.This was a fantasy tale filled with supernatural abilities, magical places, intriguing secrets and a young girl's quest to excel at the prestigious school she has been invited to attend while striving to uncover the hidden details of her family and heritage.

Unbeknownst to Ivy she has been sheltered behind a magical boundary for 16 years while she serves as a maid in a rundown castle. Life for her is mundane and hard but when she flees that land and crosses the spell cast to shield her, her dormant powers awaken. Her life takes a very different turn and she is accepted in to the Halls of Ivy, the most famous school in Town. Armed with this newly surfaced power, Ivy tries to make sense of the world she now lives, full of magical blood and mythical royal gems. As her first year in school progresses, she explores the castle, learns more about her powers and finds hidden places that reveal more than just a new location. She makes friends with Fyn and Rebecca who help her determine who the mysterious man is who frequents her dreams and also aids her bend some school rules in a quest to find out the truth about her past.

I enjoyed this story and give it 🌟🌟🌟🌟. Its aimed at the 12+ age mark but equally can be enjoyed by everyone. I think that this series does have some similarities with other fantasy books/settings but overall the author holds her own for originality and storytelling and that sets this book apart. It has plenty of scenes with amazing imagery, inventive creatures with their own powers and great characters. Ivy is spirited, adventurous and willing to keep going despite adversity. When she learns of the Dark Queen's attempt to harm her, this fact only spurs her on to find out the truth and save everyone around her. I like having strong female characters alongside strong male ones as it provides balance and reality to stories. The mythical creatures and world that the author has created is both stunningly visual and endlessly fascinating and I look forward to Ivy’s future adventures.

This is a really fun middle grade read. Ivy finds out she has been accepted into the Halls of Ivy to learn the art of Scrivenry (a kind of magic). What follows is a lot of magic, self discovery and fun. Until the Dark Queen shows up. ⁣
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I loved the world this story is set in. It is the first in a series, so I can only image how much more we will get to explore the world and discover. I also loved how much of a badass Ivy is - there needs to be more strong independent girls leading the way in literature! ⁣
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The only thing I didn’t like was that I found myself being reminded a bit too strongly of Harry Potter in some parts which took me out of the world a little bit. Croswald has so much of its own wonder and potential without borrowing from another world, though I do understand there will be inevitable similarities when both stories are about a magic boarding school. ⁣
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In all, I really enjoyed this book! I would be interested to see what is in store for Ivy in book 2 😊⁣
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Can we all just take a minute to reflect on how cool it is that there was a D.E. Night character as well?! Kind of made it feel like the character was writing the book 🤔⁣
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Thank you to @author.denight and @storiesuntoldpress for a free copy in exchange for an honest review ⭐️⁣

What a magical story reminiscent of Cornelia Funke's Inkheart in it's magical world building and like Harry Potter in it's exploration of a magical school. Ivy's character was strong, relatable, and just wonderful to follow through her journey. All the different pieces of magic coming together was such a whimsical and charming read, I will hopefully delve into the rest of this series soon. This book seemed to be very fast paced as well, which I found to be perfect for a middle-grade fantasy, where too many details or downtime can be daunting for or not exciting enough to keep young readers engaged. I believe I would have loved this book when I was younger, and love it still now!

Ivy Lovely had been a maid in a castle containing slurry fields that suppressed magic. When she is sixteen and kicked out, she crosses the boundary and is swept into the world of magic. She is brought to the Hall of Ivy, a place where those with magic in their blood or given a crown imbued with magic are taught to hone their talents. The Dark Queen had been in isolation for some time, but now is on the move and going into magical towns. Ivy has to learn how to use her magic and unearth the history of her birth before Croswold is destroyed.

In keeping with other magical academy books, Ivy is awakened to her powers and then leads the reader into this new world with her. She has to buy her school supplies and textbooks, using up the carefully explained money that had been left for her. As she learns about the different texts and shops, so do we. There are different kinds of magic uses, different magical creatures, as well as the class system of royals, nobles, and differently ranked commoners. Inevitably, there will be comparisons to Harry Potter for middle grade magical academy books. Ivy needs quills and some oddly named textbooks, for sure, and her scauldron dragon is welcomed in the school. At the same time, this is not meant to be a separate magical world in the modern day, but it’s all a medieval inspired world.

