I really wanted to love this book, but I just could not get behind it. Yes, it was magical and whimsy but for me I could not get past all of the similarities to Harry Potter. It felt like I was reading the same story line, just from a female protagonist.

Ivy Lovely is a 16 year old girl who is the kitchen maid to a horrific woman at the Castle Plum. After one too many mishaps she is thrown out and met by a magical cabby there to bring her to the school she has been invited to attend as a scrivenist - someone who will be paired with a magical royal. On her way to school she has to go buy all her magic school supplies, where she learns the Dark Queen is in the area and everyone is on edge When she gets to school Ivy realizes that she can also do magic. Without giving too much away, Ivy find herself in the middle of a huge mystery. Something (or someone) hidden in the Forgotten Room has been visiting Ivy in her dreams. Why can she remember this person? How can she get to him? What does the Dark Queen have to do with all of this? This is the first book in the series, and I can see the allure to reading to find out what's next, but I don't think it's for me.

My personal opinion aside, I do think this would make a fantastic mid grade read for those kids who are into magic and fantasy. It is a text where your imagination can run wild and you can really escape to the Halls of Ivy. There's even a budding romance written so tastefully - the beginning of young love.

Thank you to Netgalley and DE Night for the chance to read this! All thoughts are my own.

Qotd: Do you guys believe in magic?

I choose to have magic and miracles in my life and really wish to live a magical life with all the characters that I love.

One such experience just came true when I finished this book. The Crowns of Croswald takes you in such a magical world with dwarfs, dragons to accompany you.

This is the story of Ivy, a scaldrony maid who steps into a magical world when she gets admitted to a prestigious magic school “Halls of Ivy”. Her journey to unravel the mystery of her birth, the strange things happening around her and to discover the meaning of her recurrent dreams keeps you hooked to the end.

I liked the character of Ivy, her friend Rebecca and also her crush Fyn. This trio has a lot of adventure in them and are fearless. Even though the language and certain terms were a bit difficult to grasp, the story became more interesting as kept going.

Thank you NetGalley and Storiesuntoldpress for the review copy.

Such a beautiful and enjoyable read.

I loved how magical and whimsical this book is. It felt like a childhood favorite of mine, had I read it years ago. Absolutely perfect for middle grade and younger readers. Sometimes the story and plotlines were a bit confusing but otherwise it was a delight!

This is a really fun read. I would recommend it to people who loved Harry Potter and Nevermoor. The main character is very endearing with an obvious personality but unfortunately the side characters are lacking in that department. The banter that is intended to be sarcastic and witty felt forced sometimes due to this flaw. Based off the end, I'm confident in them becoming well rounded in later books. My only other complaint is that there were a lot of things that closely resembled Harry Potter. To give the author credit, most of her ideas were completely original. Overall this is a charming book and I will be continuing with the series.

Ivy Lovely has been hiding away for sixteen years as a scaldrony maid at Castle Plum. When Ivy leaves the borders of the castle, she finds that her magical powers have been awakened. She ends up at a magical school, Halls of Ivy, where she gets into all kinds of mischief. This story takes us on an adventure to learn about Ivy's history and save Croswald from the Dark Queen.

If you like magic, fantastical beasts, enchanted worlds and an inspiring protagonist, then this book series is for you! I couldn't put it down! It's filled with everything I love: magical books, secret rooms, mysterious recurring dreams, an evil queen, royal bloodlines and overall engaging characters (Fyn and Rebecca were my favorites).

I recommend! This is a great YA-Fantasy book that reminds me of Harry Potter. Excited to read the rest of the series!

Thanks to Stories Untold Press and NetGalley for my copy!
Check out my review on IG @literaturewithalatte

I received this ebook free from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Crowns of Croswald is the first book in a four book series, with the fourth book coming out later this year.
Ivy is a sixteen year old girl working as a scaldrony maid. One day she is banished from her home and discovers she has magic and is whisked off to magic school. There she begins to uncover her past, the reasons why her magic has been kept hidden all these years, and why the Dark Queen seems to be after her.

This book was a fun, whimsical read that left me wanting to read the next book. It does have some Harry Potter and Nevermoor feels to it. But still stands alone! I’d rate this a high 3.5 stars (but rounding up for the review) ..only because it did take me a bit to get into this book because of all the new magic terms to learn. The ending was fantastic and looking forward to following Ivy on her next journey!

This story is set in a fantasy world of magic named Croswald with its own rules, creatures, spells...
Ivy is a girl, working as a maid who gets invited to attend the Halls of Ivy (school of magic for young Royals and future Scrivenist). In school we follow Ivy’s journey through her first year of learning magic and making friends while uncovering her hidden past, mystery dreams and the power of Croswalds mystical stones.

