‘The Crowns of Croswald’ is a Whimsical Middle-Grade Fantasy

Many thanks to NetGalley, Stories Untold and the author for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

• Title: The Crowns of Croswald
• Author: D. E. Night
• Publisher: Stories Untold
• Pub. date: 21 July 2017
• Series: Croswald Series #1
• Pages: 249
• Genres: middle grade, fantasy, action & adventure

In Croswald, the only thing more powerful than dark magic is one secret…

For sixteen years Ivy Lovely has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary that separates the mundane from the magical. When Ivy crosses the border, her powers awaken. Curiosity leads her crashing through a series of adventures at the Halls of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their magical blood and the power of Croswald’s mysterious gems. When Ivy’s magic—and her life—is threatened by the Dark Queen, she scrambles to unearth her history and save Croswald before the truth is swept away forever.

I was approached by the publisher to review this book and I jumped at the chance since I have been in dire need of some fun middle-grade fantasy to lighten up my reading mood. The blurb certainly promised magic and adventure, and reviews likened it to the Harry Potter series, so I was excited to get started!

The Crowns of Croswald follows sixteen-year-old Ivy Lovely who gets kicked out of her scaldron maid duties (read the book to find out!) straight into a magical boarding school. The odd thing is that Ivy was never supposed to attend any school of magic and now strange happenings are cropping up all around her. The first book in the series follows Ivy’s first year at the prestigious Halls of Ivy, navigating magic, friendships, young love and the terrifying clutches of the Dark Queen.

Ivy Lovely is a great main character because her inquisitiveness and bravery served well to keep me entertained as well as intrigued by everything that was happening to her. There are moments when I thought she was a tad bit too reckless but then I reminded myself that she is sixteen and fighting to learn more about her own heritage.

The supporting characters were great fun as well! I cannot stop talking about how much I need a Rebecca right now! She is such a well-written best friend and kept the humour going! Ivy befriends Fyn and there is this budding love between them, but, honestly, I was more invested in all the friendships!

Anyone who compared this to Harry Potter was absolutely right because the plots are pretty much similar. I was hoping there would be more twists and turns along the way, but the plot twists were predictable and the plotline was cliché.

Night still managed to keep up an impressive air of magic and mystery throughout the book, so I was not bored at all. There were bits of the story that did feel a bit rushed, especially past the halfway point, which was a shame because I was really interested in reading about her everyday magical school life!

The imaginative world-building was the real star of this story and I was left wanting to learn more about this crazy cool universe that D.E. Night has created. I was pleasantly surprised that the world-building was completely different to the Harry Potter universe, keeping to its own rules and magical people!

The Halls of Ivy itself were so interesting to me! The classes were such fun to read about and the shenanigans that kept happening were just laugh-out-funny at times. Night really captured the magical boarding school mood for this series, so I was really disappointed when the plot sort of rushed at the halfway point.

The magic system was an interesting twist on the traditional witchy concepts. There were two systems of Royals and Scrivenists. The Royals depended on the gems on their crowns for their powers while the Scrivenists depended on their quills. This is the nitty-gritty of it, so it’s a lot more complicated and Night does a wonderful job of expanding on her magic system.

Since the reader didn’t get to see much of this new world beyond the Halls of Ivy, I feel like there’s so much potential for the next three books.

The Crowns of Croswald explored the themes of friendship, school life, courage, and self-discovery commonly seen in many middle-grade books. I loved the good ol’ “gang of friends embarking on an adventure to fight evil” theme of the book because it was done in a fun and whimsical manner.

Though the characters in the book are a bit old for a middle-grade audience (usually this is aimed at readers aged eight to twelve), the tone of the book was lighthearted and fun. So, yes I think this book does qualify as middle grade.

Though there are bad guys and Ivy is fighting against a Dark Queen, the darkest theme explored here was bullying. There is a caste system within this magical universe and Ivy, being an ex-maid, faces negative attentions from some of her snobby classmates.

The Crowns of Croswald is an action-packed middle-grade fantasy that kept me entertained and amused throughout. However, I was not a fan of the predictable plot. I also would have preferred a bit more world-building in the latter half of the book. However, this was still a fun read and I would recommend it to anyone who loves magical boarding schools, Harry Potter and magical creatures!

Have you read this book yet? Got any recommendations for some others I might enjoy? Let me know in the comments below!

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