This book was such a wonderful breath of fresh air. The Crowns of Croswald is the beginning to a middle grade series about a magic school. After the author of my favorite series about magical schools turned out to be extremely problematic, I was more than excited to give this one a try. It definitely delivered. This book has many wonderful characters, solid world building, and some really interesting magical concepts. Our main character Ivy is a fascinating character who really starts to come into her own over the course of this book. I loved her perspective and seeing the world through her eyes. It's also such a fast read, it just flies by. I will definitely be picking up the next books in the series, and I can't wait to see where this one goes.

I would like to thank NetGalley and danielastoriesuntoldpress on Instagram for giving me an e-arc. My review is being left voluntarily and honestly.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I found the magic system and the school really interesting, though I did really struggle with the pacing of this book. At times, I felt extremely overwhelmed because it seemed like after something happens the book would time skip to the next event. I really wanted to see more of the normal days that the students and even Ivy went through. I would’ve loved to see more of her and Rebecca’s friendship, outside of them getting in to trouble, same other characters.

Another thing that pulled me out of the story from time to time was the sudden shift of narrating Ivy to narrating either something else or another person without a warning. Take the quill scene in the beginning for example, I was confused and it took me a second to fully grasp what I had just read. It pulled me out of the story completely. Same with randomly shifting to narrating to another character. It didn’t happen too often, but this is something that dragged my rating down as well.

Again, I LOVED the concept, the events and magic in this world really intrigued me, but I felt like there wasn’t enough fluff, which is a first for me. I adore Ivy and the other characters, the settings were explained beautifully. If there would’ve been more fluff per say, this could’ve been easily a four-four and a half star book for me. The author definitely has a way with words and dragging readers into the world they’re building.

Ivy Lovely, who grew up dreaming of magic, gets an unexpected invitation to attend the Halls of Ivy, the hallowed magical school of Croswald - where she will join royals and scrivenists in learning to harvest their powers.

But when she gets there, strange things keep happening - why can she remember things she's supposed to forget, who is that man she keeps seeing in her dreams, and why does the Dark Queen always show up around her?

This is the first book in the series, so understandably it's full of world-building - setting the time and place, pulling the reader into the magical world of Croswald, and introducing the reader to the characters.

However, I felt like it fell a little short from that - it wasn't as immersive as I would have liked. The story was more on "telling" and not "showing" which is a sad thing for a fantasy. The pacing was also a bit slow for me, as nothing exciting happened until about 70% of the book.

I didn't connect with the characters at all - Ivy was too stubborn and impulsive, not caring about the consequences of her actions because everything just seemed to happen for her (too easily).

This was my first fantasy read after a while, and I'm realizing that maybe middle-grade fiction or YA is not for me anymore. Oh well, tastes change.

Thanks to NetGalley and Stories Untold for the free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

This review will be posted in Goodreads and Instagram as well.

Crowns of Croswald is set in the magical world of… you guessed it… Croswold! Where currently the Dark Queen rules after the last of the previous queenly line died.

I really enjoyed the world building in this novel, feeling thoroughly emersed in the school and with all the characters. Ivy was a really fun main character, never afraid to get into trouble and explore everything to do with the mystery she feels deep in her bones.

If you’re looking for a fun YA Fantasy this is it! I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series already!

In the spirit of full transparency, the publisher, Untold Press, contacted me unprompted on Instagram. I was provided a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review and I appreciate the opportunity.

As a side note, I want to state that this book is very, very similar to the Harry Potter series. For those of us in the book community who have been harmed by that author’s rhetoric, this book may be difficult for you to love for that reason alone, so please let this serve as your trigger warning, if applicable. However, I did power through anyway and managed to finish the book, but I won’t pretend that the glaring similarities didn’t color this experience for me. Also, I find it alarming how similar they were outside of the fact that it is a series I can no longer enjoy. I can’t imagine if certain parties were alerted to this book they would be very happy.

Overall, this was a 1.5 star book for me, and has nothing to do with the issues listed above. I am an educator and am always on the lookout for new middle grade and YA books I can stock my classroom with and there is no way I would incorporate this book. Frankly, it’s boring and drags in parts that wouldn’t make it very enjoyable for students in the age group it targets. There were so many unnecessary details and the language, while gorgeous, included vocabulary that was far too advanced for any at this level.

Secondly, the characters were incredibly unlikeable. Once again, there were so many that were rip-offs of those in the Harry Potter franchise and they weren’t even good replicas. Harry, while he definitely had flaws, was never overly obnoxious or bratty, both qualities of the main character in this story. Also, it was nearly impossible to care about the villain or any of that arc because they didn’t seem to pose any real threat and weren’t at all scary. I don’t believe children need to be scarred to enjoy a story, or traumatized through reading about a villain, but there were so many eye roll moments I found I often had to force myself to go back and reread sections because I had started to skim.