From the start of reading I was thinking of Croswald as a mix of Harry Potter and Throne of glass, but it is so much more than that.
The story of Ivy is well told, and one finds him/herself lost in this magical world along with the protagonist. The author set a fascinating base for the ongoing series which is a great read for young adult readers who like to lose themselves in a world of fiction and fantasy. Even though some parts left me a little bit confused* I enjoyed reading this story and I can only wish I would read it sooner as I would probably enjoy it more when I was a few years younger. 
*which I think that was mostly due because of english not being my native language

I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Ivy Lovely is a 16 year old orphan who has no idea who she could be. When she crosses a magical boundary, she discovers a whole new world of enchantment and mystery. But when an evil Queen threatens all that is good, will Ivy's bravery be enough?"

Full of magic and whimsical creatures, this book is perfect for a middle grade reader! There are tons of beautiful descriptions that are necessary to fully imagine the world and the characters are relatable to this age group. I'm looking forward to reading the remaining books in the series myself and adding this to my classroom library. Thank you Stories Untold, D.E. Night, and NetGalley for a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"There's a reason I opened my door to you, Ivy Lovely. The same reason you've been hidden away for sixteen years. You are special."

I was contacted by StoriesUntold to ask if I wanted to read and review this book for the author. I am so happy they asked. I am a huge Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts fan and this gave me some of those same wizardly magical vibes. This was a magical thrill ride of a story. I absolutely can not wait to dive into more of Ivy's story. The storyscape the author develops through the book allowed me imagine Croswald in my mind with such detail, like watching TV. I will definitely read anything this author writes.

The Crowns of Croswald is a middle grade fantasy about a girl named Ivy who discovers she has magic but has no idea where it came from or how to use it. She is guided to a school for magical people's. There she learns how to control her abilities and that there is more to Ivy then she realizes.

I just gotta say first that I love this cover! It's so beautiful.
Crowns of Croswald gives me Harry Potter/ Percy Jackson vibs.
There are magical creatures, pet dragons, evil queens and mysterious books. There were quite a few scenes that made me laugh out loud too.
Also while I was reading it, I kept picturing this as a Studio Ghibli movie so if you like any of those things this books may be for you.

Unfortunately for me, this book was a bit of a miss. I'm not the biggest fan of Harry Potter or Studio Ghibli movies. Please dont come at me. I know I'm out numbered here lol.

It wasn't a bad book by any means. I gave it a 3/5⭐.

If you are looking for a book to read a loud to your kids or you have a kid that loves Harry Potter or fairy tales they will probably love The Crowns of Croswald.

The Crown’s of Croswald is filled with whimsical magic and world building. Fans of Harry Potter may love it, or not so much. For me, there were far too many, and too close, parallels to HP, with the antagonist, magical creatures, premise, and overall story line. For folks who just can’t get enough of the magical world, this may be a perfect read.

The book follows sixteen year old Ivy a girl who has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary away from magic until one day she crosses over and her powers are awakened. Leading her on a striking path, and ending up a student at Halls of Ivy a school for those who need to master their magic. After events unfold, Ivy has to delve into the mysteries of her past in order to save herself and Croswald before history is swept away.

I really loved how magical this book was! Perfect for young middle grade readers. I really thought that Author D.E. Night has created something absolutely timeless, and magical.

A delightful book for middle grade readers who love Harry Potter and fantastical worlds. We follow Ivy Lovely from scullery maid to a magical school where she comes into her own, learning the truth of who she is. I was enticed by the whimsical creatures, the imaginative world building, Ivy’s fine friends, and her fight against the Dark Queen. And best of all? It’s book one of a series, so the charming adventure continues. Adults who love fantasy will dig it too!

4 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 21 Jul 2017
#thecrownsofcroswald #NetGalley

Thanks to the author, Stories Untold, and NetGalley for the ARC, in exchange for my honest review.

This book is aimed at readers between 8-12 so I have tried to keep that in mind in my review. My first thoughts were that I felt it had a very similar plot line to Harry Potter. But that being said, I think anyone writing this type of story for this are group is going to meet that comparison. By the middle of the book I thought it had much more of it's own voice.

I liked the characters and thought the friendship between Ivy and Rebecca worked well. I also felt that the beginnings of the love story between Ivy and Fyn was well done and it will be interesting to see how that develops. I was glad that he turned out to be a good guy! I like the fact that we don't quite know what to think of the Selector.

The imaginary world was fun.The plot was perhaps a little too busy and could have been a little simpler. And at times the dialogue felt a little forced but overall a solid story that I think is pitched just right for younger readers!

