ALISTAIR GRIM'S ODDITORIUM REVIEW

Hi, guys. Let me just say that I apologize in advance for not being on here in over a month, but my grandma passed away February 16th and it's been really hard on me and my family, so I haven't been reading as much.

I received Alistair Grim's Odditorium from the author, Gregory Funaro, toward the end of January and I apologize again for taking so long to get to this review.

Odditorium is the story of Grubb, a young chimney sweeper at an inn. He manages to get away from his cruel life and hides in the coach of a man staying at the inn named Alistair Grim, and when he arrives at a new place he finds it to be the Odditorium, run by the mysterious man. Filled with magic, Alistair and his crew accept Grubb as one of their own and he becomes the man's apprentice, but he must save the Odditorium when a threat emerges.

I really enjoyed this book, even though it felt like it was more for younger kids, I still liked all the fantasy and the magic surrounding it. Alistair Grim is a pretty cool dude, I have to admit. I would totally work for him. And Grubb was an adorable character. I read a lot of books where the underdog has to fight for himself and everyone around him, and that's basically what this was, but I felt like Grubb's character was different and more well-built than most.

The world-building was something I also really enjoyed, I'm a fan of fantasy and this may have been a middle-grade fantasy book, but it was so good. I give Odditoriuma 4/5 stars and would definitely recommend it, more to younger kids but it's great for teens as well. I'll hopefully get a chance to pick up the sequel! Thanks to Mr. Funaro for the book!

My Favorite Childhood Books

Hey, everyone! Today's post will be an interesting one to share with you. Because of my grandma's recent passing, I've been going back to all my childhood memories and going through all of her pictures and books that she's accumulated over the years, so I thought I would share my favorite books from my childhood.

1. Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park

Now, I know every kid has read this series at some point in their lifetime. Some teens and adults have probably read these books too. I swear this was probably my favorite series growing up. It's about the adventures of Junie B. Jones as she goes through kindergarten and first grade, and they were so hilarious for me to read as a kid. I remember my teachers reading these to us sometimes and I would literally laugh out loud (even when the other kids didn't really think a part was that funny). But anyway, if you're a parent, teen, or kid reading this and you have never read a Junie B. book, what's wrong with you? Go pick one up!

2. Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo! series by Nancy Krulik

I initially didn't even know what this series was until I was in maybe first or second grade. Once I read a book or two from this series, I became obsessed and had gathered up quite a bit of these. A lot of you might know these books, a lot of you might not. It's about a girl who, in certain situations, can switch into another person. In these events, something's usually wrong with the person and she unexpectedly switches into them and solves whatever their problem is. These were pretty funny to read as a kid and if I read one today, I'd probably still like it. I recommend those to kids of all ages.

3. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

I'm fairly sure everyone knows this series, or at least most of you do. I remember when I was about 4 or 5 years old, the movie came out. I bought it on DVD when it was released because of Jim Carrey. He's always been a favorite actor of mine, even as a kid. I used to watch the movie over and over. I didn't find out it was a book series until 4th grade when my teacher would usually read us a book to get us engaged in reading, and she read the first 2 books to us. I loved them both a lot and bought most of the other books. I recently was in a thrift store and found a limited edition of A Bad Beginning that was about $2.00 and I bought it, feeling like a little kid again excited for this series. For those of you who don't know what A Series of Unfortunate Events is about, it follows three siblings: Claus, Violet, and Sunny Baudelaire. When their parents are killed in a house fire that leaves them orphaned, they have to live with a creepy relative known as Count Olaf (played by Jim Carrey in the film). He is always trying to find a way to somehow inherit their family fortune by doing whatever it takes to get rid of them. That probably sounds a little iffy for some of you if you're parents and trying to figure out what you want your kids to read. So, if you need an age recommendation for this series, I'd say probably 8+. Also, if you're a teen or an adult who wants to try this series, it's definitely worth it no matter how old you are, which is why I put the +.

4. Warriors/Survivors/Seekers by Erin Hunter

I never read a ton of books in these series, but I always loved the Warriors books that I read. I never read a Survivors or Seekers book, even though they were basically in the same world as Warriors and were just spin-offs. Warriors involves the lives of cats, Survivors is about dogs, and Seekers are just your general wild animals such as bears. I don't know much about the last 2 since I never read any of those, but Warriors was a fantasy series about cats, like if you've seen or read any kind of fantasy stuff, it's basically that but with cats in place of humans. I think anyone can read those, I started reading them when I was about 6 or 7. For them, I don't really think it matters how old you are either if you like them enough. They were really good series, but teens and adults might find them a bit childish because of talking cats that fight wars with each other.

