The Crowns of Croswald is the first book in the series. There are currently four books in total available now. I am very intrigued to see how this series continues and look forward to continuing the adventure.

D. E. Night does a great job of explaining the setting and characters. It was so easy to visualize the school and creatures. All the imagery is amazing.

The story follows a sixteen-year-old named Ivy, she is such a good character. She was a maid that never thought she would be anything more. You follow her journey to the Halls of the school. It was great watching her grow throughout the book.

This is a great read for anyone that loves fantasy and magic in whimsical settings. It has all the Harry Potter vibes you need. This is great for fans of magic and whimsical settings.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a magical book that gives a mix of Hatty Potter and City Of Bones vibes. I loved the writing style given by this author. It is easy to follow and entertaining to imagine the story playing out in your head. In this book, a young woman discovers that she has the gift of magic and is exiled from her home. Sent to a school to help a master magic user she soon finds she must understand her past to have a future. The Queen takes interest in this young woman but it isn't just any Queen; its the dark queen. A battle between good and evil must always take place.

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night

Looking for a good fantasy underdog turned heroine book, well here it is!

Ivy Lovely is a scaldron maid in the slurry fields, she has never seen the daylight, nor has she ever experienced true love. Well, that's not quite true she has one friend, Rimbrick. Rimbrick always gets her books about magic written by scrivenists and it is an understatement to say that she is fascinated by them. One day she gets kicked out of castle plum and picked up by a carriage of The Halls Of Ivy. A magical school, whose building is the castle of the forgotten family. The same exact place Ivy has been dreaming about her entire life. Once she gets to school strange things start happening and Ivy is caught between what she believes to be true and the strange occurrences that tell a different story. And as if that isn't enough The Dark Queen seems to plan something malicious. No one knows what she's after or maybe the people that do know prefer to keep it a secret. Only sixteen years old and Ivy needs to figure out who her enemies are and which friends she can actually trust.

The book is fairly short and obviously you need to be introduced to the whole world and some characters at first before you can start to properly enjoy the plot, which is why there isn't much happening in the beginning (aka the first 50%). However, I am sure that the other books won't have that problem since you already know he basic rules of this fantasy world

Let me tell you the last 15% or so had me on my feet. At that point I was already so anxious to finally figure out what's really going on, that I was barely able keep my socks on. Some questions do get answered however a lot of them are still left in the blue. Hopefully those will get explained in the following 3 books. Something that will happen a lot is that you think you know what's going on but you never really do. Like I said, I've finished this book and I still am unsure about whether what I read is the real truth. If you don't already have trust issues, after this book you definitely will.

The book is about 200 pages nonetheless it is supposed to cover an entire year worth of happenings so quite often, the time jumps are fairly big / some of them aren't even that big but you just feel like a lot of time has passed, cause you're still processing what you read only seconds ago.

And last but definitely not least (to be honest this has me fangirling so hard) is the subtle name reference. You see a constantly reoccurring character is Derwin Edgar Night (a very important scrivenist) has the same initials as the author (D.E. Night). I thought that that was kind of ironic since D.E. Night has the answers to all of the readers’ questions (in relation to this story) and so has Derwin for all of Ivy's questions.

I hope that you found this review somewhat helpful!!!!!


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Ivy Lovely, a scaldron maid gets kicked out of castle plum into the slurry fields with no where to go. Once out of the slurries, hiding her magic, she is invited to the Halls of Ivy to attend school to study scrivenry.

While at school, Ivy finds trouble at every turn and with the help of many mysterious characters, discovers a huge secret about her past, present, and future.

My Review: 3.5/5

I really enjoyed this book so much! The world building D. E. Knight created was something to be applauded for. The imagery Knight creates was amazing, I could picture every setting in this book which I appreciate a lot in fantasy novels.

The Crown’s of Croswald was similar to Harry Potter in a lot of ways. The main character was “the chosen one” but in a different way. The adults in her life all lied to protect her from a terrifying destiny, but her curious nature allows her to find out these secrets on her own. A young teenage protagonist breaking the rules along with her friends to slowly bring all the pieces together.

