I didn't connect at all with anything in this book. Not the writing, not the characters, not anything. This one put me in a major reading slump.

I became enchanted by the story of Ivy and her journey of exploring her magic, stumbling across mysterious and strange occurrences at the Halls of Ivy, and the Dark Queen lurking around the corner! Truly magical! I felt like I was right there on the journey with Ivy!

The book itself is a light and entertaining read. Great book for young and old. I quickly became captivated with the characters and Croswald itself. Ivy with her clumsiness and naivete, but her eagerness, boldness, and determination to figure it out regardless of the consequences. The magical, mystical creatures in the book are so enchanting that it makes me want to have my own scaldron and hairy, or to feed drumnuts to a shorehorse. I find the Selector and Fyn, Ivy's little crush, to be very mysterious and there's more to these two that I'm hoping to find out in the next book.

The Crowns of Croswald was exceptional! A true gem!

Synopsis:
Ivy Lovely, an artistic orphaned maid, is left homeless and jobless on the first Moonsday after her 16th birthday. As luck would have it, she finds out that she has magic coursing through her veins, and that her destiny is to attend Ivy Halls to be a Scrivenist. Join Ivy as she makes new friends, learns more about her family’s past and works towards honing her magical skills!

What you can expect:
- Strong female protagonist & antagonist
- Harry Potter vibes (The first 30% had very similar themes, but the rest of the novel really distinguishes itself)
- A pet dragon

The Verdict: Truth be told, I didn’t quite get into the book until Chapter 7; however, after that point I breezed through! That’s not to say that the writing before that point wasn’t good. I really liked the prologue and how the “author” exists in many dimensions as a writer of this book and as a writer of other books within this book. The author has a knack for writing details which can be enriching if you have a mind for fantasy. I can totally see myself recommending this book to students aged 8 - 12 years and to anyone who particularly enjoys a woman-centric fantasy story.

This one took me a long time to get into - I tried starting it several times, but fantasy (particularly teen fantasy) isn’t really my genre!

Eventually I got stuck in and found it a little more enjoyable than I had expected. It’s well written and has the right sort of level of adventure and mystery for a teen fantasy book.

It seems very heavily based upon the Harry Potter books, and I think because I grew up reading and loving them so much, I struggled to find this one as interesting or exciting, as I was just comparing it to the HP books the whole time.

I found it hard to engage with the characters in this book for some reason, perhaps because I am not within the age bracket of the book’s target audience, so struggled to relate to and empathise with the characters.

I think a teenager who enjoys fantasy fiction would love this book, but it just wasn’t quite suited to my taste so sadly I don’t think this series is for me.

Rating: 3/5

The Crowns of Crosswald is the first book in The Crosswald series by D.E. Night. While I’ve never read the Harry Potter books (I did watch the movies), this book really gives me the Harry Potter vibes. The story has the same structure and although the story is actually different, it seems as if D.E. Night really got her inspiration from Harry Potter. In addition, the story also resembles Alice in Wonderland. This however should not spoil the fun, since The Crowns of Crosswald is a unique story after all.

Ivy Lovely has lived in a dark and hidden castle for 16 years. She spends her day reading stories, and this is her real passion. When one day she suddenly receives a visit to the castle, she appears to have the unique opportunity to study at the most magical school in the country called The halls of Ivy. And although Ivy doesn’t believe she has any magic herself, she goes to school with her dragon. But once outside the castle’s borders, Ivy finds she might be more magical than she thought she was. Throughout her studies, Ivy becomes more and more curious about the secrets of the halls, and this leads to a threat from the dark queen. Will Ivy be able to unravel the secrets of the halls? What does the dark queen want from her? What magical powers will Ivy develop?

The story has a very long-winded prologue. In my opinion it could have been left out, because it doesn’t add much to the story. The events from the prologue are also explained again later in the story.

D.E. Night has managed to write a very magical story that takes you as a reader on an adventure. However, in my opinion the story remained superficial and I missed a bit of depth. What I really like is that D.E. Night takes the reader in search of a mysterious character named Darwin Edgar Night. And as you may already have figured out, this name is a huge reference to the author herself. Personally, I find a less pleasant reference in the story, although I am curious about the secrets of Darwin.

The Crowns of Crosswald is a must for fans of Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland and is very suitable for readers from the age of 12. It’s a nice introduction to the world of Crosswald, and I am curious what the next parts will bring in this series.

The Crowns of Croswald was a delightful young adult book! It had a definite Harry Potter influence, with a cross of Sleeping Beauty (for the "didn't know she was a royal" aspect). Following the story of Ivy Lovely, who is kicked out of her job as a cook and maid in a castle, is suddenly picked up by a magical creature and invited to attend a magical school. She encounters some challenges with her classmates and finds that she has more magical powers. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and I will probably pick up book #2!

