It was so nice to relax and read this middle grade book, especially since I had a bunch of mid-terms and papers which were making me super stressed out but reading The Crowns of Croswald gave me a way to step away from it all. The Crowns of Croswald follows Ivy, a young sqwinch who discovers that she is way more talented in magic than she previously thought when she starts school at the house of Ivy! I really enjoyed all the magical creators in this book, especially Ivy’s little dragon Humbolt! I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys the HP world (because it gave me a lot of HP vibes) or middle grade books!

Ivy Lovely is an unfortunate maid that works in the kitchens with the living ovens. She loves to hear stories of the Scriveners and dreams of castles. Until an unfortunate incident finds her unemployed and forced out of the castle she lives in. Unbeknownst to her this castle had been blocking magic so once she walked outside the boundary, magical things started happening as the magical world noticed her existence.
But why is she so special and who exactly is she? She gets picked up by a cabby with a large beast and dropped off to get ready to go to the Halls of Ivy. As soon as she comes within distance of the school strange things happen and she becomes the target of Demaris one of the cruelist Royals that goes to the Hall, there is always a bully who likes to belittle those around them. The Hall is to train young Royals and Scrivenists. She does keep running into strapping 3rd year Fyn who joins her on her many adventures as she tries to uncover the mysteries of the dreams she has and all the strange happenings that only she can see or remember. And she becomes fast friends with Rebecca who should be on the Royal track but wants to be a Scrivenist, shhh don't tell her Mom.
I love Fantasy books at any grade level. At this point I am also starting a catalogue for my 6 year old who will want all these books soon enough (only a couple of years away from the 10-18 age 😨). She will love this book she is a magical creature and magic spell person!
A very magical story and setup for a series, a unique magic system, with books that talk to you and keep track of you, magical beasts and fun adventures!

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Some follow-up questions:
🌸When will I be discovered? Since I am sure I am a Scrivenist. Am I too old?
🌸Can I have Ivy's magical book that adds pages and then archives her pages (old school cloud?)?
🌸Is this room of forgetting in my house? Maybe not since things keep going missing but I remember them. How can you lose a Christmas wreath in a small apartment? I also have a bag of 50 unpaired children's socks.

Thank you @storiesuntoldpress for the kindle copy for an honest and voluntary review!

First I would like to thank Stories untold and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

As a 5th grade teacher I read a lot of middle grade books. The Crowns of Croswald is a very cute novel. The beginning starts off slow but once we get past the exposition this novel picks up. I know I will recommend it to my more advanced 5th grade readers who enjoy traveling to new fantasy lands.

This is a good story, for me a 3 star rating means this is a decent book you will enjoy. In my opinion this book may not be groundbreaking or life changing, but it is definitely a good read that I know some of my students would enjoy.

A fun magic filled read.

This book is full of wonder and whimsy. The characters are well written and the book has plenty to keep you entertained. It’s funny, intriguing and witty, especially for a middle grade book.

Synopsis:

Ivy Lovely is 16 and she has no idea who she is. Tucked away in a place that dampens magic she crosses a magical boundary and 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?

This is a story about a girl who finds out she needs to be at a magical school! This school is split between scriveners and royals. I am still a tiny bit confused about how the magic system actually works in this world, but I believe the royals get the magic from their crowns and the scriveners have some magic in their blood.
Our main character makes some interesting friends and a few enemies along the way.

This is a middle-grade fantasy with a lot going on! At times I think there is a bit too much going on, especially when there is dialogue things get a bit confusing. However, I believe this is a debut novel and there were a lot of the fantasy elements that I liked, and I am curious to see what the next book looks like. Overall I mostly enjoyed the book even if I got lost a few times, I wanted to stick around to find out what happens in the end. I think this book is very creative but could do with a bit more refinement and polishing.

