book is for you. It warms the heart and puts a smile upon your face.

Let me know in the comments if you're interested in reading this, what was the last ARC that put a smile upon your face and what you think about books like this one.

The Crowns of Croswald

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I sunk into Ivy’s world, discovering the magic as she herself did. It was such a comforting book which I cannot wait to share with my daughters.

The main character Ivy really does have a talent for mishaps and misunderstandings which makes for such an interesting story. Especially as she has such a kind heart with genuinely good intentions which makes me hold my breath hoping she will find a way out of each experience.

As I move through the story I crave more information about the other characters in Ivy’s world. For most of the book, I don’t feel like I know them and following Ivy without sharing the experiences she would be having with these characters feels like I’m missing out. She is such a likeable girl that she would surely have some amazing friends around her. As I move through the final chapters I’m excited to start to get to know Rebecca and Fyn more.

I really enjoyed the unfolding of the storyline in little puzzle pieces as each time I learnt a little more I felt a buzz of excitement. When Rimbrick left at the beginning of the story I wanted to know more about where he fit in, and as I neared the end of the story he finally returned leading me towards Ivy’s true identity.

It is not often that you find a series of books that you just know will be regular comfort re-reads. Thank goodness for The Crowns of Croswald, our family loves a good magical story and with a strong, caring and kind female main character we have found new book friends.

The Crowns of Croswald is a fun adventure and magic-filled story for middle-grade readers. While I have seen a few listings calling this YA Fantasy, I would put it firmly in the middle-grade category. I enjoyed this fun trip to a world filled with newly discovered magical abilities for Ivy Lovely, whose story begins while she is working as a scullery maid for a large house. The blending of a Cinderella story retelling with a magical world not unlike Hogwarts was a nice twist on combining "something old and something new". I liked the distinct character development of Ivy and her new friends at school, as well as the cast of supporting characters. The plot was filled with fun adventure with perils for the heroine, but nothing too scary for younger readers.

The pacing was a bit slow for me but I think would be fine for younger readers, especially if this was a book being read to them. Following Ivy's journey from kitchen maid to student of magic, and navigating all of the twists and turns to unveil the mysteries and unknown details made for an engaging read. This is a series I would recommend to friends with kids, with a great first book to kick off the set.

This book gave me Nevermoor vibes from the start. It was a fun ride, with plenty of whimsical descriptions.
While I enjoyed The Crowns of Croswald, I simply don't think I'm the target audience for this one, but I did but a paperback copy for my daughter to read, so I definitely appreciate the story and characters, and think a younger audience would love this one!

The Crowns of Croswald is a YA/middle grade book filled with fantasy, magic and a good plot. Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story grabs you from the very beginning. The magic, the creatures and the story itself were fascinating to read. The descriptions of the different settings were well done, it felt like I was standing in each moment of the story. This book was fun to read and gave me some major Harry Potter vibes, in the best way. Definitely a good choice for a middle grade fantasy lover.

The Crowns of Croswald was a fun read that young fantasy lovers are sure to enjoy. It started out slower and took me a while to really get into it. The pace picked up and there was action and adventure that had me hooked, I thought it was quite fun.

I'm intrigued by the world and magic system. I like all of the characters but the side characters were my favourites.

I will definitely recommend this to younger readers.

I really feel like I'm not in the right audience for this book. 12-year-old me would have been obsessed with this, but to 20-something me, it was fine. Nothing extraordinary, but nothing terrible either. The world was intriguing, the characters were fun, the magic system was cool. The pacing felt weird, the decisions the characters made were a little baffling, the dialogue felt awkward at times. But if I ever get asked to recommend a book for someone in the 12 to 15 age range (particularly if they loved Harry Potter), this will definitely be at the top of the list.

3.5 stars from me!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sending me the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Crowns of Croswald is a Harry Potter -esque fantasy book that follows main character Ivy, an orphan who goes from slumming it in a kitchen to living at an amazing magical boarding school. It's fast paced, full of action, and a dragon here and there.

The writing style of this book was pretty fast, but easy to read. The book was definitely written for the middle schooler/young teen age category, but you can still enjoy it no matter what age you are. I read it by myself, and with my younger sister who is in middle school. As much as that is the age advertised to, she found the vocabulary a little much (for reference she’s 11)

This book would be a lot more enjoyable for someone who loves fantasy books, as someone who reads fantasy rarely, it's not completely my cup of tea. What I did enjoy was the side characters, who carried the story. The main character, Ivy, was a little hard to bond with but her friends were fun and easy to enjoy.

The beginning of the book is a little slow, but once she arrives at the school everything picks up. If you're looking for the same sort of magic nostalgia that comes with this type of story, but are looking for something other than Potter, this is great for you!

This book is a great target to the young audience and if I was a middle schooler, I would love this book and I did love it when reading this book. This book had so my description of new and fascinating creatures and terms that I could imagine the whole scenery as I read this book. The main character's (Ivy) curiosity and her character development is what caught my attention and loved how Ivy's world was portrayed as. Definitely a binge worthy book and hope everyone has the chance to read this especially if you are in a reading slump and don't know what to read.

Beautiful world, fun vibrant story, characters with unique magic, and some great generational literary references! Thank-you so much for the excellent read D. E. Night!

Thankyou publisher for the copy of this amazing master piece. The first thing that I would like to highlight here is that, I basically read mystery suspense genre more than any other genre. BUT THIS BOOK CHANGED MY PREFERENCES. This book, for me has changed my mind set and has influenced to the deepest of the layers.
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I never ever read something so magical. I read through the book, I could see things happening at the back of mind- lanterns of hairies, castle of the dark queen, the dark and evil queen.
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I am speechless. First in thr trilogy The book revolves around Ivy Lovely, set in a magical town, who goes to the school called Hall of Ivy- school for magical abled children. On the other side of the story, is a dark queen, who possesses all evil magic, superior to everything and has lived more than any other magical creature.
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But why is this dark queen so interested Ivy? A tale of magic, love, friendship, family secrets.
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I adored this book more that any other fantasy book ever. Now that I think about it, why did I not read this one earlier. I am very grateful to the publisher to have provided me with a copy of this mind blowing book. I would really love to explore the other two in thr trilogy.

I was transported to my middle school years myself and can guarantee that the audience it is intended for is going to love the book.

The book is about Ivy Lovely, who finds herself in Halls of Ivy, a school for fellow scrivenists and royals for learning about their magic. She goes from being a scaldrony maid to an eager sqwinch who learns a lot more than she ever expected.

It is full of magic and new terms and creatures that I was wide-eyed with imagination of the setting of the book. The book is an experience which I had with all the curiosity of the main character herself.

The book is not over explanatory with its world-system and rather focusses on what the audience of the book might be interested in. It is entirely up to Ivy and her curious mind as she lands herself in one trouble after the other. The best part of the book, was that the situations were so dangerous, that it was also comical that it was happening to a girl, who is just a child.

Ivy’s life has made a complete 360 degree turn but her friendships with Fyn and Rebecca always bring us back to her innocence and yet lays emphasis on her determination to know everything about the secrets that she is turned away from. In fact, the entire story is full of secrets that the readers will love to uncover in the entire series.

The Crowns of Croswald is a story that should be placed in every library of every school and should be enjoyed by every child who dreams of adventures not possible in real life.