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A review by thereadhersrecap
The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night
3.0
This novel is the first book in 'The Croswald Series", it is a middle-grade fantasy novel that takes place in the magical world of Croswald. The protagonist is a girl named Ivy, who is a simple kitchen-maid living among greater magical beings. Everything changes for Ivy on her sixteenth birthday, Ivy is forced to leave the only home she knows and soon becomes aware that she is of magical blood. Ivy travels to the Halls of Ivy, where she will learn to master her magic and learn a few things about herself and the family she never knew.
Excerpt from the novel: "For the first time in her life, she truly felt like a princess. Yes, Ivy: the same girl who spent her days below the grimy ground that royals walked upon. Rather than mingling scaldrons, Ivy would soon be mingling with royals and soon-t0-be srivenists. Standing in front of that mirror, Ivy felt more alive than ever before. She hadn't smiled like this in a very long time."
This novel is my first read from the author D.E. Night. This book definitely captured my attention from the start! Night did a great job with the imagery surrounding the magical creatures like hairies, and scaldrons. I loved the idea that descendants of royal families were entrusted with a bejeweled crown as a conduit of their power, and each and every stone was a source of a different magical wielding.
Ivy's character was well established, I loved her curiosity and her adventurous nature. I quickly fell in love with her character! The secondary characters (Ivy's friends: Rebecca and Fyn) were slightly less defined. I felt their personalities lacking and I would have liked to understand them better. They sort of had a mysterious air that, in my opinion, didn't appeal to the overall friendship Night was trying to create.
There were a few tropes that were similar to other popular titles such as the rags to riches trope like Cinderella. One aspect that I am critical about is how closely it related to Harry Potter, I LOVED Harry Potter, I think it was one of the best YA fantasy series ever written. This novel was extremely comparable to HP. I don't mind the similarities, but I found some parts to be so similar that I started to picture the scenes from HP rather than the creative world of Croswald. For example, I would picture Ivy walking around Hogwarts rather than the Halls of Ivy.
I would rate this book 3.5 stars.
This book was gifted to me on Netgalley on behalf of the author D.E. Night for my honest review.
[b:The Crowns of Croswald|34944590|The Crowns of Croswald (The Croswald Series, #1)|D.E. Night|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492996825l/34944590._SY75_.jpg|49943841]
[a:D.E. Night|15108914|D.E. Night|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1491939761p2/15108914.jpg]
Excerpt from the novel: "For the first time in her life, she truly felt like a princess. Yes, Ivy: the same girl who spent her days below the grimy ground that royals walked upon. Rather than mingling scaldrons, Ivy would soon be mingling with royals and soon-t0-be srivenists. Standing in front of that mirror, Ivy felt more alive than ever before. She hadn't smiled like this in a very long time."
This novel is my first read from the author D.E. Night. This book definitely captured my attention from the start! Night did a great job with the imagery surrounding the magical creatures like hairies, and scaldrons. I loved the idea that descendants of royal families were entrusted with a bejeweled crown as a conduit of their power, and each and every stone was a source of a different magical wielding.
Ivy's character was well established, I loved her curiosity and her adventurous nature. I quickly fell in love with her character! The secondary characters (Ivy's friends: Rebecca and Fyn) were slightly less defined. I felt their personalities lacking and I would have liked to understand them better. They sort of had a mysterious air that, in my opinion, didn't appeal to the overall friendship Night was trying to create.
There were a few tropes that were similar to other popular titles such as the rags to riches trope like Cinderella. One aspect that I am critical about is how closely it related to Harry Potter, I LOVED Harry Potter, I think it was one of the best YA fantasy series ever written. This novel was extremely comparable to HP. I don't mind the similarities, but I found some parts to be so similar that I started to picture the scenes from HP rather than the creative world of Croswald. For example, I would picture Ivy walking around Hogwarts rather than the Halls of Ivy.
I would rate this book 3.5 stars.
This book was gifted to me on Netgalley on behalf of the author D.E. Night for my honest review.
[b:The Crowns of Croswald|34944590|The Crowns of Croswald (The Croswald Series, #1)|D.E. Night|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492996825l/34944590._SY75_.jpg|49943841]
[a:D.E. Night|15108914|D.E. Night|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1491939761p2/15108914.jpg]