5. Roald Dahl books

If you've never read a single book by Roald Dahl, you have really been missing out your whole life. He wrote books like James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The BFG. You've probably heard of at least one of those or seen the films based off of some of them. The BFG also happens to be a Disney movie coming out this year, so if you haven't read a book by him, now would be a perfect time to read The BFG. I recommend all of his books to anyone. Anyone at all. He's just great.

6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid/Dork Diaries by Jeff Kinney/Rachel Reneé Russell

Why did I put these two together, you ask? Basically, they're each other's counterparts. They have absolutely nothing to do with each other yet they're written almost exactly the same way and are equally funny. Diary of a Wimpy Kid follows a kid named Greg Heffley through his middle school life. I never read past book 6 because I grew out of them, but he must have gone to high school by now. Those were pretty funny books and most of the kids these days has read them. Dork Diaries is pretty much the same, except it's about a girl. I actually forgot her name and that makes me feel pretty bad... But anyway, Dork Diaries basically made me stop reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid because I found it to be funnier and I could relate more since it was a girl. A lot of kids also read them. I have no age recommendation really, although I'd say maybe 7+.

7. A Dog's Life by Ann M. Martin

This isn't a series but it's definitely a need for this list. Most people love dogs, right? Well, I was about 8 years old when I discovered this book. I think I got it at my elementary school's book fair and it was about a dog so I figured, why not? I read it and it was one of the greatest things from my childhood. It's such a cute story told from the perspective of a dog as it goes through life. It wrecked my soul.

8. The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley

Don't even ask. Just don't. I went through a phase where I was obsessed with everything that had anything to do with the Olsen twins. I watched all their movies and tv shows and read all their books and have probably seen every episode of Full House twice. The books were always super fun for me to read and I would fly through them in a day or two. If I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be The Haunted Maze or Haunted Camp book. Honestly, I can't pick a favorite, they were all pretty great.

Well, that's it guys! Thanks for checking out my post. If there were any books or series you felt like I should have put on here that I might have forgotten about or if you'd like to share your favorite childhood books, please share in the comments. I'd love to hear from you!

P.S. I realize I didn't have Percy Jackson or Harry Potter on my list. This is because I didn't read Percy Jackson until last year so I wouldn't exactly count it as a favorite childhood series since I didn't read it as a kid, and I actually haven't read Harry Potter yet, although I plan to over the summer. Go ahead and throw rotten food at me.

PRINCESS OF TYRONE COVER REVEAL

Hey, guys! I have exciting news! I got chosen to help with a cover reveal for a new book (I'm a couple days late due to family matters). This new book is Princess of Tyrone by Katie Hamstead! It will be released on March 31st by Curiosity Quills. It's basically a space opera/sci-fi/fantasy retelling of Sleeping Beauty. If you're into those books, let me give you the summary.

Apolline is happy hunting magical creatures on her pirate infested outer-perimeter planet. She is a fantastic shot, and doesn’t flinch at the blood and guts of her kills. Never once did she consider she could be the missing Princess of Tyrone.
All her life, she has heard the story of the Princess, cursed to sleep for eternity, unless her betrothed, the Prince of Oran, gave her true love’s kiss. Although Apolline knows she is betrothed, she thinks her fairy guardians arranged it out of ignorance of human ways. The thought she could be a princess is inconceivable.
Then Allard appears. Handsome, charming—but he’s not hers to have. He’s betrothed, too. Her guardians warn her against her new found friendship, but she and Allard meet in secret anyway. Despite her rough exterior, he sees beyond her gun-slinging bravado, and their love blossoms.
But the deadline for the sleeping curse is approaching. If Apollinefalls in love with the wrong person, she could end up sleeping forever.
A quirky, adventurous retelling of Sleeping Beauty, with a less than princess-ly princess! 

Doesn't that sound awesome? Even I can't wait to read it! Now without further ado... Here's the cover!

Isn't it gorgeous? I love it! I need it in my life todaaay. Congratulations, Katie! Here's a little background on the author:

Born and raised in Australia, Katie's early years of day dreaming in the "bush", and having her father tell her wild bedtime stories, inspired her passion for writing.
After graduating High School, she became a foreign exchange student where she met a young man who several years later she married. Now she lives in Arizona with her husband, daughter and their dog.
She has a diploma in travel and tourism which helps inspire her writing.
When her debut novel, Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh, climbed into bestselling status, she believed she was onto something, and now has a slew of novels now available, and is published through Curiosity Quills Press, Soul Mate Publishing, and REUTS Publishing.
Katie loves to out sing her friends and family, play sports, and be a good wife and mother. She now works as an Acquisitions Editor to help support her family. She loves to write, and takes the few spare moments in her day to work on her novels.

I hope you enjoyed this cover reveal! Thank you, YA Bound Book Tours for letting me be a part of this! I can't wait for this book to come out!

BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY BOOK REVIEW

Hey guys!

Yes, it's that time again. The time when I do a review, and for once it's not just a review copy. Today, I'm reviewing Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. 

