I enjoyed this book, sixteen year old Ivy Lovely is discovering who she is and where her powers will take her. Young Ivy’s life working in the kitchens of a castle seems very set, but when she escapes with the youngest scaldron and finds herself in magic school, her life takes on a whole a new magical journey.

Perfect for young readers and fans of Narnia and Harry Potter.

3.5 ⭐

✨The Crowns of Croswald follows Ivy Lovely, a young girl who discovers she is magic✨

I've seen a lot of comparisons of this book to Harry Potter, and while there are some similarities, I think Ivy's story easily stands on its own.

I really enjoyed the world building in this book. There isn't a ton of action but I didn't mind that because I was so intrigued by Croswald, it's magic and it's history. The different types of magic (Scrivenists vs. Royals, quills vs.crowns) we're really interesting. I also LOVED all the magical creatures present throughout the story! Dragons, and hairies and shorehorses...oh my!

Ivy was such a loveable character. I adore her friendship with Rebecca and her possible romantic connection with Fyn. I can't wait to see how these relationships grow in the rest of the series!

There were a few times I was a little confused but I'm hoping things will become clearer as I read the series. I am very interested in learning more about the Dark Queen!

Overall, this was a fun, easy read and I am looking forward to reading the next book!

Thank you Netgalley, Stories Untold and D.E. Nichgt for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Harry Potter who?

Wow, let me tell you, this was a ride right from the start! (And I don't mean just in the cabbies!) Magic, dragons, magical quills, magic schools, royalty....so much fun from start to finish! I loved Ivy and how she grew from where she began, but she still kept her wits about her and helped the people she cared about. Not to mention, keeping her head when she found out who she really was! The writing was just as magical as the story and the imagery was wonderful.

The only thing I would've liked to see more of is the dark queen, and how/why she was after Ivy. We see her in the last couple chapters, and we see her Cloaked Brood through the book, but she's only really mentioned before that. Maybe we'll see more of her and her evil schemes in the other books!

I'm looking forward to reading more from D.E. Night and learning more about Ivy's magical life!

I honestly really enjoyed reading this book. This is a delightful YA fantasy story involving a young lady with magical abilities and a magic school where she finds herself belonging. I have to agree that this book reminds me a lot of Harry Potter it definitely gave me some Hogwarts vibes with the magic and the classes and that intrigued me to want to read the whole series.

Thank you Net Galley and Stories Untold for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book gave me very much Harry Potter vibes (without the problematic stuff). The Crowns of Croswald follows Ivy, your typical normal girl who finds out she has powers. She stumbles across the Dark Queen who threatens Croswald. Ivy, along with the friends she makes along the way, reflects the past in order to defeat the Dark Queen and save the world she has begun to love.

I wanted to like this book, but it just never got interesting. Most of the book was world-building and setting up for the next books in the series. There was no action or anything engaging whatsoever. The writing was okay, but the plot was so dull. It felt like the book was attempting to be dark academia, but it wasn’t because of the lack of action and there was no darkness. Furthermore, I didn’t know what was going on half the time as there was not enough detail or description.

3.75⭐/5

In this middle-grade fantasy book, Ivy finds herself at the extraordinary school that she never thought she would be able to attend.

I loved the world-building, and the creativity used for the magical creatures (especially the hairies). It was very easy to understand it and follow the action, and the writing was truly amazing.

However, the events themselves are quite similar to the ones in the first HP book, especially in the beginning, so this can go one of two ways: you either like it, or dislike it for this reason.

The action was quite dull in the first half of the novel, but it picked up after, and that's when I started being intrigued by it. I wish I could have seen some development in Ivy's character, because often she was unlikable, brushing off other student's concerns towards her plans.

I didn't like the pace at the end, it was too rushed compared with the rest of the novel, but it made me curious to read more about Ivy and her adventures, so it wasn't a complete loss.

This book is a genre, YA Fantasy, that unfortunately isn’t my top choice and as a very reader they have sooo many great books in my preferred genres than there is time.
I previously sent this book as a will not give feedback; however, I have come to the unfortunate discovery that NG in a way punishes you when you DNF a book.

I never do star ratings on books for DNFs, but if this is how it must be I will give my DNFs a 2 star.

