This book is great for middle graders—I struggled to get interested and ending up not finishing, but from what I read I think it fits the age it’s geared toward and doesn’t have much universal appeal. Thank you for the opportunity to review!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my exclusively my own.

This was a beautiful and whimsical middle grade novel that I loved. I really enjoyed being emersed in the world as it was built so well. The main character Ivy was so well written and I can’t wait to see where her story goes.

This book gave me all the Harry Potter and Nevermoor feels, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Ivy Lovely believes that she is a mere scullery maid from Plum Castle. She spends her days making bread with the scadrons and seeing her only friend, Rimbrick the dwarf. Her life had not changed much in the sixteen years living there in the slurry fields. Until one day her friend the dwarf, gifts her books by D.E. Night and she is forced to run from her home. Ivy Lovely did not know that those slurry fields had been hiding her from the wider world all her life.

She ends up taking a journey to the capital and enrolling in the school to become a Scrivenist. Where mysteries abound, friends are made and miraculous magics are learnt. She explores the school with her transforming friend Rebecca and the help of her mentor Winsome, all to discover the mystery of D.E. Night.

I loved the level of detail in this book and how everything tied in together. The world building is so whimsical and imaginative. I love the idea of a book filling up with everything a person has learnt and discovered in their life, and eventually bound at their death.

I’m excited to see what happens next in Ivy Lovely’s adventure and her fight against the dark queen.

Thank you to Stories Untold and Netgalley for the copy of this book.

This novel is the first book in 'The Croswald Series", it is a middle-grade fantasy novel that takes place in the magical world of Croswald. The protagonist is a girl named Ivy, who is a simple kitchen-maid living among greater magical beings. Everything changes for Ivy on her sixteenth birthday, Ivy is forced to leave the only home she knows and soon becomes aware that she is of magical blood. Ivy travels to the Halls of Ivy, where she will learn to master her magic and learn a few things about herself and the family she never knew.

Excerpt from the novel: "For the first time in her life, she truly felt like a princess. Yes, Ivy: the same girl who spent her days below the grimy ground that royals walked upon. Rather than mingling scaldrons, Ivy would soon be mingling with royals and soon-t0-be srivenists. Standing in front of that mirror, Ivy felt more alive than ever before. She hadn't smiled like this in a very long time."

This novel is my first read from the author D.E. Night. This book definitely captured my attention from the start! Night did a great job with the imagery surrounding the magical creatures like hairies, and scaldrons. I loved the idea that descendants of royal families were entrusted with a bejeweled crown as a conduit of their power, and each and every stone was a source of a different magical wielding.

Ivy's character was well established, I loved her curiosity and her adventurous nature. I quickly fell in love with her character! The secondary characters (Ivy's friends: Rebecca and Fyn) were slightly less defined. I felt their personalities lacking and I would have liked to understand them better. They sort of had a mysterious air that, in my opinion, didn't appeal to the overall friendship Night was trying to create.

There were a few tropes that were similar to other popular titles such as the rags to riches trope like Cinderella. One aspect that I am critical about is how closely it related to Harry Potter, I LOVED Harry Potter, I think it was one of the best YA fantasy series ever written. This novel was extremely comparable to HP. I don't mind the similarities, but I found some parts to be so similar that I started to picture the scenes from HP rather than the creative world of Croswald. For example, I would picture Ivy walking around Hogwarts rather than the Halls of Ivy.

I would rate this book 3.5 stars. The ending had me wanting more! I would definitely pick up the next 2 books in the series.

This book was gifted to me on Netgalley on behalf of the author D.E. Night for my honest review.

I haven't spent much time reading middle-grade fantasy, and I was looking for something a little lighter to balance out some other reads. Enter in... The Crowns of Croswald.

This book follows Ivy Lovely as she escapes from a sad and abusive household and attends a magical school. Sound familiar?

