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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
The Crowns of Croswald was such a fun and magical coming of age story that I thoroughly enjoyed!
Ivy was such a great character who is thrown into this new world of magic and it was impossible not to root for her!
The pacing was perfect and I'm honestly looking forward to reading the rest in this series to watch Ivy develop!
This is the perfect middle grade book for readers of all ages. With a unique magic system, I recommend this to anyone looking for whimsical read!
Ivy was such a great character who is thrown into this new world of magic and it was impossible not to root for her!
The pacing was perfect and I'm honestly looking forward to reading the rest in this series to watch Ivy develop!
This is the perfect middle grade book for readers of all ages. With a unique magic system, I recommend this to anyone looking for whimsical read!
Thanks NetGalley and Stories Untold for a free e-book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This was such a magical read! I was fully captivated by the world, the story, the writing, and the characters.
The book centers around Ivy, who has lived her life serving royals and dreaming of going to the prestigious Halls of Ivy.
When she gets the opportunity to finally make her dreams come true, she thinks she will finally be going to the place where she belongs.
But there are dark forces working in the world of Croswald, and Ivy has to go on dangerous adventures to uncover secrets . . .
This is sure to be a classic, loved by children and adults alike. Fans of Harry Potter will certainly devour this book and fall in love with this magical world.
This was such a magical read! I was fully captivated by the world, the story, the writing, and the characters.
The book centers around Ivy, who has lived her life serving royals and dreaming of going to the prestigious Halls of Ivy.
When she gets the opportunity to finally make her dreams come true, she thinks she will finally be going to the place where she belongs.
But there are dark forces working in the world of Croswald, and Ivy has to go on dangerous adventures to uncover secrets . . .
This is sure to be a classic, loved by children and adults alike. Fans of Harry Potter will certainly devour this book and fall in love with this magical world.
The Crowns of Croswald is enchanting book. There is a problem in Croswald a wandering family is still lost. Of course Derwin Edgar Night can’t be bothered with such news he is about to meet the royal family he will be serving as their scientist. Derwin arrives at the castle but then is never seen or remembered again.
Ivy Lovely as lived a mundane drudge filled life for the past 16 years she has only known a life of loneliness and isolation. She works at Castle Plum as a scaldrony maid her main job is to tend the scaldrons, a type of domesticated dragon, used for cooking meals. The only solace Ivy finds is spending time sketching on the hill of Plum with her friend Rimbrick, a dwarf, who she finds fascinating. Rimbrick spends the nights telling Ivy tales about magic and scrivenists, people who study and write magic and serve royal families. Ivy longs to be a scrivenist to study and learn about magic. Little does Ivy know that her dream is about to become a reality. Her life is about to change and in that change mystery and adventure await. She will make new friends, learn about who she really is and fight against an evil that will try to take over Croswald. Looking forward to reading the second part of this trilogy. Thank you NetGalley for this opportunity to read this thrilling book.
Ivy Lovely as lived a mundane drudge filled life for the past 16 years she has only known a life of loneliness and isolation. She works at Castle Plum as a scaldrony maid her main job is to tend the scaldrons, a type of domesticated dragon, used for cooking meals. The only solace Ivy finds is spending time sketching on the hill of Plum with her friend Rimbrick, a dwarf, who she finds fascinating. Rimbrick spends the nights telling Ivy tales about magic and scrivenists, people who study and write magic and serve royal families. Ivy longs to be a scrivenist to study and learn about magic. Little does Ivy know that her dream is about to become a reality. Her life is about to change and in that change mystery and adventure await. She will make new friends, learn about who she really is and fight against an evil that will try to take over Croswald. Looking forward to reading the second part of this trilogy. Thank you NetGalley for this opportunity to read this thrilling book.
Disclaimer: I received two copies of this book – one through the publisher (Stories Untold LLC) in exchange for an honest review, and one through a Good Reads giveaway (I thought it was just for the second book; didn’t realize the first book would be included).
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For her first published work, author D.E. Night did a commendable job. Keeping the target audience in mind – I’d say 3rd grade to middle school – I think the writing style and the level of complexity of this book were on point.
