The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night | Review

Title: The Crowns of Croswald
Author: D.E. Night
Pages: 314
Publisher: Stories Untold Press
Goodreads Rating: 4.06 stars
Published: July 21st, 2017
Source: paperback/from author

Description:

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.


My Thoughts:

I went into reading this thinking it would be similar to Harry Potter, and on the surface the summary really is: young, nonmagical girl discovers she is magical and goes to a school for magical young people.  But that's where the similarities end.  And while I love Harry Potter, this story holds a place in my heart for a whole other reason.

I love young Ivy.  She is so uncertain in the beginning and just cannot believe she is a scrivner - she has magic!  Something she wished for since she was a young scaldrony maid, stoking the dragons who made the food in the House of Plum.  She spent her small amount of free time drawing memories of dreams or reading the books her dwarf friend Rimbrick brought her.  When she suddenly found herself without a home and with a kitchen dragon on her own, she barely has time to think before she's whisked away to her magical future at the Halls of Ivy.

The Crowns of Croswald was a fun ride!  While I'd originally been expecting one kind of magical story, I was transported to a world of a completely different kind of magic!  Like a cross between a bit of Harry Potter and a whole lot of Eyes Like Stars, The Crowns of Croswald is a world all its own with magical creatures, potions, spells and characters with special powers!

*disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*