In "The Words of the Wandering," Ivy Lovely returns to The Halls for her third year after an exhilarating summer spent at her best friend Rebecca's castle. Ivy and Rebecca enjoyed dragon rides by night and learned from Frederick, Rebecca's family scrivenist, by day. Their summer also included a visit to Fyn’s family in Belzebuthe, offering Ivy more precious time with Fyn following his graduation from The Halls.
Back at school, Ivy and her friends encounter a series of alarming events: a deadly monster appears in the lake near The Halls, several scrivenists go missing, the invisitaurs are sent away leaving The Halls unprotected, and the Selector is behaving oddly.
Ivy must confront these challenges head-on to protect her friends and the school, all while dealing with the investigation into her family’s scrivenist and her quest to find the third piece of the Kindred Stone.
Reading "The Words of the Wandering," the third installment in the fantasy middle-grade series "The Crowns of Croswald," reminded me why I often hesitate to start ongoing series. It had been three years since I read the last book, and I had postponed reading this one in favor of Young Adult, Romance, and Fantasy genres. As a result, I struggled to recall details from the first two books, which was a less-than-ideal experience for a reader like me.
Nevertheless, I appreciate D. E. Night's writing style. Night skillfully provides brief backstories or reminders of characters and events from the earlier books, making it easier to dive into the third book.
As usual, "The Crowns of Croswald" presents a magical world full of wonderful adventures and captivating characters. While I missed seeing more of Fyn, I was excited to see more interactions between Glistle and Ivy. Despite this, I remain a steadfast Fyn-Ivy fan, and I enjoyed the small detail of Fyn’s jealousy.
Night masterfully weaves a story filled with a rollercoaster of emotions in Book 3. I found myself feeling sad for the characters, nervous for their safety, happy for their small victories, and grieving with them for their losses. Night’s storytelling in middle-grade books is superb, and I eagerly look forward to reading the final installment of the series, "The War of the Woods." Although I may not remember all the intricate details of the previous books, I know I enjoyed reading each one, as confirmed by revisiting my reviews.
I thoroughly enjoyed "The Words of the Wandering" and, like the first two books, I recommend it to anyone who enjoys middle-grade books, wholesome clean reads, fantasy, dragons, and magical towns in need of saving from a Dark Queen.
I am excited to read the fourth book and cannot wait to see how Ivy and her friends will defeat the Dark Queen and restore the rightful heir to the throne to lead and protect Croswald.