Ivy Lovely is an orphan, who has spent her life working as a maid in Castle Plum. One day a mishap happens and she decides to leave the castle and slurry fields behind. She is found by a magical person and whisked away to The Halls, a school for scrivenists and royals. Let the magical mayhem and mystery begin! If you are a Harry Potter fan, give this middle grade/YA fantasy a read, you’ll be glad you did!

I absolutely soaked this book up. If your a fan of Harry Potter and The Secret of Spellshadow Manor, then you will really love this

Our main character Ivy, has been hidden in a castle in order to keep her safe. When she is cast out of the castle for, well, something that wasn’t her fault, she is finally found and taken to Croswald..

Poor Ivy doesn’t have a clue what’s going on..

I loved Ivy, and all of her friends. It’s a classic story, but it’s so well written, the scene setting is wonderful. It feels like a warm hug, and I really want to read more!!!

My thanks to Netgalley and Stories Untold for the copy

3.5/5

I was given this book by Stories Untold Press with the exchange of an honest review. Thank you for sending me this e-copy.
I had a hard time putting this book down : Croswald is fascinating, and I loved learning more and more about Ivy's life at school, but also about the world she's living in. The world building was really effective and I entered in this magical world without any problem. The whole story was very whimsy and creative, and I found myself very intrigued by the plot and its characters. Plus, I really like the cover and the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter.
It is an action packed and fun book, and I definitely recommend young (and every) readers who love magic and mystery to give it a shot !

This book was gifted to me in order to receive an honest review, thank you Netgalley and Stories Untold LLC.

Did you want a female Harry Potter?
Did you ever imagined Cornish pixies with fur that lit up?
Did you wonder what the School of Good would look like in the Harry Potter universe?

Well you'll know if your read this book. It immediately pulls you into a magical world I've been missing since my first read of Harry Potter. A tale where dragons are pets. A Princess can willingly turn into a mermaid to save the day. You can take a walk in those little bookshelf towns you adore, travel intro the underworld and that's only book one.

I found this story easy to read, fast paced and I was instantly pulled in. I think this book was a journey I'll be hard pressed to find again. The main characters are enjoyable and you still have so much to learn about them.

Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy your won't regret it! D.E. Night you're a magical genius!

It was really difficult for me to get into this book. It has a very slow pace and none of the characters really stood out for me. What I did like about it was the beautiful descriptions of the scenery...you can really get a picture of it in your mind. I also really liked the last 30% of the book, it was well paced and exciting. Overall, while I had trouble connecting with the book I think it would definitely appeal to a middle grade audience and I would definitely recommend it to my kids.

An adventurous fantasy book perfect for children and teenagers.
Full of magic and secrets and wonderful characters. Follow Ivy on her journey to discover her powers and her story.

When I first read the summary of the book, I got huge Harry Potter vibes. Because, it’s a book about a girl who doesn’t know she has magic, she goes to a magic school and is threatened by a villain (the Dark Queen). But this was different. The whole magic system is completely different from Harry Potter, because here, the stone in your crown decides the magic you get.
Ivy came from the Castle Plum as a scaldron maid. She had no idea she had magic in her blood. And she didn’t expect at all that she would have such mighty powers. I loved to see how Ivy learned everything about the magic, about the school and about who she was. It was wonderful to learn along with Ivy how her magic worked, and getting to know a bit more about it everytime something happened.
I was a bit confused sometimes, though. There were some things I didn’t fully understand. But I don’t know if it was because it wasn’t explained, or because I missed it. I had a few moments where I couldn’t keep my full attention on the book, where it was a bit boring. So if important things were explained there, I could have easily missed it.
Overall it was a great magical experience, with magical stones, hairies and a Dark Queen. I’m curious to see what Ivy has to deal with in the second book.

I really enjoyed this middle grade fantasy, especially the magical school aspect! It was a fun adventure and learning about its world, the magic was different and reminiscent of Harry Potter. Ivy is a 16-year-old learning of her new magical abilities, a maid at first, and then, she’s going through a different pathway than she expected. She gets involved in a lot of hijinks, but it was a delight to read about! I enjoyed the different creatures especially the scaldrons, dragons who provide the fire for cooking. The pacing in the beginning was a bit slow and the tone was quite younger than a 16-year-old girl. However, I loved the worldbuilding and imaginative fantastical elements. Overall, this book has a great magic system, whimsical writing, and fun adventures with Ivy and her friends!

Personal Summary: Ivy is a naive castle maid until she is thrown out and exposed to the world of magic. Whisked away to the Halls of Ivy, she is left with more questions than answers about who she is, how things really work in the world around her, and who she can trust. Schooling opens her eyes to what she is capable of and her budding friendships help rescue her from the trouble Ivy always seems to find.