Everyone knows about the Cloaked Brood working for the Dark Queen, though what they’re looking for isn’t well known as we begin. Time is spent more on worldbuilding, meeting Ivy’s friends, learning about magic and the items in the world. Of course there’s a mean girl who bullies Ivy and likes to poke fun at the mistakes she makes or get other students to turn against her. Ivy makes friends and discovers more about the lost Princess Isabella, as well as mysterious scrivenists that were lost to time. The school year passes rapidly in the book, until we get to the showdown between Ivy and the Dark Queen. Ivy knows about her heritage now, and her role for the future of Croswold.

I was contacted by the publishers, Stories Untold, for a review in exchange of a NetGalley copy of this book. This book had been on my radar for years and so I definitely snapped this offer up.

Sadly this book just didn't live up to my expectations. It feels like it wants to be a MiddleGrade but the main character is 16 years old and yet I honestly forgot this for most of the book because she constantly acts younger than this - in fact all of the characters act younger than this. I also find it confusing that they start this school at the age of 16... there is not a lot of information really explained and everything seems a bit all over the place. I couldn't really get to grips with the worldbuilding or the plot and constantly felt like I was missing most of the information. I honestly don't feel there was much worldbuilding to this one and could just not picture the world of the events.

Our main character felt a bit too mary-sue-esque for me; i'm not one for the lost royal trope and this slammed that right in there front and centre. I think because we didn't really get any focus on any other characters it just really made this trope stand out even more.

I do think it had potential, it just never quite sold it for me.

This story was given to me on NetGalley for free by the publisher Stories Untold Press for an honest review.
I feel this was an adorable story and would recommend it to anyone who reads middle grade books. It has some “Harry Potter” vibes but with some twists and turns to the story. We start the story with a young scrivenist named Derwin Edgar Night. He just finished school and is on his way to his new family that he was assigned to when something mysterious happens. Fast forward sixteen years later and we then are introduced to the main character of the story, Ivy Lovely a young scaldrony maid. She works in the castle kitchens tending to the scaldrons, which are cute dragons that are used to cook with, that only grow as large as the cage they are in.
Ivy lives a rather normal life cooking for the royal family that lives in the castle she works in. After a rather terrible day, Ivy wanders out of the boundaries of the slurry fields and her magical adventure begins. She then attends the magical school The Halls of Ivy where she learns she has magic in her blood and learns to use it to become a young scrivenist. Scrivenists are magical beings that have photographic memories that are assigned to royal families and document everything about the family as well as any discoveries they make during their lives. Royal prince and princesses also attend the Halls of Ivy to learn how to harness the power of the magical stones in their crowns.
Mysterious things start to happen to Ivy and her friends while at school during her classes. Ivy then goes on an adventure to find Derwin, but nobody seems to know about him except for her. You will not want to miss reading out on this adorable and fun story. I cannot wait to read the second book in the series! What will happen to Ivy, her tiny dragon Humbolt and her friends as they continue their magical education and adventures?

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Stories Untold Press in exchange for an honest review.

I have been looking for a series like this for ages and I am so pleased to have discovered The Crowns of Croswald books. They are set in a fantasy world, with a historical feel and Book 1 (possibly the others, I'll have to read them to find out) is largely based in a magic school - one of my favourite settings! It has all the elements of a fantasy middle grade that I love, while also having a complex plot that will keep older readers entertained. I think this is the perfect book to recommend to 10 - 13-year-olds as it is full of intrigue and high stakes, with a the seeds of potential romance, but none of the overly mature content that sometimes ends up in YA!

This book mainly follows the story of Ivy Lovely, a sixteen year old maid who has grown up in a land surrounded by an enchantment which keeps out magical powers. Following a disasterous series of events, Ivy leaves her home and sets out to discover what the world has in store for her. Once beyond the border, Ivy's magical abilities appear and she is invited to attend the Halls of Ivy. This is a school for the magically gifted and future rulers, to help them harness the magic that runs in their blood and, for some, control the power of the mysterious gems they have inherited. As Ivy begins to have new experiences and adventures in this magical world, she makes friends (and enemies). She also starts to realise that there are many unexplained mysteries surrounding her and it's not clear who she can trust.

I loved the way in which this story was told. From the many 'in-world' creations, to descriptions of meals or how the magic worked, everything was captivating and made me want to enter the world of Croswald - though with the option to jump back to our world when things start getting dangerous! I was amazed by how complete the worldbuilding was, even down to the little things like the tea cupboard (got to get myself one of those!) Everything I read about felt 'right' and fit into this world perfectly and I am excited to discover new additions to the world in the coming books.

