I personally couldn’t get into this book and had to DNF it! I hate having to stop a book but it just wasn’t for me. However, I am grateful for the opportunity to review it. I do hope that others enjoy it more than I did.

I was gifted a copy of this book by @storiesuntoldpress and @author.denight in exchange for an honest review.

With honesty being the main goal here, I did not enjoy this book. I was very confused from the first pages and it didn't get much better as it progressed. The writing seemed chaotic and unfocused. The story was all over the place, and scenes came and went with very little explanation at all.

When I found out about this book, I was really excited to read it. I'm sad I did not enjoy it .

I think if I read this when I was younger, I would’ve absolutely loved it and ate this up!! It’s a really good middle grade fantasy novel.

I did not finish this. I thing there are others attached to this series and will need to look into those as well. But I am interested to read this.

I received a copy of this book 📕 from the publisher in exchange for an honest review!

A couple of weeks ago @storiesuntoldpress reached out to me about this middle grade book series The Crown of Croswold by @author.denight and being the momma of two elementary aged kiddos, I had to check it out!

The story follows Ivy Lovely, a lowly, orphaned, scaldron maid. In a series of unfortunate events Ivy is expelled from the only home she has ever known only to be met by a magical enrollment counselor who tells her she is gifted in magic 🪄 and is to begin classes at The Halls of Ivy, a school 🏫 for scrivinest studies! Ivy goes on a self discovery journey throughout the book to discover exactly who she is and who is the strange man she keeps seeing in her dreams!

This one was a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars for me! The beginning chapter was a bit confusing, and I had to keep reminding myself that Ivy was 16 (I kept thinking of her as much younger), and I wish the side characters were stronger. However, the world building, whimsical touches and magic systems were wonderful! It definitely checks all the boxes when it comes to a coming of age story set in a magical school!

Swept away in Croswald! I love when I can see myself in a MC and Ivy was just that sort of MC. I really enjoyed Ivy’s adventure and this world!

I already reviewed this book on Goodreads and Instagram but I realized that I did not include it here. So here's a short review!

My thoughts:
The world is so beautiful. It reminds me of Narnia and Hogwarts but it has its own unique features!
Ivy was such a sweet character! And her relationships with Rebecca, Fyn and others are so cute!
The writing was perfect! Everything just seemed so whimsical and magical!
Certain parts were a bit confusing but otherwise the book was perfect!

I recommend this book to everyone who loves long lost princesses, magical schools, and sweet characters!

Thank you to #NetGalley and Stories Untold Press for allowing me the opportunity to read a digital ARC of The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night. This middle grade fantasy novel will be published in July 2023. All opinions are my own.

Ivy Lovely has, thus far, lived a dreary, magicless life as a scullery maid. At sixteen, its the only life she's ever known though she has almost nightly dreams of a far-off place and a mysterious man. Following her sixteenth birthday, she receives an invitation to attend a magical school for royalty and scrivenists. She's excited to become a scrivenist and be able to sketch and use magic. At school, she learns that things aren't always what the appear and she soon discovers that the Dark Queen is out to get her, though she doesn't know why. To survive, she must unravel the mystery that is her past and find her inner magic.

I wanted to like this book so much, but it just fell flat for me. It uses the chosen one trope which I don't necessarily mind, but I just felt there wasn't enough character development. I enjoyed the unique magical elements such as the hairies, but the plot itself seemed overdone. Additionally, I found that there was often too much description of the surroundings and setting causing the plot to move at a slow pace. The book began very slow for me and did pick up about halfway or so through. the book has some solid elements and there are parts that many kids will love. It just isn't a book for me.

I was sent an e-copy of this book but Keep in mind this is my honest opinion :
This middle grade book had everything I love in a fantasy, magic, magical creatures a boarding school and so much more.
The magic was a bit different and I liked that, I liked learning about it and the world. It was really interesting, I loved how it had a bit of mystery.
it also has the chosen one troupe, which I actually really like.
Is starts off a bit slow at the beginning like any fantasy, but it then gets very intriguing!
I found myself enjoying the second half of the book more than the first half, because of all the action and adventure.

I’m definitely going to read the sequel!!