The Crowns of Croswald is a no-brainer recommendation for fans of Harry Potter. It's also a great series for children who want to read HP, but find the size of the books daunting.

This story is reminiscent of HP in that the main character is unaware that she has magic; only discovering that she has magical heritage when suddenly swept away to magic school. And that's not the only similarity. There are shenanigans and secrets aplenty.

I found this book to be fast-paced and action packed. The misadventures of the MC are what drives the story. It flies through the school year without any filler. Often, several weeks or months are skipped entirely. It's all to get you to the big reveal. I won't spoil it, though.

I, myself, prefer a character driven story, but nonetheless found this book very entertaining. I also enjoyed the familiarity and had fun comparing the worlds.

Rating rounded up from 3.5 stars.

*Thanks to Stories Untold Press and NetGalley for the complimentary copy for my honest review*

This story was so fantastical and I definitely see the comparison to Harry Potter, this would be a great read for any middle grader or really anyone at any age. I loved the whimsical creatures and the world building was so imaginative and descriptive, it's like you were actually in the story. I'm very excited to read the next book in the series.

This gave me big Harry Potter vibes! I hope the subsequent books have lots more on the history of the world and characters that were not included in this one. Overall a delightful read, especially for our middle grades folks.

Such a spellbounding book! At first we a thrust into a world of royalty with magic crowns and scrivenists with natural magic. Mesmerised by the authors portrayal of glowing hairies (yes hairies) and THE TOWN and the land of Croswald.
Ivy Lovely who has only known a life of a Sculdrony Maid  and Scurry fields has always dreamt of joining the Halls of Ivy School. After a series of unfortunate (or fortunate) events Ivy finds herself heading to the Halls of Ivy.

When Ivy arrives she notices some peculiar events happening. Meeting her best friend and roommate and her prefect friend, Ivy finds herself having backup on her journey to discover the truth of her strange reoccurring dreams. Who is the faceless man? Is he good or part of something much darker?

Forming unassuming friendships and alliances Ivy finds herself the target of a dark being. Slowly beginning to uncover elements of a 16 year old mystery with connections Ivy would never have believed only a few months earlier, the book ends with Ivys life being flipped and landing herself with knowledge, alliances and gifts she yet knows what to do with. I cannot wait to explore the story further.

This first book was full of magic, mystery and coming of age stories. Mystical creatures, projections of deceased scrivenists and carriages who have there own weather... if you are looking for a book to keep you on your toes, this is the one!

Firstly I would like to thank Daniela Stories Untold Press and Netgalley for offering me an ARC of this book to review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This book was absolutely fascinating, It seemed very Harry Potter-esque to begin with. The premise being a young girl , named Ivy, who doesn't know she is magical until she is whisked away to a school of magic. Very Harry like. However she unlike Harry is a part of the magical world already and is aware that it exists. She works as a scaldonry maid using dragons to cook food for her castle inhabitants. She dreams of being a scrivenist and learn all about magic working for a royal family.

As the story develops a magical world is built before your eyes, at parts I was left a little confused as the amount of detail was very Intricate and there was a lot of new language. However I got into the swing of it and fully enjoyed Ivy's adventures as she navigated the world she was becoming a part of and began to unravel the many secrets cloaking her life and her history.
There were some nice side characters, Fyn and Rebecca plus some fun characters to loathe (namely Damaris) as well as the distant fear emanating from the Dark Queen and her cloaked brood.

All in all it was a fun YA story and it will be interesting to see where Ivy finds herself in the future books of the series.

*Disclaimer: I was kindly gifted an electronic copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Do you want to be transported to a world filled with magic, mystery and adventure? Does the Halls of Ivy sound intriguing? Perhaps there's magic in your blood and a hidden scrivenist inside you. The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night is the perfect read for you. This is the first book in the series, so this is a magical journey that you won't easily forget.

That being said, the moment I started reading I was absorbed into this unique story about sixteen year old Ivy Lovely who works as a scaldrony maid at the Castle Plum. She is friends with a dwarf named Rimbrick, but as she discovers her true identity at the famous magical school, the Halls of Ivy, the name of Rimbrick will come across her path, revealing information that adds to the changes in Ivy's life.
With the shadow of the Dark Queen looming over everyone in Croswald, something is tugging at Ivy as she attends her classes in the Halls of Ivy. She feels drawn to the Forgotten Room which houses everything that needs to be forgotten, even the memory of the existence of the room is forgotten.

