*I received the ebook from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity*

This was such a wonderful, magical, middle grade fantasy! It was very nostalgic and reminded me of reading The Chronicles of Narnia and A Wrinkle in Time as a kid. I’m excited that this is the first book in a four book series, and I am looking forward to the next book. The magic was unique to the story, and the setting and the characters are quite memorable.

Ivy Lovely is a 16 year old girl, who learns she has magic when she crosses a magical boundary with little more than her clothes, some books from a friend, and a scaldron, a mini dragon who bakes like an oven. She finds a whole new world filled with mystery and wonder. To unearth more about her magic and her past, Ivy attends a magical boarding school, the Halls of Ivy in Croswald. There she begins her journey of self-discovery and meets some interesting characters along the way. She is such a refreshing protagonist, so witty and smart, and brave, and sweet.

All is not as it seems in Croswald, as there is a dark history and an evil Queen who threatens all that is good in world. Will Ivy be strong enough to face the darkness?

I highly recommend this book, which is perfect for all ages! A lovely magical world that you’ll want to live in.

This book is simply adorable. It is perfect for the targeted age range. I love the amount of magic present. If you are a Harry Potter fan and like the feeling of being admirsed into a word full of beauty and magic then this is the book for you!

Let’s get one thing clear from the start. This is the story of a young magical orphan who escapes a life of domestic servitude only to discover their magical heritage in a special place of learning. Yes, that has very clear parallels with a very famous young wizard. However, just as there were magical stories before Mr Potter, there can be magical stories after him, and the adventures of Ivy Lovely should be considered on their own merits

Young Ivy is a maid in a very anti-magic castle. 17 years old she’s not been beyond the slurry field boundary of the castle and only manages to leave the kitchens where she tends the scaldron dragons (dragons who work as ovens) to escape to a hill once a day to draw and listen to stories from her closest friend Rimbrick the dwarf. After a mishap with an ill dragon the head cook banishes Ivy from the kitchens and she finally leaves the slurry fields only to be picked up by the travelling admissions office for the Halls of Ivy school of magical learning.

The rest of the book tells the story of Ivy at school and tales of the Dark Queen who acts as a kind of oppressive force over the whole magical world.

The author D.E. Night clearly has a lot of ambitions for Ivy’s world, and it’s clear this first book in the series is setting up a bigger story universe. Unfortunately, in the bid to capture all these ideas this book suffers.

We seem to skip through a lot of backstory. Assumptions are made about the reader’s knowledge and some plot points rely on Ivy knowing or doing something which has never been referenced before. For example at one point towards the climax it says Ivy’s ‘electric energy’ reacts to a situation. Electric energy has literally never been mentioned in relation to Ivy at any other point in the story (I searched for the phrase). Even the word electric has only been used twice before in the story and neither time was it about Ivy or any of the main characters.

It makes for quite a disjointed story, and I’m in no hurry to explore Ivy’s further adventures.

I will start my review of this book by saying that I am a proud mom to two little boys who, while still very young, love books. And, as a mom, I feel it is my responsibility to start building a library filled with books for them to enjoy as they grow. That is where The Crowns of Croswald comes into play. I was given an ebook in exchange for my honest review and I jumped up at the opportunity because this middle grade book seemed like something I might want to include in the library I am building for my boys.

I loved this book!!. The story was very whimsy and creative. The setting was magical, and I really enjoyed learning about the school and all the creatures introduced. I was really impressed with the world building. Also, the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter were just lovely and added to the magic of the story.

There were a few times that I struggled with Ivy, our main character. Mostly, I felt her actions were that of someone younger than 16. But, I think that left room for more character growth in the upcoming books, which I most definitely will pick up.

Overall, I think this is a great start to a wonderful series that would be a great introduction for young readers to the fantasy genre. I cannot wait for my boys to give it a go in a few years!

Thankyou to Netgalley, D.E Night for the opportunity to read this book and Daniela who ask me if I would like to read this book via my Instagram account.

