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.

*I was gifted a copy by the publisher and Netgalley which I voluntarily read and am leaving a review*

This book is full of magic, whimsy and loads of fantastic world-building. It feels very similar to Harry Potter so if you're looking for a book like that or want to discover a new author or series then you may enjoy this one.

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!

This story is set in a fantasy world of magic named Croswald with its own rules, creatures, spells...
Ivy is a girl, working as a maid who gets invited to attend the Halls of Ivy (school of magic for young Royals and future Scrivenist). In school we follow Ivy’s journey through her first year of learning magic and making friends while uncovering her hidden past, mystery dreams and the power of Croswalds mystical stones.

From the start of reading I was thinking of Croswald as a mix of Harry Potter and Throne of glass, but it is so much more than that.
The story of Ivy is well told, and one finds him/herself lost in this magical world along with the protagonist. The author set a fascinating base for the ongoing series which is a great read for young adult readers who like to lose themselves in a world of fiction and fantasy. Even though some parts left me a little bit confused* I enjoyed reading this story and I can only wish I would read it sooner as I would probably enjoy it more when I was a few years younger. 
*which I think that was mostly due because of english not being my native language

I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Ivy Lovely is a 16 year old orphan who has no idea who she could be. When she crosses a magical boundary, she discovers a whole new world of enchantment and mystery. But when an evil Queen threatens all that is good, will Ivy's bravery be enough?"

Full of magic and whimsical creatures, this book is perfect for a middle grade reader! There are tons of beautiful descriptions that are necessary to fully imagine the world and the characters are relatable to this age group. I'm looking forward to reading the remaining books in the series myself and adding this to my classroom library. Thank you Stories Untold, D.E. Night, and NetGalley for a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"There's a reason I opened my door to you, Ivy Lovely. The same reason you've been hidden away for sixteen years. You are special."

I was contacted by StoriesUntold to ask if I wanted to read and review this book for the author. I am so happy they asked. I am a huge Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts fan and this gave me some of those same wizardly magical vibes. This was a magical thrill ride of a story. I absolutely can not wait to dive into more of Ivy's story. The storyscape the author develops through the book allowed me imagine Croswald in my mind with such detail, like watching TV. I will definitely read anything this author writes.

The Crowns of Croswald is a middle grade fantasy about a girl named Ivy who discovers she has magic but has no idea where it came from or how to use it. She is guided to a school for magical people's. There she learns how to control her abilities and that there is more to Ivy then she realizes.

I just gotta say first that I love this cover! It's so beautiful.
Crowns of Croswald gives me Harry Potter/ Percy Jackson vibs.
There are magical creatures, pet dragons, evil queens and mysterious books. There were quite a few scenes that made me laugh out loud too.
Also while I was reading it, I kept picturing this as a Studio Ghibli movie so if you like any of those things this books may be for you.

Unfortunately for me, this book was a bit of a miss. I'm not the biggest fan of Harry Potter or Studio Ghibli movies. Please dont come at me. I know I'm out numbered here lol.

It wasn't a bad book by any means. I gave it a 3/5⭐.

If you are looking for a book to read a loud to your kids or you have a kid that loves Harry Potter or fairy tales they will probably love The Crowns of Croswald.

The Crown’s of Croswald is filled with whimsical magic and world building. Fans of Harry Potter may love it, or not so much. For me, there were far too many, and too close, parallels to HP, with the antagonist, magical creatures, premise, and overall story line. For folks who just can’t get enough of the magical world, this may be a perfect read.

The book follows sixteen year old Ivy a girl who has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary away from magic until one day she crosses over and her powers are awakened. Leading her on a striking path, and ending up a student at Halls of Ivy a school for those who need to master their magic. After events unfold, Ivy has to delve into the mysteries of her past in order to save herself and Croswald before history is swept away.

I really loved how magical this book was! Perfect for young middle grade readers. I really thought that Author D.E. Night has created something absolutely timeless, and magical.