I won't drag it as a Harry Potter knockoff, though it had some similar elements. This story had its own unique flair and characteristics. It was whimsical and fun. But it still didn't have much depth to it. The characters felt pretty static. When the author tried to build out the world, it felt clunky. It just didn't really work well for me as a grown adult. Nevertheless, I think this book is perfect for young readers who are looking for an adventure.

Thanks to Netgalley and Stories Untold for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My thoughts



Narrative and Plot


I have only recently started reading middle grade fantasies and let me take this moment to let you all know what an absolute delight it has been so far. The overall theme in these novels is the sense of wonder and The Crowns of Croswald was no different. The wild and creative magical worlds with endless possibilities and adventure is what I am looking forward to reading in a middle grade fantasy. This one exactly had that tone with elaborate world building and mystery.


The plot was the one low point in the whole scheme of things though. It was supposed to be woven into this tangled tale of mystery. However, things seemed a little bit muddled here and there. The ending is predictable to the point that I hoped it would be some kind of red herring. However, it does not take away the entertainment value of the book. It is still quite enjoyable. These are really minute details if one wants to be nitpicky.




Characters and Conflicts



Ivy Lovely is an inquisitive child as children should be. She has never shied away from an adventure and that makes her a character you can route for. However, actions do have consequences. Often Ivy seemed to act despite being warned about the consequences. One would think she would be careful knowing the risks but she isn't. And then she comes out unscathed on the other side for the most part. She seemed to never learn from her impulsive decisions and somehow managed to get everything back in order despite a few delicate consequences.



The conflict in the story was well masked in the beginning. The ending however, was predictable enough as mentioned earlier. The ensemble of cast was delightful to read. Rebecca and Fyn in particular. Their friendship had the innocence and tenderness of the age. However, some characters randomly disappeared and never came back. Hopefully we get to see them in the next book.




Conclusion


Overall , The Crowns of Croswald was a jolly one time read for me. If middle grade fantasies are your thing, give it a go. You might end up adding the sequels to your reading list, after all , like me.

Ivy Lovely grew up as a scaldrony maid, tending to the scaldrony dragons that serve purposes in breathing fires in the castle's kitchen. She's a dilligent worker, if not rather clumsy and too curious. Only having a dwarf as a best friend, Ivy wished she could spend her days sketching and reading and no longer be a scaldrony maid—until one eventful day, she was kicked out of the castle before being whisked away to Halls of Ivy, the academy of magic in Croswald. She soon learned how to wield actual magic in school and more secrets from her past slowly started to unravel.

I had a hard time getting into the world of The Crowns of Croswald. I will not say that I disliked the writing style, but I find it difficult for me to grasp the way the author described the places and people in this book. The premise of the plot as a whole is very intriguing, yet I feel like there were too many info dump. I am aware that since this is a fantasy story, it made sense that there are to be many descriptive parts for its world building, but Ivy spent a lot of time alone on her own to discover things and the lack of dialogues to buffer the moments made my reading progress very strenuous.

Unfortunately, I did not like Ivy's character all that much either. I love outspoken and curious characters, but with Ivy, she just seemed too reckless and can be annoying at times as well. At some point, I find it hard to care what answers she wanted to seek, and wished that she would just lay low for once. I do however, like her interactions with Fyn, a senior who appeared to always be there for her (sometimes rather suspiciously too), and with Rebecca, her new classmate and roommate. The times that she spent with Fyn or Rebecca were some of the only moments where I do think Ivy is actually nice.

Although I found it hard to go through The Crowns of Croswald at first, the story is still enjoyable for me as a whole. The climax of the book is much exciting, and it was wonderful to see how Ivy used her power when facing the villain. I like how the book is concluded, and I actually do look forward to Ivy's next adventures in the sequel.

1.5 ⭐

This is the beginning of this series that deals with the story of Ivy Lovely, a 16-year-old orphan who for various reasons ends up being thrown out of the castle where she worked, ending up in a school to improve her magical abilities, however, not everything is what seems and she has to face various adversities throughout her stay at school.