If you like young fantasy, you will probably will like this book. I love the content of the book and found it written creatively, especially the mini dragons who baked goodies inside their mouths, but sadly it wasn't a book for me. I found it slightly hard to understand the magical side of the book with some of the words used. As this is my own opinion on the book I however, would still recommend this book to read.

Overview:
For the last 16 years, Ivy Lovely has been hidden from the magical world... Until one day, she finally breaks free of her miserable life as a scullery maid and crosses the enchanted boundary, causing her powers to awaken. Ivy suddenly finds herself whisked away to attend the Halls of Ivy, where students learn to master the magic in their blood or the powerful gems of Croswald they've inherited. But while Ivy attempts to discover who she is and carve a place for herself, someone else is also desperate to find her... The Dark Queen. Faced with an impossible choice, Ivy will have to look within in order to save herself and all of Croswald.

Review:
This was honestly such a cute story - I love a good magical school setting! Several aspects were quite nostalgic, including Ivy shopping for supplies, exploring around the school, discovering magic and meeting magical creatures. That being said, the world itself remains unique and the magic both fantastic and imaginative. I particularly love the idea of glanageries - bottled up adventures imagined by the creator that can be "lived" by others! Sometimes I found the flow/pacing to be a bit choppy and the events a little predictable but these are minor complaints. My younger self would have adored this (my older self quite likes it too!) and I highly recommend it to readers in the middle grade age range, who both love fantasy or are looking to discover it.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

A huge thanks to the author D.E. Night and Stories Untold Press for the e-copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Crowns of Croswald is a fantastical and whimsical adventure, ending with the promise of several more to come.

I flew through this book and loved everything about it!

Ivy Lovely is a 16 year old scaldonry maid at Castle Plum, on the other side of a magical boundary. Her only friend is a dwarf called Rimback, who brings her books and stories of the world beyond Castle Plum. And then her entire world is turned upside down when he tells her she has magic, and should be at the Halls of Ivy, a magical school for Royals and Scriveners she has been dreaming of her whole life. When she leaves the grounds, her magic is no longer suppressed and she begins to learn more about her magic - and her history.

But that's not the only secret Rimbeck was keeping from her, and it seems like there are others who know them too. Secrets that the Dark Queen might know, and with her drawing closer Ivy's very life might be at stake.

This everything I wanted in a book about magic, magic powers, magic school, and the forces of evil when I was younger and I enjoyed it just as much as a 25 year old.

The story was intriguing and original, despite the premise of unknown magic and a magical school being a common one. Ivy, Rebecca, Flyn, and Winsome already hold a place in my heart, and I can't wait to read the sequels!

Sadly not for me. I tried to push through but could not get into it. This book is probably better suited for children and young teenagers.
Although the writing is good and the writer has a very obvious talent for writing, everything is a little rushed and lacks essential descriptions, which has left me confused more than once.
I also really have a problem with the names in this story: Ivy Lovely (name of the main character), castle plum, Mrs Butterlove, Professor Royal, Professor Fenix...
It’s a complete shift from the synopsis that wants to be serious and makes it very hard to focus on the story.

Such a fun read with adventure and mystery and some Harry Potter vibes. The imagery was so clear and I had me wishing I had been able to go to a boarding school to explore and have fun like these kids did! Definitely recommend this one if you love HP stories and YA fantasy.

The Crowns of the Croswald by D.E. Night is a classic tale of magical education and unknown lineage. Ivy Lovely grows up as a kitchen maid, without any hint that she herself is magical. Then, one day a dwarf tells her she has magic and should be at the most famous magic school, The Halls of Ivy. Her adventure kicks off from there.

A pleasant, middle grade read, Night gives you a fantastical story of scrivenists (non-Royal magical folk with magic in their blood) and royals (royal family access magic through the stones in their crowns). Night’s form of magic wielded by quills is a delightful concept. At times this book felt like it was influenced too much by similar tales of magic schools and unknown family histories, but on the whole, it was a light and fun read.

