A beautifully written fantasy novel, that pulled me deep within the world of Croswald, so much so that I didn't want to leave.

Our heroine Ivy Lovely is back again in this second book of the Crowns of Croswald series. All I can say is, ( in a french accent ),
" MAGICAL! MAGICAL! MAGICAL! " The story picks up from where book one left off.

Ivy is continuing her mission to find the second facet of the kindred stone, while the dark queen is still after her. ( can someone kill this witch already? Queen my foot! ). While spending her days in a new town, whose name you shall not speak, a whispering shadow seems to be following Ivy, and causing mayhem everywhere.

I'm a thirty-seven year old mom, am I even allowed to love this teen/ young adult- coming of age fantasy as much as I do? Well if not, my apologies, because this book was amazing. If wasn't for my everyday duties as a human being with responsibilities, I would've devoured this book in a day.

Ivy remains the shy but brave individual I fell in love with in book one, but this time she grew even stronger. Never backing down from a challenge, no matter how big.

One thing I disliked however, was her being too hard on herself, when the dangers she got into, affected her friends. My favourite character, second to Ivy of course, was her best friend Rebecca. Rebecca...Rebecca! That girl's mouth had no cover at all. That shape-shifting young lady had me laughing throughout. I just loved her. Every other character, old and new, held their own and supported the story superbly.

One of the main themes in the novel was about not allowing fear to cripple or stop you from doing what needed to be done. I also notice alot of people still compare this series to Harry Potter novels. I've never read Harry Potter novels, only watched the movies. Based on that comparison, I must say, this series is in a class of its own.

I truly believe this book could be a " stand alone", however I would encourage anyone to start with the first novel. You'll get a better feel for the narrative, plus you'll enjoy and appreciate the second book alot better.

Overall, the book was exciting, full of mystery, adventure, and had me flipping my kindle pages like crazy.

Upon completing this novel, I felt like I'd done eating my favourite sunday lunch. It was a wholesome and satisfying read.

I would love to thank author D.E.Night, Stories Untold Press, and NetGalley, for offering me this book in exchange for an honest review. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Happy Reading!❤

This book begins essentially where the last one ends.
.I absolutely loved the first book and this keeps up with the same pace.
The beginning was a bit confusing at first since it jumps right in.
The third book is currently out and I need to jump on it.
If you love magical stories I highly recommend reading this series.
Has a great villain concept.
Highly recommend.

This book occurs at the beginning of summer holiday. After Ivy returns to school, she must unravel the Dark Queen's plans and locate the missing pieces of the kindred stone. I found this sequel to be more enjoyable than the previous. D.E Night did an outstanding job! This series offers a fantastic level of detail and imagination. I also love how quickly the characters developed. This is indeed a book that will keep you turning the pages. I read them all in one sitting. Yes, this sequel is darker but that is exactly what draws me in. I'm looking forward to read the next book!

D.E. Night has done it once again! This author is absolutely genius! The detail and imagination that is put into this series is incredible. I had reviewed the first book in the series (The Crowns of Croswald) and loved it as well. This book is also available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited so it was awesome to have this included in my kindle unlimited subscription! Like I've said before, this series is exactly what teenage me would have been dying to read, luckily I still get to enjoy this magical world as an adult! Would highly recommend this author and series!

I loved the first book to this series. Great for any fantasy reader. Great for anyone who loves Harry Potter or magical series

This book starts out at the beginning of summer vacation and Ivy is trying to figure out where to go. She winds up staying in a hidden town with her friend Fyn. As summer goes on in this cold town, Ivy learns more about the magical world. Once she’s back at school, Ivy has to try to figure out the Dark Queen’s plans and find the missing pieces of the kindred stone. Overall I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a great read, and although it’s a middle grade book it’s quite enjoyable to read as an adult too. I’m excited to see where the series goes from here!

I really liked this book and the world has in it. I liked this one even better than the first one. I liked how things kept changing and the story continued to build the entire time. A fun fantasy to get lost in. Also a quick easy read which I also enjoyed.

The second instalment in this series does not disappoint!

This book takes its own action packed direction and I really enjoyed it.
I absolutely love the authors ability to make the world so vivid. Descriptions are really well written and land you right in the centre of the action and there is so much thought to Ivys surroundings.

This story felt a little darker and more embellished than the first bringing this to the interest of YA readers.
I also loved the further development of the character, Ivy’s friends each evolve in this book, the characters are beginning to become familiar and well loved as a result of good solid character personalities.

This is an absolute must series of middle grade fantasy lovers. If you like Harry Potter this is the closest Iv come to it but it does come with its own individuality.

A couple of areas I’d have liked a little more from, particularly Ivys visit to the town at the beginning of the book but on the whole a hugely enjoyable read, pick it up!

It was the second part of a mind-blowing series. The Girl With The Whispering Shadow is the sequel every reader wants to read. It increases everything two-fold for the book. Ivy’s journey into the Scrivenist Town and her closeness with Fyn is so sweet.

