If you are looking for a middle- grade fantasy book, then The Crowns of Crosswald is a great book to pick up. This reminds me so much of Harry Potter and the magical world of Hogwarts with its magic system and whimsical world. The story was creatively made that it keeps you turning the page, wanting to see what happens next.

Ivy worked in the royal family’s kitchen as she is a servant girl in the household. One day, she got invited to a school that teaches magic called Hall of Ivy, which teaches magic. From there, the book began to get more interesting and unravel secrets [she never would have thought plague this fantastical school].

The book was well written and the imagery was effectively used to create vivid pictures in my imagination. However, personally, the pacing of the story was too slow with little actions at the beginning and too fast halfway through the end, which threw me off. Other than that, I was a little sad that the book did not tell us more about Fyn and Rebecca. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed this coming-of-age novel and its nicely wrapped up story.

This was such a fun book to read. I really loved reading this book, and getting introduced to a new magic system and a new world. I really recommend this book for fantasy lovers.

This is a middle-grade fantasy book that has great world-building. The world is vivid & well-thought out with whimsical elements that were very creative. Definitely my favourite aspect of the book. Concepts like the Hollow Shaft & the Glanagaries were fascinating & fun. I loved the travel method of the cabbies as well. The writing was descriptive & atmospheric, although I did find it a little saturated at times due to the compact descriptions. Since this was a middle-grade book, I expected the language to be simpler but it was quite sophisticated & ornate.

Our protagonist, Ivy Lovely was quite lovely indeed. Ivy is someone who is brave & adventurous. I quite liked her as she was courageous & never backed down from trying to uncover the truth, although often endangering Rebecca & Fyn on the way. I wished the book wasn't so heavily centred around Ivy alone to the point where even her partners-in-crime felt very much felt like plot-devices. It would've been better if Rebecca & Fyn were developed a lot more.

The plot of the book may have been the biggest hurdle for me. The plot was chunky & not smooth-flowing. While I understood the gist of the plot, there wasn't enough being revealed for me to hold on to. Half-way through the book & I was still clueless as to what was meant to happen & where the story was headed. I appreciated the action but they all felt very much like isolated incidents / events that I couldn't tie into the main plot.

Overall, I still think this was an enjoyable read & some of it shortcomings could be attributed to the fact that it's a first book in a series. It would be fair to say that any middle-grader would easily have a blast with this book!

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher to review. I was intrigued because I’ve been very into middle grade lately and it says it’s for fans of Harry Potter. I would agree that this story is very much like Harry Potter. So much like it, that it’s basically the exact same story line. Ivy is a poor servant girl with no family, she gets a letter, gets whisked away to a magical school (you’re a wizard Ivy!), shops for school supplies at an alley full of wizarding shops, finds out she has special powers, has to fight an evil queen, and learns she is from a long line of famous wizards. I loved some aspects of the whimsical world building but, overall, it was kind of a bore. I think it’s because it felt like the B version of a story that I already love. I hate giving poor reviews but I think this author has potential to make a better more original story. I’ll skip the rest of this series and keep an eye out for future releases.

This book started off with a promising plot. I really thought that I am going to get a Harry Potter vibe from the book. The unknown future, the chosen one trope, a big fat school- everything fitted well, However, in between the story lost the plot. The magic system did not feel to be very interesting and I was completely dissapointed. The rating I am providing to this book is just because of its surreal atmospheric presentation. Middle-grade lovers might enjoy the book. Maybe I did not connect to the book as I was not in the correct age group for this book.

I really enjoyed this magical book. I'm excited to see where this series will go. The magic is great. The characters are great. And the story is great.

I would like to start off by saying thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of The Crowns of Croswald for an honest review.

This is a middle grade book and although middle grade isn’t a genre I naturally gravitate to-it is a genre I want to explore more of. Why? I’m curious and I would like to have recommendations for my girls as they get older. So if you guys have recommendations, let us know! ☺️

So on to my review...I felt like this book was heavily filled with world building. The world was truly whimsical and magical. No doubt about it. However, I felt like sometimes it was too much information at once. The world is truly unique and does require quite the imagination, which made it fun. I just felt that sometimes it was too much description/information at once. I don’t mind world building and description one bit HOWEVER I don’t like when it’s all world building and little to no action for long periods of time. Otherwise, I get distracted and bored. In this book I felt like there was quite a bit of those moments. Then again, she may very well be developing this world for the further installments of this series.

The main character Ivy is a 16 year old scaldrony maid at Castle Plum when Ivy is suddenly thrown into this completely different world full of magic. She’s inquisitive, courageous, and loves to read and draw. She’s a very likeable character. The only thing I didn’t like with her character is that sometimes her responses didn’t seem appropriate for her age, whether that’d be a more immature or mature response. To me
It’s very important for a character to respond and act their age unless they naturally always act/speak a certain way. Regardless, I like to see consistency.

Ivy’s relationship with her friend,Rebecca, was so pure and genuine! I loved it! I love reading about sincere and authentic relationships. Their relationship reminded me of my best friends in high school. D.E. Night did a wonderful job with their relationship. I’m looking forward to see their relationship grow!

