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*

Maddy Kettle and the Adventure of the Thimblewitch by Eric Orchard | Review

Title: Maddy Kettle and the Adventure of the Thimblewitch

Author: Eric Orchard

Pages: 96

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions

Goodreads rating: 3.88 Stars

Published: September 30, 2014

Source: Paperback/Goodreads giveaway

Description:

Eleven-year-old Maddy loved working in her parents' bookstore... especially when joined by her pet flying toad Ralph. But that was before the mysterious Thimblewitch turned her mom & dad into kangaroo rats!

Now Maddy's on the adventure of a lifetime. To save her parents, she'll need to sneak past an army of spider-goblins, scarecrow warriors, and much more... Fortunately, an assortment of new friends await, including the cloud cartographers Harry and Silvio, a bear and raccoon who explore the world in their moon-balloon. They'll help her along the way, but in the end, the fate of everyone will depend on Maddy's courage, compassion, and creativity.

Full of surprises and stunning artwork, Maddy Kettle is a truly magical debut for Spectrum-Award-winning cartoonist Eric Orchard. Climb aboard and let your imagination soar!

I won a copy of this from the Goodreads giveaway, and thoroughly enjoyed it! For some reason I totally didn't notice this was a graphic novel, but that just made it more of a pleasant surprise when I received it in the mail. 

The story moves very quickly, as most graphic novels do. I found the character of Maddy fun and quite the adventurer! She tackles her problems head on, and makes some fun friends on her travels to find the Thimblewitch. 

The only downside I found to this story was that it just stopped! Maddy's adventure twists and turns throughout the colorful 89 pages of this book, and I found myself kind of staring at it, flipping the last page around looking for the rest! I'm excited to see how the author continues Maddy's adventures, and to someday read this to my kiddos!

Cavendon Hall by Barbara Taylor Bradford | Review

Title: Cavendon Hall
Author: Barbara Taylor Bradford
Pages: 416
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Goodreads rating: 3.42 stars
Published: April 1, 2014
Source: Hardcover/Goodreads giveaway

Description:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes an epic saga of intrigue and mystique set in Edwardian England. Cavendon Hall is home to two families, the aristocratic Inghams and the Swanns who serve them. Charles Ingham, the sixth Earl of Mowbray, lives there with his wife Felicity and their six children. Walter Swann, the premier male of the Swann family, is valet to the earl. His wife Alice, a clever seamstress who is in charge of the countess's wardrobe, also makes clothes for the four daughters. For centuries, these two families have lived side-by-side, beneath the backdrop of the imposing Yorkshire manor. Lady Daphne, the most beautiful of the Earl’s daughters, is about to be presented at court when a devastating event changes her life and threatens the Ingham name. With World War I looming, both families will find themselves tested in ways they never thought possible. Loyalties will be challenged and betrayals will be set into motion. In this time of uncertainty, one thing is sure: these two families will never be the same again. Cavendon Hall is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her very best, and its sweeping story of secrets, love, honor, and betrayal will have readers riveted up to the very last page.


Cavendon Hall was kind of surprising.  Some elements of the story I was expecting, but others were quite a shock.  I have to admit, at first this was a little hard for me to get into, but, thankfully, that only lasted for the first 40 pages, although it was a little scattered towards the end and hastily concluded {Miles... Cecily... Delacy... ugh...}.  But I really did enjoy the middle of the book!

While the description says it follows the families and makes it sound like the book is about all of them, it more closely follows Daphne Ingham and the "life changes" she faces towards the beginning of the book.  Those changes effect not just her and her family, but the Swanns as well {who are basically like lower class extended family members - even the daughter of Walter and Alice Swann, Cecily, regularly has tea with the Inghams}, and this book shows how they all handle it and the repercussions that come along like ripples in a lake. 

The characters were loveable and written well, but they just seemed to be... lacking.  Then I figured out what it was - the author writes a LOT of over-explanations and reiterations.  It was a little annoying when they were repeating each other or explaining exactly what they were thinking or referring to, especially when it was about very obvious or trifling things.  Since I've studied WWI several times, I knew quite a bit about it, so having it all not only stated, but repeated sometimes directly after from another character, is a bit frustrating {which would be good for someone reading who doesn't know the history of WWI or that time period, but, again, they would not need all the reiterations}.

Some of the subjects in this were more adult, and all of it was written in a direct way.  It was actually a little awkward reading some of it, because I felt like such a voyeur, spying on these peoples' lives.  Which is weird, because I honestly can't recall a time I felt like that when reading a book.

Overall, I finished this with mixed feelings.  Like I said, it was a little hard to get into, plus the repetition and the hasty conclusion... even that being said, I still enjoyed a good portion of the book.  It was a fun read.