I adore this book! It's a perfect middle grade fantasy book. D. E. Night knows how to build a fantasy world. She lets us know the logistic of the world perfectly through a story and she engages us with this imagined world you instantly want to visit. Her characters are layered, realistic and there are many badass female characters which is something you can buy me with instantly. The idea of quills and writing being magic is original and fun and it definitely makes nerd and learning cool. I also love the different "beasts" in the story becausw who doesn't love a good fairy tale creature. All I want is to read more of Ivy's adventures and I hope Humboldt gets to help as well in the next ones.

2.5 stars

Ivy Lovely was a lowly kitchen girl, never allowed to do anything more – until the day she was banished from all she’d known and was taken to Croswald and the school which would teach her about her magic; how her powers worked and her mastering of all she was meant to do. Ivy was sixteen years of age. She was uncertain, immediately embarrassed and humiliated – although the nice teacher chastised the class – and wasn’t sure where anything was. And although she was aware she would learn, it was a hard beginning for Ivy.

The Crowns of Croswald is the 1st in The Crowns of Croswald series by D.E. Night, and the first thing I thought was extremely strange was the calling of a character by the author’s name! I couldn’t get into this book – I enjoy fantasy/paranormal and yes, magic – but this one quite obviously wasn’t for me. I liked Ivy’s character as well as Rimbrick but felt sad that I didn’t enjoy it.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

Thank You to Netgalley and the author for giving me the chance to read this book. It took me a month but it was worth every wait. Oh My God!! This was the exact same reaction after I had finished reading the last chapter. I loved this book so much. Brilliantly written. It had me completely hooked from the start. Must read.

I have and will always be a sucker for magic school settings and this one was no exception. Here we have Ivy our Cinderella type heroine who has spent her whole life as a scaldrony maid until she lands herself at the Academy to learn to harness her magic but of course things aren’t that easy. This is a fast paced, action packed story full of magic and adventure that will definitely leave you wanting more. This story is so creative, you tell that so work went into the world building and you also can’t help but fall for Ivy and her friends. Overall I gave this 4 out of 5 stars.

DNF at 57%

I want to start by saying that this is not a bad book. I’m also not the intended audience for this book, and if I was I would probably have enjoyed it a huge amount. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get past the similarities to Harry Potter (character sleeps in a cupboard, moving paintings and a castle magical school.)
For a 9-12 year old reader, this would be a fun, magical, adventurous story. Unfortunately I couldn’t get past the writing style and similarities to the Potter books.

Absolutely loved it.! It’s a hidden gem that has yet to be discovered. The mysterious world of croswald is absolutely amazing. Loved all the characters, the storyline, the plot, and the magical elements.
It’s a perfect blend of middle-grade magic and mystery.
The main character - ivy, did feel a bit younger for her age but maybe because I have read too much YA recently. I loved how the plot wasn’t dumped at the end suddenly, but the readers were given little hints in-between.
All in love loved the book and excited to read the remaining in the series.

This book has been on my tbr list since 2018 and I was excited when @danielastoriesuntoldpress offered me a free copy in exchange for an honest review a month ago.

So, here we go.

This book has been on my tbr list for a long time and I thought I would like it, but I didn't. I'm sorry.

I reread the Harry Potter series this summer and while reading The Crowns of Croswald I just kept thinking about how it is similar to HP.
(Too much)

Through the book, we follow Ivy, a girl who lived behind an enchanted boundary that separates mundane from magical and also grew up without parents. And then ✨she goes away to a magical school ✨. Pretty familiar, isn't it? Instead of Lord Voldemort, we have a Dark Queen. What a plot twist... There was more but I don't think it's necessary to write it, you've got the point.

The writing style wasn't anything special and I didn't like the characters. I found myself trying to figure out what the author wanted to say and not paying attention to the actual story. Although, the magical concept was interesting but sadly, not enough to make me forget about the whole HP similarity thing.

