Cover Image: The Girl with the Whispering Shadow

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow

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I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This series is just so good. I loved book 1 and this sequel took everything that had been set up in that story, added to it and made it even better! I am very excited to see what happens next, but after the events of this book, I'm also a little anxious and worried for all my favourite characters.

This installment picks up after the climatic ending of the first book with Ivy leaving school and setting off to spend the summer in a place called The Town (the real name of this place is known only to residents, in order to protect its secrecy). Amongst the interesting inhabitants of this magical place, Ivy makes news friends and also gets to see and spend time with a familiar face. However, when school resumes, Ivy is initially unable to return. Instead she must go on a mission that only she has the ability to complete to save herself, her friends and all the places she holds dear.

The worldbuilding in this book is fantastic. The descriptions of The Town are so fascinating that I could read a whole book just about everyday life in this place and explore the wide variety of magical shops. Everything in this story is so engaging and well-balanced that I never find myself getting bored, I just want more of all of it. I loved learning more about quills and the ways in which they can be used. I loved finding out more about Ivy's abilities and the secrets that surround her. I loved the scenes at the Halls of Ivy (yes, don't worry, there is more magic school adventures) when we get to experience magical lessons, the dining rooms or sneaking around at night. I loved all the friendships, rivalries and new characters. The villain is even more menacing in this book and the threat they pose is just becoming greater as the story progresses.

This book is a great sequel and this series is perfect for readers aged 10 - 13.

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My My My!!! This story si so full of curiosity that I literally binge read it. D.E.Night has done justice to the genre. Love this story! Highly recommended to all who love fantasy novels! :)

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I continue to enjoy Ivy’s story. I can’t wait to read more. I enjoyed the evolution of the magical world and all the new things we got to learn alongside Ivy. This one seemed to start off bit slower, but ones it picked up it had me hooked. It continues to remind me of Harry Potter, and all the magical discoveries add to the fun. I can’t wait to see where the story goes.

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I received an e-book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow is the second volume of The Crowns of Crosswald series. And i really loved it.

At the end of the first volume, Ivy finds out who she really is and that The Dark Queen is after her. So she has to go to a town with no name and find the next part of the stone. But things are happening in the town, quills are being stolen and strange shadows appear in the dark.

This volume reminded me, like the first one, of Harry Potter; we have a game played by the scrivenists and a group of friends who are trying to learn more things on their own. In The Girl with the Whispering Shadow we meet new great characters, we discover more magic places and meet new challenges. New secrets are discovered and things are happening all the time. Is more captivating, the universe is more developed, it's paced and you don't have time to get bored.

I really liked it, i liked the friendships made in this volume, the interesting creatures and Ivy is finally embracing her magic, becoming a real queen. We have a cute and innocent love-story, which i love and the slow burn is quite amazing. The ending was perfect and i'm so so curious about the last volume. Can't wait to read it.

So, if you're a Harry Potter fan, please give this a chance. I know is for YA, but it's so cute and so interesting to follow Ivy's adventures. It was a perfect sequel and i can't wait to have the last volume.

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This book was a super fun adventure. Although I wished the characters were a bit more developed, I loved learning a bit more about Fyn and I absolutely adored the new characters in this book. The plot was kind of all over the place. It was interesting, but it was sometimes hard to keep up with. I really enjoyed it as a sequel, but I do hope the third book fills in some things the second book couldn't.

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This sequel to The Crowns of Croswald picks up almost exactly where its predecessor left off. Ivy Lovely recently learned that she's the true Queen of Croswald and the fulfillment of the Moonsday promise and, at the instruction of her family's scrivenist, makes her way to the magically-hidden town of scrivenists. Like The Crowns of Croswald, and other fantasy school series, The Girl with the Whispering Shadow follows the frame of the school year as Ivy searches for pieces of the stone that will grant her her true power.

In my review of Crowns, I raved about Night's magic system. The sequel shows us so much more of this world of crows and quills, and I was as eager to learn about it as the students in The Halls of Ivy. Despite hitting some time-tested tropes of middle-grade/YA fantasy, this magic system keeps the book fresh and interesting.