It took me a long time to finish the book. I wanted to cherish the experience. I read slowly for the first time in a while so I do not miss out on anything. I could feel my heart beating as the action in the book sped us as I progressed further into the plot.

Things happen but you are still following the plot, two pages back wondering how certain things came to be. I cannot help but feel that something is waiting in the wings for the series plot and it is going to make my eyes pop out of my skull.

I am having so much fun reading the series. I am going to recommend it to everyone who is in a book slump or just looking for a series full of magic and magical creatures. This is the series that has brought me back to my school days.

I recently read the first in this series, The Crowns of Croswald, and really enjoyed it. @storiesuntoldpress asked me if I'd like to read the second and review it, I already had plans to carry on reading so I was more than happy to jump on this!

The Girl With The Whispering Shadow follows Ivy Lovely in her second year at the Halls of Ivy as she makes more new friends and explores the hidden magical Town she's staying in for the summer.

There was even more action and intrigue in this sequel and once again I thoroughly enjoyed it! I enjoyed watching the development of Ivy's relationships with Rebecca and Fyn and how protective they both are of her.

There are a few bits that I would like to see more fleshed out but I think that's been done by design, because I had moments like that with the first book and actually a lot of my questions were answered with book 2! I enjoy @author.denight writing its descriptive but flows easily, I can't wait to read more of this series

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow is the second book in The Crowns of Croswald series and continues Ivy Lovely's story as she navigates through a magical world she never knew she would play such a huge part in. Following the events of book 1, Ivy finds herself sheltered in the magical town of Bezelbuthe, hiding out from the Dark Queen. Ivy begins to discover more about her magical heritage while simultaneously searching for the missing pieces of the Kindred Stone.

This sequel lives up to the hype. This book had a different vibe in that it was a little darker, but still appropriate for middle grade/YA readers. As children do, each of the returning characters showed just how much they have grown since the first installment. This is especially true of Ivy who seems to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. There will inevitably be lots of comparisons to the Harry Potter series, but the author distinguishes her story through the introduction of Bezelbuthe, Quogo, and the Shadow. Even Ivy's friend Rebecca gets a shapeshifting upgrade.

Overall a good read that I would absolutely recommend.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.

Thanks to netgalley for the e-copy in exchange of an honest review, i must say the beginning was slow and then it kinda got better but i felt that nothing interesting happened till half of the book. However the author is amazing creating ending that leave u wanting for more
3/5

This was a fun sequel. More world and magic system building. More fun magical creatures introduced. Great read for preteens!

This was the second installment in the Crowns of Croswald series. After the end of the first one, I was really intrigued to see what would happen next. I really enjoyed the plot and higher stakes this book had.

I really enjoyed The Town. I found it really interesting and enjoyed learning about it. I found the way they hide the town fascinating and was really intrigued to learn more about it. My favorite scenes were definitely the ones at took place there.

As far as the characters, Rebecca is still my favorite. I also really enjoyed a couple of the new characters from this book. I found the addition of Gretta and Glistle really interesting and enjoyed them as characters. I do feel like the characters read younger than they are suppose to be. I keep finding myself shocked to see that Fyn was old enough to be graduating. All the characters felt like they were more 13 or 14 to me.

I really loved the plot with the stones and the Dark Queen. Honestly I would have loved more exploration into that. But I was happy that we got to learn more about the Dark Queen and how the history of the stones. Hopefully we continue to get more information about those in the next books.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Quogo club. I sounded really dangerous for them to be doing in the middle of a school (as they learned) and I really didn't understand why Ivy and Rebecca agreed to join. But, as much as I didn't like the club, I do like where it left them. I really love how they were a team and always had each other's backs. Hopefully now that they are being a bit safer, I will like the club more.

In my review for the previous book I had said that I thought the time jumps in the book were abrupt. I think the writing in this book was much better and you can tell how the author has improved. I felt like an time jumps were handled better so it wasn't as abrupt and the book really flowed better.

I was a little thrown off by how similar this book continued to be to Harry Potter. In my first review, I had mentioned that it didn't bother me because many stories are about an orphan going to magical school. But, in this book there was multiple things that continue to be similar when the story could have literally gone in any direction now that the setting and plot had been introduced. I hope the next book is more unique.

The ending was definitely worth the read, I really loved the action packed and high stakes ending. I loved how everyone had to team up together. I hope this series continues to improve.

Thank you to Netgalley and Stories Untold for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

D.E. Night has done it again with another incredible addition to her Crowns of Croswald series! I quite literally could not put this book down! As soon I felt like the story was getting slow, something exciting and big happened. The characters felt incredibly real! I felt like I was right alongside them once again! I absolutely adore the characters! Rebecca, Fyn, and Ivy all mean so much to me and now have a special place in my heart! This story makes me remember why I love reading so much!