I really liked all of the characters (the one's you're supposed to like) and found Ivy's interactions with them endearing and hilarious. Humboldt is brilliantly grumpy and cheeky but also fiercely loyal and I loved watching Ivy's friendships develop. Plus, the fact that these friends weren't just their to watch Ivy do everything, they got involved and sometimes, it was their skills and not Ivy's that were needed. The only part of the characterisation that bothered me was the feeling that the characters didn't seem to act like they were 16 (Ivy and the girls in her classes felt more like a 12-year-olds to me). I understand why Ivy needs to be 16 and towards the end of the book, she did feel a bit closer to this age but it was definitely a little unbelieveable for most of the book. Having said that, I really liked Ivy as a character and wouldn't want to change the way she is (just her age).

The mysteries in this book were plotted and revealled brilliantly. I was constantly on the look out for little crumbs of information that might help me discover what was really going on. Everything was woven in very cleverly and there is still plenty of mystery to keep me intrigued and wanting to read on with the series and find out what happens next - the stakes have been raised to another level!

Overall, this was an excellent start to a series and I would recommend this book to readers 10+ who are looking for an immersive fantasy world, with an interesting mystery, plenty of magic and a dash of romance.

Rating 3.5/5
The plot gave off strong Harry Potter vibes throughout and it was hard not to compare the two. However, the author eventually made it her own as the story progressed. There’s your typical magical school tropes of magical blunders, sneaking into forbidden rooms, going out of school grounds, class bully and magical rare creatures. Everything comes to an almost sudden explosive end where lots happen in the last few chapters but still leaves you curious for what’s going to happen next.

Overall it was an enjoyable story with its fast pacing and likeable characters. I finished this book in one sitting. One niggle for me was that Ivy just seems to take everything in her stride a bit too easily (considering she grew up without magic) and would have liked a little bit more curiosity and digging around. But who couldn’t love the Scaldeon dragon Humboldt and the dining halls served by three ghosts! I would happily read the next book to find out what is in store for Ivy.

I would recommend this book for a fun and easy read with it’s whimsical magic school setting for younger middle grades.
Thanks for the opportunity to review- also posted on Instagram.

Thank you to the publisher, Stories Untold, for bringing this delightful book to my attention. I think it has a place right alongside Harry Potter and Nevermoor (by Jessica Townsend). This book will also especially appeal to fans of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, since the magical creatures in this book are so well imagined and described.

The Crowns of Croswald tells the story of Ivy and her adventures in this fantasy world's magical school, the Halls of Ivy. I really enjoyed how every student had some kind of different magic, and how their incredibly patient teachers taught them to control this magic. As Ivy learns of her magic, and through her classes, she discovers a scrivenist, with magic similar to her own, who is being forgotten to history. Ivy discovers that there is more to this than she realizes and she is the only one who can use her magic to uncover the truth.

The setting of this book was incredibly magical. I found myself wanting to spend time in the Halls of Ivy, wandering around the beautiful classrooms and especially the library. Oh, that library. What I would give to hang out in that library! I loved reading about Ivy's classes and friends, especially Rebecca and little Humboldt.

The only thing I didn't love about this book was the prologue, but I'm glad I got past it, because once I did the book got much better. I loved how fast paced this book was, and would be absolutely perfect for those reluctant readers. Though the book was told from 16-year-old Ivy's perspective, the book is written at a middle grade level, and has the innocence of a middle grade novel. This works for those higher middle grade readers, as well as teens who want to read about a teen, but may not want the more mature content or reading levels of other YA novels. There is definitely a place for this book among library shelves, both in the middle grade and YA sections.

Magical boarding school(check), Lost royal family (check), Curses and Prophecies (check), Hidden Powers(check). This book had the 4 tropes I've always loved.

Ivy is a kitchen maid who takes care of scaldrons, which are basically cute little dragons whose mouths function as ovens. She has been all her life stuck in a place that dampens magical power. However she keeps having dreams of an old castle an a stranger in the library. On her 16th birthday she escapes that life and as soon as she crosses a magical barrier comes across a carriage whose occupant tells her that she has magical potential and gives her the opportunity to attend a prestigious magic school where royals and those with magical blood hone their skills.

But on the first day a she is shopping for school supplies, strange occurences seem to be happening around her or to her. To top it all, the school castle is the one she has been dreaming about her whole life, but there is no sign of the stranger.

