Book Review: Crowns of Croswald

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: Ivy Lovely is 16 and she has no idea who she is—or what her powers could be. When she crosses a magical boundary, she discovers a whole new world of enchantment and mystery. Making friends that will last a lifetime—and save her life—she steps into her own abilities and discovers more about her hidden past, magical blood, and the power of Croswald’s mystical stones. But all is not well: a dark history and an evil Queen threatens all that is good. Will Ivy’s bravery and wit be enough?

Thoughts: I hadn’t ready a fantasy middle grade fiction book in quite some time, so getting used to it took a minute. Some of the verbiage took time to understand what the meaning was supposed to be but once it got it the author did a great job of creating an incredible and mystical world. The plot was interesting enough to keep me wanting more, and wanting to know what happens next. Ivy was a relatable main character and I enjoyed her friendship with Rebecca and budding romance with Fyn. I did have trouble with the plot at times and had to re-read sections to understand what was going on. Where I thought there should be a break in the chapter it just kept flowing. It was slightly predictable, but that could be because I’m an adult and this is meant for more middle grade.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5)

Next Read: Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

The Crowns of Croswald is a fantastical and whimsical adventure, ending with the promise of several more to come.

I flew through this book and loved everything about it!

Ivy Lovely is a 16 year old scaldonry maid at Castle Plum, on the other side of a magical boundary. Her only friend is a dwarf called Rimback, who brings her books and stories of the world beyond Castle Plum. And then her entire world is turned upside down when he tells her she has magic, and should be at the Halls of Ivy, a magical school for Royals and Scriveners she has been dreaming of her whole life. When she leaves the grounds, her magic is no longer suppressed and she begins to learn more about her magic - and her history.

But that's not the only secret Rimbeck was keeping from her, and it seems like there are others who know them too. Secrets that the Dark Queen might know, and with her drawing closer Ivy's very life might be at stake.

This everything I wanted in a book about magic, magic powers, magic school, and the forces of evil when I was younger and I enjoyed it just as much as a 25 year old.

The story was intriguing and original, despite the premise of unknown magic and a magical school being a common one. Ivy, Rebecca, Flyn, and Winsome already hold a place in my heart, and I can't wait to read the sequels!

Sadly not for me. I tried to push through but could not get into it. This book is probably better suited for children and young teenagers.
Although the writing is good and the writer has a very obvious talent for writing, everything is a little rushed and lacks essential descriptions, which has left me confused more than once.
I also really have a problem with the names in this story: Ivy Lovely (name of the main character), castle plum, Mrs Butterlove, Professor Royal, Professor Fenix...
It’s a complete shift from the synopsis that wants to be serious and makes it very hard to focus on the story.

Such a fun read with adventure and mystery and some Harry Potter vibes. The imagery was so clear and I had me wishing I had been able to go to a boarding school to explore and have fun like these kids did! Definitely recommend this one if you love HP stories and YA fantasy.

The Crowns of the Croswald by D.E. Night is a classic tale of magical education and unknown lineage. Ivy Lovely grows up as a kitchen maid, without any hint that she herself is magical. Then, one day a dwarf tells her she has magic and should be at the most famous magic school, The Halls of Ivy. Her adventure kicks off from there.

A pleasant, middle grade read, Night gives you a fantastical story of scrivenists (non-Royal magical folk with magic in their blood) and royals (royal family access magic through the stones in their crowns). Night’s form of magic wielded by quills is a delightful concept. At times this book felt like it was influenced too much by similar tales of magic schools and unknown family histories, but on the whole, it was a light and fun read.

This book was like reading a hybrid of Harry Potter and The Princess Diaries, you don’t think it will work but it does! I found the beginning a tad confusing as I was just getting introduced to this new world but I ended up loving it. It was thrilling to discover Ivy’s background alongside her and I especially loved the idea of art as a magical thing. I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy!

Big thank you to publisher Stories Untold for my electronic copy of The Crowns of Croswald in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: For sixteen years Ivy Lovely has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary that separates the mundane from the magical. When Ivy crosses the border, her powers awaken. Curiosity leads her crashing through a series of adventures at the Halls of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their magical blood and the power of Croswald’s mysterious gems. When Ivy’s magic—and her life—is threatened by the Dark Queen, she scrambles to unearth her history and save Croswald before the truth is swept away forever.

LCView: What's not to like about adventure, a magical school and mysterious gems? I can't think of anything, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The story was an enchanting, coming-of-age trope that pulls you in almost immediately. Croswold is a fascinating world, full of scrivenists and royals, special stones, magic quills, mystical creatures and of course, a Dark Queen.

This is a story best suited for middle-grade readers and those young at heart. It's the first in a series, and books two and three are currently available now. The pace is quick, which makes sense for younger readers - however, I found myself longing for more: more character development, more details about the magical world, more background of the royals and the scrivenists. Overall, the story itself is a little predictable but an enjoyable read and recommended for anyone looking for an adventure and to escape, however briefly, to another magical world.

This review can also be found on my Instagram page (theliterarylc), Goodreads, and Amazon.