Main characters

Ivy is an intelligent, adventurous, and kind young woman, at first she was an entertaining and spontaneous character which I like, but little by little her character became predictable and somewhat unbearable. She always got into trouble, to begin with, she never wanted to listen to her friends or third-party advice telling her what not to do, basically, she was right, she did what she wanted and never really had any real punishment.

I really like her character because she was determined but I feel like she wasn't developed properly and I really didn't know in the end if I knew very well her character.

Plot

The plot is the reason for the score I gave, firstly, way too many things happen that honestly don't add anything to the main point of the story, that is; she arrives at a magic school, strange things happen to her from day one and all she knows is that she has to find a man that no one remembers. Which is not addressed until the end and honestly the way it was presented wasn't the best. Also, the writing was somewhat abrupt on many occasions, so it was tedious to continue reading or it was necessary to reread certain scenes.

Now the most important thing, we all know Harry Potter whether you have read the books or not, the point here is that when it comes to a fantasy book in a magic school with young characters it's inevitable not to compare it with it. However, in this case, it was as if I was reading a different version of the story, let me explain, it has several original point yes of course, which I liked by the way, and make the story unique but practically the entire beginning of the book was like reliving Harry Potter and I don't like that at all;

- Orphan girl who lives in a small room (closet) with powers she doesn't know about
-A man comes for her to tell her that she was accepted to a magic school
-Buy her school supplies in the Diagon Alley (don't remember the name)
-It's attacked by a dementor (I don't remember what they were called in the book)
-Her rich blonde schoolmate (from royalty) hates her and makes her life miserable
All these are just small parts, I could say more but I don't want to get in too deep.

Side characters

This is another big problem, there are too many characters and none of them are endearing. There are characters that are described and mentioned that we never see more than once, so they are unnecessary since they don't add anything to the story. I'd also like to say that the few characters that really matter have no personality and are honestly one-dimensional.

Rebecca, Ivy's best friend, I ask, How the hell did they become best friends? At what point? They never had a real interaction, more than when Ivy saved Rebecca from a situation, and boom BFF, it was so forced and it didn't convince me at all, I don't even consider it a friendship.

Instead, Fyn, can't be a more forced love interest because it would be impossible. First of all, they met because he took her to buy her supplies, left her there, and only returned at the end for her, and that's it. Literally, that was their only interaction before they saw each other again and began to have loving feelings. I don't buy it and I don't want it, thank you. It was also quite weird that he followed her everywhere.

Overall, I would recommend this book to a young audience who would probably like it, it has original points and is a quick read so anyone can read it to pass the time.

Is this book for you?
Perfect for: Fantasy, magic, and adventure lovers.
Do I recommend it? No.

Heroine: 6/10
Romance: 1/10
Type of Relationship: F/M
Plot: 6/10
POV: third person
Type: Serie
Cover: 6.5/10

My thanks to the author D.E. Night, Stories Untold, and NetGalley for the opportunity to get this ARC for an unbiased review.

This book is great for anyone who has ever wanted to dwell into a magical world, if you're a reader or a writer this story is for you. It's a middle grade fantasy that throws the reader into a different type of fantasy world and a magical school. Which I am sure many of us have read these stories of the protagonist being tossed into a new world, in this story our main character; Ivy, has both grown up in this world, but is also learning about a lot of things along with the readers.
I was really interested in the story's concept of magic. At first I thought it was just so cool that the scrivenist magic was a concept as well as the royal's and their magical stones imbued into their crowns. As it helped give off two different types of magic which made me think of some anime's I've seen where there's different types of magic whether by instruments or innate. Which again, cool.
Also the mystery / Ivy trying to figure out who the man in her dreams and drawings was was pretty cool as it gave a bit of intrigue.
I think that the character names were kind of all over the place, some were pretty whimsical, while others were very normal i.e. Rebecca (whom I liked from the get-go don't get me wrong, she's cool!) it just seemed a bit odd to me sometimes is all.
I didn't LOVE some of the world-specific things every time. I found myself a little confused at times with the creatures and little things like that.
All of this being said, I will have a more detailed review in my blog where I dwell deeper into my overall thoughts on this book.