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Recommended Readers: This is a perfect read for those who enjoy Young Adult Fantasy and fans of the Harry Potter series. If you like magic, fantastical creatures, and a little mystery this would be a book for you.

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Bookish Thoughts: I frequently marked Night’s character descriptions. They were detailed and created a great visual. I found Ivy to be compelling. She is curious and adventurous, though mostly to her own detriment. I enjoyed how the villain, the Dark Queen, was shrouded in mystery until her confrontation with Ivy. The Dark Queen came onto the scene with a bang. I would read book two in the series to get more of her! I also could use more of Ivy’s friend, Fyn, and how sweetly he flirts with Ivy.

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I struggled to really fall into this book. I liked the world and how magic worked within it. I liked the mystery and wanted to see how it all came together but it took almost the entire book before I felt the plot really pick up. The last chapters made the struggles to keep going worth the time I put into reading. If book two is like those chapters, sign me up.

Enter a world where magic exists. Some are born with magic and some obtain it through their crowns. Those born with it have the important job of being a scrivenist. The ones with crowns are royal. Being a scrivenist is a highly honored profession where you use your magic to record events as well as help the royals, Together, the royals and sqwinches (those studying to be a scrivenist) attend a magical school.
Ivy has spent all her life in the slurry fields as a maid, never to see the light of day. It is on her sixteenth birthday that she is kicked out. While searching for a place to exist, she discovers she has magic. Being in those fields suppressed her magic all those years. Now she is to attend the school and learn to be a scrivenist. As she gathers her materials for school, weird things begin to happen. Weird things continue to happen around her all year. She sets to find out why.
Opinion
Are you bookish? Do you love enchanting stories that flow so smoothly you get caught up? If so, you will absolutely love this book. D.E. Night tells a tale so beautifully that you cannot help but be caught up in the story.
I think at some point in their childhood, most people have dreamed of discovering that they are magical, or royal. This book speaks to that inner child in all of us that had those dreams. Ivy lived the poor, downtrodden life as a maid, much like Cinderella. When she discovers that she in fact is magical, all that changes. Add in the fact that there is a wicked queen and boom! You are transported back to the fairy tales of your youth.
For most of the journey, Ivy is on her own with the help of someone who no one else knows. As we get closer to the climax of the story, she is helped along by a friend and her roommate. Ultimately, it is up to Ivy to save the day. My inner child is bouncing with excitement over this story. It takes children to a land where they themselves become Ivy and get to discover the joys of magic and fight to figure out what is going on.
I truly cannot day enough about this story. I truly loved it and have talked to many people to get them to read it.

This seemed like a re-working of Harry Potter for girls to me. A girl has been living a horrible life as a slave, where she is cheerful and hardworking, in spite of the ill treatment she receives. Then one day she is sent to magic school where she discovers powers she never knew she had. She finds new friends and new enemies and ultimately, embraces the very large powers she has.

I enjoyed reading this book. The characters were authentic and very unique. The story also is very unique itself. Even though that a lot of books with magic schhol settings are out the story goes her own way. The descriptions of the world are very well described and amazing. I would definitely recommend reading it.

Overall this book was a fun little escape from reality. The characters and setting were definitely whimsical (including the names of characters, places, and objects), and it was very age appropriate for middle grade readers. However, I would have liked to see a little bit more originality, especially in the first half of the book, as there were almost too many similarities to the Harry Potter series. I also feel like some of the events in the plot would just happen out of nowhere, and then would wrap up too neatly without a believable solution. The main characters would find themselves in a sticky situation, and then would just as quickly find themselves out of that situation in a way that was either too convenient or too easy to make sense. I am all for suspending belief in fantasy books, but I feel like the reader has to do that too much in this story.

Wow, this book was such a nice and cute middle grade fantasy read! It was so whimsical and magical with Harry Potter vibes, but with its own imaginary world. In a few words: magic, little dragons, magical cabs, school setting in an old castle, magical quills. Yes, it sounds so whimsical and it WAS.

First of all, the plot wasn’t the strongest point of this book. It was a bit flat throughout the story, and there wasn’t a lot of intrigue for the most part of the book. The intrigue really started around the middle of the book, and the pace of the story sped up until the ending. The main focus was mostly the discovery of this magical world and magic school, but to be honest, I was fine with that! The whimsical atmosphere and worldbuilding were so well done that I didn’t care much about the lack of intrigue.