Ivy Lovely enters into the Town ( have to read the book for the real Towns name *wink* ) with a deep recognition that she won’t be returning to the Halls of Ivy after last year’s unfortunate event at an “end of the year masquerade ball”. Not only is Ivy’s life on the line and in constant danger, but so is everyone and everything around her. The Dark Queen will stop at nothing to ensure she gets what she wants, which includes destroying everything in her path or creating ways for Ivy to be within her direct path. Ivy has to tread carefully and ensure nothing happens to her or her peers after it becomes clear that the Dark Queen has a one-track mind. Ivy has to learn her natural-born magical abilities, and find the missing pieces to the kindred stone before it’s too late!

I found myself shaking my kindle, shaking my head, and talking to the characters like they were really there with me! This book is gripping and enthralling! The characters always seem to get into a bit of trouble again and again and it makes the story even more fun. At times I thought the book was dragging on for a bit longer than usual and there seemed to be some filler, BUT, D.E. Night shows a great aptitude for a fun slow burn to a gripping climax that keeps you wanting to read page after page..chapter after chapter. I look forward to reading the next book! 4.75/5 Stars!

Thank you again to D.E Night, her wonderful publisher, and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This second installment in the Crowns of Croswald series was just as magical as the first. The Girl With the Whispering Shadow follows Ivy Lovely as she journeys to complete complete the Kindred Stone. Of course the Dark Queen is also looking for the stone and will stop at nothing to find it. This book is a cute read, though at times it seemed drawn out. The world building was fantastic. The world of Croswald is truly magical. I also loved seeing Ivy grow and learn over the course of the book. Overall I enjoyed it and look forward to seeing what happens next.

A brilliant sequel to the first book. I find myself completely absorbed into the world created within the book. I find all the characters really likeable and can’t wait to read the next book!

Thanks to the publisher/author for providing this book in exchanging for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book way more than the first one. We can really see how immensely did the author improved.
It's great that the book starts right after the events of the first book giving us the follow up without pausing the story.
I love that we have new characters that are part of Ivy's circle has it contributes to character development, specially for Ivy and Fyn. We can relate more to them now that we see them grow with each event happening, at the same time we see more of their background.
A few character I would like to have more knowledge about being Gretta (She has a major role, but we don't know how it started) and Derwin s>(his lack of confidence because of all that happened to him leads to him not helping Ivy in the right way).
Something I also loved was The Town. It seemed so comfortable, so full of magic and with so many opportunities to learn and experiment. However, I don't understand how the people were so oblivious to what was happening, shouldn't they have known the moment it happened?
The issues I had with this book: Quogo. I understand it and its role in the story, but just why?
The issues I had with this book: Quogo. I understand it and its role in the story, but just why?
Also the romantic plot that shows up randomly and it doesn't make much sense to me. It seems forced.
And the Selector, I do have a problem with that woman. She could be more helpful.
I'm so invested in this story that I just need to know how it ends.

* arc provided for a review*
3.5

This is such a lovely sequel, I loved seeing more of everything, but mostly exploring the town. I just simply adored the descriptions of the buildings, traditions, and FOOD in the town. The atmosphere of it, the warmth it radiates, I felt it all.

And, of course, there is nothing better than the found family trope, which has become bigger and better in this book.

Just like the 1st book, I'm still in love with the magic system, both kinds seem so cool, magical crown or quills, I can't choose ❤️.

loved seeing the characters grow and learn, and be mischievous 😏.

Ivy Lovely is back with new magic and new friends!

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow is a nonstop adventure, introducing us to new characters and new secrets within Croswald. D.E. Night does not disappoint, and her creativity is limitless with Shades, Invisitaurs, the Occulyst and even a secret town named Belzebuthe.

This book nicely ties into Book 1, seemingly starting the day after book one finishes. After finding out that she is the key to the Moonsday promise, Ivy now is on the hunt for the second piece of the Kindred Stone. But trouble is after her in all shapes, as the Dark Queen will pull out all stops to retrieve the Stone. New additions were also present with the Quality Quills Club, and Quogo matches. How imaginative Night must be to invent quill games and to seamlessly tie everything together by the end of this book.

It seems that Ivy is starting to grow into her own in this book – she is now understanding who she is, where she has come from, and what she needs to do in the future. I am sad that Fyn has graduated and presumably won’t be around in the third book, but I’m sure that Night has incorporated him in somehow and I will be reading the third book soon!

If you like The Descendants or Harry Potter – this is the series for you! Perfect for YA readers 12-20, this is an easy, fun read where your mind can wander into different worlds. There are numerous comparisons that can be made with Harry Potter, but I do not think that that is a bad thing (seriously – I think a Venn Diagram needs to be done as a school project comparing the two series after the fourth Croswald book is released).

As one precautionary to new readers of this series: I do not believe this is a stand-alone novel, you need to read The Crowns of Croswald first. I do feel like I understand the first book better now after reading the second.

Lastly, I would love to try a hot Melted Milkshake too! Thank you so much to NetGalley for allowing me to read this great book – my opinions are my own!