The Crowns of Croswald - D.E. Night

Ahh, what a lovely fantasy book this was, filled with magic and mystery!

Right from the start, I was hooked on the story of Ivy and her journey in this magical world.

The world-building was incredible and I fell in love with how the world is described, it sounds incredibly beautiful and whimsical. We follow the journey of Ivy and her time at a wonderful magical school, however, Ivy has no idea who she even is, or what her powers could be. She enters a whole new land of mystery and enchantment and makes exciting discoveries about her past.

I loved how the magic system was set up in the book and the whole royalty scene as well! The Dark Queen storyline was 100% my kind of vibes as well and this was really well written.

The start of the book was a little slow however I feel this was more to set the book up for the amazing middle/end, and the rest of the series as well!

This book reminded me of my childhood and Ivy is a badass character who is brave, smart, and incredibly sassy! Can't wait to read the rest of the series!

Thank you to Netgalley/Author/Publisher for an advanced copy of this book!

Do you want to read something that reminds you of that beloved magical series, but without the problematic aspects? Then this is for you! I started this read not knowing much about the plot overall, except the major points, and I was amazed at how good this book is. The plot is strong, we have a very clear idea of what is happening and how is happening and the world building is well-developed. The magical system definitely exudes that cozy and magical feeling that we´re used to loving, and it was, without any doubt, my favorite part of the book. The characters are lovable but I think that some of them could be better developed. With this said, i´m aware that this is the first book in the series, so i can´t wait to see how the author develops them in the later novels. Overall I really liked this book and will definitely be recommending it! Can´t wait to read the rest of the series!

As someone that is outside of the age range for this book, it's slightly difficult for me to accurately rate and review it. I do think readers within the appropriate age range will enjoy it, however it felt too familiar and similar to other fantasy books for me.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher (Stories Untold) in exchange for an honest review.

Ivy Lovely is a 16 year old orphan that spent her whole life hidden behind an enchanted border that kept her separated from the magical world. The only thing she ever knew – caring for scaldrons in the castle – is the thing that sent her away from her home. She ends up crossing the border which makes her magical powers awaken. Since she was young, Ivy was able to perfectly remember her dreams and sketch everything that she sees – both traits of magic-wielders called Scrivenists. Curiosity leads her crashing though a series of adventures at the Halls Of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their magical abilities. She soon discovers more about her hidden past, magical blood and powers of Croswald's mystical stones. She makes amazing friends during the way, but not everything is great as it seems. The Dark Queen threatens all of Croswald.

I loved this book so much! I enjoyed reading about magic system, different creatures and Croswald in general! My imagination could get loose while reading beautiful descriptions of this magical world. This book is perfect for young middle grade readers, but since I like that genre, I think this was a fantastic read! The whole story was very creative and it featured some original elements like cabbies and cabby storms, ink and quills, hairies and scaldrons, which I thought was a great idea. I would also recommend this book to all Harry Potter fans out there because it's similar to J.K Rowling's series in many ways. Another thing I have to mention is a really beautiful cover of this book. Since I saw this book for the first time, I knew I would love it. The beggining of each chapter also had a pretty illustration that kept me interested in the story till the end, making this experience even better.

In the conclusion, I want to thank the author D.E. Night and Stories Untold for providing me an ebook copy of this book. I rated it five stars because I really loved it and I hope the others will too. Happy reading everyone! ❤️

It had been a long time since I had read a magic story aimed at a middle grade audience, however, it was just what I was looking for on this occasion.

The Crowns of Croswald lets us meet Ivy, an orphan who has spent her 16 years working as a scaldron maid, not knowing who she really is and the capacity of her powers (which she also doesn't know she has). Undoubtedly, Ivy dreams of a different life and a castle beyond her reality. As fate would have it, she is invited to attend Halls of Ivy to begin her magical studies and eventually become a scrivenerist.

What can I say about that book other than it's what I needed? It felt like a journey and, like Ivy, I had no idea what was going on at many points. But it's okay, it's the first book and it does the job of building the world and explaining its magic to you. You slowly learn about the school, its creatures, the magic and the world of Croswald.

It may sound similar to Harry Potter because of the theme of a school of magic and an orphan girl, but beyond that... I couldn't find any similarities.

The Crowns of Croswald is very cute, it feels soft. Hopefully my niece will want to read it in English, as it isn't in Spanish.


ESP

Llevaba mucho tiempo sin leer una historia de magia dirigida a un público middle grade, sin embargo, era justo lo que buscaba en esta ocasión.

The Crowns of Croswald nos permite conocer a Ivy, una huérfana que se ha pasado sus 16 años trabajando como scaldron maid, sin saber quién es realmente y la capacidad de sus poderes (que tampoco sabe que tiene). Sin duda, Ivy sueña con una vida distinta y un castillo más allá de su realidad. Por azares destino, es invitada a asistir a Halls of Ivy para iniciar sus estudios mágicos y finalmente convertirse en scrivenerist.

