What a lovely and magical story! If this book had been out when I was younger, I would have gobbled this right up! Ivy is such a relatable character, and I was hooked through the whole story! I need more! The world was beautifully built, and while it is for a younger audience, I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is definitely one I will share with my nieces and nephews.

**I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

I went in blind to this book and didn't do any prior research to it, I really should have though. I'm a fairly quick reader and I ended up adding it to my DNF list. I got MAYBE halfway through it and couldn't make myself finish it. I kept hoping it would get better but no. It just, no. I absolutely hate writing bad reviews and I've been dreading writing this one.

It is essentially HP but less so, it follows almost the exact same plot. Some of the characters names were the same letters (different names or genders). The writing isn't as strong as it could have been and although this is geared towards middle school aged kids, there were parts in the book that I myself, an adult, couldn't understand. It was severely lacking in originality.. It just didn't measure up and it lacked big time. It's also written in third person, which ugh. It's hard to read, keep up with. Just was a struggle all around.

Overall, it's DNF for me and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. This was rough to try to read.

With thanks to D.E.Night and Stories untold

The crowns of Croswald is the first book in a series of middle grade fantasy books by D.E.Night

The crowns of Croswald follows the (magical) adventures of Ivy Lovely whom finds out that she has magic powers after being chucked out her home and soon becomes a student of Halls of Ivy, a magical school.

I really enjoyed reading The Crowns of Croswald, its full to brim of magic (both light and dark )fairies and all things magical. Whilst it reminded me a little of Harry Potter, The Crowns Of Croswald did manage to make its own world of magic and spells.

Looking forward to next book.

I received this book for free from the publisher (Stories Untold) in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! The magic school reminded me of Harry Potter, but I have never read the books, only watched the movies. However, the story was so unique. I really enjoyed the main character being a female discovering herself and her magic within. The world of Croswald is so whimsical and imaginative. Author D. E. Night did a fantastic job of describing the scenes, it really felt as if I was there! Also the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter was a nice touch to the book. They were beautiful and gave a small visual insight into the chapter.

SO MUCH FUN! I hadn’t found a good magical novel in a long time, and this one hit the spot. Night’s imagery is so whimsical - on more than one occasion I felt the pull to stay in Ivy’s cozy room or snuggle up with her little dragon pal. The ending was so good, too. Cannot wait to read the following books in this series! Highly, highly recommend!

This was an interesting read for awhile but then I personally got a little bored. I appreciated the book from the publisher as they had approached my friend and I for the read and review. It just wasn't the right time for me to be reading this one as it didn't hook me enough to continue. I think it is because I had so many on my plate and it just didn't live up to the others. I do see kids and younger teens enjoying it however and I will recommend to patrons who would benefit from this story.

What an enchanting little gem this was! This middle grade fantasy has a bit of everything: magic, adventure, twists, betrayal, young love, humor. The story follows protagonist, Ivy Lovely, who is brave, imperfect and oh-so endearing. It’s hard not to like her 🥰 For readers who enjoy coming-of-age stories and becoming immersed in magical worlds (especially those not as dark) this one’s for you. Although the vibe is similar to some other fantasy series, this does hold it’s own, especially being more light-hearted and directed at a younger audience.

What I didn’t like?
-The passage of time was a bit fuzzy. Towards the middle I didn’t realize where we were in the timeline. This was likely due to a lack of defining events, such as clear seasons, holidays, school breaks, etc. to give perspective.
-Most of the supporting characters felt somewhat underdeveloped to me. There were a few I would have enjoyed more backstory on. This affects the relationships and connections formed.

Thank you Stories Untold Press and Netgalley for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to be given a e-copy of this book because I have heard really good things about it. I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and this book has that magical boarding school special person who doesn't know how special they are vibe.
I enjoyed the character Ivy and I liked how one of the characters, Derwin Edgar Night, was a way for the author to bring her name into the story which is actually pretty cool. I also liked Fyn and the relationship him and Ivy have. The way they talk to each other and go back and forth is interesting.
I did feel that the story started out a little slow however, the story picks up once we are with Ivy at school.
Overall I enjoyed this start to the series and look forward to more.