There are a couple shortcomings to this book, though none are detrimental. The first part of the book was a little slow and difficult to push through, and might be even moreso with younger or slower readers. Still, I liked learning more about the world of Croswald, and this section widened the readers' world. Second, the frame of the school year seemed rushed. There are allusions to recurring events but not enough exploration of them--the timeline and pace sometimes seemed jarring. Still, as I said, none of these are significant enough to detract from a purely delightful visit to a smart and intriguing fantasy world.

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This book moved at a much quicker pace than the first one. The world has now been established and we know where things stand. Now Ivy is in a race against the Dark Queen to save the kingdom and its people. Ivy has become stronger and more self confident, her friends have her back, and more of her past comes to light. The ending was intense and though devastating it left hope for the future.
I can’t really say to much without giving away key points of the story so I’m just going to say that I enjoyed it immensely and can’t wait to read the third book. I’ve come to really care for Ivy and her friends. I love how they interact and the world is so original and imaginative. I can’t wait to see what they all get up to next.

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3 stars for ‘The Girl With The Whispering Shadow’.

Whisked away to Belzebuthe to retrieve the second shard of the kindred stone, we find Ivy Lovely on a mission to avoid the Dark Queen’s fury...

I really enjoyed the second instalment to the ‘Crowns of Croswald series’. A story filled with intrigue and wonderment you’ll find yourself turning the pages and wishing for the next one.

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After reading the first book which i ended up enjoying despite it being a middle grade novel, i was happy to read the sequel.. i loved the world even more so this time around, its so whimsical and makes you want to live in it. D.E Night's writing never fails to impress me.

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The Girl with the Whispering Shadow is the second book in The Crowns of Croswald series. Picking up shortly after book one, we follow Ivy as she begins her quest for the other pieces of the Kindred Stone in order to ultimately defeat the Dark Queen.

Once again, the world-building was the major highlight of this book. Instead of Ivy continuing her studies at the Halls of Ivy, she instead stays in ‘The Town,’ and because of that we gain more of an insight into the scrivenist world. It was nice to break away from the traditional ‘new year at school’ approach for the majority of the book, and to see Ivy’s character develop.

I also enjoyed the addition of the game ‘Quogo,’ which is basically a type of duel using departed scrivenists’ quills. These games were particularly exciting, and I definitely wouldn’t turn down the opportunity of playing the card game!

D. E. Night’s writing has improved immensely since book one, and there were definitely less issues with pacing. Unfortunately, though, I found this book to be a slow read. The added focus on the larger cast of characters that were only briefly mentioned in The Crowns of Croswald was great, but in exchange I found this book to be less exciting and engaging than the first.

That being said, this book still maintains that lovely sense of wonder and magic that the first book introduced. It sprinkles the seeds for Ivy’s growth and development in anticipation for her defiance against the Dark Queen.

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow is a fun little adventure that is sure to capture the interest of younger readers. I’m looking forward to seeing where D. E. Night goes from here!

Rating: 3/5

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Stories Untold Press and D.E. Night for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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*I received this book (via eArc from NetGalley) for free from the publisher (Stories Untold) in exchange for an honest review* Yet again I had a whole lot fun in this world!! Ivy, Fyn, and Rebecca are still the best friendship trio and always protect each other. Thought it felt a tab bit all over the place I loved the ending and the battles between Ivy and the Dark Queen! I wonder what they will do next? A huge thanks again to the publisher for the ARC!! It was positively magical and I can't wait to read the conclusion to this trilogy :)

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It had been months since I read the first book, so I was really praying that I’d remember enough to read this. Thankfully, D.E. Night did a great job of recapping the major events of the first book without making it feel like we were reading a textbook.

The Girl With the Whispering Shadow picks up right where The Crowns of Croswald left off. Ivy is determined to find the second piece of the Kindred, to prevent the Dark Queen from amassing any more power. Even though she’s supposed to be safe in the Town, she is being shadowed by something, and no one knows what it is.

Although this series is very simplistic, I really love the world. It’s as magical as it could be, and with every single book, it’s developed even more. The descriptions of Belzebuthe were luscious, and it was insanely fun to imagine. I’m super excited to learn even more about this world in the third book!

I also really love the focus on friendship. Romance is non existent in this series, and I’d really like to see one developed, but I love the friendship between Ivy and Rebecca. If you like middle-grade fantasies, this is for you!

Thanks to D.E. Night and Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

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The Girl with the Whispering Shadow is the second book in The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night. The trilogy is a middle grade fantasy novel with magic involved and a magical school, Croswald the main lead Ivy goes too.