Finally, the prologue almost made me stop reading. It was confusing in a way that nearly made me give up. I understand that it’s meant to spark interest, but if you confuse your readers this thoroughly, that isn’t going to be accomplished. It also didn’t really seem all that connected with the rest of the story. I’m still trying to figure out how it fits. To be quite honest, I imagine prologues like this are why publishers and agents often tell querying authors to not include one. Also, if this is meant for middle grade or YA readers (I still can’t decide who this book should be marketed toward because it skated along that line in a weird way the entire time), they wouldn’t keep going.

Again, I want to thank Untold Press, Netgalley, and D.E. Night for providing me a copy in exchange for my review, and I am so sorry I wasn’t able to give a more positive one.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Ivy had spent her days as a scaldrony maid in a castle hidden behind a magical barrier, dampening and shutting out the magical outside world from the mundane world of the castle grounds. That is until she is forced from her home and soon taken to a magical school for royals and scrivenists alike to learn and hone their magic. But, perhaps her new life is not all it seems, with an evil Queen making an appearance in the kingdom and the dark brood searching for something, or someone.

This book is whimsical and full of magic right from the beginning. Its themes are very much like the Harry Potter books or even The Chronicles of Narnia series, so I think any young reader who likes these will like this book too! It was really interesting to see magical creatures that we haven't seen before and learn about them as Ivy does too. The school is fantastic also, I really liked the idea of the different restaurants that have different food, hosts and chefs. Also, I fell in love with Humboldt the scaldron!

At first, I wasn't very sure if I liked this book or not, the first half of the book is very quick and jumps a bit so I felt it was a little hard to follow at times. I felt like some of the new things in the book that Ivy experiences for the first time could have been explained more and I had to guess for myself what these things are. But, the second half of the book really took off for me and I found I was much more interested in the direction that the plot was heading.

Overall, I think that the whole premise of this story is very interesting and I always love reading a book from a strong female POV, I'm looking forward to reading the next one so I can learn more about Ivy and the magical world she lives in! I also want to mention that the book has lovely artwork on each chapter page!
4/5 stars

Made me feel like I’m 11 again. I love schools of magic, gave me so much of a Harry Potter vibe. At first it was kinda slow since I was only getting to know the names, the terms and the places. But after knowing everything I was really enjoying it so much. I got so curious about what’s gonna happen that I was not able to put my Kindle down.

Reading only the first book is like a tease. I need to know more. I can’t wait to know more about the story, the school and the Dark Queen.

This book is what I actually need after reading 5 romance books in a row 😆 Shared it with my little cousin and she loved it too.

Thank you so much NetGalley 💕

The Crowns of Croswald reminds of Harry Potter. I think that middle-grade readers will enjoy it. There were things that I enjoyed and I believe that it’s good book, but I wasn’t the right audience. I love fantasy books, but sometimes I had hard time reading due to the fact that the characters are quite young. So, I believe that readers close to the characters’ age and those who enjoy middle-grade literature will enjoy even more. Overall, it’s a good book and it has a great writing style.

[This review is also posted on GoodReads and Barnes & Noble. Review on GoodReads is attached]

A fun fantasy option for younger audiences. Good imagery throughout with world building and magic. An ideal read for YA who enjoy Harry Potter and the world of magic.

This was a good book. I now this book is leaning more towards younger readers and I feel like I would have enjoyed it more if I was younger. However, I thought the story itself was interesting and easy to follow. I did enjoy where the story led and I think the rest of the series could be interesting.

I will say that there are a few similarities to Harry Potter, but it didn't affect the way I read the book at all. I thought the idea of scrivenists was actually really interesting and I loved reading about it. Honestly, I wished theree was more detail about what scrivenists do and the kinds of things Ivy was learning about in school as it was kind of glazed over. However, maybe there's more information in the other books.

I enjoyed seeing Ivy make friends and new relationships. This definitely gave a good insight into who Ivy is as a person and a friend. However, I found that we missed the growth in the relationship with one of the characters and never really got to see how deep their relationship was.

Overall, it was a good book and I would definitely recommend this book to younger readers.

The Crowns of Croswald is a middle-grade fantasy I’ve heard compared to Harry Potter or Percy Jackson. While CoC has a wonderful magic system, I find it much more whimsical and fantastical.

The way Ivy carries herself seems a bit young for sixteen years, but her inquisitiveness, love for schooling, and intrinsic optimism are infectious.

I found the pacing quite quick and jumpy throughout the first half of story, making it somewhat hard to follow. But once I reached about 60%, the writing and the story came together and finished beautifully.

Something I would have loved to have had more of was relationship building between Ivy, Fyn, and Rebecca. It came and went in such short spurts until that 60% mark. But I felt throughout the first half of the book Ivy was just floating through the story with wise old men as friends.

I look forward to more of Ivy’s story in the Town of Belzebuthe!

This book was so magical and sent me on a nostalgic journey of my childhood as it had certain similarities or influences from Harry Potter. With a strong female lead, Ivy has unknown powers and as she crosses a magical boundary, she discovers a fantastical land.

It was probably a little young for me, but it is a magical story that I think many of oils enjoy!

