I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Harry Potter meets Snow White meets other beloved fairy tales. If you love any fantasy or magical worlds, this book should be your next read. Although it's listed as Middle Grade reading, I suggest this book to all ages, especially those that grew up with Harry Potter.

Ivy reached age 16 never knowing she had magical roots, but always dreamed of it. Until one unfortunate mishap sent her traveling away from the life of a scaldrony maid and into a flying cottage steered by a hooved, storm-causing beast. Her life as a scrivenist began. Did I get your attention? Good!

After searching for a new fantasy series to enjoy, this one fell into my lap. Night's best writing chacteristic is her talent to paint vivid pictures for the reader. Royals' outfits, beastly creatures, and magic itself are perfectly described, so to imagine you are living in this world with the characters.
Discovering new characters and creatures are another favorite aspect of mine when finding a new series to read, and Night caught my attention. Even the Prologue will force you to delve into the book without thinking otherwise: scrivenists, flying hoofstock, a missing royal family, MAGIC!
And the plot!: A strong-headed, young woman protagonist finding herself to be someone special with the help and trust of her newfound friends. But Night makes this story an adventure. You have to fit the pieces together, alongside the young woman. But the evil and darkness that stand in the way hold a certain power over the reader, to find exactly what this evil is and defeat it. And when you finally come face-to-face with the Dark Queen, you have to wait to defeat her in..... the next book in the series! Yes, it's a series!

I cannot wait to read the next book, the Girl with the Whispering Shadow. I recommend the series to all young readers and to all adults that enjoy escaping to a magical world.

3.5/5 stars.

it took me a little while to get invested in the story since a lot of things are unexplained in the first part of the book, but more and more is revealed throughout and the further i got into the story the more i felt myself being drawn in. 

i really love the magic system the author created, and who doesn't love a magical school setting? this book gave me the feeling of a disneyfied, magic-infused malory towers. i'm not sure why exactly, perhaps the writing style or the school setting, but i definitely felt like there was a similar sort of feeling to malory towers (but with magic). needless to say it made me nostalgic for the books i read when i was younger. 

the book was full of eccentric and lovable characters that i'm sure middle-grade readers would love! i especially enjoyed rebecca's character and derwin edgar night. as well as all the enchanting and charming magical creatures (humboldt is so precious, i love him)

overall i thoroughly enjoyed my experience of reading this book, it was such a fun and magical ride. i think this is a strong start to a middle-grade series, and i'm quite curious about what will happen in the rest of the series.

In a world full of magic, what would you give to be free of chores, boredom and a hopeless future as a kitchen maid?

Hoping to the moon for a chance is Ivy's only way out of a sad, poor life as an orphan in Castle Plum... Or so she thinks! Suddenly she finds herself on her way to the most prestigious magic school of Croswald and living a year full of new experiences, challenges, friends and, of course, magic!!

This installment opens the door for a new fantastic world were the shadow in power lurks behind every corner of the scrivients and royals' school, making curses and forgetfulness be in the core of the mysteries and the future of the young Lovely.

Great for fans of Harry Potter and the Worst Witch saga!

ARC provided free by Netgalley un exchange for an honest review.

I received an ebook from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

I couldn't get into this book. The writing style wasn't working for me. The story sounds great and maybe I'll be able to finish it in the future. I think the author is very comma heavy and added them into each sentence when in reality it could have been reworded to avoid this. The commas kept pulling me out of the story and since that was happening every sentence ... I just became too much and I decided to not finish it this time.

The premise of this world and story pulled me in at the start. It had Harry Potter vibes, but had an interesting approach where dreaming and magic thrives through writing and drawing - the act of creation an embodiment of magic! However, overall, it just didn’t deliver. The main character bolted from one adventure/crisis to another without adequate bridging that would have formed this into a cohesive plot line. Although marketed at a middle grade read, the main character is 16, turning 17, which I feel puts this outside the middle grade category. Also a strange and undeveloped romance of sorts comes into view in the last 25% that just didn’t fit. Ultimately, The Crowns of Croswald couldn’t decide what it wanted to be and this reader couldn’t get fully lost in the story. I might try to complete the series in order to get a grasp on this world that has been created and many others have said that the following books get better.