Thank you NetGalley, Stories Untold, and D.E. Knight for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Description:
In Croswald, the only thing more powerful than dark magic is one secret…

For sixteen years Ivy Lovely has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary that separates the mundane from the magical. When Ivy crosses the border, her powers awaken. Curiosity leads her crashing through a series of adventures at the Halls of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their magical blood and the power of Croswald’s mysterious gems. When Ivy’s magic—and her life—is threatened by the Dark Queen, she scrambles to unearth her history and save Croswald before the truth is swept away forever.

I really enjoyed this book. This isn't my normal genre of choice, but I am glad that I was given the opportunity to read it. As stated in other reviews, I get Harry Potter vibes from the story, and as someone who grew up reading Harry Potter, I was immersed in The Crowns of Croswald almost immediately and had a hard time putting the book down. If I wasn't reading I was thinking about the book and wondering what was going to be happening next. I love it when a book can do that.

I found that some of my hunches about Ivy ended up being correct (no spoilers), but I found myself immersed in the book right up until the very end. I found the story line easy to follow and personally I liked the main characters. The descriptions of Croswald and the magical world are great. So much information and wonderful descriptions. For me, it didn't take away from the main story line. I felt that without it, it wouldn't have felt complete and maybe a little lost. I now want to read the rest of the series just to know what happens, or my curiosity will get the best of me.

✨ B O O K R E V I E W ✨
"𝘠𝘰𝘶, 𝘐𝘷𝘺 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤."

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘥 by D. E. Night

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

This is a middle grade - YA novel following Ivy Lovely, our 16 year old protagonist as she learns of her mystical history and blood. When her life changes, she finds herself in a magical school where mystery awaits. Ivy Lovely is relatable and courageous, and the world building is well done. The artwork on the chapter pages is beautiful. 🥰

The author did a nice job establishing a consistent writing style and I thought the reference to their own name with the mysterious end character that gets introduced was clever. 🕵️‍♀️ I do agree that this book is very similar to Harry Potter. However, it doesn't necessarily feel like a copy to me. I enjoyed this read, and I think it would be a good read aloud for middle grade audiences.

✨ D I S C L A I M E R ✨
I was sent this book for an honest review.

A book full of magic and life! It reminded me so much of Harry Potter. Though I'm not much of a fantasy reader, D.E. Knight did a wonderful job with world-building. This is the foundation of the book where readers can truly immerse themselves into their world. Ivy is a like-able character and I loved following her experiences an adventures.

Review - Crowns of Croswold (Book 1)

Ivy Lovely knows two things: that she hated Castle Plum and that being a scullery maid is not that it's all cracked up to be. After fleeing - and somehow bringing one of her assistants in tow - Ivy finds herself flown away into an adventure she only thought were in the fairytales...

While I loved the premise and the simplicity of it all, I found the tone to be confusing at times. There were elements that I really enjoyed - the dragons were a personal favourite - and others that I did not - such as there being such little talk about the Dark Queen and her minions in the early chapters. At times I found myself tangled in the immense level of worldbuilding that sometimes surrounded chapters and the concepts were also a little hard to grasp. I find that a longer lead up into the world, along with the events that surround the ultimate ending, would greatly improve my love for this book. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me.

What I liked about the book is the world building! The story really has its own magical fantasy world. The story also really has Harry Potter similarities. I think it would be nice to read about it for middle graders.

But if I'm honest it isn't really my kind of story, maybe because I'm not a teenager anymore....I don't know.
I took me a while to get in the story and there wasn't enough character progress. I missed something in the story, it felt a little bit flat for me. So I had difficulty with finishing the book.

I really hate to give a negative review l, because an author always puts heart and soul in a book, but this one wasn't a succes for me personally!
But thank you for the opportunity to read it! Hopefully it will be a succes for a younger audience!

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a free e-book copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a nice fantasy break among the high fantasy I had been reading lately. We follow the main character when she is forced to leave the only home she has know and it turns out that she is to attend a magical school. This may make you think that it is very similar to Harry Potter. I thought it different though. I loved that the magic system is different from what I have read about before. I love the idea of royalty and the idea of scribes and the various spirits and dragons. What exactly the scribes are capable of, wasn't really explained too well. I hope that and the magic system in general will be addressed more in the next volumes.

Another thing that stood out for me, was that it was harder for our MC to make friends. A lot of these books make the main character have their best friends from the beginning of the year. That doesn't happen here and to me, this was a lot more believable. I always had problems making friends at school too. It felt like a bit of a relief here.

