**An ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

As this book is less than a month away from publication at this point, an actual review doesn't really have to wait, but is gonna have to for all eternity. Suffice it to say that this was a fun installment in this series, nearly as much so as the first one. Possibly more, because Lorcan. Not only does it have underwater adventures, and a Madame Mim-esque witch, Lady(ies) of the Lake, stained glass prophecies, and the continued presence of a Scottish clock, but invisible flying fairies, organ playing, accidental murders, totally-not-accidental murders, and the identity reveal of Prince Nightshade.

I thought it could have been moved along a bit quicker, but also I read this over the span of three months, so who am I to complain about moving slow? But the very fact that it took me three months might speak to that it wasn't the most attention-grabbing book to be had. However, I did enjoy it, and I'll be back for Book 3.

Publication date:  January 5th 2016

Description (Goodreads):

When Grubb, an orphan and runaway chimney sweep, entered the wondrous world of the Odditorium, his life changed forever. Apprenticed to the mechanical marvel’s strange proprietor, Alistair Grim, Grubb unfortunately must settle into his new position on the lam, as the whole of London is convinced that Alistair Grim is a villain bent on mass destruction. Grim, however, has come up with a plan to expose the real villain: Prince Nightshade, a wicked necromancer who wants the Odditorium’s power source for himself.

With the evil prince hot on their trail, Grim, Grubb and the rest of the Odditorium's crew embark on a perilous adventure to find the legendary sword Excalibur: the only weapon capable of penetrating Nightshade's magical suit of armor. As expected, their quest turns out to be anything but ordinary. Not only can the Odditorium fly, but it can also swim! And so the crew battens down the hatches and sets off on an underwater voyage to the otherworldly realm of Avalon, home to Excalibur. Along the way, they must battle a banshee assassin, sea monsters, and a witch who seeks revenge on Alistair Grim for stealing her magical objects.

But that’s not all. Unbeknownst to Grubb and the others, their fate has been written in an ancient Avalonian prophecy—a prophecy that holds the key to a destiny not even Alistair Grim could have possibly imagined. 

My Thoughts:

This was a blast. My son and I hated to see this book end. 

This is steampunk for middle grade readers, but older individuals who are still a kid at heart will love this. The cast of unusual character's are amazing. This is a Disnay novel, and it really felt like it. As a kid I loved Disney. This would have been a childhood favorite of mine. The adventure was amazing, the characters are so unique, and I loved the pacing of the story. There were no slow, long winded parts of this story. 

It is really a shame that the publication date is set for January 2016. I would have loved to buy this, and the first book in this series, as Christmas gifts. 

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Netgalley approved me! Myles is going to be so happy. We will start this when we finish Scrap City tonight or tomorrow.

The hodgiest hodge-podge of a book I've read in a long time. It had everything from Roman mythology to steampunk to fairies to sorcery to science-fiction to banshees to dragons, all set in London. It was a bit overwhelming, to be honest.

One thing that hooked me nearly immediately was the prose. I really enjoyed it. And despite the fact that you can't make heads nor tails of how everything interconnects, it is undeniably quite a fun hodgepodge and I'll be back for the second book.

Small nitpicks were that I disliked how Prince Nightshade randomly yelled "MINE!!!". And also that he lost any and all scariness at the end due to his silly actions, which didn't fit with the rest of his character. Eh. Oh, and I didn't honestly understand the Red/Purple Shadesmen thing. So Red Shadesmen are limited. Gotcha. But somehow if you have blue animus, and you add it to your LIMITED red animus, then BOOM, unlimited Purple Shadesmen?? I think I'm missing something here.

Typo:

""Nigel chuckled to himself and lead me through..."
Page 116

Content: Young Grubb is the result of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. (which isn't so much content, but I don't usually expect MG to mention something like that so blatantly.)

Truth be told, Alistair Grim's Odditorium caught me with just its title. Can you blame me? I'm all about quirky tales and, even more than that, unique MG stories. I don't suppose I should have been surprised at how odd this story ended up at times. While the plot isn't overly complex, there are definitely a lot of moving pieces to Grubb's story. Now that I know this is a series, I'm not as worried anymore. Be warned though, you'll likely be left with burning questions at the end.

Let's talk about our main character, Grubb. I sure do love a plucky, young character, and Grubb fits that description to the letter. I caught myself comparing him to other young orphan lads, which I'm sure you can guess at but I won't mention precisely, and therefore I had a soft spot in my heart for him. I never get tired of rags to riches stories. Of courageous characters who end up in mischief through no fault of their own. Grubb was my kind of protagonist.

Unfortunately, I can't say I was given as much time to love the other characters in this story. My biggest gripe about Alistair Grim's Odditorium was the lack of character development. This book is very heavy on the action, which I'm sure was intentional since it's aimed at MG readers. However for readers like myself, and yes I was like this even when I was the intended audience for this book, the lack of character depth is tragic. I was so intrigued by Alistair Grim and his cast of fellow characters. I would have loved to get lost in their backgrounds. I can only hope that the next book in the series gives me that opportunity.

While the writing is solid, the plot is a little predictable. Odd things do happen. They most definitely do. However I was still quickly able to figure out where things were headed, and guess the ending before I arrived there. It is testament to the overall strength of this book that I read it through to the end though! Despite any qualms I may have had, it still managed to capture me enough that I'm looking forward to more. Do you have a young reader who loves adventure? Perhaps they'll want to give this book a shot.