So I the publicist reached out to me via Instagram to read this book and give an honest review. I enjoyed the idea of this story. The world that Night created is so unique and really grabbed my attention. I went into it constantly reminding myself that it is a middle-grade book so not to judge it harshly. The parts that I didn't care for was that some times Ivy seemed a lot younger than 16. I think her character, and her friends, would have been more relatable and realistic had they been younger, just based off of how they spoke and some of their actions. Also, the first 50 or so pages were little confusing and I found it hard to get into the world that was being created.

I did enjoy the ending. That is where the real magic happens. Night created a solid ending that opened the door for potentially good series!

If you enjoy the magical world of Harry Potter, then this may be the book for you!

Sixteen year old Ivy works as a scullery maid with almost nothing and no one to her name. She longs for more but continues to work hard- that is until one day when she is sent to an elite school where fantasy and magic show her a new life. But why is she there? Who sent her?

Magical and fun! A great middle grade read for fans of Harry Potter.

I haven't read a book like this in years (probably since the Harry Potter books were released) so I was excited to try something a bit different when offered a free ecopy by the publisher (via NetGalley.)

This book was absolutely brimming with brilliant mythical creatures and a magical world that immerses the reader from the very start. I was slightly confused at first and really wanted to know what a scrivenist was but i found it was unveiled as I kept reading!

The story starts when the main character, a young sixteen year old girl called Ivy manages to escape from her extremely dull, miserable life as a scaldrony maid (where she is forced to prepare meals with the help of small wingless dragons). She is led on a journey culminating at a magical boarding school full of royals and scrivenists which she is suddenly allowed to attend. Ivy has no idea about her past or that she is magical but during her first year she begins to slowly uncover the mysteries surrounding her life. Her road to discovery lead her into many dangerous situations which culminate with the forces of the Dark Queen.

I really enjoyed this book and would definitely like to find out what happens to Ivy and her school friends in the rest of this series.The author has such a great imagination and the level of detail to describe each event in the magical world was impressive. There are also great little illustrations at the beginning of each chapter.

I can imagine my daughter reading and enjoying this in a few years time. I would recommend this to young people that enjoy stories of fantasy and magic with an intriguing and exciting plot. A great debut novel. Thank you to NetGalley, Stories Untold and D.E Night for this ecopy.

Ivy Lovely grew up as a scaldrony maid in Castle Plum. She was treated poorly for sixteen long years until the time she found out that she possessed magic inside of her and was invited to the Hall of Ivy where she would learn about the magical gems in Croswald found in the crowns of royals and the magic, photographic memory and extraordinary skills of scrivenists.

I was given an access to this book by @deknight @storiesuntoldpress in @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

While reading the prologue, I found myself not quite into the story as there were terms used that were not defined for a reader who is new to the world of Croswald. The prologue felt long and dragging for me. However, when chapter 1 began, everything made sense and I found myself enjoying Ivy’s journey to discover who she really was. I found joy in Ivy’s character; she was kind, independent, intelligent young lady. Her character developed and unfolded slowly and beautifully. Ivy Lovely was consistent throughout the entire story which made The Crowns of Croswald an enjoyable read for me.

I also have to mention the love interest that was included in the story. It was not forced in any way that made the inclusion of it uncomfortable. In fact, it brought butterflies to my stomach, made me look forward to Ivy’s scenes with Fyn and would love to know what happened to them after the first book installment.

The Crowns of Croswald reminds me pretty much of the phenomenal world of Harry Potter but it has its own charms that will make a reader find the pleasure in reading the story. It was an easy read but a worthwhile one.