Ivy's true identity was rather predictable for me, but it didn't make it any harder to read or made it boring. I did have my suspicions about one character though and that turned out to be wrong, but hey, it could still happen later on. Some of the additional characters were also a lot of fun to read about.

All in all, a very enjoyable read.

This magical coming-of-age tale is such a delightful read! It’s intriguing, charming and creative. There’s something about this book; it’s so colorful, like a movie. Your imagination can’t resist it. Strong recommendation for this first of a series.

I thought this was going to be YA but it reads much more like middle grade. Plus it kind of reads as if it's just Harry Potter where HP is a young girl instead of a young boy.

About the book:
It is the story of Ivy Lovely who is a scaldrony maid at Castle Plum. On the night that she was chased away from the castle, she crosses the enchanted boundary that separates the mundane world from this magical place called Croswald. Without knowing, her arrival in Croswald awakens her power and the Dark Queen started to show up. The setting of the story is in the Halls of Ivy, a school of magic. The place where she learns more about her powers and where her adventure to the magical world begins. Within a year, the mystery behind her identity started to unfold.
My Thoughts:
The beginning of the story is so similar to Harry Potter, which for me is a downside. This set my mind to compare everything that I read. It will probably create its own identity if the few chapters start differently. But as the story goes, it started to get interesting and I began to drift from comparing it to Harry Potter. I began to see the story by itself. I noticed the uniqueness of the magical creatures, the mystery, and magics surrounding the story.
I thought I wouldn’t want to read the next book. But as I reached the exciting chapters up to its end, I decided that I have to read the next book and join Ivy’s adventure.
I will give this book a 4 star.
Title and Cover: Intriguing title, it will capture your curiosity. The cover doesn’t have a deeper meaning but shows that the hairies are the most used creature in the story.

A highly engaging and revising plot, this YA book is a reminder of the power of reading and the imagination. A great gift for the young adults in your life!

I was given the chance to read this in return for a review, and I have to say that this was a thoroughly enjoyable story! Ivy is extremely likeable, and so are the characters that she develops friendships with.

It doesn’t take long to get into the story — the first few chapters are already interesting — and it only gets more intriguing as the book continues. I thought the dialogue was well-written, and I adored the little illustrations next to each chapter title.

I did however find that parts of the book were quite predictable, and some important parts of the story were left out (we don’t get much background about the world or what Ivy’s year is like) and the Chosen One trope feels a little exaggerated and forced, but that doesn’t deter from the genuinely curious and fun storyline.

Overall a fun read for fans of Harry Potter and magical boarding schools!

Thanks to the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

The book is really descriptive, I feel that there is more description that plot. It was really hard to pick up the pace of the reading , the first part, for me, was eternal, too much description for my taste. On the second half of the book, when Ivy, our protagonist, stars classes, the story stars to keep up the pace; however, I felt that everything happened too fast and everything comes so easy for Ivy.

Tt the begining, I didnt felt that much connection with the characters, because I didn’t feel that they have addressed or mentioned enough about their feelings and emotions, but then, I started liking Ivy and Rebecca a lot. However, I think this group of three has the potential to explore and develop.

I believe this book is more suited for children and that this story will work really well for them, it has a well developed magic world and a easy to understand plot, that is why I think is a good introduction to the fantasy reading for kids.

Finally, I think the best of the book is the world building, that is amazing,

I received this book as an eARC in exchange for an honest review....

Ivy our female FMC is extremely curious, strong, loving, and coming into her own. She is such a lovely character and I love how D.E. Night shapes Ivy by the end of the book setting our heroine up for book two.

The side characters are amazing in rounding out this story. I believe side characters are always important if not more important then main characters to get the plot to thicken and across. And D.E. knocks it out of the park with them.

The Crowns of Croswold is a middle grade fantasy series. Full of magic and adventure! It is a strong start to the series which I really appreciate. Crowns is quite reminiscent to Harry Potter but had enough differences to make Crowns its own novel. The differences make it new and fresh. I wish I would have had this story as a little girl. Because I would have connected instantly with Ivy. Picture myself being in Ivy's shoes and being the heroine of the story. So, I definitely recommend this to middle grade girls so they can know they can be heroes of their own stories too. Sometimes I wish there was a little more world building/descriptions. It got a little confusing at times and I couldn't always picture the place, person, or creature. And I think that is so important for middle grade readers.

I can not wait to read what is next in Ivy's magical journey!

Thank you again NetGalley and D.E. Night's team for reaching out to me...for the eARC! It truly is a beautiful story!