Escape to a magical world with a cast of intriguing characters in D.E. Night's book, The Crowns of Croswald. I definitely recommend purchasing this book for school libraries.

Thanks for netgalley and Stories Untold for providing me an E-Arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Stories Untold for a gifted eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For kids too young for the avada kedavra curse, this is a great introduction to the world of magic. There are nods to Harry Potter everywhere, and I enjoyed those little Easter eggs. The writing is simple and the story is easy to follow. 

Ivy has her ups and downs, where she can be a bit annoying, but she means well and just wants to know what’s going on, which is fair. Her curiosity is burning and it really drives this story. I liked Ivy’s friends, Fyn and Rebecca, but do wish that we had learned more about them and got to know them better. Ivy seems annoyed by them more often than anything, so I don’t think we really get to see their personalities as much as I would have liked. I loved Winsome and do wish we got to spend a bit more time getting to know him as well. I found Derwin Edgar Night (same initials as the author, which I thought was fun!) the most interesting character in the story and can’t wait to finally learn more about him in the next books!

Towards the end, I couldn’t put the book down, I just needed to know what was happening! I had an idea of what it may be, but wasn’t sure how all of it fit together. The ending was full of excitement and action, and gave us a brief overview of Ivy’s history. There were definitely things I questioned, but they seem to be things that could be answered in the next book🤞🏼Overall, it was an enjoyable read!

The Crowns of Croswald is 1st instalment in this middle-grade fantasy series. If I had to tell you about the book, in short, I'd say that it is a mix of Harry Potter and Cinderella (many people have also compared it to Percy Jackson series and Alice in the Wonderland). Our protagonist, Ivy Lovely is much like Harry, she has lived in a shadows her entire life, in Plum Castle as a scaldrony maid, forgotten. And her life has been one of drudgery. She has only one friend, Rimbrick who is a dwarf. Rimbrick tells her stories and gives her books to read (something denied to maids) and he tells her that she is special and has magic in her. 

One day, following a series of events, she is kicked out of the castle and forced to leave the Castle which was surrounded by Slurry(it dampens magic). As she crosses the boundary, her magical powers re-awaken. She gets an invitation letter from the Ivy School of magic which is meant to teach magic, of course, to Royals and people with some magic in their blood (called Scrivenists). Ivy has always wanted to be a Scrivenist and this is her opportunity! So, off she goes, to the magical school where there are magical creatures, ghosts cook food, a forbidden forest exists, and our protagonist (her family) is cursed.

I must say, all the resemblances to Harry Potter dampened my enjoyment of this book a bit, as I was constantly comparing the 2 books. Besides that, the pacing felt irregular and Ivy seemed a little immature for a 16-year-old girl. That being said, I still enjoyed it enough to keep reading. The world-building is quite good and there is definitely a magical feel to the book. The writing is simple which serves the purpose of being a children's book. Also, the 2nd half of the book felt pretty solid!

I think it will be a good read for the intended age group and if you are a parent, reciting the book to your child(ren) will be a good option as well.😇

Rating- ⭐⭐⭐.5/5

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy.

An uninspired introduction that lacks all whimsy and wonder. From the characters to the plot, The Crowns of Croswald was a misfire on all levels.

I DNF'ed this book. Here is the reason why in story form:
Once there was a boy named Harry, girl named Ivy who lived in a bad home situation until the day she got a magical letter to a magical school. She then proceeded to go shopping at the magical stores...
It was a bit too similar to Harry Potter at the beginning. Now, I did not read further so I cannot speak for the rest of the book but I would have greatly enjoyed some originality to the story. However, I did like the creatures at the beginning. They were interesting and unique.
Even this story was not for me, I would still encourage you to give it a try as it had a unique writing voice.