There were several events in this book that truly intrigued me! I just wish that certain things were drawn out a little bit more...then again this is a middle grade so I have to keep that in mind. The action in the end was truly unique and nothing like I’ve read before.

I’ve heard this is comparable to Harry Potter. However, I haven’t read the Harry Potter series so I cannot comment on that aspect.

I can’t wait to introduce this book to my daughter when she gets a little bit older.

I was contacted by D.E. Night’s publicist for an honest review of The Crowns of Croswald in exchange for a NetGalley copy. This book, the first in its series, follows the on-her-own sixteen year old, Ivy. She is the main character and one day, she finds herself being mysteriously transported to a school where she is able to tap into magical powers. The book created a wonderfully magic world where the ordinary is suspended and the make believe becomes real.

I’m not a big reader of fantasy novels, so the story was a little hard for me to get into. I think the author told the story beautifully however, and I believe that this is a great read for middle school aged kids and above. To me it had many elements of a good coming of age story: hardship, awkwardness, adventures, and friendships. I thought the author’s writing was descriptive and it helped you imagine the fantasy world created within the book.I liked that each chapter had a small illustration at the beginning, as I think this brought a unique touch to the novel as well as would be appealing to young readers. I’d recommend this for middle school and high school kids, especially those who were fans of Harry Potter, as I’ve seen these two series compared to each other. All in all, I think it’s a fun read for anyone who enjoys fantasy, but it definitely hits the middle-grade age range (which is what it is appropriately marketed towards). Thanks again to Daniela and D.E. Night, and NetGalley for letting me review this novel!

4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for giving me a copy of this book! This is my honest review, all views are my own.
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This was a wild ride! I was captivated by the story, I loved how descriptive and lively the narration was, and I thought the writing perfectly encapsulated the craziness of the world. The story was fun, but it got a little confusing occasionally. The beginning has some info-dumping, and I wish that the introduction wasn’t so jarring a difference from the first chapter and the actual story… Though the introduction does get explained later in the book! The main character, Ivy Lovely, is cute, headstrong, and willing to break a few rules to solve a mystery, but she is relatively new to the world of magic and it’s sometimes a stretch to understand how she made certain conclusions. The side characters are a little flimsier (some character names are mentioned as if they’re friends of Ivy’s, yet they’re never mentioned otherwise), so I hope they develop in the later books. As for the magic: I’m sure this book has been compared to Harry Potter for its magic school trope, but it’s a world of its own that holds up considerably well! The magic system is interesting, but not so complex as to make it confusing. The only confusion I truly had was from the glanagerie, which were used in a strange way near the end. Despite any confusion, I thought this book was super fun and deserves a solid 4 stars!

I really enjoyed this story. It was like Harry Potter mixed with The Magicians, from a female perspective. I love a good magic school story and this one did not disappoint. So many twists and questions that I finished it and instantly had to go buy the next one to see what's going to happen next.

Night does a fantastic job of creating a unique and magical world filled with interesting creatures and endearing characters. There is SO MUCH to this world.

Ivy's story has taken such unexpected turns, and I truly enjoyed watching her grow into a strong, capable young woman over the course of this book.

I'm very curious to find out more of her story. I just have so many questions! I need to know more about her life, her family history, how she's going to handle the Dark Queen, if she and Fyn will actually get together!

10/10, highly recommend.

3 things why you should read this book:⁠
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1. if you like magic, adventure, and some royal stuff you will definitely adore this book.⁠
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2. our protagonist, ivy is a fearless character. stubborn may it be, but I honestly liked her guts. my favorite character on this one, is her best friend, rebecca. perrsonally, rebecca and ivy compliment each other, and her bravery is kinda different compared to ivy but still she supports her and believed in her when no one else did. ⁠
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3. it is a middle grade book and expect that they will go to a school wherein they need to train and hone their skills.(just like harry potter stuff, though i haven’t read that series. lol). i also like @author.denight ‘s writing style because it is so smooth and easy to delve with.⁠

Let me start off by saying this type of book is usually not what I am drawn to. I have read the first Harry Potter book (and disliked it) and this book immediately reminded me of a mix of that first Harry Potter book and Alice in Wonderland.

With that said, I actually enjoyed the book around the 20% mark on. It took me a while to get into it, and to be able to keep track of all the terminology and imagery. From that point on though, I really enjoyed the story.

Overall I gave this book a 3 due to the slow start for me, and as I got to the end it felt like the timing was off. It felt as if a lot was happening (but it wasn’t) and then BOOM it all dropped on us at the very end. I know it’s a tripping, so I do think I’ll be picking up the next one - however, I’ll probably snag a physical copy because I think I’d enjoy reading it better.

I love the world building and magic in this story, it’s fun and not something I’ve come across before – some of the students have stones with very specific magical traits that they have to learn to control, while others have powers related to artistic ability.

Ivy is a 16 year old orphan who’s found herself cast from everything she’s ever known and starting a new life that she could never have imagined (sound familiar?), and everything seems to tip in just the right direction to help her get where she needs to go.

