This book has been sitting in my NetGalley for way too long, but here’s my review:
“The Crowns of Croswald”, by D.E. Night, is the first in a series of middle grade fantasy novels that I was sent last summer via netgalley. I don’t know how I missed that I was approved to read it (yes, I do, 2020 was a LOT and I missed a lot of things…) but I finally dove in. I had a lot of trouble getting through it, unfortunately, but I tried to identify why and I hope this review is helpful to you!
The series is clearly influenced by “Harry Potter” and other fantasy classics for middle grade readers. There is a magical school where the main character is suddenly accepted, and she is swept away from an abusive life in favor of learning a whole new side to herself. Some interesting differences are that she escapes the abuse on her own, and already knows about the magical world before joining it.
The students are split into scrivenists and royals, which is among the first examples of the learning curve while reading “Croswald.” Ivy is a “Sculdery” maid, named so because she takes care of the dragon-like creatures who do all the cooking for the castles all over the kingdom. There is a Dark Queen possibly about to ascend upon her subjects, and the Royals come into their power through a coming-of-age ceremony, possibly attended by the Dark Queen?