A scent of magic will fill your room as you enjoy the pages of this enchantingly perfect book. An absolute imagination come to life in front of your own eyes with each chapter.
Beaming with shimmering magic and picturesque settings, any lovers of Harry Potter, magical boarding school fans and ‘from a maid to a princess Cinderella’ trope this book is for you!

We follow a sweet character called Ivy whose life is turned upside down when she goes from a scaldrony maid to an enrolled scrivenist at the Halls of Ivy’s. Everything is described in such beautiful whimsical detail where you sit back and admire the authors writing style of world-building and each character description. You read in anticipation how Ivy learns more about magic, and herself, and feel the rush of every troublesome adventure she goes on to discover the truth. The ending of this book is so sweet, and I am so excited for the next book! I can’t wait to see what Miss Lovely does with this all new-found identity. I’m also crossing fingers for her and Fyn to end up together! Her friendship with the other characters is heartwarming and seeing her being accepted(by some) and loved for her wittiness and uniqueness is like a warm hug.

There are beautiful illustrations at the beginning of each chapter and I loved that!

It can be compared to Harry Potter, but I think this book stands alone very well. This is the perfect read for middle graders +. I was entertained through out and read this in one sitting!


Only critique I have would be for more descriptive scenes of the classes they all attend, and the ending was quick and confusing- I had to read it again just to make a 100% sure I understood what was going on!

After reading this I also want a little dragon who makes me pies!

This book is Harry Potter meets The Descendants – and if you like either, you will LOVE it! With fantasy, adventure, and a whimsical, brave protagonist The Crowns of Croswald (The Croswald Series Book 1) is the perfect escape into a whole new world. Author D.E. Night intertwines magic, supernatural phenomena and mythological creatures with a creative spunk that I have not seen in middle grade novels recently. Ivy Lovely is a teenager stuck as a scaldrony maid surrounded by slurry fields which limits her magic. On Moonsday, she gets an invitation to attend the Halls of Ivy – the school for young Royals and up and coming Scrivenists to hone their magic, memories, and power. Once she crosses into this magical place and escapes the slurry fields (and Helga – whom reminded me of Agatha Trunchbull from Matilda), her magic begins to blossom, as does her curiosity. As year one at the Halls unfold, Ivy makes new friends (and enemies?) while trying to discover who she really is, turning this fantasy into a relatable, coming of age book for young girls.

As a mom, it was great seeing that for the Scrivenists quills and knowledge was used as their power (showing the love and importance of reading and writing), instead of a magic wand that would just make things happen. Of course, there were still lovely stones and potions – and changing scenes that included wonderful imagery allowing you to get lost at sea, in a grand ballroom, or in a tavern hidden behind a Bitter Forest with real lake monsters in a place – get this! – called Loch (get it??!!).

I do wish there was a little more of a backstory or that the characters such as the Dark Queen and the Selector, were developed more, but with two more stories already available in the Croswald series, this may be a purposeful ploy to grab the readers attention to want to read more. I am interested as well as to where the name “Halls of Ivy” came from for the school - which was never discussed (and Ivy never questioned it, strangely), but there obviously has to be a connection in the following stories.

I absolutely loved that Night added in personal touches with plays on words such as with her initials (DEN) and having a main character named Derwin Edgar Night along with the library called a “Den.” You can tell that this author is clever indeed and foreshadows some plot lines throughout the book, that hopefully young adults are able to pick up on. All fanatical fans from ages 10 to 19 will not be disappointed in this great read that checks all the boxes for me (and I’m in my 30s!).

Thank you so much to NetGalley and @danielastoriesuntoldpress for giving me the opportunity to read this book that I am sad to admit I hadn’t heard of before, but thoroughly enjoyed it and will be purchasing the next two books in the Croswald series soon!

Please follow me at @NinaNeedsNovels as I begin my journey reviewing books!

Special thanks to @netgalley and #storiesuntoldpress for the gifted copy and an opportunity to enjoy this book. All thoughts and review are my own.

The book’s imaginative storyline starts off introducing a new world of magic to middle graders. Ivy Lovely, an orphan teenager, lives in The Slurry as a scaldrony maid, who works in Castle Plum’s kitchen making sure that castle dragons are working hard for every meal and assistant to her horrible boss, Helga Hoff. When Ivy turns 16, her life in Croswald is about to change. She hops on a strange carriage that transports her to a school of magic for scrivenists (writers) and royals. She learns that there’s more to her gift of sketching than she realized. As the school term starts, strange things happen.