Rating: 1 Star
I am not listing contents due to DNF'ing the book.

*I received a copy of this book from the author. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.

Review is scheduled to post to the blog on October 13, 2020.

In exchange for an honest review💖 I received this from the publishers and the author.. thank you so much💕

★·.·´¯`·.·★ 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 ★·.·´¯`·.·★

❥ Middlegrade Magical story
❥ Hello Harry Potter fan incase you missed out, you might want to read this and add it to your magical reading list✨
❥ Its about a girl name Ivy who don't have a clue who she is. 
❥ so much unexpected things happened once she's been kicked out from the slurry place she's living, for her entire childhood. 
❥ And there is boarding school of magic (fine! it's like Harry Porter, and yes I do fond this Boarding school) 
❥ Its Ivy and 2 Bestfriend great adventure  getting to know the truths. 
❥ In additional of this wizardly place, there are drawf, magical creature, adorable dragon (Name Hamboldt to be more specific, Ivy's scaldron that I adore of course) and a beautiful magical neighbourhood. The description of every place Ivy went is so enchanted. 
❥ So the exact story is, Ivy been haunted by this Evil queen (not going for further on this) 
✿ Children books are never a dull, am I right? Love the book, and I'm sure my kids will love it too 💖

Thanks to Netgalley and Stories Untold Press for the free Kindle copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
•
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 for this action-packed magical fantasy. Ivy grew up a slurry maid, but ends up with a place at the Halls of Ivy, a magical academy. What she doesn’t know, however, is her true heritage. The ending leaves it open for a sequel. The characters are likable, and I found myself sucked in. Hand this to fans of Keeper of the Lost Cities and Harry Potter.

This is a magical middle grade book that has a very Harry Potter feel. The main character, Ivy, is an orphan and works as a maid in the castle. One day she is whisked away to a magical school called The Halls of Ivy where she is told she has magic powers and that she will become a scrivenist (a magical scribe of sorts). Ivy now attends school with other squinches (scrivenists in training) as well as princes and princesses from all over the magical land of Croswald. 

This book has a familiar story arch of an orphan child finding out they are something more than they assumed, then they go to a magic school where they are the underdog and always getting into mishaps, only to find out that they have more power than anyone thought, and there is a mystery surrounding their origins. Also, someone evil tries to kill them to gain their power. This book does add some different elements with royalty playing a large role in the story, which is a bit refreshing. 

I give this book a 3.5 out of 5. It was a little simple for me in terms of how things played out. There wasn’t as much character and dialogue depth as I would have liked either. But knowing this is a middle grade book, this is written perfectly for a middle school aged person. If I taught middle school, I would definitely recommend this to my students. Overall, it had a good amount of action, but I would have liked the action spread out more. The best part of the book came at the end with a large epic scene. This book is also the first in a series, so I’d be interested to see how the series plays out.

This book was a beautiful magical, adventurous, danger lurking read and I was hooked from the very first line. 
As told by many, this book is a beautiful blend of Harry Potter meets Disney!!  This is a beautiful enchanting read for every girl! 
Croswald is a magical place where from its Royal Palaces, to its shops, to it's Magical School, The Halls of Ivy, magic is everywhere! A dream destination. 

Ivy Lovely, a sixteen year old orphan, working as a maid, while sketching at nights with the only friend she has; a dwarf. Until, one day she passes through the Slurry; and discovers that her destiny is to be at the House of Ivy; the prestigious school where both Princesses and Sqwinches go to learn magic!  

This book is fascinating and intriguing, I loved exploring this magical place and all those magical classes, even though the similaries exist with HP, but the author has a ncie writing style which I adored. 

It's a must read for magic lovers. I will definitely recommend this book to everyone. Teens and tweens will love this book too!  