I read the first book and really enjoyed it. The book flew by even faster than the first one and I can sense this only as a bridge between the first and the ending novel. But never the less I am very excited to see how the third and the final book comes by. The first book ended with the school's masquerade ball with The Dark Queen trying to destroy Ivy.

The story starts we Ivy not being able to spend her summer with her best friend, and instead is taken a new town - Belzebuthe, a secret town for only those with magical blood. In this also we see Ivy running from The Dark Queen and also simultaneously finding the Kindred Stone.

We see relationship between Ivy and Fyn more stronger and growing closer in this book. I enjoyed the first book more than this one. I am sure book 3 is going to be even better than both these and just the perfect end to the series. We definitely see more of the Croswald and world building in this book. But never the less, I felt the execution for the first one was so much better..

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Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an electronic copy of this book.

While I rather enjoyed the first book in this series, I'm afraid this second instalment is not quite to my taste.

As is the case with "The Crowns of Croswald", the strength of Night's narrative is in the quality of her world-building, which brims with quirky, inventive detail that makes for a whimsical, magical reading experience. I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to see more of the world of Croswald in this second instalment. I'm also very much a fan of the delightful chapter-header artwork.

Unfortunately, the quality of the writing lets this book down. Night's dialogue is rather stiff and awkward , and the narrative as a whole requires more polish. I'm sure this could be achieved by some careful editing and re-writing; the text currently reads more like a first draft than a finished product. A further critique is that, while the characters are perfectly likeable (if a bit one-dimensional), they all behave and speak as though they are much younger than their indicated ages. Night describes Ivy and her friends as being in their late teenage years; I feel the narrative would be better served by re-writing them as thirteen-year-olds.

Thus, while I'm a little disappointed by this second book in the series, I do hope Night manages to turn things around in future instalments, as "The Crowns of Croswald" has potential to be an enjoyable middle-grade fantasy series.

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This book is the second in The Crowns of Croswald series and picks straight up from where the first book left off. Starting with the summer holidays away from Ivy Halls. With the events and revelations of end the first book fresh in her mind, she travels to a secret protected town for Scrivenist called Belzebuthe, in hopes to discover more about the location of the second piece of the Kindred stone. Whilst she is safe within Belzebuthe, the Dark Queen has other ideas to draw her out from the protective bubble and draw her back to Ivy Halls where she intends to steal the Kindred stone from her. In the process endangering everyone and everything Ivy holds dear.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than the first. The plot was much faster pace and more action packed. There are still elements where the strong Harry Potter vibes are present but less often than the first book and quickly absorbed into the Coswold setting. We learn a lot more about what happened to Derwin in the past and hints about who the Dark Queen really is. We also get introduced to Quogo (Quill duels), secret club meetings, Invisitaurs (Invisible creatures), an owlery and much more to the magical world outside of the school setting which was great. Imagine being able to catch the stars in the sky and actually getting wishes granted! There is also a more obvious love interest going on in this one which is very cute! I love that Ivy is getting to realise more of her strengths and weaknesses in this and we get to become more familiar with the other characters in her new "found family".

I really enjoyed this book and glad I got to continue with this series. This ended on a bit of a cliffhanger though and I can't wait to pick up the next one. Going to put it on my Wishlist.
Thank you to @netgalley and @storiesuntoldpress for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This review has also been posted on Instagram and Goodreads.

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When we left Ivy Lovely at the end of The Crowns of Croswald, she had just defeated the Dark Queen at the Ball, had learned her true identity, was given part of a Kindred Stone, and had discovered that the pirate she kept being drawn to in glanageries was actually her family's scrivenist, Derwin Edgar Night.

In this book, Derwin then sends Ivy off to "The Town" (the enchanted magical city of scrivenists, called Belzebuthe) to search for the second part of her Kindred Stone and stay hidden from the Dark Queen. It just so happened that the address Derwin sent her to stay at in Belzebuthe belonged to none other than Fyn Greeley and his mother! Ivy spends much of the book running around with Fyn and his friends, getting into trouble and dodging a creepy shadow figure.

We got to see more of how the magic in Croswald works in this book, which I really enjoyed. Ivy spent most of the story either in Belzebuthe or on other adventures, and only a very small part actually at The Halls of Ivy. It was quite fun to get to know some other settings! The whole world of Croswald still gives me major Harry Potter vibes, and I enjoy it quite a bit.