I loved the detail the author puts into the little things for example Ivy's Reading List included in her First Year Class Schedule. The titles are so well-named and seem realistic. My favourite is The Compass Collectis: A Collection for Collaboration and Comprehension One million authors and counting. I also love the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. While reading this story I experienced an indescribable feeling, perhaps it's the magic, but it left me wishing Croswald was real. This story ends on a cliffhanger and leaves you wanting more.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of middle grade, coming of age, Young Adult and obviously magic! Lovers of Harry Potter will definitely enjoy this.
Other books in the series: The Girl with the Whispering Shadow #2 (published 23 January 2019) and The Words of the Wandering Book #3 (published 30 May 2019)

4/5 stars:

16 year old Ivy Lovely is unaware of her true powers until she gets carted away to a magical boarding school where she discovers a new world filled to the brim with enchantment and mystery.

Despite its occasional choppiness, the pace of this book is whimsy and very fairytale like. What I love most about it is that author D.E. Night takes classic fairytale components and spins them around in new and refreshing ways. This story is very reminiscent of classic fairytales and is perfect for those who want to delve further into a more unique and exciting tale. I adored the illustrations at the heading of each chapter, and the energy I could feel emanating from this book kept me turning its pages late into the night. Readers will love Ivy and find her self-discovery empowering. A whimsical, largely empowering and magical tale, The Crowns of Croswald is perfect for fans of Harry Potter, the Chronicles of Narnia, Roald Dahl, Alice in Wonderland and the Sister’s Grimm series.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

It's hard to resist a children's fantasy story involving magic, old castles, evil queens, royalty. Reading this was like cutting a beautiful cake, only to reveal all the deliciously wonderful layers that are on the inside. This didn't feel like a typical fantasy, it felt like a fusion of sci-fi, adventure, fairy-tale, making it both enchanting, entertaining and utterly adorable. This is an e-book, but I'm hugging my kindle right now.

When Ivy Lovely gets an invitation to attend the school of scrivenry, she embarks on an unexpected journey she never thought was meant for her. From day one, Ivy is entangled in inexplicable events, which make no sense to her, because she doesn't know who she is and why she is there in the first place. She has a lot of mysteries to solve, and a lot of them involve magic.

As our lovely little heroine Ivy learns about the school and the world around her, I kept anticipating every single spark of knowledge and recognition that revealed who she actually is and what she can do. I loved that this wasn't just another adventure to read, but a story that tells us about bravery, love, stepping out of your safety zone and taking chances, but most of all, tapping into the source of inner power and fearlessly becoming who you want to be or who you are meant to be.

I was pleasantly surprised with the worldbuilding and completely engrossed in the descriptions of all things, creatures, sights and smells. From ancient woods dwarves, fire-breathing scaldrons, witchy warmupps (send me a pair please), there's so much to experience. It's like the writer waved her writing wand and cast a spell of whimsy around me, so every second I spent this book I felt the sparks of magic. Only a mind with a wonderful imagination could create something like this.

While this book is inevitably compared to Harry Potter, and it's easy to draw parallels between these two worlds, I am so glad The Crowns of Croswald, with its characters, descriptions and atmosphere, managed to establish itself as a wonderfully unique world of its own.

I hope you chose to enter the extraordinary world of Croswald.

Lovers of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and middle grade fantasy, read on!

In The Crowns of Croswald, D.E. Night delivers a whimsical, action-packed story centering Ivy Lovely, a 16 year old coming-of-age in a new magical world. Iyv's exposition begins with her as an orphan in misery, but she is called to action and crosses a magical threshold that thrusts her into an otherwordly adventure.

At a magical school, Ivy's talents for sketching and having a photographic memory lead her to pursue the path of scrivenists. Like any good middle grade heroine, Ivy is no stranger to mischief. Young readers will assuredly worry about and delight in Ivy's rule breaking, as well as her budding relationship with Fyn.

But danger lurks in the story, as well. There is an evil Queen and dark secrets to be uncovered, forcing Ivy to learn about her own history and find courage to stand up for what's good and right.

Thank you to Stories Untold for this book in exchange for an honest review!

Spanish/English Review.

**Thank you Stories Untold for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review**

At 250 pages, D. E. Night introduces us the world of Croswald and the magical world within.
What's not to love in a school of magic, secrets within the walls of the Halls of Ivy and a main character that discovers who she is? I loved the whole touch of magic schools, did remind me a bit of Harry Potter but the whole thing with the crown jewels per royals and the scrivenists that record all of their adventures with their photographic memory.

We follow Ivy, a sixteen year old maid that turns out to have the potential to be an amazing scrivenist, though she does have a couple of mishaps during the year. She's too nosy and curious, which often leads her to trouble, but more so often adventures that help her discover who she is. That's what I loved this book. The author introduces this completely magical world ( very detailed I must say) and the small illustrations in each chapter number are so beautiful!

Something I must say is that with all the names and so much description, I did get a little lost somewhere through the middle of the book, but nothing so big that kept me from following the story.

