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A review by sarina_langer
The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night
3.0
This was my first ever Netgalley book so I wanted to love it, but it fell short for me for several reasons.
It didn't feel quite finished to me, and it was very heavily influenced by Harry Potter - in itself not a bad thing, but I would have liked to see Night's interesting concept become its own thing a little more. It's so similar it's hard not to compare it.
There were a few developmental things I struggled with. For example,
One thing I need in any book is a main character I can root for, and I didn't care for Ivy. She Where's your sense of adventure, Ivy? Where's your curiosity? It was there for some things, but those usually got her 'friends' into trouble, and that she didn't care or even consider their opinion made her more unlikable to me. Ivy wants and Ivy takes, no matter the consequences for anyone else.
The one thing I found intriguing was the magic system. The idea that Scrivenists turn into books themselves when they die and go to a massive archive instead of a graveyard sounds so tempting to me XD
Overall, I think this could be a great book for younger readers - I could see it as someone's introduction to epic fantasy - but I'm afraid I'm a bit too picky for it.
It didn't feel quite finished to me, and it was very heavily influenced by Harry Potter - in itself not a bad thing, but I would have liked to see Night's interesting concept become its own thing a little more. It's so similar it's hard not to compare it.
There were a few developmental things I struggled with. For example,
Spoiler
there are some creatures that are so rare they haven't even been named, but instead of trying to learn more about them or save the species, a professor (I think - could be a shop owner from the nearby town) sells them, which probably pushes them closer to extinctionOne thing I need in any book is a main character I can root for, and I didn't care for Ivy. She
Spoiler
grew up dreaming of magic and wishing her life was more exciting, then she gets whisked away to a school where she'll learn magic and she's kinda underwhelmed by the whole thing. She settled in too easily, and she's weirdly picky with some things like the food the ghost chefs make, which made her read oddly snobbish to me. Like she's been locked up as a kitchen slave all her life, and now that she's entered a world full of magic it's not good enough for her.The one thing I found intriguing was the magic system. The idea that Scrivenists turn into books themselves when they die and go to a massive archive instead of a graveyard sounds so tempting to me XD
Overall, I think this could be a great book for younger readers - I could see it as someone's introduction to epic fantasy - but I'm afraid I'm a bit too picky for it.