I really enjoyed Ivy as a main character, she was curious, determined, and couldn’t care less about the rules - which is all great qualities for a character on an adventure.

Thank you to the publisher for reaching out to me on Instagram who encouraged me to request the novel on Netgalley. Thank you to Netgalley and Stories Untold for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I will say this book took me longer to finish than I originally planned. I just couldn’t really get into it😭

I love young adult books but to me it was just not descriptive enough. I had a hard time picturing what I was reading in my mind.

That being said I would totally recommend to the younger audience though!

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night

It’s one of the first fantasy books I’ve read in many years because I’m not really into the genre. However, I think this book may just have rejuvenated my like for the genre. It has everything; magic, action and so much more. The story is engaging, the characters unique and it’s just a fun book. It keeps you guessing and leaves you wanting more.

Plus I think Harry Potters would like this too; the magic, the school of magic etc. it’s a good fantasy book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author’s team for the e-book

This book was a great start to the series! I was engaged the entire time and had a hard time putting it down after the 20% mark. Can't wait to finish the series! I had a hard time putting it down and I read it within a couple days because of that. Quick and easy read that will bring you into a world of magic.

I was a bit hesitant to pick up this book. I know that books compared to another popular wizarding world can be quite a letdown if not done properly. The comparisons are definitely there. I was worried that this series wouldn’t be able to stand on its own. However, as the storyline matured, I was impressed by the originality that was injected into the narrative, especially by the end. This is the first book in a four-part series. I’m excited to pick up the next book to see how this story and its characters will progress.

*Thank you to NetGalley, D.E Night, and the publisher for my copy of this book in exchange for review *

I really enjoyed the characters and world building in this middle grade fantasy novel.
I will start by saying middle grade is not something I normally gravitate towards but this book was full of wonder and mystery and I loved every second of it.

The main reason I am giving this a 4/5 stars is because I couldn't get past some of the weird names for things, "hairies" for instance just kind of bugged me, I also thought some of the words and phrasing used was a bit too advanced to be considered a middle grade book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book even as a 28 year old woman! "The Crowns of Croswald" creates a fantasy world that I can't help but fully immerse myself into. While reading the book it reminded me a lot of the magical school world of Harry Potter but with the magic turned up even more. Combine that with the storybook style characters of the Chronicles of Narnia plus the classic story of a chosen one and you've got an all new story that is easy to fall in love with. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

With its magical campus setting, myriad strange fantastical creatures and unlikely heroine with humble beginnings and a heart of gold, this middle-grade fantasy novel has mayhem and mystery enough to captivate readers of all ages. ⁣
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It follows young maid Ivy Lovely as she is whisked away from her miserable life of service to the Halls of Ivy, a school for future magic-users and royalty. Completely at a loss as to why she is there, she and her newfound band of friends (and rivals) must unravel the mystery of her past before it brings everything crashing down. ⁣
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A younger me would have been sold by the magical creatures, from the 'hairies' (fairies with glowing hair that act as light sources) to the 'noticals' (little creatures that love to read quickly and highlight key passages in your schoolbooks for you). I also loved Ivy's longsuffering sidekick dragon, Humboldt. ⁣
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The rest of the novel is fast-paced and interesting, with a well-thought-out magic system and memorable characters. I did find some of the reveals predictable, but the ending was satisfying all the same, and I would definitely read the next in the series. ⁣
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Thank you to NetGalley and D.E. Night for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

This gave me major Harry Potter feels. I feel like it was a more modern-day version. It was filled with magic, creatures and loads more. An excellent YA fantasy book - perfect for fans of Harry Potter, fantasy and magic - this will be right up your street.

I want to thanks @storiesuntoldpress for reaching out as allowing me a copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think there could be so much more to this book. To me, it felt like book two of a series a missed, we jumped straight into the characters and I felt I had missed quite a bit of the book. The fantasy element of the book was great.

Ivy has had a sheltered upbringing, until she sees into an enchanted forest and her powers awaken. She then attends a school where students are taught to control and learn their powers and magic.