Another thing I loved was the friendships🤍🤍🤍

I’d definitely recommend this to young reader and to anyone who enjoyed reading Harry Potter.

A world with magic to discover and a girl's quest to learn how to use it is what this book is about.

A slow start to the plot but it does speed up.

Thank you #NetGalley and Stories Untold for giving me the opportunity to read this!

This story had enjoyable moments and a premise for a strong female MC. I thought parts of the plot were a tad underdeveloped. It was hard to tell what was actually happening until about halfway through.

There were times I struggled with the writing style but ultimately that’s because I realise this is not a book for me. This does not mean that it is a bad book and If you are intrigued by the story you should read it. There are a lot of similarities to Harry Potter / Alice in Wonderland.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"This book is definitely aimed at a younger audience, but I can still say that it was a very entertaining read. The clues were always too obvious and the writing style was not my favorite part of this adventure, but the characters and the plot were a delight."
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Absolutely love the magical world of Croswald created in this book. The characters are lovable and the story is just enchanting. Can't wait to continue on with the series and see where the story takes Ivy.

This book gave me serious flashbacks of the time I used to read Harry Potter. We have an orphan girl who has been kept in the dark about the magical world to which she belongs. We have an academy with strange professors who teach students about all kinds of magical things and beings. And we have a Dark Queen that is trying to get her way to be the most powerful one in the land. The adventures were really enjoyable, and I like school/academy settings as well. I had a nice time reading this book and if my students could read in english, I'd recommend this book to them in a heartbeat ! Also, we meet an adorable pet dragon, and I hope he gets more on-page time later on in the series.

I loved this whole magic system and Ivy as the MC, she was so fierce and this is definitely a world to get invested in to! Highly recommend for YA readers!

For those who don't mind retellings. This is an adventurous academia series with a female fun character.

Review

The Crowns of Croswald (The Crowns of Croswald Book 1)
By D.E. Night

Description

Middle grade/ fantasy.

👑Whimsical.
👑Magic school.
👑 Dark Queen.
👑Scrivenist

The best way to describe this book is Harry Potter meets Alice in Wonderland.
It's a fun fantasy story about a whimsical world with a dark history involving an evil Queen that threatens to destroy Croswald.
Can't wait to read the next book in the series, The girl with the Whispering Shadow.

There are four books in the series at the moment.

I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Thanks to Stories Untold Press, D. E. Night and Netgalley for a digital copy of this book.

#thecrownsofcroswald #netgalley #denight #storiesuntoldpress

I really really wish I had a lot more nice things to say about this book, because I don't think it is a bad book at all, but, unfortunately, it didn’t really work for me personally.

-The writing:
I can’t say that the writing was bad. It just didn’t grip me. Despite this, even though it wasn't my thing, I do think that the writing itself was actually pretty good, and a lot of people could enjoy it.

-The characters:
The characters were bad per sè, but they were too similar (in personality and role) to characters from other popular books (mainly Harry Potter). Another thing I didn’t love was the use of overly descriptive names, such as “Ivy Lovely” and “Woodley Butterlove”, but that’s just personal. Except from this, I still liked the dynamics between the characters.

-The worldbuilding:
I actually really liked the worldbuilding. I absolutely loved that the author didn’t just rely on pre-existing magical creatures but created some new ones, such as scaldrons and hairies. I also liked the cabbies, and the corresponding storm clouds following them to keep them hidden. I think that was very imaginative.

-Any other notes:
I was a bit disappointed when I got the feeling that the fact that this book is supposed to be middle grade was seen as a bit of an excuse to make certain elements too cartoonish and not flashed out enough, but I still believe that many children could really like this anyway.

Again, I wouldn’t say this was a bad book, at all. It just didn’t work for me, and maybe it would need a bit more originality.

I was not a fan of this book unfortunately. I found it far too much like Harry Potter. The beginning was laden with exposition and the sentences quite awkward in places. I liked Ivy but found she and her classmates to be unrealistic sixteen year olds.

I had high hopes for this book because I really want to read more middle grade fantasy. I did not finish this book. It felt a little scattered from the first page. It felt like too much info was being dumped onto the reader without clearly understanding the world. I may take another chance to read it in the future, but maybe this story just isn't for me.