¿Qué puedo decir de ese libro además de que es lo que necesitaba? Lo sentí como un viaje y, como Ivy, no tenía ni idea de qué estaba sucediendo en muchos momentos. Pero está bien, es el primer libro y hace muy bien el trabajo de construir el mundo y explicarte su magia. Poco a poco vas aprendiendo sobre la escuela, sus criaturas, la magia y el mundo de Croswald.

Puede sonar similar a Harry Potter por el tema de una escuela de magia y una niña huérfana, pero más allá de eso… no pude encontrar similitudes.

The Crowns of Croswald es muy lindo, se siente suave.

“Your visions, your dreams… there’s magic in you.”

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night is an incredibly fun and whimsical coming-of-age story full of magic, myth, and realizing the possibility that you can be more than people say you are.

Ivy Lovely has spent her 16 years on the other side of a barrier that separates the mundane from the magical. As a lowly scalondry maid, she didn’t think she was made to be more than that until she stepped over the boundary. Suddenly Ivy is thrust into the enchanting world of scrivenry where she will attend the Halls of Ivy to master the powers she never knew she had. With vivid dreams of mysterious strangers and familiar places plaguing her mind, she has to discover the history behind her new school and its magical gems, before the Dark Queen sets her sights on all of Croswald.

Ivy is naturally curious about the world around her but finds that her curiosity constantly gets her into all kinds of trouble. She is joined in her adventures by her two closest friends, Fyn and Rebecca. Throughout the book, they form a great dynamic that seems to always get them into difficult situations: the curious troublemaker, the friend who asks to join in the trouble, and the one who tries to keep them in check. I absolutely adored the characters and their friendship and got attached to them very easily.

Above all, I admire the magic system and world-building of the book. There are two classes in the Halls of Ivy: the royals, who get their magic from the gemmed crowns they receive when they come of age; and scrivenists, those who have magic in their blood and use quills in place of wands. Upon their graduation, scrivenists will be assigned to a royal family to whom they will serve for the rest of their days. I also loved how the story gave special appreciation to the arts, like drawing and writing. The different magics, original creatures, and unique realm where a book is literally someone’s life is such a new take on what you usually find in a magical academy.

Would definitely recommend this book to anyone who:
- Would love to try their hand on the middle-grade genre,
- Want to start or would like to fall back in love with fantasy;
- Really want to go to a magic boarding school;
- Think that maybe wands are a bit overused;
- Want to read about new creatures;
- Love the trouble trio trope;
- Like pie :>

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night really brought me back to my childhood. There are no other words to describe it but it reads to me like a good dream. It gave me a wistful sense of nostalgia and affection for the fantasy and middle-grade genres. I highly recommend anyone of any age to pick it up! Its magic and the idea of attending such a fantastical school would make anyone want to cross an imaginable barrier and be a scrivenist (or at least wave a quill around in the air as I did hahaha). It captivated me from start to finish with every detail added to the plot that answered questions little by little. I admittedly had no idea where the story was headed, and although I could get a clue of the ending, I didn’t know how it would take me there--which is thrilling in itself. Granted this is the first book in the set, I definitely suggest the whole series if you're in a magical, whimsical, nostalgic mood!

A million thanks to author D.E. Night for writing this gem and publicist Daniela for reaching out and sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

What a grand fantasy adventure this book was, filled with mystery and magic! I loved this mysterious world of "scrivinists" and royals with magical abilities. Fans of Harry Potter won't want to miss this book! The main character Ivy, gets plucked out of her life as a maid into the school for scrivinists to hone her magical abilities and is completely lost and frazzled by her new life. I was on the edge of my seat reading, trying to figure out all the mysteries at play and how everything was going to come together for her. The pacing was a little slow the first half of the book, which is to be expected from a first book in a series due to all of the world and character building! The second half really picked up pace and by the end I was completely immersed in the story and did not want it to end. Cannot wait to see what happens next with Ivy!

The Crowns of Croswald was a very fun and magical reading experience. The world building was spot on and I liked the unique magic system. I am very much looking forward to continuing with this series in the future!

I received a free copy of The Crowns of Crosswald from the publisher, Stories Untold, in exchange for an honest review.

The Crowns of Crosswald follows Ivy, a scullery maid, to a magic school where everything is not what it seems. Ivy starts to question the actions of those around her, leading her to strange discoveries, new friends, and risky adventures.

The world-building in this book is beautiful. The magic system is well set up, and I like the idea of the royalty and the scriveners. The Crowns of Crosswald is middle grade, even though the main characters are 16, so a bit of the characterization fell a little flat. However, it is the first in a series, so hopefully now that the world is established, the characters can flourish!