It was a good book - I feel there is a lot of potential but for me, I wanted more and less ‘Harry Potter’ vibes.

Ivy has spent her entire life slaving away to make the royals’ meals at the House of Plum. Destiny intervenes when she is fired from her duties and a whole new world is revealed to Ivy. She makes true friends, learns about the past and most importantly, interacts with magic. The evil Queen looms in the distance and Ivy must find her courage as all that is good in Croswald is threatened.

Great read for middle grade readers! This book is adventurous, endearing and enchanting. Ivy is a strong main character, and D.E. Night does a beautiful job outlining her development. Ivy is inquisitive, smart and has a sense of humor while also going through the turbulence of her life completely changing. The world building was easy to follow and it’s easy for the reader to immerse themselves in Croswald. The other characters are also very relatable and their interactions with Ivy flow really well throughout the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Stories Untold for the e-book copy. This copy was received in exchange for an honest review.

I had to give up after so many attempts to get into this book. I honestly felt like I had maybe missed a previous book or even some chapters because I was constantly trying to understand anything that was happening from the use of "quills" to names of things I had absolutely no clue what to even imagine.

I feel this book was hugely influenced by the Harry Potter series but relied too hard on people just knowing about magical objects.

Because I was so confused and not actually able to enjoy the story, I finally have given up.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to @netgalley and the publisher/author for an e- ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this book and the characters, especially Ivy. She is such a likable protagonist, smart, quick on her feet, and determined. The description of the world was fantastic! What a great read! This book is magical.

So, if you love fantasy and Harry Potter, this is the series for you!

This whimsical story is great for young readers (ages 9 - 14)
The book is full of magic, I felt is greatly influenced by Harry Potter while still maintaining its unique world. Both The world and the magic system are greatly interesting and entertaining

We’re introduced to the character Ivy and get a glimpse of her difficulties. She’s cast from all that she’s familiar with and starts a new life.

The book is well written, vivid and creative. It brings back a certain nostalgia for fantasy readers.
For all young readers and Harry Potter fans, you should definitely give this one a go.

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

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night is a story of a young girl, Ivy, who left working as a cook in a castle and suddenly stumbles across the opportunity to attend a magical school, The Halls of Ivy. Think Cinderella meets Harry Potter. This definitely leans into the chosen one trope along with some light academia.

This book is geared towards young adults, but could definitely pass as a middle grade read as well. The story is a bit slow in the beginning; I feel most fantasy book are because of the amount of character building and world building that needs to occur to make the story cohesive. You really learn about the magical system right along with Ivy. The pace does pick up towards the middle and has a rather unexpectedly larger ending than I had anticipated, leaving it open for more books to follow.

I liked this book and gave it 3.5 stars out of 5.

This book was very cute and I really enjoyed it. I don't read a lot of middle grade but I know that my younger self would have been obsessed with this series and I definitely would've gotten lost in it!

Thank you @Netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this book. All opinions are my own.

I was very much intrigued by the novel when it was presented to me for an honest review, and I was ecstatic. I am very pleased with the aspect about seeing another magical world and school, since I am a Harry Potter fan. However, there were times in the story where it got too descriptive, and then it became less descriptive, it seems that the book needs a good polishing. The book being geared towards younger readers, it may be hard for some readers to keep following along with the story with how droning some of the paragraphs and chapters can be. Which can be a bit of a pickle when you want to keep your audience entertained, overall I do believe the book needs a good run through once again with an editor and copyright to even out the flow and tone of the novel. Otherwise, it is an interesting book and has promise.

First of all I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the digital copy of the book.

This is a cute coming of age Harry Potter style novel about magic. This is definitely geared towards younger readers, and I do think I might have enjoyed it more if I was the target audience. Alas I am not so it did take me a minute to get into it.

The book follows a young girl named Ivy who finds out she has magic and is suddenly sent off to a prestigious magic school. The premise is great, the world is magical, and there's some fun creatures. Again, I definitely think younger readers who enjoy Harry Potter or fantasy in general would also likely enjoy this one.