This book was like reading a hybrid of Harry Potter and The Princess Diaries, you don’t think it will work but it does! I found the beginning a tad confusing as I was just getting introduced to this new world but I ended up loving it. It was thrilling to discover Ivy’s background alongside her and I especially loved the idea of art as a magical thing. I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an opportunity to read The Crowns Of Croswald
⁣
This is a middle grade fantasy story - a young maid who finds herself in a magical 🧙🏻‍♀️ school , and finds out she’s much more than she thought she was !⁣
⁣
What I liked :⁣
✔️ Ivy Lovey was a lovely character and made a great heroine⁣
✔️ Ivy’s friendship with Rebecca and blossoming love story with Fyn ⁣
✔️ lots of magic ⁣
⁣
What I didn’t like ⁣
✖️ I got a bit confused at the end tbh 🤣 but that may just be me⁣
⁣
Thank you to the author for a copy of this story for review.⁣
⁣
3.5 ⭐️

Wow. What a rollercoaster ride of a book! Thank you again to the publishers for sharing this book with me, I’m so glad they did! I really enjoyed reading this book. So much so that I’m looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

But first, let’s talk about the first book in the series.

I felt from very early on that this book had the feel of Dianne Wynne Jones’ Crestomanci series, or Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor, and it definitely played that way throughout.

It’s clearly of the fantasy genre, but I would say the world building is very unique and I loved that about this book. From Scaldrons to Hairies, to the Sqwinches classes and their own magical abilities to the Royals magical abilities and the powers of a quill, I really felt swept up in this new world and would love to add it to my wishlist of places to visit alongside Narnia and Hogwarts.

There was drama and adventure aplenty, and I found it hard to put down the book after each chapter - a sure sign of my enjoyment of the book. The chapters and story flowed nicely, offering questions and cliffhangers aplenty.

The character of Ivy and quite a number of the professors were well thought out and created to feel real, though I felt some of the other classmate characters needed more detail. This is Ivy’s story though, and I got the clear impression of her personality and appearance from the get go. Plus, there’s more books to read so I’m expecting to learn more about some of her classmates later on in the series.

And series it is! The ending wrapped up a lot of the questions both I and Ivy had throughout this book, but I’m curious as to what’s next and will definitely be picking up the next book.

I give it 4 ½ stars out of 5.

I feel rather conflicted about this novel - there were some aspects I really loved but there were also quite a few things I wasn't a fan of.

What I loved most about The Crowns of Croswald is the wonderfully whimsical world of magic that D.E. Night has crafted for her characters. It feels like a great combination of original and familiar and it's such a fun world to discover along with Ivy, our main character.

However, what brought this down for me quite a bit was the pacing and the plot. At the start of the novel, things move very fast and Ivy is whisked away to her new home without anyone really explaining anything to her, which felt a bit odd. The whole story felt rather hurried, in fact: a lot goes down within only 250 pages, and that made the plot feel a bit muddled and sometimes a bit unbelievable. It also left very little space for character development, so I don't feel like I got a good sense of who Ivy is, let alone any of her friends. I also thought the villain of the story could've used a little more depth. Now, we know we should be afraid of her, but we don't really know why.

I really enjoyed the mystery of Ivy's true identity (although it was quite obvious from very early on) and the search for the mysterious Derwin Edgar Night, but because of the pacing issues, I could never get fully into the story - although I did definitely enjoy it. I am curious to see where the story goes from here, but I'm not sure yet if I'll pick up the next book in the series.

I really wanted to love this book, but I just could not get behind it. Yes, it was magical and whimsy but for me I could not get past all of the similarities to Harry Potter. It felt like I was reading the same story line, just from a female protagonist.

