This book is the fantasy story the school girl version of me was searching for what never found. It's a Harry Potter lovers delight, but a magic school and a hidden chosen one are all the tropes that are in common.
The magical world or Croswald is as multifaceted as are the Crown Stones of the Royals and the curiosity of the scrivenists.
The prologue plunges you into the world with no warning but a lot of foreboding, when I finally realised in Chapter 1 that it is Ivy who is the protagonist, I was thrilled.
The book is fast paced and ends on a satisfactory note yet has you curious for more. The division of labour in Croswald, between the magic practitioners and their studios archivists is so unique and amusing. The nerdy kids finally have a place of their own in the fantasy world.
The author creates wonderful friendships in Ivy's life, female friends, a mentor, a hidden helping hand, and a childhood guardian, all perfectly suited for their roles and compassionate in different ways.
This book will fill your imagination with wonderful sights, like you are in your own Glanagerie, read to know what that is!

The Crowns of Croswald is a compelling story of a 16 year old girl named Ivy Lovely who thinks she’s a nobody, just a scaldrony maid in Castle Plum. (And mind you scaldron dragons are my new favorite, I absolutely adore Humboldt!)

We learn right from the start that Ivy is a talented artist, who has repetitive dreams of a castle she’s never been too, and sketches it in secret in the night with her secret dwarf friend, Rimbrick. Rather quickly Ivy finds herself tossed from Castle Plum and on her own, but with an odd note and a generous gift from the vanished Rimbrick.

Ivy finds herself thrown into the magical world of Croswald and the Halls of Ivy. Her curiosity leads her into many adventures and much trouble as she seeks to find the meaning of her dreams, and ultimately she ends up finding out who she is without realizing her journey was about herself.

This book was a slow build for me at first, there is a lot we learn about Croswald, the Halls of Ivy, the Selector, squinches/scrivinests, royals, the Dark Queen, how this world works, how magic works, who has magic and more. All of this is very interesting and very well done, it just took me a bit to get through. Ivy’s character is very well fleshed out and I have a strong sense of who her character is and how she responds to situations. We also learn a little about a Royal character named Rebecca, and another older sqwinch, Fyn. I’m hoping in the next book I get to see more from these characters as I really felt they didn’t get enough “page time”.

DE Night has done a wonderful job creating Croswald and its workings, and there is the perfect amount of magic, mystery and adventure. I’m also hoping in the next book(s) we get to see a little more romance!

I really enjoyed this read that was offered to me via NetGalley and I look forward to reading the next books in the series as well as recommending this book to anyone who loves a middle grade fantasy. I know it’s been said it’s great for readers of Harry Potter and the like, and that is true. There are similarities between the two, but Croswald is also so different and definitely worth the read!

I really wanted to love this story. I wanted to love it so much that although I struggled to read it over a period of 2 months, I still persisted in the hopes that it would get better or something about it would click for me. I'm really sad to say that it never happened and it was with a great resounding sigh of relief that I finally came to the last page of this book. I feel terrible leaving a low rating, especially when the author's team did reach out to me to read it, but I did receive a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, and an honest review I shall give it. It does seem that I'm very much in the minority with my feelings about this book though so perhaps it just really wasn't for me! 2 stars.

One of the first things you'll notice about this book, whether it's when actually reading it or when reading reviews about it, is how much it's compared to Harry Potter. There are definitely a lot of similarities from our protagonist, Ivy, growing up mistreated and living in a cupboard, to being magically sought-out one day and receiving an invitation to a prestigious magic school, to various elements of the school itself and the teachers as well. But while there were similarities, I think there's still enough difference in the magic, world-building and plot for it to stand out on its own, and I personally didn't feel that it was *that* similar. Although I had some issues with the writing, I have to acknowledge that there was a lot of wondrous creativity that went into the world-building. I thought the concept of scrivenry was so unique and something that I've never seen before. I liked the use of gem stones to differentiate magical abilities, and I also thought the different abilities were cool, especially the shapeshifting. I thought the magical creatures like hairies, the scaldrony dragons, and the shorehorse, and magical contraptions like the cabbie was also a very unique aspect of the story and they're things that I've never seen in other fantasies (so far as I can recall).

There was actually a lot to enjoy about the world that Night introduces in The Crowns of Croswald but it was the execution that I felt was underwhelming.