I will say this books has great world building, it was easy to picture the setting and scenes and forget you’re reading. Cute premise, likeable characters, I really liked the FMC Ivy, she’s adventurous and brave. I just kind of feel like maybe it was too similar to HP. I know it’s marketed for fans of the HP series, it was just too close for me - even a lot of the characters were very comparable. I feel like for HP fans it can go either way, it could feel nostalgic or it could feel a bit like a knock off - I’m somewhere in the middle. I did enjoy the plot and pace.

Honestly was a bit dull. The fantasy was mid tier, and while it reminded me of Harry Potter, it was bland. There were too many plot holes, and not enough character development.

This was not my cup of tea, but I understand the appeal. Definitely suitable for young readers with its Harry Potter vibes. The romance seemed to both come out of nowhere and be completely obvious and seemed quite forced (I use the term romance loosely). It jumped around a lot and action seemed quite rushed. Again, I am coming to this from a high fantasy reader so while this was not for me, I do think young people will enjoy it more than I did.

An enjoyable tale that pulls on familiar themes of a magical school and a forgotten history. This was such a fun read that really made me nostalgic for my childhood. It's a great and easy read that really pulled me in right from the get-go! Definitely a solid middle-grade fantasy with plenty of intrigue to expand on for more books.

I adored this world, it’s magic, and it’s creatures. The world building was exquisite. It had literal out-of-this-world imagery and the creatures and beasts were so whimsical and creative.

I can picture myself reading this book to my son when he’s a bit older before bed and him begging to hear more about dwarves and magical crowns.

As soon as this book began I thought to myself, “oh how fun, I haven’t read something like this since Harry Potter!” Personally, I felt it was a bit too much like HP, hence my 4/5.

You would enjoy this if you like magical schools and/or evil queens. This story is a magical blend of Sleeping Beauty & HP!

Just a note: Thanks to the publisher for giving me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review, this did not impact my review and all thoughts and opinions are my own :)

Okay so, unfortunately, I have quite mixed feelings about this book, I will preface this with saying that I liked this book, but there were just a few gripes that I couldn't really get over. I will start with the things I liked: I loved the characters and the world building. The main character Ivy is very fun to follow through her adventures, and the mystery around here was just really fun. The world building was really well done and the descriptions of the places and buildings and the sensations Ivy was going through was really vivid and I felt really immersed in the book. The magic is very unique and I can't really think of anything I read that is similar. I also really liked the relationships between the characters, and the dynamics between the royals and the scriveners, I dearly loved all the characters and the school setting felt very real to me.

This is also were some of my gripes start unfortunately, I will preface things I'm saying with it happens occasionally, and because parts of the book are so strong the fact that they jolt you out of the story feels even more severe. So just to emphasize, both of these points are minor - they didn't make me dislike the book, I just felt more meh about it by the end?
So one thing that personally kinda took me out of the story where there were these random comments about fat characters sprinkled throughout the book where there were just a few characters who were described as fat and then were all just...either bad or evil or just stupid and incompetent - and like yea it does happen in literature and it doesn't happen that often but it happened often enough to notice and feel weird about the descriptions. This book was just so kind and delightful throughout that I didn't really expect it and it jolted me out of the story the few times that it did happen. That leads me to my second gripe which did end up leading me to lower my rating, which is that there were 0 consequences for Ivy. Everything always turns out great for her, and when she does get in trouble and there is supposed to be some inconvenience there it is sort of glossed over and ignored. The writing can be a little jumpy which in general I don't mind, but the jumps were basically used in a way to not talk about the inconveniences Ivy could experience and on the other end of that, they also mean that we don't really get shown how Ivy earns any of the things she is said to have earned by various adults. There were just a few moments where I was like "what happened to this?" or "When did this happen?" and it just happened enough times that I was a little confused.

I was gifted this book through NetGalley by Stories Untold Press for an honest review. It is the first from a series of award-winning middle grade fantasy books, The Crowns of Croswald. The four-part series is written by D.E. Night.

In this first book, we meet Ivy Lovely, our 16 year old protagonist, as she is forced to leave behind the only home she has known. Her journey takes her to a world full of magic and mystery, and Ivy begins to discover that there is more to her than she could have ever imagined. But not everything magical is a blessing, as a dark and evil Queen is in hot pursuit, determined to destroy her before Ivy has even started to solve the riddles of her own past.

As a story about an orphan finding a magical world, the comparisons with Harry Potter is inevitable. However, I was happy when I read how this book creates its own world and system, combining both fairy tale and magical academia. The pacing of the story is well done, giving the readers time to get absorbed in this new world. We also meet the various characters as the story unfolds, letting the readers get to know them without being overwhelmed. The new places and new magical abilities and classes are certainly interesting to read about. I don’t think I have read any similar ideas before. For me, the vivid descriptions of the places and Ivy’s curious personality are the highlights of the book. I enjoyed taking this ride alongside Ivy, as she discovers new magical abilities, makes interesting friends - both in and outside the classroom, and fights the devious enemy, while uncovering a secret and saving more than just her new home.

If you love fairy tales combined with magic and academia, then this book is for you!

I really enjoyed The Crowns of Croswald mind you it’s a middle grade fantasy novel so some portions seemed slightly underdeveloped but a great story! It is part of a larger series and good for its intended audience!