The pacing of this book is very fast and full of action, especially once Ivy finds herself in school. She does make some friends while she’s there, but I can’t help but feel that she doesn’t treat them very well while they’re busy helping her in all her endeavours, however dangerous or badly thought out they may be. For this reason, I found it quite hard to bond with her as a character – but the world building and intrigue was enough to keep me hooked in the hope that she’ll become more likable as she matures.

The writing style is very enjoyable and I think will particularly appeal to readers who are still in high school and can identify more with the characters than I did, because I found myself hoping for chapters from the perspective of some of the teachers or side characters to give it an extra flavour.

Thanks to the publisher (Stories Untold) for contacted me and to Netgalley for this book in exchange of an honest review.

The book is about Ivy, a 16 years old girl who has been working as a maid for years, but then something happens and she is kicked out of her job. Just at that moment, Ivy recived a invitation to assist to a magical school. There, she will discover a lot of things of her past and family.

The first half of hte book was a little bit too descriptional, but I understand that because it is introducing a magical world and how everything works. The second half was more interesting. Howwer, the book wasn't as good as I though it would be.

Although I didn't enjoy the book as much as I though, I think Ivy's story can be more interesting in the next book.

After years of working as a scaldrony maid—tending to dragons who populate a castle’s kitchen—Ivy Lovely discovers she has magic. She is whisked off to a magical school, the Halls of Ivy, where she learns to harness her abilities. Ivy soon discovers secrets about her hidden past, revealing there may be more to her than she could have ever imagined.

I think this story had great potential. The descriptions were often very whimsical and vivid. The illustrations at the beginning of each chapter were charming. This book had many similarities to Harry Potter, which will definitely appeal to many readers.

However, this story was not for me. The majority of the novel was spent telling and not showing us what was happening. There were several time jumps that impeded my understanding of how the characters were growing. The characters themselves were underdeveloped and the friendships were sudden, with little to no exploration of why some characters were best friends after they had only appeared in a couple of scenes together. Ivy seemed much younger than 16–and she should actually be younger in order to fit the middle grade target audience. There were almost no revelations to illustrate how she had grown up without magic and then instantly became accustomed to the magic, school, and classes. The magic itself was interesting, but so much of it was left unexplained. The writing was good, and as I mentioned before, I really liked some of the descriptions, but the dialogue was very stilted. It was often difficult to distinguish which characters were speaking when there were no dialogue tags.

I know this is the first in a series, so I didn’t expect everything to be explained, but there was so much left out or skipped over and the world-building was lackluster. I realize this was written for middle grade readers, so readers in that age range might really like this story, but it did not deliver for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, D.E. Night, and Stories Untold Press for providing this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an exciting story! Following Ivy was so enjoyable and had me immediately hooked and wanting to know what happened next! I loved reading about the magical world of Croswald and the schooling Ivy and her fellow classmates were involved in. This was an action packed story full of amazing adventures and magical creatures. If you are a young adult who loves fantasy fiction, The Crowns of Croswald is for you!

I went into this book feeling a bit skeptical since this is not a genre I usually go for. However, I was drawn in the story straight away and found myself enjoying it more than I expected. The world that the author created is very detailed and whimsical and it was a joy to escape to. I am also looking forward to introduce this series to my 9 year old daughter as I am sure that she will enjoy it as well.

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

The Crowns of Croswald takes you on a thoroughly enjoyable adventure into a magical and mystical world! Ivy Lovely is a young scaldrony maid, in charge of dragon like, but moody, animals used for their fire in the kitchens of Plum Castle, a very unspecial and predictable place. She works hard and is provided a bare dark room to sleep and not much else. On the very day she gets tossed out of the castle, she finds herself swept into a magical school, the Halls of Ivy, a place she recognizes from her dreams! Surely, there's been a mistake, since invitation to the school is reserved for royals or those with magical blood, and Ivy is neither of those. As the semester continues, Ivy becomes even more confused as to why she is there, but her dreams and curiosity pull her into scrapes and adventures that hopefully will give her answers. A young adult book that this adult also enjoyed! The heroine, Ivy, is lovable, whimsical and has a knack for getting in trouble! The book is full of interesting characters and magical creatures with just the right amount of suspense for middle school readers. This is the first in a series of four books, which is a good thing because I, like Ivy, still have a lot of unanswered questions, and I look forward to following along on Ivy's adventures!
Thank you @NetGalley and @author.denight for the opportunity to read and review!

It's been a while i read a fantasy book so picking up this book was quite a hassle but once got into the story it was such a wonderful read. I particularly have a soft soft spot for our main girl Ivy.
D.E Night writing is whimsical and needs your utmost attention or the spell of Croswald will be broken
It wasn't really my cup of tea but it was an amazing read. So if you adored Harry Potter this book should definitely be on tbr when you're done.

I got this a free copy from NetGalley and the publisher for a honest review . This story reminds me a lot of Harry Potter I love the characters and the magic system. It was very middle grade which is perfectly fine. It was cute and something I’d let my kids read!