Okay, I’ll be honest here. I had very conflicting emotions about this book throughout the first few chapters or so. The synopsis and prologue excited me; I was so ready to read this book. Then the first and second chapter (ish) felt a bit rushed, with a lot of cliches I, personally, would have liked to have been handled in a different way. It was at this point that I thought I would slog through the rest of the book, or worse, add it to my DNF pile.

But!

But I was very pleasantly surprised that neither of my predictions came true. I ended up finishing the book in only two sittings after picking it up earlier this morning (or, yesterday morning, as it were; I’m writing up this review at 5:07 a.m. so time has ceased to have meaning for me). Let me put it this way: if this were published earlier or if I were younger now, I would be begging my mom to make a lavender Halls of Ivy uniform, like all the stylish first year students. *ahem* All the first year students.

So, the characters.

Ivy Lovely, our adventurous heroine herself. I have never related more to a character while simultaneously not relating to them at all. It’s a strange phenomenon, to say the least. On one hand, Ivy dreams of magic (who doesn’t, honestly), she spends every free moment sketching the castle in her dreams (slightly further from the mark, but I’m still on board), and she saved and befriended a little dragon from her castle’s kitchen (we’re back on track). But on the other hand, she is a literal trouble magnet. And? She realizes her actions will most likely have severe consequences–because as we all know, getting expelled is far worse than death–and she goes through with her plans anyway. I mean, as someone with an almost crippling fear of authority and getting into trouble, Ivy’s general “meh, girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do” attitude is refreshing. So as much as I wanted to shake her by the shoulders and drag her back to her classes by her ear, I was cheering her on just as much.

“[…] sqwinches had a propensity to over-read, over-prepare, and over-collect.”

And then I face-palmed when [nope, spoilers].

There were actually very few male characters in this book to which my reaction was something along the lines of, “Yes, ladies! Girl power!” But the few male characters there were, I absolutely adored them. Especially our main man himself, Fyn. I’m looking at the notes I made while I was reading and the sentence I underlined about Fyn was, “Okay, Fyn is ADORABLE.” And that pretty much sums up everything I could possibly say about our cute, sarcastic, green-eyed hero who has roughly the same philosophy about rule-breaking as Ivy herself. Honestly? Yeah, I ship it.

Moving on!

Next, and finally, I will briefly mention our shape-shifting princess, Rebecca. I don’t want to give anything away about Ivy’s “reunion” with Rebecca, but I will say this: LOL. If nothing else, I recommend you read the book for that scene alone. And maybe the scene with the shorehorse… and all the little interactions with Humboldt–he’s literally the cutest and most… expressive (?) creature; you know exactly what he’s thinking, despite him not being able to talk. Anyway! Back to Rebecca. When I was first introduced to her character, I was worried that her relationship with Ivy would be wrought with jealousy and pettiness (like a certain unnamed royal whose name starts with “D”), but, again, pleasantly surprised. Rebecca helped Ivy in situations that could have (*cough*) ended badly. A situation that Rebecca didn’t–and couldn’t–fully understand, through no fault of her own. Just… what I’m saying is that I’m basically a sucker for positive, supportive friendships. They give me the warm and fuzzies, okay?

As for the magical world itself, I don’t have too much to say. There were elements I liked (the Den, Humboldt, the use of quills as magical implements, the “cabby” that reminded me all too much of the Cat Bus in Totoro) and there were elements that I didn’t particularly care for/ parts that were a bit too cliche for my taste. But overall, I had fun. Obviously, I wasn’t raised in a time where I dreamt about receiving a letter from the Halls of Ivy and picking up my crown from the Crownerie (though, I definitely identify more as a sqwinch). Nevertheless, I felt nostalgic for this world that Night created and I look forward to seeing what our ballsy heroine gets up to in the next three years of her studies. (I have my theories, but I’ll keep them to myself… for now.)

This time, and probably for my future reviews as well, I will wrap up with book stats… of a sort.

Feels: Ehhh, not really. It’s a fantasy/ adventure book, so no tears were shed during the reading of this book.

The Funnies: Some of the characters had a sarcastic sense of humor (which I appreciated) and there were moments of comic relief. So… moderate funniness, depending on your sense of humor.

Re-readability: Not for me (right now), personally, but I can see myself re-reading this if I were younger.

Continue-the-series-ness: Yes, I, for one, want to see what happens next!

Cute creatures: 10/10 (Also, I never thought I’d see the day when “ominous” and “unicorn” would be used in the same sentence.)