The world building and magic in this is very good and different. The pacing however felt a bit of a jerky ride. Slow at times and suddenly fast and then back again. I was very intrigued once Ivy recieved her Moonsday present and saw the author of the books. From that moment I was hooked, I wanted to know if there was Time travel involed.

There is a part in this book where The Librarian just sprinkles some magic dust over used/borrowed books and they return to their Brand new Condition!! now isnt that every book lovers dream? there are other such amazing things from a bookworms wishlist :D
There are many such beautiful and imaginative magical moments sprinkled in the book. Its one of the things along with the 4 mentioned tropes that kept me going.

I didn't quite connect with the characters that includes the main protagonist maybe because it was meant for middle school audience🤷‍♀️, though Rebecca was my favorite. The love interest Fyn is so cute and a good partner for Ivy.

I wish all three of them had just one adventure together before they became friends, the trio feels a bit forced. Because it felt like Rebecca and Ivy are friends and are in their bubble and Fyn and Ivy are in another.

Although so many things feel inspired from Harry Potter, this book follows its own path in the 2nd half of the book. I didn't like the abrupt POV change towards the end.

Overall it was a gun read and I'm intrigued enough to know what happens in the sequel.

Book Review 🌠🌙

The first in a series, this middle grade book gives off all the Harry Potter vibes. It’s a magical adventure I would love to be a part of. It is as if I was following Harry on his journey to learning he is a wizard again.

The story follows Ivy Lovely who has been stowed away in the slurry fields, which surpresses her magical powers, and raised as a scaldrony maid for 16 years. When Ivy leaves the slurry fields to attend the Halls of Ivy, the magical school where squinches and royals train to harness their magical blood, Ivy's powers are awakened. And we follow her into the world of Croswald on her journey to be a scrivenist. As the Dark Queen looms over, she soon learns who she is and what she is meant to do.

A big thank you to @storiesuntoldpress and @netgalley for reaching out to me and giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book was truly magical and I look foward to reading the next two books in the series.

Thank you to the Publishers for reaching out and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The book is in stores now, I highly recommend reading!
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Title: The Crowns of Croswald
Genre: Middle Grade
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommend: If you love Harry Potter (I mean who doesn’t) this book is for you. Although it has some similar elements there are others that make this story completely unique and so much fun. It’s an easy read and readers of all ages could easily enjoy it.
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Quick Synopsis: Ivy Lovely is a 16-year-old orphan maid who has been hidden away in the world of the Mundane. When she crosses the border to enter the school of magic her powers awaken. The story follows Ivy while she learns magic, makes friends and fights the evils that threaten to destroy the magical world of Croswald.

What an excellent start to an enchanting journey of Ivy Lovely. What a wonderful book. The reader is able to be pulled into this whimsical world of Croswald right from the beginning.

The pace of the book is a bit slow in the beginning and we don’t get to see much happening. Yes, the world-building is fantastic and the introduction to characters and everything else is beautifully written. It is the second half of the book where the real action takes place. I felt apart of Ivy’s journey and really felt as if I was apart of the Croswald world.

Things I liked:
1. Fyn, he’s such a cutie. I found him super cute and dorky and I can’t wait to read about him in the second book. Honestly, if you don't ship Fyn and Ivy are you really human? I thought their chemistry was great and am really looking forward to it developing further in the second book.
2. The world-building is fantastic. Magic was the frontline of the book and that’s what I LOVED! The reader really got to learn about everything right from the beginning. You felt apart of the universe.
3. The Magical creatures. The concept of the beasts was super fun.
4. Ivy, the MC, is a great narrator. Her journey through the book was captivating enough to keep me reading.

Beautiful friendships, the quirky magical world and school, the mysterious Derwin Edgar Night (DE.N? haha), and the entrance of the villain. The book was written so well and really had me gripped until the very end. The second half of the novel is where the pace picks up and where all the action truly is. It was packed with twists and turns and the setup for the 2nd book is amazing.

Things I didn’t like:
1. There wasn’t much about the book I didn’t like. There was only one flaw I found in the book and it was Ivy’s character as a whole. Yes, it was fun to go on this adventure with Ivy but I didn’t get to see much more from her. I wished there was more emotional depth to the character. A lot of times we didn’t get to know what exactly she was feeling
A. This could also be because it is a middle-grade novel and could be because the younger audience does not really care for small details like this.