We're introduced to this world as if we should already be familiar with it, such as with how the world is laid out, how the magic works, the societal structure, etc., and I found that initially quite confusing though I was willing to read on in the hopes that the world-building would eventually clear things up. And while we do get more information, it felt very patchy and this world never clearly formed in my mind, which didn't help me situate myself or really feel "into" the story as events unfold at a very fast pace. As I read on, there were many inconsistencies in both the plot and the characters that kept jarring me out of the story and it ended up becoming quite frustrating as it persisted until the end. Put plainly, I found myself feeling lost and confused through the majority of the book and couldn't really latch on to the plot or the direction it took. I really wish that we got more scenes with the scrivenry magic because although a large part of the story was about scrivenists and what they can do, we don't really get to see it in action.

What also made it difficult for me to get into the story was the lack of connection to the characters. Ivy came across as much younger than 16 and I found most of the characters fell flat. I was disappointed that the one aspect I usually love in MG fantasy, which is the strong friendships, was sorely lacking in this one. Ivy grew up without friends and that individualist mentality persisted throughout the book so that she ended up doing a lot of things by herself, and that's totally understandable. However, there were times when her "friends" would show up at random, and they would act like they had a closer relationship to Ivy than what we've been shown. That disconnect would always throw me off because we don't really *know* these characters although the sudden closeness in their interaction makes it feel like we should. The author seemed to rely a lot on telling instead of showing and that also had a big impact on how connected I felt to everything--it was all just a little underwhelming.

Ultimately, it was the lack of investment in both the story and characters that made it such a struggle for me to get through this book. I was honestly surprised by how long it took me to read it and I'm quite sad that I didn't enjoy it more; but as mentioned, my opinion seems to be the minority so perhaps it's a case of "it's me and not the book". That said, I do believe that the target audience of young readers will surely delight in the magic and creativity of the world that Night created in The Crowns of Croswald!

Special thanks to the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

When I first started reading this book, I thought it was going to be an Harry Potter-like-kinda book but I beg to say no. This book is a book of its own. I loved how it started in the beginning and how the story turned on Ivy, my favourite middle age character in a long while.

I hope this isn't a spoiler but I knew from the very beginning that there was something special about Ivy that she didn't know.

And I love how she got to meet amazing people who helped her in the journey of discovery.
If you need to read a book that keeps you hooked through the pages, a book filled with magic, scrivenist, scaldrons and cabbies.

#thecrownofcroswald is your best bet.

I’m a 4th grade teacher and was excited to dive in to this middle-grade fantasy! Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for sharing this story with me!

Crowns of Croswald is full of magic and adventure. After looking at the author’s website (it’s amazing) for the series, I couldn’t wait to learn more about this magical world. While it was very fun to imagine, there were many times when I was confused and felt like a glossary and/or map would have been helpful. I had to do a lot of rereading to understand what was going on.

Ivy is a fun character that I enjoyed reading about, but I never felt connected to her. I kept picturing her as a 10 or 11 year old, but in reality her character is 16. The way she speaks and acts didn’t feel like a teenager to me which kept me from truly getting to know her.

At times this book was moving slowly and other times it was full of action so my opinions about this book kept wavering. I would recommend this series to experienced fantasy readers with great imaginations who can truly appreciate the creative and magical world of Croswald.

The Crowns of Croswald
3/5 ⭐️ to The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night

Thank you to the publisher for reaching out and giving me an egalley through NetGalley to review!

This is the first book to a fun, unique, and magical fantasy series that follows a young girl (Ivy Lovely) who is whisked away to a magic school after she turns 16 to become a scrivener (a recorder of magical history and discoveries). This by no means is a bad series, but it didn’t capture my attention and heart the way some YA and middle grade series have.

What I liked:
I really enjoyed the overall storyline, idea, and setting of the story. It was familiar enough with the idea of the magical school, which is a favourite trope in the genre, while being unique enough to be distinguishable as its own. I enjoyed the writing, which brought me right into the book with our characters to this wonderful magic school setting with all sorts of new & wonderful magical creatures. I thought the overall storyline fit the characters well, and it was familiar enough but with its own flavour. There was enough complexity to keep me interested, and the pacing made a lot of sense! I do have a different comment about our MC, but overall I loved getting to know her, and following her on these adventures. She learns a lot about herself, grows in confidence, and helps the people who she meets at the school who have helped her. So sweet!