I love a world of fairies and magic; a well-written fantasy absorbs my attention in the most satisfying way. Of course, post 1997, any book involving children at a magic school will prompt comparison to Harry Potter. Fair or not, Rowling’s work has become the de facto benchmark for this genre. Beyond the obvious Harry Potter comparison, there are hints of Alice in Wonderland, Wicked, Oz the Great and Powerful, and Sleeping Beauty in Night’s world of Croswald.
That said, I think Night does a fair job with the world-building in her debut book. She paints Croswald with nuances that help set it apart as its own enigmatic and curious entity (e.g.: hairies, slurry fields, and the Hollow Shaft).
While the first half of the book was a bit meandering, the second half picks up the pace. Once Ivy (the protagonist) meets up with Derwin (the first character introduced), the plot progresses on an exciting path. Connections are made, questions are answered, and mysteries are solved, all while Ivy goes through her coming of age adventure. By the end of the book, I am left both satisfied and curious for the next part of the story.
My favorite part of this book was the touch of whimsy sprinkled throughout in sentences like “He taught her to make ridiculous things like unpoppable bubbles and terribly useful things like wellness remedies…”; it reminded me of Roald Dahl’s writing style.
The least satisfying part of this book was the lack of character development, particularly in the first half. This story is complex enough to warrant a proper introduction to each of the main characters. Without this introduction and good character development, it’s hard to get a firm grasp on any of the character’s personalities or to make a connection with any of them. Watching a character evolve (or devolve) through the course of the book is one of the best parts of reading a book.
Once the pace picks up in the second half of the book, character interactions improve a fair bit. I hope this evolution in writing persists in the second and third books of the series.
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Overall, I give this book a 3.5/5. It's an enjoyable read and the plot is presented in a new enough way that I want to keep reading the series. Young readers will likely overlook the character development and minor writing points, but I think there's scope for the author to finesse her writing. I look forward to reading more from her.
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For her first published work, author D.E. Night did a commendable job. Keeping the target audience in mind – I’d say 3rd grade to middle school – I think the writing style and the level of complexity of this book were on point.
I love a world of fairies and magic; a well-written fantasy absorbs my attention in the most satisfying way. Of course, post 1997, any book involving children at a magic school will prompt comparison to Harry Potter. Fair or not, Rowling’s work has become the de facto benchmark for this genre. Beyond the obvious Harry Potter comparison, there are hints of Alice in Wonderland, Wicked, Oz the Great and Powerful, and Sleeping Beauty in Night’s world of Croswald.
That said, I think Night does a fair job with the world-building in her debut book. She paints Croswald with nuances that help set it apart as its own enigmatic and curious entity (e.g.: hairies, slurry fields, and the Hollow Shaft).
While the first half of the book was a bit meandering, the second half picks up the pace. Once Ivy (the protagonist) meets up with Derwin (the first character introduced), the plot progresses on an exciting path. Connections are made, questions are answered, and mysteries are solved, all while Ivy goes through her coming of age adventure. By the end of the book, I am left both satisfied and curious for the next part of the story.
My favorite part of this book was the touch of whimsy sprinkled throughout in sentences like “He taught her to make ridiculous things like unpoppable bubbles and terribly useful things like wellness remedies…”; it reminded me of Roald Dahl’s writing style.
The least satisfying part of this book was the lack of character development, particularly in the first half. This story is complex enough to warrant a proper introduction to each of the main characters. Without this introduction and good character development, it’s hard to get a firm grasp on any of the character’s personalities or to make a connection with any of them. Watching a character evolve (or devolve) through the course of the book is one of the best parts of reading a book.
Once the pace picks up in the second half of the book, character interactions improve a fair bit. I hope this evolution in writing persists in the second and third books of the series.
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Overall, I give this book a 3.5/5. It's an enjoyable read and the plot is presented in a new enough way that I want to keep reading the series. Young readers will likely overlook the character development and minor writing points, but I think there's scope for the author to finesse her writing. I look forward to reading more from her.
Loved it!
I really enjoyed reading this book, I loved all the details and the magic. I loved how she grew up not knowing her family and origin but by the end she found out everything. I'm going to read the second book as well cause I just want to know what happens next!
I really enjoyed reading this book, I loved all the details and the magic. I loved how she grew up not knowing her family and origin but by the end she found out everything. I'm going to read the second book as well cause I just want to know what happens next!