Overall Thoughts:
I must say even though this is a middle-grade fantasy book I was intrigued and this book had me gripped until the very end. And though this novel may be suited for a younger audience and sometimes the plot is a bit predictable this book was so much fun to read. Although I was getting some Harry Potter vibes at times and some elements are the same there are many more differences than similarities. This book can stand its own ground and I loved how I was able to get lost in this wonderful enchanted world of Croswald. I def recommend this book!
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4/5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Stories Untold for sending me a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book with decently high expectations, as it had been described to me as a whimsical mixture of a classic Cinderella tale and Harry Potter. Unfortunately, the book just did not pan out for me, and I ended up DNFing it around the 50% mark after painfully forcing myself to slog through half the book while wishing I were reading literally anything else.

Now, I am a big fan of middle-grade fantasy. The first few Harry Potter books and the Starfell and Nevermoor series are my go-to benchmarks for comparison when reviewing a middle-grade book, and unfortunately, Crowns of Croswald just did not hold up to any sort of standard for me.

My biggest problem, right off the bat, was the writing. It was chaotic and oddly paced, with an overabundance of descriptions of every single new person and location and far, far too much telling rather than showing. By contrast, the world-building was almost non-existent, which made it sometimes hard to follow what was going on in the story - which is a pity, since it overshadowed some of the great ideas introduced in the first few chapters, like scaldrons, hairies and the storm-toting cabbies. The narration is also all over the place, with practically every other paragraph switching between the point of view of our main character, who is almost completely ignorant about magic, and an omniscient narrator who info-dumps bits of often unnecessary over-description about the current setting. On top of that, the dialogue was awkward, wooden and stilted, reminding me of a bad pantomime rather than actual human conversation.

My second problem was with Ivy, our main character. At sixteen, she is several years older than your average middle-grade protagonist, and yet she reads like an immature twelve-year-old; though she is interesting at the beginning, she quickly becomes passive, her initial personality tapering into blandness as she lets herself be driven forward by the story rather than the other way around. The other characters are not even really worth mentioning, as they all end up squarely in the realm of bland, unremarkable and completely forgettable.

Finally, my third issue was with just how similar this book felt to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It is okay to draw inspiration from one of the best books in the genre you are writing in, but the further I went into the book, the more I felt like I was reading a cheap carbon copy of Harry's first adventure. The main character spends her childhood sleeping in a cupboard and being treated as a servant, and is suddenly told she has magic a few chapters into the story. Following that, we have an acceptance letter that includes a list of school supplies only purchasable in quirkily-named magical shops, a street lined with said magical shops, a magic school set in a castle with moving portraits and ghosts haunting the dining room...and this is only in the first half of the book, when I finally threw in the towel and decided to DNF it. Which is saying something, since it has been almost a decade - and several hundreds of books read - since I have last DNFd anything.

Though the book does contain a few good ideas, the immature writing, bad dialogue, chaotic narration, poorly-developed characters and way too many similarities with the Harry Potter series heavily overshadowed the good for me. Perhaps young children might draw some enjoyment from this, but otherwise, I cannot in good conscience recommend this book to any mildly discerning reader over the age of ten. It was a 1.5 star review for me, sadly.

I just couldn't get into this - I tried twice because I felt I should be enjoying it. But it takes a while to get going, and there's a lot of time where you don't really know what's going on, so it didn't work for me. I felt like I was trying too hard to enjoy it without actually doing so.

This story had me captivated from the very start. Each chapter has beautiful sketches that match the theme which I felt added to the excitement.

I’m a sucker for a magical school setting, and this did not disappoint. I was invested in Ivy from the start with her far-from-ideal living situation. Seeing her swept away to the Halls of Ivy, shopping for supplies, and making friends was so fun and nostalgic.

The mystery of who she is and what happened to her family kept me glued to the pages. The action seemed abrupt at some points, but I didn’t mind it too much. That was the only pacing issue I had.

Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Recommended for Fans of: Keeper of the Lost Cities and Harry Potter

DNF at 15 % - I was really excited about this book but sadly it didn't end up being for me. The main issue I had was the writing. The writing was very descriptive so much so that I had trouble picturing things because there was so much happening. I also felt that the author didn't need to describe as much as she did and it really just felt unnecessary. I did really like the dragons in this but we didn't get any explanation about the world which led me to be extremely confused. I do think that this might be for some kids around the age of 12-13 but it sadly wasn't my thing.

The crowns of croswald is a YA fantasy in which the main character Ivy, a young girl from seemingly low beginnings longs for escape and magic.
She gets whisked away by a mysterious man who invites her to a school for people with magic ability. There Ivy finds herself caught up in an adventure concerning her own past and future.