Other comments/what I might change:
The first thing that I felt was a little jarring and took me out of the story a bit was that there is an author/mystery person who our MC is trying to find and help, and this person has the same name as the author of the actual book. I realize that this was an intentional choice by the author and some younger readers may find that cool, but it didn’t work for me personally as a reader.
My other comment, not that this is a bad thing at all, but this book and our MC very much felt like a middle grade book even though Ivy is supposed to be 16. Again, this did not take away from my enjoyment of the story or our MC at all, but it was something I observed while reading.

Would I recommend this book? Definitely, if magic and magic schools are your thing and especially if you like MG/early YA fantasy stories! Will I continue with the series? Maybe. Thank you again to the publisher for this review copy!

Calling all Harry Potter and world of magic fans. The Crowns of Croswald is the first book in a four book series and is full of conjuring, creative creatures, and colorful characters. Book 2 and 3 are out now and Book 4 will be released this year (2021).

A novel that is a thoughtful, action-driven fantasy and will leave you clamoring to find out what happens next.

This is not my fav genre, but this was a cute YA about a girl who goes from being a scullery maid to having magical powers. Kind of a take off of Harry Potter. I enjoyed the details about her learning how to master her powers, but I think my fav parts were what her life was like as a maid-using dragons as ovens for example. I’m probably not the intended audience for this series, but I would definitely record it to fantasy lovers.

The mere moment I dipped into D.E. Night’s Crowns of Croswald, I was drawn into a timeless universe of magic I couldn’t wait to share and would read time and time again.

In a world unexplainable to the untrained eye by its magical characters of dwarfs, Scauldrons, Harries, handsome Scrivenists and the horrors of a haggled cook, I alongside ivy dreamed of becoming a scribe.

fantastical settings of mysterious caves, darkened shores, hidden staircases and partaking in sorcery studies from Ivy’s point of view, we unravel the mystery that is Darwin Edgar and how his and ivy’s past is intertwined.

D.E. Had me turning pages with every clue she gave, I was desperate to seek the answers given in Ivy’s daydreams, much inspired by Harry Potter a book any reader who seeks a magicial fantasy filled universe would find unique and stunningly captivating.

Along the journey we made friends with Rebecca and Fyn.

Rebecca was a gem to get to know, I was fascinated with her character and, her charming friendship with ivy held true throughout the book. I could always rely on Rebecca.

Fyn had me second guessing his character throughout the novel, up until his charm and sarcastic wit however had me hooked, his continued friendship with Ivy throughout the story will have the reader overjoyed and attached to every page of the book.

The imagery immerses throughout the book of things such as Boysenberry Bubbly (my new favorite name for a concoction), darkened shores, and pearl covered ballrooms captured on the essence of romance and underlining fear lingering in the halls.

The snarl of the Dark Queen her character although lengthily anticipated was so marvelously evil and compelling we had long awaited her reveal and her cruel powers did not disappoint.

Once the mystery was solved I was itching for more Croswald! I’m eager to see how Ivy enchants things in the town of....Read the continuation to find out!

My one honest tip for The Crowns of Croswald would be shoot for the stars! the books are made for a higher level reader, I felt more than once Crowns of Croswald with its immense vocabulary and characters belonged in a YA Genre and that’s a beautiful thing! I felt as though Ivy’s story was aimed at a Harry Potter middle level ground, which I loved but this mystical world belongs in a YA It allows the novel to expand on more in depth to the YA side.
I look forward to reading more of Croswald and exploring D.E's beautifully written expansive arts.

Sometimes it takes a catastrophe for a girl to realise her own strength.

The Crowns of Croswald is a story developed in Croswald, the land of scrievenists and royals. It creates a magical land with its own share of good and bad people. The protagonist Ivy is a simple maid before she is invited to the Halls of Ivy, a very prestigious institution meant for the people with magic in them. Little does she know that the dreams that have been plaguing her, will soon turn into a reality she cannot even fathom that she is a part of.