We have some small touches of romance, a whole lot of friendship, and mostly, discovering who you are and the power within you. I wholly recommend this to young readers that are searching for that fantasy fix in an established series (there's more books! might just grab the second one to follow Ivy's story).

Also, I'm still trying to figure out how to pronounce <i>scrivenists</i>

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**Gracias a Stories Untold por una copia digital de este libro para una reseña honesta**

Con 250 páginas, D. E. Night nos introduce el mundo de Croswald y la magia dentro de el. ¿Cómo no me iba a gustar una novela con escuela de magia, secretos dentro de los pasillos y un personaje principal que descubre quien es? Me encanto todo lo relacionado a la escuela de magia, me recordo un poco a Harry Potter pero con lo añadido de gemas en coronas para los estudiantes de la realeza y los "scrivenists" que escriben acerca de sus vidas y aventuras con sus memoria fotográfica.

Seguimos a Ivy, una chica de 16 años que de ser una criada tiene el potencial de ser una excelente "scivenist", aunque resulta tener un poco de aventuras durante el año escolar. Es bastante curiosa (y algo metiche) que ocasionalmente la mete en problemas, pero más bien resultan ser aventuras. Eso fue lo que me encantó de este libro. La autora nos introduce un mundo completamente mágica (y bastante detallado debo decir) y con esas pequeñas ilustraciones al inicio de cada capítulo estaba encantada!

Algo que debo de decir es que con todos los nombres y tanta descripción, si me llegué a sentir un poco perdida como a la mitad del libro, pero nada super serio, ya que seguí el hilo bastante bien.

Tenemos un poco de romance, bastante sobre amistad y principalmente, el descubrir quien eres y el poder que tienes dentro de ti. Recomiendo totalmente este libro a aquellos lectores jovenes que buscan algo de fantasía (especialmente si te encanta la magia y/o Harry Potter) ya que hay más libros en esta serie! (Y probablemente voy a buscar el segundo para saber que pasa con Ivy)

Nota adicional: todavía sigo intentando saber como se pronuncia correctamente <i>scrivenists</i>

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"Trust the magic in you and know I will forever be in the shadow of its light."

This story was a relatively short middle-grade novel with magic and mystery wrapped in one. I will admit it took several pages to fully become immersed in the story, but once the story captured you, it became easier to follow along.

The story follows a budding scrivenist named Ivy, who is invited to attend the Halls of Ivy. Where she will be able to capture and enhance her knowledge of all she knows. While at school, she becomes friends with Fyn and Rebecca who are there for her.

However, while at school, Ivy starts to realize things are not what they seem because she can remember when she is supposed to forget. She also has the ability to accomplish the impossible as a first-year student with little previous knowledge. With secrets waiting behind each hall locked away, adventure and danger are sure to strike throughout the story.

I think my problem with this story was the pacing. It took about half of the book to become involved in the story, and then once we reach the end of the book, it does seem a tad rushed to finish. I would read the second book to see how the next book plays out and what characters would return from the first one. I think Ivy's story can be taken in several directions, and it would be interesting to see what the author does with the character arc.

"How could a place be so magnificent and yet so deceiving at the same time, you know?"

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher StoriesUntold for providing me with a copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Great book, again out of my comfort zone but a pleasant surprise. Magic and adventure definitely creates an experience. Thank you for this ARC it truly was entertaining.

Written for middle-grade readers, I would recommend this book for older children and lovers of fantasy. Personally, this genre is pretty far from my usual reads and it took me some time to get into the right mindset for it. While I didn’t fall in love with this book, I did appreciate the opportunity to sample what younger audiences are reading today. As a mom, I look forward to reading it aloud to my little bookworms when they are closer in age to the target audience. Ivy was a great main character - and I imagine younger readers really enjoying with this book! The conclusion really builds up to part two of the series: The Girl With the Whispering Shadow.

My personal rating: 3 stars
My rating as a parent, for my children: 4 stars

I want to thank Stories Untold and NetGalley for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGallery in exchange for my honest and unpaid review.

I really enjoyed the book...it's great for lovers of fantasy fiction; especially those who are fans of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, the Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend or even the Study series by Maria V. Snyder.

An orphaned girl, with no close friends, suddenly leaves the only home she's ever known to be whisked off to a school of magic. Here she discovers that not only is she magical, but could be related to royalty, while making friends (and enemies) and having adventures along the way. I particularly enjoyed that the author has added her own name to one of the more mysterious characters in the book.

My only criticism would be that sometimes the story seems to "jump" almost as if the author has left out, or removed, something that she was planning on adding to the storyline. With our heroin, Ivy, sometimes coming off as extremely reckless, utterly helpless and naïve; luckily she's made friends who cannot not only pay for her recklessness, but can also save the day for her (on more than one occasion).

I'm now re-reading this, to my 10 year old daughter this time, and have purchased copies of the following books for us to read together.