2,5🌟 from me

*Thanks @netgalley for the copy*

This was a book I never normally would’ve picked up, but I’m glad I did. I really enjoyed this book. I loved the character of Ivy and how she sets off on her journey, but ends up finding herself along the way. I love the other characters she meets and how they each play a role in every step along the way. The writing and the story is great, and I could see myself in Ivy, especially when she sets out not knowing where to go or who to meet. That really resonated with me. In the end, I really liked this book and am definitely looking forward to the next one in the series.

So I don’t normally read fantasy but I really liked reading this book. It’s something that I would enjoy watching as a movie as well-It has all the elements that a wonderful fantasy movie has..
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This book had the writing style of a comfort movie if that makes sense...it gave me cozy vibes and made me feel like I was watching a live action Disney movie with my family. I loved the characters, the plot was very detailed and the plot twist had me thinking really hard. Some parts were a bit confusing but that was mostly due to me not being used to reading a lot of fantasy books.
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I recommend this book for someone who wants an easy fantasy read (this is YA/middle grade) and to someone who likes the ‘chosen one’ trope. I don’t usually like this trope but this one was a breath of fresh air since the main character wasn’t annoying like most books in the ‘chosen one’ category.

The Crowns of Croswald is a magical work of fiction. If you are a Harry Potter Fan you are going to thoroughly enjoy this book. I can’t help but think that D.E. night was a huge HP fan at some point, cause this book is heavily influenced by it. That being said, this book is unique and different.
I loved all the new magical creatures from the hairie to the shorehorse all where mesmerizing. The world building was great, yes it has a lot and I mean a lot of information but that’s what happens when someone is creating a new world, creatures and terms, there need to be explanations otherwise people gets lost.
The idea of scrivenists and crowns is pretty interesting, I loved the concept of the book and the plot, also the descriptions where so on point I could imagine the castle, THE town, etc.
Ivy is a scaldrony maid, basically her job is to take care of a couple of cooking dragons and bake pie. She gets kicked out of the only home she’s ever known and then magic basically explodes and she gets thrown into something she never expected to be a part of.
The side characters are super Fun Rebecca is all sass and a great friend to have around, Fyn is an enigma so far, he is always at the right place at the right time but I have a feeling there’s something more there. I even enjoyed Damaris and she’s awful.
I can’t wait to read more and find out more about the Dark Queen and her army, she intrigues me and I love it.
This book is magic in every sense of the word, from the world to the writing style this book is designed to pull you in to learn more about the magic system. I would highly recommend it to small readers who love magic and princesses. My son read it with me and he really enjoyed it.

Entering a new magical world of Croswald was delightful. Croswald is a magical world full of royals, dragons and scrivenists full of adventures and creatures. Joining Ivy Lovely for the beginning of her journey from humble scaldrony maid to missing heir apparent for Croswald. She meets a few beasts, makes some new friends and awakens her powerful magic during her first year at The Halls of Ivy school for young royals and scrivenists. Of course there are some bumps and twists along the way with many questions to be answered.

This book moved along at a swift pace that was really easy to keep up with. Lots of care was taken to describing the few places that Ivy visited and stayed all building a delightful world. The characters met were driven, kind and interesting. I enjoyed the magic of scrivenists with their quills and sketching, as well as the stones of royals soooo much. What a great interpretation of magic. The adventures and excitement ran right though the book and I look forward to books 2 & 3 with Ivy Lovey and her new life.

3.5/5 stars
Thank you so much to the author and the publisher for this review copy! The Crown of Croswald is a fun, magical YA book and I enjoyed it a lot, though there were a few aspects that made certain parts a struggle to get into for me.

From the first page, I was super intrigued by this unique story. There was a very cool magic system and the details given about the world were entrancing. I think the author did a great job of worldbuilding and making this magical world a lovable place for the reader.

There were several times where I was pulled out of the scene a little and felt like it was hard to follow the reasoning for the main characters actions. This is mainly because I felt like the main character, Ivy, was a little underdeveloped and underexplored. I would’ve loved to see more of her thought processes instead of just her actions. The book was written in third person, so I can understand a little disconnect, but I felt a disconnect with Ivy that hasn’t happened to me in other third person novels (I actually love this pov normally).