I loved this book! The fantasy land created was so magical and very simple to understand and love. Reading the book, I felt as if I was a part of the land! The narration was lucid and the story was enrapturing. The language was not very simple but not very sophisticated either. In fact, it was just right to give a good intrigue to the reader. The events did seem a little disjointed in the beginning but it all came together in the end :) The number of characters was pertaining to the story which was well structured and beautifully written. At some points, I found it very similar to the Harry Potter world though.

Loved the nameplay with the author's name too :) Definitely looking forward to reading the next book!

If you loved Harry Potter or Percy Jackson and the worlds they created you will definitely love this book :).

[ Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher, Stories Untold, for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ]

I would like to first point out that if you’re a big Harry Potter fan and you loved the magical storytelling then you may like this book and the ones that follow. I think that’s one of the things I enjoyed about it being a big HP Fan myself, I love magical adventures and fun magic systems.

Though I wish I could connect with the MC, she is 16 but it was very hard to connect with her on any level because at some points it felt like she was acting a little younger than 16, but I do enjoy a character acting closer to their age some YA do differentiate from the age represented but something about her I just couldn’t connect with.

Overall the story was a good in a storytelling point, and the adventure but the character I just wasn’t vibing with her. Ending up giving this book a solid 3 star review.

Thank you Stories untold and NetGalley for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I’m going to start with the cons first. Unfortunately I just couldn’t connect with the main character at all. It’s stated that she’s 16 years of age, but on a maturity level she acts much younger.

On a better note, the writing was really lovely. I enjoyed the magical atmosphere provided in its world building. It reminded me of Harry Potter in many ways. So if you’re a Potter fan, chances are you’ll probably enjoy this book too.

Interesting, Unique and a book I will be collecting for my forever shelf I have found this one hard to put down and have been completely captivated.
I adore the writing style, plot and characters. A great book!

If you’re a big fan of HP and magic filled stories like it, then you’ll enjoy this middle grade fantasy novel by DE Night!

Synopsis: Ivy, who has never left the wall of Castle Plum, is just your average 16 year old who has known nothing but hard work in her short life. She works as a poorly treated scullery maid for a wealthy family, but ends up being cast out after a mishap in the kitchens. What seems like the end of the world for Ivy is just the beginning, and she is thrust into a new world full of magical creatures, evil queens, and adventure. Ivy learns that she’s not so ordinary after all, and that not everyone in this world has her best interests in mind...

Thoughts: The Crowns of Croswald is a fun and imaginative coming of age story with wonderful world building and interesting characters. While it is meant for younger readers, it’s a good fantasy story for all ages. I did get a little flustered with how confusing the story gets towards the end, but I understand that is the first book and all the questions I’m left with will be answered in the other books. Overall not bad!

Sixteen year-old and scaldrony maid Ivy Lovely can usually be found either lost in her sketching or helping out horrific Helga Hoff in the kitchen of Castle Plum. Her dear friend Rimbrick, an ancient woods dwarf, knows that there's magic in Ivy. She is ultimately thrusted into the Halls of Ivy as a student where she can finally put her interests in scrivenry (magic) into action while her pet dragon, Humboldt, accompanies her along the way. By the end of the story, Ivy has learned much more than she ever thought she would about her magical bloodline and how much of an impact she really has on the future of Croswald.

While I really loved the fantasy and adventure components the story offered, this reminded me too much of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It also had a bit of a Cinderella vibe to it as well which I didn’t hate and made it a little bit more of a unique storyline. It was great to be a part of Ivy's story and seeing a strong female character as the lead, but if I'm being honest I just could not stop thinking of Harry Potter as I kept going. Even the artwork that headed each chapter was a little reminiscent of the artwork found within each chapter of Harry Potter although I know it wasn’t intentionally done to resemble this. There was just so many similarities I noted. I tried giving it a chance and I'm not regretful that I did since I felt like I needed a break between the monotony of the typical genres I've been gravitating towards as of late (i.e. rom-coms and women's fiction). If you're looking for something very similar to the Harry Potter series with a little bit of a Cinderella-esque twist, I would recommend picking this one up. It was not terrible by any means, it just wasn’t it for me.

This was such a fun and cute read! It was full of magic, twists and turns, and an awesome villian!

