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A review by anotherstoryreader
The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night
2.0
Well, it took me 20 days to finish this book. Usually, it only takes me a week to read a book of similar size. There were many times I wanted to put it down but then something semi-interesting would happen and I would keep on. By 70% I was done but hey, I’ve come this far-right??
Maybe it was because I was in a bit of a book slump from my last two lackluster books but I REALLY struggled with this book.
I think there is a very fine line between a book that is inspired by a beloved series and a copycat. For me, this book toed the line and occasionally stepped over. Let me give you a few examples.
The Crowns of Croswald Is a story about a girl who lives as a servant in a house where she is hungry and mistreated, she lives in a cellar with no windows. She believes herself to be unremarkable UNTILL one day she finds out she had magic in her blood! WOO HOO! She is sent to a magical school where she meets a boy and a girl who become her best friend. There is even a girl who seems to be cruel to her for no apparent reason besides that she was once a servant. Does this sound familiar?
Here is an excerpt from 43%
Since she had been at the halls, the setting of her recurring dream with the mysterious man had changed. Her nightly adventure narrowed to a single unfamiliar door. The only Clear detail of the entry was a lock the size of a clobber coffee mug. In the dream, Ivy knew that she needed to see what was in the room behind the door, but she had no way of getting in. She stood before the door feeling stumped and powerless. Then, as soon as she recognized that it was a dream, the door disappeared as if it were never there. The dreamscape went blank and Ivy woke in a state of confusion.”
This is a 97%
“Your magic, it comes from your mother. But your smile and your eyes favor your father,” Derwin said softly.
This was said to Ivy right after she sees a picture of her parents for the first time in her life.
My husband loves to play Devil’s advocate and asked If there is a difference between a fairy tale retelling where the events are the same and the story is the same but still it’s not the same. And books such as this. Is it just because Harry Potter is relatively newer than Cinderella that the likenesses bothered me? I’m not exactly sure what the difference for me is. But parts of this book just felt like the opposite of Potter was used without a personal unique spin...The girls were made boys, the boys made girls.. Dark Lord, Evil queen. And passages like the above that almost seem idea for idea.
Now that I’ve unloaded (some of) my grievances. There was enough originality in this book to keep me hanging on to get to the ending. But there were other flaws that make reading hard for me.
For one the book opened in a flashback. I was completely lost. It talked about scrivenistist. I actually googled this word because I felt like I should know what they are. There wasn’t really an explanation. Google didn’t have any info for me.. But I figured out they are a kind of scholarly wizard.
Then we find out that when Ivy was an infant after her parents were killed in an attack by the evil queen her “guardian” sent her to the Slurry Fields so the evil queen couldn’t find her and kill her. (See the parallel again?) Anywho, I digress... I never actually figured out what the slurry field is... A castle... In a lavender field… I’m not sure what about it kept the queen from sensing her magic. Was there some kind of barrier and if so why was it there?
There there are Hairies. I’m not sure what that is either. I know they are some kind creature, people carry them around in lanterns for light. They have hair that glows. Aside from there I never got a picture for what exactly they are.
Overall these were the things that make this book unenjoyable for me. There was a lot of potential with the stories premise and there was some very nice writing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Stories Untold for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Maybe it was because I was in a bit of a book slump from my last two lackluster books but I REALLY struggled with this book.
I think there is a very fine line between a book that is inspired by a beloved series and a copycat. For me, this book toed the line and occasionally stepped over. Let me give you a few examples.
The Crowns of Croswald Is a story about a girl who lives as a servant in a house where she is hungry and mistreated, she lives in a cellar with no windows. She believes herself to be unremarkable UNTILL one day she finds out she had magic in her blood! WOO HOO! She is sent to a magical school where she meets a boy and a girl who become her best friend. There is even a girl who seems to be cruel to her for no apparent reason besides that she was once a servant. Does this sound familiar?
Here is an excerpt from 43%
Since she had been at the halls, the setting of her recurring dream with the mysterious man had changed. Her nightly adventure narrowed to a single unfamiliar door. The only Clear detail of the entry was a lock the size of a clobber coffee mug. In the dream, Ivy knew that she needed to see what was in the room behind the door, but she had no way of getting in. She stood before the door feeling stumped and powerless. Then, as soon as she recognized that it was a dream, the door disappeared as if it were never there. The dreamscape went blank and Ivy woke in a state of confusion.”
This is a 97%
“Your magic, it comes from your mother. But your smile and your eyes favor your father,” Derwin said softly.
This was said to Ivy right after she sees a picture of her parents for the first time in her life.
My husband loves to play Devil’s advocate and asked If there is a difference between a fairy tale retelling where the events are the same and the story is the same but still it’s not the same. And books such as this. Is it just because Harry Potter is relatively newer than Cinderella that the likenesses bothered me? I’m not exactly sure what the difference for me is. But parts of this book just felt like the opposite of Potter was used without a personal unique spin...The girls were made boys, the boys made girls.. Dark Lord, Evil queen. And passages like the above that almost seem idea for idea.
Now that I’ve unloaded (some of) my grievances. There was enough originality in this book to keep me hanging on to get to the ending. But there were other flaws that make reading hard for me.
For one the book opened in a flashback. I was completely lost. It talked about scrivenistist. I actually googled this word because I felt like I should know what they are. There wasn’t really an explanation. Google didn’t have any info for me.. But I figured out they are a kind of scholarly wizard.
Then we find out that when Ivy was an infant after her parents were killed in an attack by the evil queen her “guardian” sent her to the Slurry Fields so the evil queen couldn’t find her and kill her. (See the parallel again?) Anywho, I digress... I never actually figured out what the slurry field is... A castle... In a lavender field… I’m not sure what about it kept the queen from sensing her magic. Was there some kind of barrier and if so why was it there?
There there are Hairies. I’m not sure what that is either. I know they are some kind creature, people carry them around in lanterns for light. They have hair that glows. Aside from there I never got a picture for what exactly they are.
Overall these were the things that make this book unenjoyable for me. There was a lot of potential with the stories premise and there was some very nice writing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Stories Untold for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.