This was such a fun read –  The world created has so many new magic to be learned and characters who you fall in love with & root for throughout their adventures. 

There are many questions still left unanswered, which am sure will be explored in book 2. There were parts which were a bit fast forward, but overall it was a good read so I am looking forward to another year if Ivy! 
Thank You  @netgalley and @storiesuntoldpress for the opportunity to review and read this book.

Ivy, a 16 year old girl lives in Castle Plum as a maid. Unaware of her powers that she holds within, she lives as an outcast until one day her life takes a turn where she discovers her actual identity. In this magical world, Ivy comes across so many adventures in order to find the very meaning of her life, and to fix her blurred but alluring dreams. Was she meant to be in the beautiful yet haunting magical world, or is her existence much more than that?

I absolutely loved this book. So full of magic. Was clearly obsessed with discovering the dark secrets with the protagonist Ivy. This book, is so full of beauty, happiness and ofcourse abundance of magic. If you loved Harry Potter series, movie or book, I highly recommend you to read this. It'll take you into the world where never ending adventure begins

Note: I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Crowns of Croswald is a middlegrade fantasy that sends readers on a fun and whimsical ride. What really sets The Crowns of Croswald appart is the world building. Night has created a unique world rich with magic and oddities that will have readers intrigued. I loved the creativity of the magic system, from the different creatures to the glanageries. 

While the prologue drew me into the mystery from the very first line, I found the rest of book less gripping. At times, the writing felt stilted and awkward, particularly in dialogue.   This may have been emphasized by the fact that the main character is supposed to be 16, but often acts and speaks as though she is much younger. That being said, this is a middlegrade novel and I think it would have been appropriate for Ivy to have been aged down.

Overall, this book was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to younger audiences.

**I was gifted an e-copy for free by Stories Untold (publisher) and NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.**

I absolutely loved it! It has been quite a while since I read middle grade books, but the storyline was full of wonder and adventure. It follows Ivy Lovely who stumbles into a magical world full of magic, and her time discovering who she really is. One of my favourite parts of the whole storyline was the introduction to the scaldrons, who sound absolutely adorable. I have seen a few comparisons of the story to having a Harry Potter feel, and I can understand because of the whole “school of magic” concept, however I think the story holds its own individuality. 
Overall, The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night receive a 4-star from me. This is not a story I would have individually picked out for myself, but I’m glad to have been able to read it.

The Crowns of Croswald follows a story about Ivy, a sixteen year old girl, who enters a magical world and finds her powers unlocked after crossing over the magical barrier. She finds herself at Halls of Ivy, a school where they practice their magic.

The book reminds me a lot of Harry Potter, and has quite a fantastical spin to it. The world building is incredible. I loved reading the details and history of the Croswald universe. I also really liked the idea of the Scrivenists, who wield their power through their quills. The mystery and adventure aspect of the book kept me going and made the book a thrilling read.

Ivy was a fun and exciting protagonist, and a great middle school character. Ivy learns more about her reccurring dreams and how it is connected with her past and Croswald. She does so along with the help of her friends Rebecca and Fyn who are such adorable secondary characters.

The world building is amazing (oops, did I say that already) and gives much potential for the rest of the series!

Definitely recommend to middle-school readers or anyone who loved Harry Potter.

4.5 Stars
I really enjoyed this book, even if it did take me a while to fully get into it. I really enjoyed learning about the world, it’s magic system and characters! I always love magical school settings, and the Halls of Ivy did not disappoint! I am excited to read the next book and continue the story!

I found this to be a great MG read. Although, I don't really read MG much, this one was able to pull me in with its adorable characters and magic school trope. The writing was sublime and the setting really stood out from all the other books in this magical school genre. I enjoyed the concept of scrivenists and the mystery that was woven into the plot. I also really liked the fact that it placed emphasis on friendships, which I believe are an important part of life for kids and adults. Would recommend this book of you are looking for great reads for your kids, or for your self.