I thought this book was very cute! I always enjoy a good fantasy and thought The Crowns of Crowswald was whimsical and so fun. In the story, it was especially enjoyable following Ivy Lovely as she discovered the truth behind who she really is and how she struggles to come to terms with that given her past.

I was sent a copy via Netgalley by the publisher Stories Untold in exchange for a honest review.

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night is a magical story with whimsical characters, an intriguing mystery and wonderful worldbuilding. I really liked this story about a girl discovering her past and I’m looking forward to continuing with the series.

I loved the very whimsical setting of Croswald and especially The Halls of Ivy. Each character we met outside of Ivy Lovely was very strange and intriguing. Ivy herself was a brilliant character and I loved her curiosity and willingness to break the rules. I also loved her friendship with both Rebecca and Fyn. The worldbuilding was exceptional. I liked learning about the weird world of the Scivenists and the royals that they served.
Overall I liked this book and really recommend it if you like middle grade fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an opportunity to read The Crowns Of Croswald
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This is a middle grade fantasy story - a young maid who finds herself in a magical 🧙🏻‍♀️ school , and finds out she’s much more than she thought she was !⁣
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What I liked :⁣
✔️ Ivy Lovey was a lovely character and made a great heroine⁣
✔️ Ivy’s friendship with Rebecca and blossoming love story with Fyn ⁣
✔️ lots of magic ⁣
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What I didn’t like ⁣
✖️ I got a bit confused at the end tbh 🤣 but that may just be me⁣
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Thank you to the author for a copy of this story for review.⁣
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3.5 ⭐️

The first thing I thought in the first few chapters was: this is going to be like Harry Potter. I personally love Harry Potter, so reading this book was NOT bad! I love getting transformed into the words, sentences and pages of the world of magic; it’s fun and not something I get to experience in the real world (unfortunately). The characters in the book are spectacular, and they leave you shocked because you would never expect something they did. I loved how there was magical creatures involved and how they match perfectly into the story. I got pulled into a mystical adventure right from the beginning and was not disappointed. If you haven’t had the chance to read it, READ IT NOW!!

I want to thank D.E. Night for gifting me this amazing book for an honest review. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity, I would have never ever known about this incredible book.

Wow. What a rollercoaster ride of a book! Thank you again to the publishers for sharing this book with me, I’m so glad they did! I really enjoyed reading this book. So much so that I’m looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

But first, let’s talk about the first book in the series.

I felt from very early on that this book had the feel of Dianne Wynne Jones’ Crestomanci series, or Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor, and it definitely played that way throughout.

It’s clearly of the fantasy genre, but I would say the world building is very unique and I loved that about this book. From Scaldrons to Hairies, to the Sqwinches classes and their own magical abilities to the Royals magical abilities and the powers of a quill, I really felt swept up in this new world and would love to add it to my wishlist of places to visit alongside Narnia and Hogwarts.

There was drama and adventure aplenty, and I found it hard to put down the book after each chapter - a sure sign of my enjoyment of the book. The chapters and story flowed nicely, offering questions and cliffhangers aplenty.

The character of Ivy and quite a number of the professors were well thought out and created to feel real, though I felt some of the other classmate characters needed more detail. This is Ivy’s story though, and I got the clear impression of her personality and appearance from the get go. Plus, there’s more books to read so I’m expecting to learn more about some of her classmates later on in the series.

And series it is! The ending wrapped up a lot of the questions both I and Ivy had throughout this book, but I’m curious as to what’s next and will definitely be picking up the next book.

I give it 4 ½ stars out of 5.

I feel rather conflicted about this novel - there were some aspects I really loved but there were also quite a few things I wasn't a fan of.

What I loved most about The Crowns of Croswald is the wonderfully whimsical world of magic that D.E. Night has crafted for her characters. It feels like a great combination of original and familiar and it's such a fun world to discover along with Ivy, our main character.

However, what brought this down for me quite a bit was the pacing and the plot. At the start of the novel, things move very fast and Ivy is whisked away to her new home without anyone really explaining anything to her, which felt a bit odd. The whole story felt rather hurried, in fact: a lot goes down within only 250 pages, and that made the plot feel a bit muddled and sometimes a bit unbelievable. It also left very little space for character development, so I don't feel like I got a good sense of who Ivy is, let alone any of her friends. I also thought the villain of the story could've used a little more depth. Now, we know we should be afraid of her, but we don't really know why.

I really enjoyed the mystery of Ivy's true identity (although it was quite obvious from very early on) and the search for the mysterious Derwin Edgar Night, but because of the pacing issues, I could never get fully into the story - although I did definitely enjoy it. I am curious to see where the story goes from here, but I'm not sure yet if I'll pick up the next book in the series.

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.

DNF.
Just couldn’t get in to it at all.
A lady approached me to give this a go and I said I would but it was so so difficult to get in to.
Maybe just not my personal taste.

*I was gifted a copy by the publisher and Netgalley which I voluntarily read and am leaving a review*

This book is full of magic, whimsy and loads of fantastic world-building. It feels very similar to Harry Potter so if you're looking for a book like that or want to discover a new author or series then you may enjoy this one.

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