Ivy Lovely is a girl who hadn't been living in the magic world, but eventually is able to. She gets to go to school for magical powers. This reminded me a lot of Harry Potter, because it is a similar premise, but it was different as well. My daughter is 11 and she and I read this book together. We took turns reading the chapters. She is very much into wizards and magic and loved this story. She liked that the main character was a strong female character. I liked that there was magic all throughout the book, the author really took you into the magic. I wish we lived in the same world. We both loved the cute creatures, the Hairies. I like this this is a series because we want to continue reading it together.
3.5
I don't want to say this but it feels so close to reading Harry Potter. But probably just because I got used to the concept of HP like the school of magic, the magical creatures and the atmosphere, so I thought it almost the same.
However there are original ideas from the author like the scaldrons, cabbies, the Glanagaries and I found the hairies are kind of cute. Besides, the idea of magical system centered around quills and inks are very different compared to wands.
This book is about an orphan Ivy Lovely who just been told that she has powers. She went to a school of magic where she learns all about the magic, her abilities and her hidden past that she never know of.
I can't really connect to Ivy's character but it did not affect much to me. I like Ivy-Rebecca's friendship and of course Fyn-Ivy too.
This book is meant to be middle grade. But I found it quite hard to read with compact descriptions and all, so maybe young adult? But I'm pretty sure I am not the target reader
I don't want to say this but it feels so close to reading Harry Potter. But probably just because I got used to the concept of HP like the school of magic, the magical creatures and the atmosphere, so I thought it almost the same.
However there are original ideas from the author like the scaldrons, cabbies, the Glanagaries and I found the hairies are kind of cute. Besides, the idea of magical system centered around quills and inks are very different compared to wands.
This book is about an orphan Ivy Lovely who just been told that she has powers. She went to a school of magic where she learns all about the magic, her abilities and her hidden past that she never know of.
I can't really connect to Ivy's character but it did not affect much to me. I like Ivy-Rebecca's friendship and of course Fyn-Ivy too.
This book is meant to be middle grade. But I found it quite hard to read with compact descriptions and all, so maybe young adult? But I'm pretty sure I am not the target reader
3.5 Stars
Going into this book, I was expecting a magical middle grade coming-of-age story and I definitely wasn’t disappointed! This book was so whimsical and easy to like, the different names and terms (Scaldragons, hairies and squinches, to name a few) had me smiling the entire time I was reading this!
This book was definitely easy to get into, with the magical world building being in the forefront throughout, making this a very whimsical read. Our main character Ivy was easy to love and I thought her friendship with Rebecca and also Fyn was adorable!
The only issue I have with this book is that I thought that it was slightly cliche and predictable in some places. There are definitely similarities to Harry Potter in the magical schooling element of the book as well as also being fairly predictable in the ‘lost royal’ storyline. For this reason, I would definitely say that this is a great lead for any younger readers who may not be so frustrated by predictable storylines, or in general anyone who is a fan of middle grade fantasy!
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in return for reviewing it, but all opinions are my own.
Going into this book, I was expecting a magical middle grade coming-of-age story and I definitely wasn’t disappointed! This book was so whimsical and easy to like, the different names and terms (Scaldragons, hairies and squinches, to name a few) had me smiling the entire time I was reading this!
This book was definitely easy to get into, with the magical world building being in the forefront throughout, making this a very whimsical read. Our main character Ivy was easy to love and I thought her friendship with Rebecca and also Fyn was adorable!
The only issue I have with this book is that I thought that it was slightly cliche and predictable in some places. There are definitely similarities to Harry Potter in the magical schooling element of the book as well as also being fairly predictable in the ‘lost royal’ storyline. For this reason, I would definitely say that this is a great lead for any younger readers who may not be so frustrated by predictable storylines, or in general anyone who is a fan of middle grade fantasy!
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in return for reviewing it, but all opinions are my own.
This was a wonderful read! If you’ve been looking for an alternative to Harry Potter, this has to be it. Magic, mayhem, hidden destiny, a youth with a thirst for knowledge and little respect for the rules, royalty, loyalty and mystique - all the ingredients for a fun, fast-paced tale with some twists and turns. I didn’t pick the plot-twist early either, there was just enough magician’s flare to keep you distracted on one hand while the major plot of the story began unfolding on the other. A very enjoyable read!