The strongest point of this book was without a doubt its atmosphere and worldbuilding. Oh my god, this book was so whimsical! I got carried away in this fantastic world with a magic school setting, magical quills, magical beasts and scrivenists! This magic school had two types of students: royals, and scrivenists. Royals in this book were people who were able to do magic through their crown filled with magical stones. Each stone had different magical traits that these Royals needed to learn to control. Scrivenists in the other hand were “real” wizards, who were able to do magic without the need of magical stones, and had more “art abilities” like sketching everything they saw with a photographic memory with magical squills.

This world was filled with magical beasts like little dragons called scaldrons, and from chapter one, they were the cutest beasts EVER. These little dragons were used as cooks in a castle and I just loved Ivy’s relationship with Humboldt, the scaldron who became her little companion at the beginning of the book.

I also really enjoyed all the magical aspects of this world, like small bottles called glanagerie filled with imaginative worlds where you could be completely swept in, or the Forgotten room, a place where everything you would put into it were forgotten by everyone. The author has such a great imagination, it was actually impressive!

The magic school setting was also everything. I feel like I say this all the time, but honestly I LOVE magic school setting in books, and this one didn’t disappoint.

As for the characters, I really like our main character, Ivy. She was so cute, but also fierce and strong with a real problem to follow rules and a nice sense of humor. The relationships were also cute and perfectly adapted to a middle grade story. I really enjoyed the friendship between Ivy and Rebecca, and I loved the tiny bit of romance in this book. And I really hope it will evolve more in the next books.

This book was honestly so enjoyable and despite a flat plot through this book, the worldbuilding and the magic totally made up for it. The ending was also surprising and I enjoyed all the revelations, even if I had seen them coming. I will definitely read the rest of the series!

Overall, I would really recommend this middle grade fantasy book to Harry Potter fans or cute fantasy stories in general.

What I Liked:

- the fairytale style reminiscent of The Princess and the Goblin
- magical school and lessons inspired by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
- the friendship between Ivy and Rebecca

What I Didn't Like:

- the pacing was very off for me and the story never really had time to breathe so I didn't connect with a lot of it
- the characters were caricatures rather than fleshed-out, complex people and I found myself not caring what happened to them
- a lot of tropes were used but not very effectively
- the info-dump at the beginning means the book is quite confusing at times and some things are never explained properly
- the plot is bland

Overall, this was a run-of-the-mill children's fantasy that didn't offer much new to the genre. However, younger children might enjoy the simplistic style and appreciate the myriad magical creatures and lessons. Just because the book wasn't for me doesn't mean it won't be perfect for another reader.

I think this book was targeting an audience a bit younger than I'm used to reading so it definitely wasn't my usual choice of reads BUT despite that it still delivered.

It has a well thought out magic system with consistent and compelling world building that draw you into the adventure.

It's well written with a solid plot and great pacing once you get into it. I did find the beginning a little jarring and it took me a little while to get into it but overall a great read for middle graders!

This book really loved it, it's full of magic and a lot of unexpected twists, I could see what there are two others and I can not wait to read them. This book is perfect for middle-aged children, if you loved Harry Potter?, this book is for you, thank you for the opportunity to read this e-book.

The Crowns of Croswald is the first book in a magical middle grade/YA fantasy series written by D.E. Night.

The book follows Ivy Lovely who works as a maid in the kitchens of Castle Plum taking care of dragon-like creatures called Scaldrons and spending her evenings sketching the same castle that has appeared in her dreams for as long as she can remember. She never expected her life to amount to much until the day she received her invitation to the Halls of Ivy.

I really enjoyed reading this book, the author has a great writing style that flows smoothly and makes you instantly love her characters and the unique world she has created. I especially loved the little illustrations at the beginning of each chapter which added that little extra dash of whimsy to the story. Once I started reading I could not put it down and finished this magical adventure in one evening.

If you are looking for a cozy book full of magic and adventure that you can read in one sitting then I definitively recommend you pick up The Crowns of Croswald and join Ivy as she discovers the secrets not only hiding in the Halls of Ivy but also in herself.

The Crowns of Croswald is a little bit Harry Potter feel a little bit Sabrina the teenage feel a little bit bad ass. This book is hands down a great book that I couldn't put down
D.E. Night did a phenomenal job writing this story and putting us into another sought out world we didn't know we needed.

** thank you to the author & publisher for giving me this e-Arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!** This was such a cute magical middle grade that should be on everyone’s list! It reminded me a lot of Harry Potter, so if you’re a fan of that series I think you would like this one. I love that there was a female protagonist who was so well rounded, and the world building was phenomenal! It’s out now, so everyone run and pick up a copy and experience this magical world for yourself! ✨