The Crowns of Croswald is a captivating journey of Ivy Lovely coming towards to her past and facing her future. It is @author.denight’s first installment debut of YA Fantasy book series that invites young readers to explore themes stepping into a whimsical story with dragons, magic potions, magical quills and mythical creatures.

I kind of feeling nostalgic when I was reading the book. It has similarities with Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone in terms of the formula and elements in the plot. Nonetheless, the book was able to hold its own. I could imagine that the setting of the story happened in the medieval times. There are funny creatures. And, the author’s creative language is remarkable. For example, scrivenists as writers, sqwinches and hairires (fairies). I just wish that there’s a map of Croswald to make this book more interesting. For sure, the sequel of this book is anticipated for young readers who are keen of fantasy fiction.

Ivy is a scaldrony maid with about as dreary an existence as the name suggests. The only bright spots in her life are her drawings and the stories Rimbrick shares when they see each other during the full moon. Until, that is, she gets swept away to the Halls of Ivy, where royals and scrivenists train in their magic. Suddenly, Ivy finds herself in a whole new environment which only seems to give her more questions than answers.

If you've a reader in your house who is looking to challenge themselves for the first time with longer chapter books, this is a good option. It's a wonderful bonding experience to read aloud together and show how reading can be magical and fun, not just a task for school.

Even if you aren't necessarily the "target audience," there are still a lot of whimsically creative aspects to enjoy. For a cozy reading experience, I would personally recommend this with some blueberry pie and clobber coffee (seriously, can that be a thing, please?)

The Crowns of Croswald is the coming of age story of Ivy Lovely, a 16 year old kitchen maid who unknowingly crosses a boundary into a world of magic, royalty, mystery, and evil.

D.E. Night does a really wonderful job building an intricate, magical world. The world building is incredibly complex; even from the prologue, Night does an incredible job delving deep into details about Croswald, its history, the magic, the creatures, the society, and more. The writing and the description is captivating. In the prologue, Night describes the imagery of the magic itself as a newly graduated scrivenest mades flowers and their scent appear mid-air. The Crowns of Croswald is one of those books that could have endless supplementary pieces to it if Night wishes and readers would eat it up.

The plot itself seems like an amalgamation of many stories—Harry Potter, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Tangled, Narnia, Alice and Wonderland. The Crowns of Croswald meshes pieces of all of these stories together and then adds new pieces of its own to create a new, interesting piece of work. Although there are similarities to other works, the story stands out particularly in its description in much of the magic. The glanageries in particular stood out to me as incredibly interesting and original. The plot is also incredibly fast-paced while still being a story that takes its time to develop. As the idea is quite complex, the length of description was necessary and enjoyable.

Unfortunately, everything from the climax onwards seemed very rushed. As the characters involved in the climax were relatively new and introduced directly for the first time, I wish there had been more time dedicated to describing everything going on. The last chapter in particular felt like ongoing monologues to try and illustrate all of the points that still needed to be understood.

Overall, the Crowns of Croswald is a great middle grade fantasy read for those interested in magic, enchantment, and mystery. I give this a 4 stars and really enjoyed delving into this intricate, magical world!

I am a huge fan of reading fantasy books so when I was asked to review the crowns of croswald, I couldn’t wait!
Although it’s aimed towards a young audience,
I still enjoyed every second of Ivys page turning journey! The beautiful world the author has created is just stunningly magical, I wish I could live in it!
If you’re a fan of magical schools and solving mysteries this is definitely the perfect book for you!
Also I just love the amazing cover artwork!

I can’t wait to continue the series!

I received a FREE copy of this book in exchange of my honest review.

FIRST, I WILL NOT FANGIRL OVER THE COVER as I already did to many of my friends!!! But it's GORGEOUS!

Now, let's get to the story before I deviate a lot about the art style of this book. This was an EPIC FANTASY JOURNEY and I will definitely read many more books to come by the author!! I love her IG feed too, so if you haven't followed around and you need a strong dose of magic in your life, please do!