I was contacted by the author to review this book, but I haven't been in a mood to read middle grade fantasy recently. This book sounds like it would be great for those looking for a magical adventure story!

I really really tried to get into this book multiple times, but it was too wordy for me. It was difficult following the story, because I had to try so hard just to get through each sentence. I'd basically forgotten what I was reading about by the time I finished each line.

Good middle school book set in a magical world. It's great for young readers or anyone wanting a fun read. It's similar to a Cinderella storyline with a young maid who discovers she has magical powers. It would have been nice had the author spent more time with Ivy learning how to use her but there is character growth throughout the book.

In Croswald, the only thing more powerful than dark magic is one secret...

The Crowns of Croswald by DE Night

Personal Rating: 4/5 ✨

DISCLAIMER: Big thanks to NetGalley, DE Night, and Stories Untold Press for providing me the eARC of this book. However, all of these are my personal and honest opinions. It has not impacted my review, at all.

Ivy Lovely was 16 and she had never known her parents, more so her past life. She was basically a maid and had only a dwarf named Rimbrick as a friend. So, one day, Rimbrick helped her to escape from the castle she was working at and all of a sudden, she was accepted to the Halls of Ivy, a magical school in Croswald, where she was going to study to become a Scrivenerist. Little that she knows that her story is entangled with the town Croswald itself.

Personally, this was a ride for me. I was on the verge of a reading slump and this book helped me to get through that. It was an enjoyable read especially because it's right up in my alley which is fantasy and middle grade lol

Characters: 4/5✨
There are a few important characters in this book like Ivy, Rebecca, Fyn, and Derwin Edgar Night himself. When you read the book, you will feel that they have no connections whatsoever with Ivy being....well, Ivy. But all of them seemingly have interesting chemistry with one another. Ivy herself is a well-developed character. She did not know that she had this underlying strength within herself and I can foretell that in the next book that she will grow into a very complex, well-written main character.

World Building: 5/5✨
If you want detailed, super amazing, mesmerizing world-building descriptions of a middle-grade book, look no further. Some would actually compare this book with Harry Potter and I can kind of see that but honestly, the author wrote a very complex world that just immerses you into it that you can just get lost in the words. I honestly was taken by surprise because I did not expect a middle-grade book can actually make me feel enthralled while reading it.

Magic System: 4/5✨
If you are into light academia, this book is for you. One of the main setting of this book is a library and there are so many stories to tell in this setting alone. There are a lot of interesting elements when it comes to writing a fantasy book, and as a young reader, you would tend to be confused. However, that was not the case with this book. It does well in explaining to the readers in their dialogues among the characters. We're talking about The Forgotten room, bearded clouds, cloaked guards, queens with magical crowns, and of course Scrivenerist with their magical quills. It's so well thought out that I felt like it was an element of surprise for me.

Story Plot: 3/5✨
I think, that because this book is the first book of a series, that the writer emphasizes a lot on the world-building and magic system, and somehow she kept the story plot simple and predictable. However, there was this plot twist that I did not see coming. So I'm giving her props to that lol

Writing: 4/5 ✨
For a middle-grade book, it was quite hard to understand. I can imagine 14-year-old me would find it hard to understand and might not even finish this book. And even the pace is quite slow, I would say. However, I feel that once they read the first 15% of the book and with all the world-building, it is easier for them to understand. With this, I feel that the book was definitely a page-turner for me.

Final thoughts:
It was an enjoyable read, though at first, I felt like it was a bit pretentious. However, I feel that this book has an interesting premise with likable characters, a very interesting world-building, and a magic system that is well thought out. I would definitely recommend this to any of my friends who has a teenage child back home who would love reading fantasy books.

- thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review-

Tl;dr: a whimsical world with a magical school and a scary evil queen🪄 - thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review-

Tl;dr: a whimsical world with a magical school and a scary evil queen🪄

So it has a whimsical world and for some reason I was expecting to hate it but it was alright. the world-building is confusing at time and creative at others, but my favorite is the floaty upside down island.
So basically you either have scrivenists that have magical quills or royals with their magical stones.

The illustrations in the beginning of each chapter were nice.

Overall it just wasn’t for me but I can see why someone might like it.