The story centers around Ivy, a seemingly ordinary maid who comes to discover that she actually has magical powers! Ivy then attends a school for people with powers and sets on a journey to uncover the mysteries of her past and all the strange occurrences in the school. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the world of this book! While it felt somewhat similar to Harry Potter (I mean, every school of magic reminds me of Harry Potter), this world was unique in its magic system and its creatures. The characters were very cute, and I loved reading about Ivy's adventures with Rebecca and Fyn! I particularly thought Rebecca's powers were super cool.
I wish more time was spent explaining, as I got lost in the different terms and the pacing felt a little rushed. I also wanted some more character development, particularly with Ivy and the extent of her powers.

Overall, a fun read for all ages!

I received an e-copy of this title from the publisher Stories Untold via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher, Stories Untold, for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ivy Lovely has lived her life as a scaldrony maid, safe from the magic that surrounds the castle where she works. But after a series of disasters, she leaves the safety of the castle and finds her way beyond the borders. Here her magic abilities become apparent and she is invited to study as a scrivinist at Ivy Halls, where scrivinists mix with royals in order to learn how to control their magical abilities.

During her first year, Ivy comes to realise that she is aware of things that others in the hall are not and must learn how to harness the power within her to fight against dark powers.

It is impossible to ignore similarities with another magical series: child unaware of magical past heads to magic school and must overcome adversity to defeat evil. However, this is still an enjoyable read and the characters are interesting (there is the clear 'baddie' and the two good friends along with a selection of professors, obviously).

For fans of magical books, this is a good read and I would be interested in reading the other books in the series.

Ivy Lovely is an unfortunate maid that works in the kitchens with the living ovens. She loves to hear stories of the Scriveners and dreams of castles. Until an unfortunate incident finds her unemployed and forced out of the castle she lives in. Unbeknownst to her this castle had been blocking magic so once she walked outside the boundary, magical things started happening as the magical world noticed her existence.
But why is she so special and who exactly is she? She gets picked up by a cabby with a large beast and dropped off to get ready to go to the Halls of Ivy. As soon as she comes within distance of the school strange things happen and she becomes the target of Demaris one of the cruelist Royals that goes to the Hall, there is always a bully who likes to belittle those around them. The Hall is to train young Royals and Scrivenists. She does keep running into strapping 3rd year Fyn who joins her on her many adventures as she tries to uncover the mysteries of the dreams she has and all the strange happenings that only she can see or remember. And she becomes fast friends with Rebecca who should be on the Royal track but wants to be a Scrivenist, shhh don't tell her Mom.
I love Fantasy books at any grade level. At this point I am also starting a catalogue for my 6 year old who will want all these books soon enough (only a couple of years away from the 10-18 age 😨). She will love this book she is a magical creature and magic spell person!
A very magical story and setup for a series, a unique magic system, with books that talk to you and keep track of you, magical beasts and fun adventures!

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Some follow-up questions:
🌸When will I be discovered? Since I am sure I am a Scrivenist. Am I too old?
🌸Can I have Ivy's magical book that adds pages and then archives her pages (old school cloud?)?
🌸Is this room of forgetting in my house? Maybe not since things keep going missing but I remember them. How can you lose a Christmas wreath in a small apartment? I also have a bag of 50 unpaired children's socks.

Thank you @storiesuntoldpress for the kindle copy for an honest and voluntary review!

First I would like to thank Stories untold and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

As a 5th grade teacher I read a lot of middle grade books. The Crowns of Croswald is a very cute novel. The beginning starts off slow but once we get past the exposition this novel picks up. I know I will recommend it to my more advanced 5th grade readers who enjoy traveling to new fantasy lands.

This is a good story, for me a 3 star rating means this is a decent book you will enjoy. In my opinion this book may not be groundbreaking or life changing, but it is definitely a good read that I know some of my students would enjoy.

A fun magic filled read.

This book is full of wonder and whimsy. The characters are well written and the book has plenty to keep you entertained. It’s funny, intriguing and witty, especially for a middle grade book.

Synopsis:

Ivy Lovely is 16 and she has no idea who she is. Tucked away in a place that dampens magic she crosses a magical boundary and discovers a whole new world of enchantment and mystery. Making friends that will last a lifetime—and save her life—she steps into her own abilities and discovers more about her hidden past, magical blood, and the power of Croswald’s mystical stones. But all is not well: a dark history and an evil Queen threatens all that is good. Will Ivy’s bravery and wit be enough?