This book to me is definitely aimed at the lower end of the YA age range. The writing was simple and events transpire quickly. I felt like there wasn’t much bonding with Ivy and other characters before they became friends. And no real reason behind *spoiler* Ivy and Fyn having a crush on each other apart from bumping into him 2 or 3 times and him helping her out. It all felt a bit superficial. For me it just wasn’t enough, however I feel like for a younger reader this would be fully appropriate.

This book has similarity’s to Harry Potter. The start of the book Ivy receiving her letter for a magical school taking her away from a bad situation, Shopping for her supply’s, a grand entrance ceremony etc.
While this isn’t bad it certainly played on my mind whilst reading the first half of the book.

Night did have a really intriguing idea regarding the death of magical people *spoiler* they turn into books when they die, they contain all there life knowledge and people can visit them in a magical library. I found this concept fascinating!

I think this series has potential to be good going forward. This book was a good set up.

I would recommend this book for a younger reader who is jumping into fantasy reading

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night is a fun, action packed novel perfect for young readers. It is filled with beautiful imagery, interesting characters and a page turning plot that will keep readers engaged and entertained. The world was interesting, building a magical world that was easy to understand and easy to follow. Our main character, Ivy, is thrust into a magical world with powers she didn’t know she had, leading to a fun filled adventure. The novel features fun magic, and an interesting magical boarding school to move the plot forward.

This novel was very obviously influenced by Harry Potter. Unfortunately, this isn’t necessarily a good thing. There were parts of the novel that felt almost identical – including the town with the schooling shops, and the school bully even having the same first initial as Draco in Harry Potter. The close similarities makes it hard to fully immerse yourself in the world that The Crowns of Croswald is in, because a lot of the time you’re thinking about the world of Harry Potter.

One of the biggest let downs of this novel was the lack of diversity. For a world set in a highly magical climate, you’d expect there to be better diversity in the characters. While it’s important to have good diversity and representation in other genres, I personally believe it’s vital for middle grade. Books are a great tool for learning, so if we begin educating children about different cultures and other forms of representation, we can allow them to grow into intelligent and educated teenagers. It’s just disappointing that a book so lovely to read and so magical wouldn’t include a more diverse range of characters.

Ultimately, this novel was an interesting and easy read. While I’m not the set target audience for it, I found myself enjoying immersing myself within this magical world and loving the characters. If you have children, or know children this age, it’s the perfect book to pick up and get them excited for reading.

Rating: 4/5

- I enjoyed it overall. It took me a while to get into but I was a bit preoccupied with university work but I think that if the circumstances were different I would be able to read it in one go.
- The writing style was enjoyable, a bit of an information overload sometimes so that concerns me if this is a novel for middle graders. However, if it is not then it is perfect.
- The characters were all so bizarre and I loved that about them in all their uniqueness. I also loved the way in which the author inserted herself into the story. It gave the book that extra something and gave me chills.
- I got a bit of Harry Potter vibes and I do not know if they were intentional but I'm glad that the author still managed to create such a different and loveable story considering the standards Harry Potter left.
- I would definitely recommend this to other fans of magical universes because it really needs to get more hype.

I received an e-book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

The Crowns of Crosswald is a middlegrade about magic, dragons, fairies, and a magical school. It was whimsical, imaginative and perfect for anyone.
Ivy Lovely is the main character, a 16 years old orphan who is thrown out of Castle of Plum and doesn't know she has magic until someone finds her and she's sent to The Halls of Ivy. And her adventure begins.

I personally love magical school trope, it's one of my favourites, so this was quite enjoyable. It was very magical, reminds me a lot of Harry Potter. Ivy is a girl who's always in trouble, she doesn't listen and she wants to find everything about her past and why she can see or do or remember things no one else can.
The magic system is very interesting and fun, it's based on magic stonesand quills instead of wands. The pacing of the book is full of action, you don't have time to get bored, especially after Ivy gets to school. I think my favourite character is Rebecca, so glad she's not a snob. She's a real friend, even if Ivy doesn't treat her very well. I don't trust Fyn though.

Overall, it's an easy and fun read. It's perfect for children, even if the main character has 16 years. I don't usually read this kind of books, but sometimes it's good to take a pause from high fantasy. I think it's a promising start for the series and i'm curious of her next adventures. The ending was pretty good, i'm happy how things turned out in the end. I recommend it.