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A review by rachaelanra
The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night
3.0
•I was given a free copy of “The Crowns of Croswald” by D. E. Night, by Stories Untold Press, In exchange for an honest review.
My rating, after reading this book, is a 3 out of 5, and it is explained down below:
Book Description: For sixteen years, Ivy Lovely knew nothing of her magical abilities. She was a Scaldrony maid within Castle Plum, hidden and broken off from the rest of the world. However, after some mishap, Ivy travels outside Castle Plum and discovers that she is admitted to The Halls of Ivy, a school that teaches magical training to royals and scrivenist. As a scrivenist, Ivy attends the school, but begins to learn of a secret that has been hidden and kept.
Writing/Description: The largest strong point that I saw while reading the book was the writing and description. For a story that is set in a different place, description is a good strength to have. Night’s words came in handy when new characters, settings, and experiences came into play. The writing fed my imagination and set up small world building details, that filled in the gaps. Allowing me to become familiar with the world inside this book.
However, for me, the descriptions and writing also was a con. While I really loved Night’s writing, it also led to confusing moments within the story. Some paragraphs felt cluttered with description, and some sentences were complex than they needed to be. When this happen, sentences didn’t flow right, and I found myself rereading paragraphs to understand what was happening. Though most of the book did not have this problem, there was enough confusing paragraphs for me to take notice. The writing style was an aspect of the book that I both loved and dislike (in some areas).
Pacing: For the most part, pacing felt off. In some areas it felt too slow. While in others, pacing was too fast. There were some scenes that could have had more focus on them, and other scenes where there was too much focus. Again, as I said in the writing/description section, there was enough scenes were pacing was off for me to notice.
Characters/ Dialogue: Individually, each character shined, and it was fun to learn more about them. Plus, for each character I loved their personalities. Rebecca, Ivy’s friend, and roommate was my favorite. I loved her and Ivy’s interaction with each other. Their dialogue was realistic and really allowed me to enjoy their friendship.
Though, Ivy’s interactions with other characters felt more scripted. For example, Ivy and Fyn felt distant and their dialogue with each other greatly mirrored other character’s dialogue from other books, where romantic interest spoke with each other. The same could be said about other interactions with other characters.
When it comes to dialogue, the first part of the book had amazing dialogue. It was funny, had great flow, and felt personal/realistic. You could feel the personality of the characters when they spoke. But as I neared the end, I felt the dialogue slowed down and followed, as I said, a script.
Overall, I really did like “The Crowns of Croswald” by D.E. Night because it went beyond just being a story about a magical school. It had a world that I was interested in and had details that sold the book for me, such as the slurry field. Ivy and Rebecca drove the story. Though, at times, it was confusing to read due to a lot of description and complex sentence structure, description and sentences were also a strong point in this book. I am planning on reading the second book and would recommend reading this book, if you are looking for a story that involves a magical school and amazing creatures.
My rating, after reading this book, is a 3 out of 5, and it is explained down below:
Book Description: For sixteen years, Ivy Lovely knew nothing of her magical abilities. She was a Scaldrony maid within Castle Plum, hidden and broken off from the rest of the world. However, after some mishap, Ivy travels outside Castle Plum and discovers that she is admitted to The Halls of Ivy, a school that teaches magical training to royals and scrivenist. As a scrivenist, Ivy attends the school, but begins to learn of a secret that has been hidden and kept.
Writing/Description: The largest strong point that I saw while reading the book was the writing and description. For a story that is set in a different place, description is a good strength to have. Night’s words came in handy when new characters, settings, and experiences came into play. The writing fed my imagination and set up small world building details, that filled in the gaps. Allowing me to become familiar with the world inside this book.
However, for me, the descriptions and writing also was a con. While I really loved Night’s writing, it also led to confusing moments within the story. Some paragraphs felt cluttered with description, and some sentences were complex than they needed to be. When this happen, sentences didn’t flow right, and I found myself rereading paragraphs to understand what was happening. Though most of the book did not have this problem, there was enough confusing paragraphs for me to take notice. The writing style was an aspect of the book that I both loved and dislike (in some areas).
Pacing: For the most part, pacing felt off. In some areas it felt too slow. While in others, pacing was too fast. There were some scenes that could have had more focus on them, and other scenes where there was too much focus. Again, as I said in the writing/description section, there was enough scenes were pacing was off for me to notice.
Characters/ Dialogue: Individually, each character shined, and it was fun to learn more about them. Plus, for each character I loved their personalities. Rebecca, Ivy’s friend, and roommate was my favorite. I loved her and Ivy’s interaction with each other. Their dialogue was realistic and really allowed me to enjoy their friendship.
Though, Ivy’s interactions with other characters felt more scripted. For example, Ivy and Fyn felt distant and their dialogue with each other greatly mirrored other character’s dialogue from other books, where romantic interest spoke with each other. The same could be said about other interactions with other characters.
When it comes to dialogue, the first part of the book had amazing dialogue. It was funny, had great flow, and felt personal/realistic. You could feel the personality of the characters when they spoke. But as I neared the end, I felt the dialogue slowed down and followed, as I said, a script.
Overall, I really did like “The Crowns of Croswald” by D.E. Night because it went beyond just being a story about a magical school. It had a world that I was interested in and had details that sold the book for me, such as the slurry field. Ivy and Rebecca drove the story. Though, at times, it was confusing to read due to a lot of description and complex sentence structure, description and sentences were also a strong point in this book. I am planning on reading the second book and would recommend reading this book, if you are looking for a story that involves a magical school and amazing creatures.