This is the fist book of a four-part series.
It has a lot of Harry Potter vibes (which I love), but still feels very unique! The world the author created is so magical, and almost felt as if I was there! Her way of describing each place and event is so detailed I could totally picture everything in my head.
The story is amazing, and though it sometimes has predictable plotwists, it provoked me some huge surprises! It’s a light story, and easy to read!
As for the characters, Ivy is a great protagonist; she’s strong, determined and curious (and a little stubborn 😅), and has a lot of potential. I would like to see more of the side characters in the next books and explore more about their abilities 🤩
I really enjoyed this book, the story, this magical world and the characters!

Had a hard time getting into this one. The premise sounded promising, but I had a hard time with the writing style.

☆☆☆,5 /5

Dans l'ensemble, j'ai beaucoup apprécié ma lecture. C'était doux, léger et mignon. J'ai passé un agréable moment dans cette histoire, bien que je n'ai pas été transcendée.
¤
Ivy Lovely a 16 ans et ne connaît pas ses origines. Puis, un jour, sans faire exprès, elle traverse une barrière enchantée avant de se retrouver dans un autre monde rempli de magie et de mystère. Déstabilisée, Ivy va apprendre à s'adapter dans ce nouvel environnent. Elle va développer des pouvoirs, qui dormaient en elle depuis bien longtemps. Elle va faire des rencontres, elle va essayer d'en apprendre plus sur son passé et sur l'histoire de ce nouveau monde.
¤
C'est un roman rempli de magie. J'ai apprécié suivre les péripéties d'Ivy. Ce récit m'a fait voyager. J'ai trouvé le style d'écriture naturel et simple, très visuel. Je n'ai pas eu de difficultés à imaginer les lieux, les évènements. J'ai eu l'impression d'être immergée devant un bon film.
J'ai beaucoup apprécié comment l'auteur a construit l'univers de Croswald et en apprendre plus sur le fonctionnement de la société, de l'école dans laquelle Ivy va être, des différentes créatures.
Malgré tout, je n'ai pas réussi à m'attacher à Ivy. C'est un personnage bien construit mais qui ne m'a pas touchée... Comme tous les autres personnages en fait, bien que leurs relations entre eux étaient géniales.
Enfin de compte, j'ai été beaucoup plus sensible à l'univers et ça a été une belle lecture !

•°•°•°•

This book was full of whimsy. It was really a sweet reading and I enjoyed it!
I really like how the author built the world of Croswald. It was creative and incredible. I was more sensitive by the environment because I loved learning about how was the society and how lived all the different creatures.
I liked Ivy, Rebecca, Fyn and their adventures. The friendship was cute.
Overall, this reading was magical and I really liked it! I think I will read the sequel soon!

(Here's the link of my post on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/p/CM-XLQCn4M9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link)

All 16-year-old Ivy Lovely knew of her past was that she grew up as an orphaned maid serving one of the royal families of Croswald at Castle Plum, and her closest friend is a dwarf named Rimbrick. After an incident with a scaldron (domesticated dragons who cook food), Ivy was thrown out of Castle Plum where she was then promptly picked up by the Halls of Ivy’s travelling admissions office. Surprised to be told that she has magic in her, Ivy soon began her training at the prestigious Halls of Ivy, where royals and sqwinches (non-royals with magic) learn to harness their magic. But strange things keep happening to Ivy, leaving her bewildered and hungering for the truth. Who is she really? Why do the Halls keep calling out to her? And who is the mysterious man she’s been seeing in her dreams?

This is book 1 of a middle grade fantasy series by D.E. Night that is packed full of adventure, mystery, and magic. Ivy is a rather headstrong girl who does not shy away from challenges. She grew up in an unpleasant environment as a scaldrony maid but that only made her stronger. I love the solid friendship she has with Rebecca and Fyn, who despite their initial reluctance to break school rules, still stood by Ivy till the very end. And also, the mentorship from Winsome Monocle!