If you don’t mind this sort of feeling with the protagonist you might love this book, but unfortunately it just didn’t work well for me as a reader. I’m very sad that I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would, but I’m still glad I read it!

If you’re looking for some magic and fantasy the Crowns of Croswald may serve as a good escape into another realm for a while. I received this book through NetGalley and was thrilled to get a copy.

In The Crowns of Croswald we follow Ivy Lovely in her journey into the world of magic and discovering the truth of the world around her. While I will say right at the top of this review that there are similarities between Ivy’s story (orphan, doesn’t know about magic, etc.) and that of the Harry Potter series the world of Croswald is it’s own world and the magic system was very fun. The easy comparison to Harry Potter and other stories of children in magical worlds (i.e. Pennroyal Academy series, The Uncommoners series and so on) doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of this story as D.E. Night has made this world her own. I will also say the nostalgic feeling was very strong and it probably increased my enjoyment of this book but again, that doesn’t mean the book itself doesn’t stand up on it’s own.

With a lovely cast of characters and wonderful world building and descriptions I found myself flipping through these pages quickly and looking forward to each new line of information. I especially enjoyed how not all people in this world have the same type of magic; some have stones with magical traits, some use their artistic abilities to express magic and we see how their type of magic shapes the characters too.

If you are looking for some nostalgia, a new fantasy world to escape into and a new series that will keep you entertained while not being such a heavy read The Crowns of Croswald is definitely a series you should check out. I will eventually be picking up books two and three for myself as well.

Thank you again to NetGalley, Stories Untold Press and D.E. Night for sending me a copy of this wonderful story! It was just what I needed towards the end of this crazy year!

Ivy has always loved magic, although she knew that the had no possibility to have anything to do with it. But, when she gets kicked out of her work as a scaldrons' maid, she gets out of the castle and suddenly discovers she may have the possibility to go to the Halls of Ivy, a magic school.

I have to say that there where a lot of similarities to Harry Potter, especially in the beginning, she doesn't have parents, the person who is supposed to take care of her is awful and she discovers out of nowhere that she has magic in her veins and gets send to Halls of Ivy (I know, having the school named after her is sort of confusing, it happened to me too), the Hogwarts of this world. But I think that the author made a good work making the book different without losing the special feeling we all get from a magic world.

The book is surrounded by mystery and a lot of twists, so you can't stop reading once you have started, there is a lot of information missing that Ivy discovers through the book and the magical creatures are adorable (although I would have loved them to have a little bit more of protagonism through the story).

An aspect I really loved about this book is that the most important character, the one Ivy is looking for information about during the whole book, is called Derwin Edgar Night (D. E. Night). Every time I read the name my mind was like "I know this name but where have I seen it?" Then I realized that the author's name was D. E. Night and I thought "This can't be a coincidence " and I went the whole book trying to look for clues what made me even more excited.

If I have to look for issues in this book there will be just two: Ivy's age (she is supposed to be sixteen but I always imagined her being around 12, because she acts like a child and not a teen) and the love story that comes out of nowhere (I won't say names to don't do a spoiler), there is no sort of flirt or chemistry between the characters, although I thought that there was a possibility of this happening, I think the book would have lost nothing without it.

My favorite pages of the book where the last ones, because a lot of magic happens and the pieces of the puzzle start to fit in together, Ivy's background is amazing and I can't wait to read more about it and know more about the secondary characters, which seem to have amazing stories to tell.

To sum up, I think it is a great read for middle grades (and even adults) to read because it is a tender and lovely story that I am sure will be even better in the next parts. I can't wait to read the second delivery of this saga.

This book has an amazing synopsis, but the writing is what threw me off. The writing was too descriptive and I often found myself focusing more on what the author means than the actual story. I dnfed this at about 20%. This writing is for some people just not me.