Ivy Lovely is a 16 year old girl who is the kitchen maid to a horrific woman at the Castle Plum. After one too many mishaps she is thrown out and met by a magical cabby there to bring her to the school she has been invited to attend as a scrivenist - someone who will be paired with a magical royal. On her way to school she has to go buy all her magic school supplies, where she learns the Dark Queen is in the area and everyone is on edge When she gets to school Ivy realizes that she can also do magic. Without giving too much away, Ivy find herself in the middle of a huge mystery. Something (or someone) hidden in the Forgotten Room has been visiting Ivy in her dreams. Why can she remember this person? How can she get to him? What does the Dark Queen have to do with all of this? This is the first book in the series, and I can see the allure to reading to find out what's next, but I don't think it's for me.

My personal opinion aside, I do think this would make a fantastic mid grade read for those kids who are into magic and fantasy. It is a text where your imagination can run wild and you can really escape to the Halls of Ivy. There's even a budding romance written so tastefully - the beginning of young love.

Thank you to Netgalley and DE Night for the chance to read this! All thoughts are my own.

Qotd: Do you guys believe in magic?

I choose to have magic and miracles in my life and really wish to live a magical life with all the characters that I love.

One such experience just came true when I finished this book. The Crowns of Croswald takes you in such a magical world with dwarfs, dragons to accompany you.

This is the story of Ivy, a scaldrony maid who steps into a magical world when she gets admitted to a prestigious magic school “Halls of Ivy”. Her journey to unravel the mystery of her birth, the strange things happening around her and to discover the meaning of her recurrent dreams keeps you hooked to the end.

I liked the character of Ivy, her friend Rebecca and also her crush Fyn. This trio has a lot of adventure in them and are fearless. Even though the language and certain terms were a bit difficult to grasp, the story became more interesting as kept going.

Thank you NetGalley and Storiesuntoldpress for the review copy.

Such a beautiful and enjoyable read.

I loved how magical and whimsical this book is. It felt like a childhood favorite of mine, had I read it years ago. Absolutely perfect for middle grade and younger readers. Sometimes the story and plotlines were a bit confusing but otherwise it was a delight!

This is a really fun read. I would recommend it to people who loved Harry Potter and Nevermoor. The main character is very endearing with an obvious personality but unfortunately the side characters are lacking in that department. The banter that is intended to be sarcastic and witty felt forced sometimes due to this flaw. Based off the end, I'm confident in them becoming well rounded in later books. My only other complaint is that there were a lot of things that closely resembled Harry Potter. To give the author credit, most of her ideas were completely original. Overall this is a charming book and I will be continuing with the series.

Ivy Lovely has been hiding away for sixteen years as a scaldrony maid at Castle Plum. When Ivy leaves the borders of the castle, she finds that her magical powers have been awakened. She ends up at a magical school, Halls of Ivy, where she gets into all kinds of mischief. This story takes us on an adventure to learn about Ivy's history and save Croswald from the Dark Queen.

If you like magic, fantastical beasts, enchanted worlds and an inspiring protagonist, then this book series is for you! I couldn't put it down! It's filled with everything I love: magical books, secret rooms, mysterious recurring dreams, an evil queen, royal bloodlines and overall engaging characters (Fyn and Rebecca were my favorites).

I recommend! This is a great YA-Fantasy book that reminds me of Harry Potter. Excited to read the rest of the series!

Thanks to Stories Untold Press and NetGalley for my copy!
Check out my review on IG @literaturewithalatte

I received this ebook free from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Crowns of Croswald is the first book in a four book series, with the fourth book coming out later this year.
Ivy is a sixteen year old girl working as a scaldrony maid. One day she is banished from her home and discovers she has magic and is whisked off to magic school. There she begins to uncover her past, the reasons why her magic has been kept hidden all these years, and why the Dark Queen seems to be after her.

This book was a fun, whimsical read that left me wanting to read the next book. It does have some Harry Potter and Nevermoor feels to it. But still stands alone! I’d rate this a high 3.5 stars (but rounding up for the review) ..only because it did take me a bit to get into this book because of all the new magic terms to learn. The ending was fantastic and looking forward to following Ivy on her next journey!