*oh and if you DID read this book, holy shit the last two chapters! I was reading it in the middle of the night and that was fucking terrifying

Let’s start with the whimsical world! For some reason I was expecting to hate it but I was honestly surprised by it! This book swept me off my feet and took me to its world. seriously the world-building is one of the most creative worlds I have read in a long time, there’s a floaty upside down island that I really liked, the creatures and the magic system is amazing too where you have either scrivenists that have magical quills or royals with their magical stones. I saw some people compare it to a certain book with a boy who has a scar on his forehead and I can see why they’d say that… but the world is a lot more whimsical and has nothing to do with our world unlike Harry Potter. Am I saying whimsical too much? Yes, yes I am.
There’s a magical school and that’s the only similarity to that certain book I talked about, otherwise the subjects are so much fun to read about, trust me.
I loved the feel of nostalgia reading it and the illustrations are *chef’s kiss*
If you liked Harry Potter then you might enjoy reading this but don’t expect a HP copy because I can’t emphasize how creative this world is enough!
*oh and if you DID read it, holy shit the last two chapters! I was reading it in the middle of the night and that was fucking terrifying *

The part of me that loves Tuck Everlasting but wants to shy away from the fall of JK Rowling typically doesn’t read a lot of YA fantasy. Still, there is something about The Crowns of Croswald to love: magic school, dragons, mystical stones.

The first series installment by D.E.Knight is great for middle-grade readers. In fact, I found myself thinking about how my kiddos would definitely like it in a couple of years. Ivy is such a kick-butt MC and really starts to come into her own power as more is uncovered throughout the novel. And Fyn makes for some adorable banter.

If YA fantasy and magical creatures are your thing, you’ll definitely adore this one. Check it out for sure!

What a charming story, very whimsical. Ivy Lovely is a young orphan who doesn't know how important she is.
She works hard and dreams about a mystery castle until one day she is invited to study at a magic school (this part reminded me of Harry Potter)

Ivy is smart and cute, soon she makes friends ... and enemies. She will learn about the royal family and their curse, also about the evil queen who still terrifies the community.

The story and writing style feels a little old fashion, like a fairytale, the world-building was amazing, magical creatures and magic with words, how lovely, I love the idea of Scrivenists, people who do magic using an enchanted pen.

Ivy is a loveable character, a bit naive, fun and loyal, she is delighted with the school, she wants to learn (the classes are so interesting) and make friends. Through her eyes, we will know a magical world.

The pacing is fast, there is action and mystery, young readers will love it.

I, unfortunately, did not enjoy this book. I found it to be too similar to Harry Potter as if someone took Potter's story and changed just enough of it to make it seem like it is a new story. But that didn't work on me. There were way too many similarities between this book and Harry Potter. When there are stories that are too similar, I do not enjoy them. I am sure there are some children who will enjoy this book but for me, this was an extremely disappointing copy of the Harry Potter story.

This is a perfect book for students that love worlds filled with a school of magic, adventure, and solving a mystery along the way. Ivy is a great main character that is easy to feel connected to as she journeys into this fantastic school, and makes wonderful friends along the way! The plot is fast paced, with details that will leave your middle schooler hooked in for a great journey.

I was reached out too, and asked to read this book so I wasn't quite sure what to expect... I loved it!
It did take me some time to get into with all the names of things, places and characters but once I started to visualise it all I was very much in the world of the book.
Following Ivy on her journey of self-discovery of her powers and self made this a really lovely read. It had a sort of Harry Potter-esque feel to it that brought back all the nostalgia and happy memories in me to be back in a world of magic.
Very much looking forward to reading the second book in this series.

First of all, I've seen this book be compared a lot to Harry Potter, and while I definitely see a LOT of similarities between the two (Ivy's upbringing, magical school, even a Diagon Alley-esque place) the whimsy and wonder of the book reminded me more of Jessica Townsend's Nevermoor series. Crowns of Croswald is very atmospheric and just delightfully immersive. I dunno if this is just my soft spot for middle grade books, but I just simply love books like this filled with a comfy sense of magic and childlike wonder, especially with the gorgeous illustrations before every chapter. A small, childlike part of me was eager to turn every page of a chapter's end just to see what breathtaking illustration was waiting for me in the next.



Some things I didn't like:

-I know the book's aimed at a much younger end of the spectrum in the middle grade genre, but at times the writing felt extremely choppy. Stilted. Sometimes it tells you outright what the character is thinking and feeling, instead of showing it.

-The side characters felt forgettable. I don't even remember half of the names of Ivy's friends are.

-The big reveal that Ivy's the heir to the throne felt a bit too cliché for me. And there was no buildup to that at all.



The twist at the end that Rimbrick was the one who cursed her family definitely surprised me, as he was one of the few characters who I've grown to lightly care about (the first few chapters with him telling Ivy stories helped won me over) and now I'm told he was actually against our heroine all along. I loved the scene during the Ball when the Dark Queen was slowly drowning everyone and her standoff against Ivy (though I winced a bit at some of the Dark Queen's dialogue); it was really compelling, and not a bad way to lead up to the end of the book.

Overall, the Crowns of Croswald was a pretty enjoyable read. It definitely helped rekindle my appreciation for middlegrade books (as I've been reading nothing but poetry and grimdark scifi for the past few days) and a sense of wonder at the world I've lost up until now.