I had a lot of questions when I first started reading and there were a number of unfamiliar terms that had me scratching my head trying to decipher their meaning. Like exactly what is a scrivenist? Although as you progress along in the novel you’ll slowly piece things together, a glossary might be a helpful reference for readers.

Reading this book is like embarking on a magical adventure in the world of Croswald, uncovering a mysterious hidden past and going up against the Dark Queen. If you enjoy Harry Potter, you’ll probably like this series as well! Although this is a middle grade book, I thoroughly enjoyed it as an adult, and it had me curious as to what’s next in book 2!

Thank you D.E. Night, her publicist Daniela, and Stories Untold Press for the e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I was gifted an ebook edition by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

3.8/4 out of 5 stars

Middle grade fantasy, whilst something I love is not necessarily my usual genre being an adult. It is however something I’ve grown up with and something I enjoy giving a chance to.

Without giving too much away, The Crown of Croswald is set in the magical world of Croswald with Ivy Lovely, scaldrony maid as our protagonist. Ivy dreams of going to ‘magic school’ to become a scrivenist but works as a lowly kitchen maid. One day her wish comes true when she is unceremoniously thrown out of her home and job, and finds herself being picked up by a mysterious person in a cab. When she arrives at school, everything that could go wrong does, and she finds herself stuck in the middle of the book’s main mystery; who is Derwin Edgar Night and what is it do with Ivy?

As the plot unfolds so does the intrigue and this becomes almost unputtdownable. Whilst the first half of the book is a bit slower (not very when compared to adult fantasy) and focuses on world building, the second throws down the action and adventure of mystery solving before ending in a dramatic finale (as all good books should).

The Crowns of Croswald is the first book in a series, with book 4 currently in the pipeline. It reminds me a lot of Enid Blyton, Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch with more than a hint of Harry Potter. Like the aforementioned titles, the characters are mischievous rule breakers and I’m looking forward to seeing what becomes of them and how they grow in the later books. Other similarities come in the form of the fantastical world around them which is full of brilliantly magical creations, creatures and places from the mind of D.E. Night.

Whilst it’s a nice, quick, easy read and a bit of fun for an adult like myself, it’s an easy recommendation for the younger reader who may enjoy the works of Enid Blyton and the Harry Potter series.

Many thanks to Stories Untold Publishing for the review copy!

This book was a perfect middle grade fantasy story filled with magic and adventure! Ivy Lovely, the main character (who is simply charming and lovable), is a 16 year old dragon working as a scaldrony maid who has dreams of being a scrivenist and going to the revered Halls of Ivy school. Her work as a scaldrony maid leaves her in a windowless space so she doesn’t know how she can possibly make her dream happen. But, one day she gets thrown out with no job, no home and no money. But, out of nowhere she gets picked up by a cabby who has been looking for her to take her to the Halls of Ivy as she has received an invitation to attend. Once at the school, strange things start to happen but Ivy doesn’t shrink back and meets lots of interesting characters along the way. The writing made the story so visual to me so I can only imagine the fun a middle grader would have with this imaginative series.

Ivy is a hard-working orphan longing to practice magic when she suddenly finds herself able to do just that. She is transported to a magic school where royals and their scribes learn to practice their magical abilities. But weird things keep happening to Ivy, and she can't help but feel like she has a deeper connection to the magical world than she thought.

This was my first middle-grade read! Well, since I was actually a kid, that is. I think books like The Crowns of Croswald prove that a book meant for a younger audience can still be captivating and fun! The magic system felt quirky and lighthearted and yet mysterious too.

I am SUCH a fan of Ivy! I think you can't help but like her - she is curious and determined and also kind to the core. She clearly loves the new friends she makes at school plus the creatures (dragons and porcupines) that she picks up along the way.

The only thing I wish we got more of was time - time with the characters to really get to know them. I feel like we have a high-level knowledge of Ivy and her friends, and the story could really benefit by learning more about them!

Thank you to Stories Untold Press for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!