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cutsielamb 's review for:
The Crowns of Croswald
by D.E. Night
This honest review is based off an ARC
This book is undoubtedly heavily influenced by Harry Potter, and for the first half of the story it was so obvious and in-your-face that it got frustrating after a while. I find the world-building to be a little too detailed and too long, and although I understand that for a first book in a series it’s crucial for the reader to understand the world the story plays in, in this case I found myself getting lost in the descriptions and having to go back pages to understand why these details are important (they aren’t.) I feel like this book could work well for readers in the target audience, which is mostly 8-12 year olds. I can imagine it being read out loud for an elementary school class as the descriptions although very long and detailed, they are easy to understand and imagine.
The biggest issue I have with this book, however, is the fact that even the protagonist is a flat character, with no thoughts or personality. For a 16 year-old she’s made out to be so innocently dumb that it doesn’t feel realistic, even with knowing about the circumstances she grew up in. Her best friend and love interest are just there as well, with no particular depth to either of the relationships.
Passage of time felt very rushed reading this book, and I can’t help but feel like if more time was spent on the characters’ development instead of the world-building, we could’ve gotten a far more intense and interesting story. I wouldn’t have minded reading 50-70 more pages if that meant a nice ending but it just cut off with a lot of loose ends. I understand the use of a cliff-hanger ending but it did not leave me wanting to know what’s coming next whatsoever.
I’m giving this book 3 stars because I’m hoping that now, that most of the world-building is out of the way, the next book will provide more depth to the characters. I feel like the story has a lot of potential but it could’ve been executed better.
This book is undoubtedly heavily influenced by Harry Potter, and for the first half of the story it was so obvious and in-your-face that it got frustrating after a while. I find the world-building to be a little too detailed and too long, and although I understand that for a first book in a series it’s crucial for the reader to understand the world the story plays in, in this case I found myself getting lost in the descriptions and having to go back pages to understand why these details are important (they aren’t.) I feel like this book could work well for readers in the target audience, which is mostly 8-12 year olds. I can imagine it being read out loud for an elementary school class as the descriptions although very long and detailed, they are easy to understand and imagine.
The biggest issue I have with this book, however, is the fact that even the protagonist is a flat character, with no thoughts or personality. For a 16 year-old she’s made out to be so innocently dumb that it doesn’t feel realistic, even with knowing about the circumstances she grew up in. Her best friend and love interest are just there as well, with no particular depth to either of the relationships.
Passage of time felt very rushed reading this book, and I can’t help but feel like if more time was spent on the characters’ development instead of the world-building, we could’ve gotten a far more intense and interesting story. I wouldn’t have minded reading 50-70 more pages if that meant a nice ending but it just cut off with a lot of loose ends. I understand the use of a cliff-hanger ending but it did not leave me wanting to know what’s coming next whatsoever.
I’m giving this book 3 stars because I’m hoping that now, that most of the world-building is out of the way, the next book will provide more depth to the characters. I feel like the story has a lot of potential but it could’ve been executed better.