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outspokengirl 's review for:

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night
3.0

*I received this book as an e-ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

The Crowns of Croswald was a lovely book. I really enjoyed the way the magic was shared through this world as well as how the plot catches the reader. Ivy Lovely was a very entertaining character, very well thought of, and really easy to follow. It was really nice and refreshing to have a world where women were in charge and played roles such as being "the chosen one." I made it exciting to continue reading.

Additionally, as it has been pointed out in other reviews, if you like Harry Potter, you will most certainly enjoy this fantasy book.

That being said, there were a few things that felt out of place, or not fully developed:

- There were a bit too many moments in which this book reminded me of Harry Potter. It felt like the world-building was lacking a bit of work and both the plot and the world were relying on the readers being familiar with an already existing fantasy world.

- Fyn wasn't a fully developed character. It was never clear what he was doing at specific times. He didn't have a voice of his own, unlike Rebecca, and this was especially evident during the ball scene.

- The book had one major POV change that didn't make sense whatsoever: the scene where Ivy is about to enter the ball. The entire book we see things from Ivy's point of view, but suddenly, we're thrown into Fyn's POV, except that, other than his name being there, it sounded exactly like Ivy. This was very distracting and pulled me out of the story, to where I had to go back and make sure I had read correctly. POV switches should be carefully used and very intentional. In this case, it didn't feel that way.

- I wish the supporting characters had been better developed. They always felt incomplete to a certain extent, just making cameos every so often. I also wish the threat of the Dark Queen and the Queen herself had been explored and described through the eyes of supporting characters more, to give it more life and credibility.

All in all, this book was enjoyable, and definitely left me wanting to find out more about Ivy's journey as she discovers her true identity.