Secondly, yes there are Harry Potter vibes but let's be very honest here for a minute: all fantasy books have some vibes from our favourite tween series, don't they? The book stands completely by itself, it's exciting, fast-paced and with well-rounded characters. I was in shock the whole time reading it really, as I was really sucked into this magical world so much, I would love to write some fanfic about it, lol

In any case, I should also congratulate the author on doing such good work with the scenery and bringing Croswald alive. I'm very happy that I received this book for free as I had never heard of it before, but now the author's world will have a special place in my heart.

I received a free copy of this book from the author/publisher I’m exchange for an honest review.

This book for me was a combination of a few of the worlds of magic I read as a tween, in particular Harry Potter and House of Night. Although it stood completely in its own right I did see flares of both of these worlds amongst the storyline. The story is fast paced and the characters likeable although at times Ivy does come across a little bit self absorbed. I went into this book thinking it was YA however I think it would suit younger teenagers more so. As I read this I found the similarities the book drew to Harry Potter difficult to ignore making it hard for me to not compare them, with Harry Potter’s plot being so extensive and the character development so good I found it made this book seem very light in comparison. I found the descriptions in the book really effective and they created great imagery although at times it did feel like a lot of description although I’m not use to reading books aimed at children and that might be why, at times for me it took away from how quickly things were happening and the combination of the pace with the description made it feel a little chaotic. Overall I think this book is certainly well written and the magical world well thought out. I think any child between 8-13 would be the perfect audience for this book and the cliffhanger ending is a great teaser for the rest of the series.

This was an immediate 4.5/5 star read for me, and I encourage everyone to check out this book and experience the magical beauty found within the world of Croswald.

I absolutely adored Ivy as the main character and loved watching her grow as the story progressed. I also think the author did a phenomenal job detailing and describing the setting of Croswald, down to each and every shop, classroom, and magical building we were able to visit. The vision I created in my mind was super clear, and I could only imagine how much I would have loved visiting this magical place as a younger teen/ child version of myself!

Without spoiling any of the plot, the ending of this book absolutely leaves things wide open for the second and third book to take the reader even further into the fantastical Croswald universe. I’d highly recommend this series to both young and adult readers who enjoy reading about fantasy, magic, mystical beasts, and lots of adventure.

I’m eager to read the additional books in this series, and thankful to publisher for reaching out to me and introducing the book!

The Crowns of Croswald is whimsical middle grade novel about a girl named Ivy Lovely who gets thrust into a magical school. The world was quite curious and the creatures were unique and interesting but nothing else really appealed to me.

The characters were quirky but felt bland and I would've liked to see more development with the friendships in the story. I never really felt the connection between Ivy and Rebecca or any other character she interacted with. The plot was also not great—nothing happened until half way into the book and even then I didn't understand the turmoil or point of the book. Overall, I felt bored while reading to be frank.

I really enjoyed this one. The writing was excellent. The characters very realistic. I loved the magic. Cannot wait to read the rest of this series. So good!

I first heard about The Crowns of Croswald sometime last month and I was very interested in the book from the start. The Crowns of Croswald is a middle grade fantasy story that involves a magical school, and I love a good book with a magical school setting and I have been wanting to try to read more middle grade books!

Throughout the book I was most interested in Ivy’s character. I enjoyed seeing how Ivy adapted to her new life as a future scrivenest and it was interesting to see what trouble she got herself into throughout the school year.

The other characters in the book were interesting as well. Rebecca and Fyn seemed to be good friends to Ivy, and Damaris was definitely amusing in her own snobby way.

Although I enjoyed the characters I had a little trouble with the world and magic system. I’m not quite sure where my issues come from because I understand that the crowns manifest their magic through magical stones and scriveners manifest their magic primarily through drawing. However, I almost feel like I didn’t see enough examples of students really practicing their magic.

I also had trouble at some parts imagining the world because at time it would be over explained and at other times it almost felt under explained to me.

The Crowns of Croswald would be a great read for anyone who loves middle grade fantasy books, and magical school settings. The magic in the book is interesting and I would like to see where it goes throughout the series. There are also several imaginative creatures other readers might enjoy in The Crowns of Croswald.