In the first book, I didn't find that there was much character building of the secondary characters, like Fyn and Rebecca, but I found that was improved in this book (however I still don't much care for, or trust, Fyn). I did have a bit of difficulty keeping the members of the Quogo Club straight, but that is likely more a personal thing than the characters themselves.

I don't have much to say on the side of criticism - there were a few grammatical errors here and there, but nothing too serious. This second book also reads like a middle grade novel, which is great. There were moments when Ivy did act a bit more like a 16-17 year old girl than in the first book, but I still feel like she should be around 14, so her age still throws me off and is still a bit of an issue for me.

One of my favourite aspects of The Girl with the Whispering Shadow were the stars in Belzebuthe. I love that the stars are wishes, and that a person can rent stargusters to putter around among the stars, and that if one were to catch a star, the wish inside would be granted...! Such a romantic and lovely idea! If I lived in Belzebuthe I would most definitely buy wishes/stars on a very regular basis. I also really love that because this magic system uses quills instead of wands, spells are actually written as well as spoken, and so good penmanship is of quite high importance. I have always loved penmanship, and taken pride in having legible handwriting - I think I would get along quite well in the world of Croswald!

I continue to recommend this series to others, and am looking forward to reading the next two books at some point!

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The Girl with the Whispering Shadow is the second book in the Croswald series, written by D.E. Night. The series follows Ivy Lovely, a teenager who is unaware of her real fate in life after growing up as a maid in a castle. Having been (literally) swept up into her life of magic she faced her first year of magic school in the first book of the series. The second book tackles her school life being away from the Halls of Ivy, having been warned to stay away for her safety. Darkness always finds a way in, though, even in the safest place possible.
Compared to the first book, I felt the second one dragged a little more, and only really picked up towards the end of the book. Alongside other issues I found throughout the book; a slow beginning made most of the book much less enjoyable than the first novel.
The main issue I found with the second book was it felt much more innocent and immature at times than the first, and while I’m aware the book can be seen as being targeted for a younger audience, I felt it much more in this book. The relationship between the protagonist and her best friend often felt too childish, and sometimes repetitive with phrases like “I’ve missed you so much” being said frequently. When paired with the overuse of exclamation marks, it brought down the overall mood of the book a little for me.
One final, minor issue was when the author broke immersion and described a building as ‘Tudor-style’, in a fantasy world where the Tudor’s don’t exist. While only a minor issue, and one that isn’t going to affect my overall judgement or rating of the book, a comment should be made on it.
For the positives, I still love the plot and characters. While sometimes it can be a little too Harry Potter in style, and I fear the author may fall back into that comfort blanket too often, she proves that she is keen to diverge by creating a plot that does differ from the beloved series. The twist at the end really impressed me, and I continue to love the balance between characters, description and scenery that the author gifts her readers. Excluding the break in immersion mentioned earlier, the author has successfully created a world that is immersive and wondrous to the readers, and one that I find myself wanting to enter again and again. This series is one I am definitely going to be finishing when I can.
Overall, this book is excellent in its writing, characters, and plot. The few criticisms I’ve provided are only minor, in my opinion, and do not take away much from the experience of her series. If you’re a fan of the Harry Potter series, or a big fantasy reader that has that element of familiarity, the Croswald series is one you should read.

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Great follow up book to The Crowns of Croswald. Fast paced read is hard to put down. I really enjoyed the world building in this series. The hidden town Ivy is spending her summer feels like a Diagon Alley permanently stuck in a winters night. There is still a heavy influence in my opinion from Harry Potter but again, not enough to dissuade me from thoroughly enjoying the story.

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A great continuation to the story of Ivy and her search for the pieces of Kindred Stone that will defeat the Dark Queen. She is surrounded by friends with unique magical abilities as she battles shades and shadows who are trying to destroy her.

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I love Ivy’s world it is so fascinating. I enjoyed being able to enter it again. I found Ivy a little childish in the first book, this one I found she had grown up and it was more acceptable that she was seventeen. I had also struggled with the first book keeping track of all of the side characters and I found it easier to keep track of them all. I it was a fun novel to read and it was great to learn about more of Ivy’s adventures.

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