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night is an enchanting middle grade fantasy full of whimsical characters, intriguing mysteries and imaginative creatures. Ivy Lovely has only ever known life a scaldrony maid in a castle where magic is rare, until she sets off on a journey to uncover her true identity and the magic that lurks beneath her skin. She finds herself accepted at a school for children with magical gifts, however, Ivy soon learns that she may never live the ordinary life she has always dreamed of. As more and more strange events occur around her, Ivy must unravel the mysteries within the Hall of Ivy to save her friends.

Upon opening this book, readers will be immediately immersed in the world of Croswold and introduced to the unique systems of magic. Night's world is extremely inventive - it does not remind me of anything else I've read which I love. My absolute favorite aspect of Night's story is the plethora of inventive magical creatures. From fairies with glowing hair to cooking dragons and beyond, Night gives readers such a treat each time she introduces a new mythic beast to this tale.

Night's writing style is well-paced and entertaining. She crafts a great adventure with a compelling mystery for readers to unravel. The layers of the tale are artfully woven together, creating a wonderful tapestry by the time everything has been revealed. Most every scene feels extremely purposeful and adds to the overall narrative that Night is building.

Ivy's journey throughout this book is interspersed with many fantastic characters. I do wish that we had gotten to know some of them a little better. It isn't until about halfway through the story that Ivy starts to develop friendships. I also felt that Ivy's friendships would have been a great opportunity so show more character growth. Ivy starts off with an extremely transactional view of friendship which I had hoped would change throughout the book, however we do not see as much development in this area as I would have liked. The secondary characters that we do get to know are charming and endearing and add a lovely element to the story.

This fun mystery will delight young readers and keep them guessing at every turn!

This book was received as an ARC from Stories Untold in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book right from the start reminded me a lot of the House of Night Series by P.C. and Kristin Cast. From the very beginning I was hooked. Everything from the characteristics of Ivy to the set up of the School of Croswald's I knew I was in for the ride of my life. Ivy's encounter with her powers and the rise of anxiety entering the school and then encountering with the Queen of Darkness, I'd say that there was a lot on Ivy's plate that came unexpectedly and that she is beyond ready for. I have been waiting for a series like this for a long time and I can't wait to see another adventure of the Crowns of Croswald.

We will consider adding this title to our JFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I really wanted to love this book. The magical creatures are incredible and the scenery is absolutely beautiful. D.E. Night's writing style is wonderful. But the story itself feels almost exactly like Harry Potter. I don't think that would bother a 10-12 year old nearly as much as it does me, who grew up living for the next Harry Potter book. This is a great one for kids who love Percy Jackson, Fablehaven, etc.

Thank you to Stories Untold for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had never heard of this book or the author at the time the publisher messaged me to see if I could read and review, so I looked it up and discovered that the story bears a strong resemblance to another story about a magical wizarding world (which shall remain nameless). I decided to give the book a try since I loved the story-that-shall-not-be-named, and even though it ended up being a fun read, the similarities spoiled it for me.

The story’s protagonist, a teenaged-orphan named Ivy Lovely, discovers she has magical powers and is plucked from a life of servitude to attend the Halls of Ivy, a prestigious school of magic. While at school Ivy embarks on a journey of self-discovery and her true destiny is revealed.

🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️/5

While I thought the author did a fantastic job with the world building, the character development fell flat for me. You don’t really learn too much about the characters and the little you do learn doesn’t happen until the end. I also really enjoyed the ending as it tied up all of the loose ends in the story. This fast-paced book is geared towards middle-schoolers and I think it’s a good book for that age range. They might enjoy recognizing all of the similarities with the other wizarding book but as an adult reader it was a little too distracting for me.

Have you ever finished a book and wanted to re-read it again right away to catch all the things you missed the first time you read it? That's exactly what this book did to me. In this first installment in the Croswald series, we meet Ivy Lovely, who has spent her whole life serving others in a castle as a scaldrony maid where she is neither cared for or noticed, unless dinner is late. She escapes this life with a kitchen dragon named Humboldt and with the help from Rimbrick, an ancient woods dwarf, and a flying coach in a magic made storm. She learns that she has been accepted at a magic school to become a scrivenist, a person who has their own magic, whose job it will be to serve a royal family, to make spells, and document all of their discoveries. She's been labeled the "Most Disruptive Student" at the Ivy Halls, the teachers may or may not be out to get her, and then there's the mystery of who she really is and all the strange clues and happenings that only seem to happen to her. There's magic around every corner: Cloaked Broods, a locked Forgotten Room (where things go to be forgotten), Bearded Clouds, Dark Queens, Wandering Families, and so much more! If you're a fan of the Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling and the Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend, then you will absolutely love The Crowns of Croswald.