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.

I was asked to review this a few months ago, but real life got in the way and it's taken me a bit to get back to it.

Unfortunately, I wound up DNF'ing it at the 10% mark. The plot summary was interesting and fantasy is my favorite genre, but the writing was just not for me. It was like in an attempt to be creative or funny the author overshot and made it cheesy instead. It also very much felt like it was trying to be Harry Potter and I wouldn't consider that a good thing nowadays.

I think this might still appeal to a younger reader and if I was also younger I might have read this without noticing the things that bother me now.

Thank you to NetGalley and Stories Untold for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you for the opportunity!
I would like to begin by saying that I have always been an avid reader, since I was 3 years old and I typically love fantasy. I think that I would have liked this book in middle school! I gave it a 2/5 rating because it was very hard to follow at times, too descriptive, or not descriptive enough. I think that some of it could be a little advanced for the average middle schooler, I had a hard time staying engaged with the story through most of it. I loved Ivy as the main character! I especially enjoyed the found family aspects - that is my favorite trope!

I would like to thank the author @author.denight and @storiesuntoldpress for choosing me to review her book The Crowns of Croswald on @netgalley

The book is a fantasy that runs really smoothly because it keeps you hooked to the story. I really liked the main protagonist, Ivy. She is strong and not cliché. She is really brave and “a bit” obsessed with getting into trouble lol. Another thing I’ve found really cute were the illustrations at the beginning of every chapter. It made the story more interesting and thanks to them you were able to understand what the chapter was going to be about. At the beginning it was a bit slow, but then I just dived right in and couldn’t stop reading it.

What a fun middle grade story! D.E. Night put her own refreshing twist on the classic trope of a young hero discovering a new world and coming into their new found powers, which is a trope that I will never get tired of. This is a story that I feel can be loved by all ages, captivating a younger audience with its whimsy while tugging on the heartstrings of older readers with the feeling of nostalgia. This is an amazing magical world that I can't wait to delve deeper into!

It’s been the perfect season to read this one, it’s full of magic and mystery, the essentials for autumn/spooky season

It did take me a minute to get into it since it’s been a while since I’ve read anything in this genre/age group but I found that once the main character Ivy entered the magic school and we met her classmates then it really picked up for me.

The writing was lovely and descriptive, I could picture the world and all the whimsical elements within it easily. There’s lots of unique characters to help keep the plot going and plenty of twists and mysteries to keep you guessing throughout.

I received a digital copy of this book thanks to the publisher StoriesUntold and NetGalley in exchange for a review.
I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this and if I have to be honest it took me a while to really get into it at first, but once the story picked up its pace I found myself getting more and more involved.
Our protagonist is Ivy Lovely (and she's as lovely as her name suggests), she works in a castle as a scaldrony maid, basically managing little dragons who function as kitchen's cookers. She's an orphan, about to turn sixteen and her only friend is an ancient woods dwarf, that pretty much sums up all her life up to this point. But the day of her birthday marks the beginning of the adventure, Ivy is destined to something far more grand, a world full of magic, and she'll come to discover it all. Being the first volume of a series of course you won't find all the answers to your questions at the end, if anything, you'll have even more of them... just the right amount to make you want to pick up the next one. I enjoyed reading this more than I anticipated and even if it is targeted as middle grade fantasy I think that everyone who wants to savor a little bit of magic and adventure could easily appreciate it despite of their age.

*I received a digital copy of this book through the publisher StoriesUntold (thank you Daniela~) and NetGalley, in return for an honest review; therefore the opinions expressed are completely my own.*

Rating: ★★★½

Growing up around the time the Harry Potter books were brand-new publications, and having remained an enchanted fan till this day, it was not difficult to see the inspired parallels between that series and the world painted in The Crowns of Croswald. Nor for me to read this without continuously comparing or feel echoes of another orphan's coming of age story as I turned the pages.

However, to a set of fresh eyes and the intended reading age (10/12 years), or readers that cannot get enough of fantastical worlds filled magic-wielding girls and boys and fantastical creatures, the tale of ever-curious Ivy Lovely will be a welcome book to devour.

Filled with whimsical writing, quirky characters, strange occurrences, secrets to be uncovered, and plenty of tantalising magic, this is a bewitching adventure that is bound to find a home in many a bookworm's heart.

This was a cute story and although it’s written for teens I think anyone who likes Harry Potter style of books would like this series. I know my daughters would absolutely love this book. It was a quick read for me and while, I didn’t like certain aspects of how the magic was taught and it ended in a dreaded cliffhanger, I would love to read the rest of the series.

This is the first book in the series. The blurb of this book gives those magical harry-potter's type impressions. I did enjoy reading this one, getting to know the magical creatures and witches and the world created by the author was fun. I loved the detail the author puts into the little things like for example Ivy's reading list included her First year Class Schedule. The titles are so well named and realistic. While reading this story I wished Croswald was real.The story ends on a cliffhanger so you are eager to jump into the next book series.

What a fun, magical read! I really enjoyed being introduced to the world of Croswald. I loved how magic could take so many forms and that even though there was a separation between royals and scrivenist they still learned together and could work together to solve problems.
Speaking of problems, Ivy was constantly dealing with them. Poor girl just couldn't get a rest. She did exceptionally well, thanks to Fyn, Rebecca and her mentors.
I'm really excited to see how this series continues, and what trouble Ivy Lovely will get into next.

Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Ivy is a sixteen year old orphan girl who works in a castle as a scaldrony maid (a kitchen maid who works with ovens that are actually dragons) and has spent most of her life being mistreated by the cruel Helga who runs the kitchens. Her only friend is a dwarf who has known her her whole life and there is no magic in the castle where she lives (though she is aware of magic in the Crosswalds as a whole. After being kicked out of the castle after an incident involving pies gone wrong Ivy is dragged into a world of magic and learns that she also has magic after all. She is taken to magic school and begins her journey to becoming a scrivener with the mysterious circumstances of her family and the dark queen for some reason after her.

I really wanted to give this book more stars than this. I’m going to start this with some positives. The story itself is really good, the premise and plot were interesting. The magic system and world building were well done and I enjoyed the villain face off at the end. I’m a bit on the fence with the class based magic roles though (if you’re a royal you get a crown to do magic and if you’re poor you get a quill and basically get trained to work for the royals) it seems like they could have been given different schools. I do think that had I read this book as an 8-16 year old I would have enjoyed it, the magic is whimsical and the creatures are described in a way that brings life to them.

Now for some more negative parts:
The pacing was a little weird, it felt like an entire school year had passed in the blink of an eye. The characters were one dimensional and I really didn’t like the way the author treats the ‘Butterlove’ family, the mother is criticised for being fat and the only thing we truly know about the son is that they like butter. Even the main characters don’t feel like they have any depth, I suppose there is still chance for that with future books. The villain pops up randomly but until the end never truly feels villainous, it makes sense why Ivy has absolutely no fear towards her. The dialogue at times felt unnatural and way too polite in comparison to the situation. This is a personal thing but I feel that as the first book of the series it could have done with a cliffhanger, something to make you want to keep reading. A lot of the actual action and information barrels at you near the end which felt like a very tell don’t show approach.

In spite of the negatives though I would still read the rest of the series. I’m interested to know where this is going.