I borrowed this from a friend after hearing Salt to the Sea was out, and I'll be honest with you guys... Before reading this, I hated historical fiction with a passion. I didn't even want to pick this up when I realized it was historical. I thought that stuff was so boring and just had no interest in reading it. But when I heard Salt to the Sea was out, I had a real interest in reading it because while I don't enjoy historical books, I do enjoy books about ships sinking because Titanic, guys. I mean come on, you can't say you didn't love that movie and are interested whenever you see documentaries about it on TV. Anyway, I thought that was what Salt to the Sea was about, until I read the full description and realized it wasn't Titanic, but a different ship with even more fatalities. (I feel like I'm going off topic from Between Shades of Gray.) So, long story short, my friend was like, "I have her other book if you wanna borrow it," and I said sure because I'd never read anything by this woman. Dear God, why didn't I ever read her books before?

Between Shades of Gray follows a teenage girl named Lina Vilkas and her family during WWII when they are taken by the NKVD and deported as criminals. They face horrible conditions as they are forced to work for the NKVD in order to survive. Lina faces terrible grief and finds love in this awful time while working under harsh rule.

This book was so good. So, so good. When I finished it, I just really wanted to go back and read it again. It made me rethink everything I knew about WWII, and I absolutely love it when books make me rethink things. This gave me a lot of insight to a different side of a part of history that I didn't know about. I had never really thought about what other countries went through in WWII, I always focused on the Germans and the Jews because that's really all I knew of. Thank you Ruta Sepetys for writing such a beautiful and heartbreaking novel. I now love historical fiction, thanks to this book. I've just started reading Salt to the Sea so I'll most likely have a review up for it very soon. Also, be sure to check out my other reviews and my interview with the authors of Falling For Alice! I'll be doing a cover reveal for Princess of Tyrone by Katie Hamstead tomorrow so stay tuned!

Broken Dolls review

Hey guys, today's a snow day for a lot of schools so I figured it'd be a perfect time to do a book review. Today I'm reviewing Broken Dolls by Tyrolin Puxty, an ebook I received from Curiosity Quills. I've been behind on my books lately out of not having much reading interest, but I finally got to this one.

The book is about a man who turns people into dolls. Yes, dolls. The story follows a girl named Ella who's been turned into a doll and has lived as one for many years and watches when the man makes new ones. When he decides he wants to make his granddaughter into a doll, however, Ella must find a way to stop him, as she's grown fond of his granddaughter.

This book was kinda spooky, and truly a unique read. The premise really intrigued me, so when I got the chance to read it, I jumped. I'm SO glad I read this. I think everyone should. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes creepy and overall just really great books. The cover is pretty gorgeous too! 5/5 stars, for sure. Thanks Curiosity Quills! Sorry this was such a short review, guys!

I'll put a picture of the book below so you can check out the gorgeous cover.

December wrap-up

Hey everyone! I hope you're all having a great New Year! 2015 was a really good year. I got back into reading again after stopping in 2014 and read a LOT of books, and I started this blog! So today I have my December wrap-up for you guys.  It's definitely not much because of Christmas, New Year and my performances (I'll make a separate post about that later). Anyway, here you go!

1. Curse of the Sphinx by Raye Wagner
This book was sent to me by the author and I'm pretty sure the book was also self-published. It's about a girl named Hope who comes from a long line of Sphinxes. The god Apollo finds her mother and kills her. Hermes sends his demigod son to find her but upon meeting her, he falls in love. I gave this 4/5 stars and you can see the full review here on my blog. (www.themortaljessica.blogspot.com/2015/curse-of-sphinx-review.html)

2. Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
I bought this after reading Paper Towns over the summer and being completely obsessed with John Green's books. I read it just in time for Christmas! I really enjoyed this book. It's 3 different holiday stories that intertwine, starting when a girl named Jubilee's parents are arrested. She has to get on a train to her grandparents' but the train gets stuck in the snow. She decides to get off the train, and because of this, it sets off a chain of events that happen throughout the book, such as; Jubilee going home with a stranger and falling in love, a race to Waffle House to pick up some cheerleaders, and a girl getting stuck with the responsibility of her friend's pig. It was such a cute book and made me want to go back to the beginning and start it over again. 5/5 stars.

3. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
I didn't have a great experience with this book. My school's book club decided that we could choose whatever book we wanted to read this month that was from this year's KBA (Kentucky Bluegrass Award) nominees. Of the few that were on the list, I picked this and another book. After liking the other book I read a lot and listening to my friends say how good this book was, I was really excited to get into it. But once I started it, I wanted it to hurry up and end. I didn't really enjoy this book as much as my friends did and that's okay, not everyone likes it. I gave it 3/5 stars.

4. Skyborn by David Dalglish
Written by one of today's top fantasy writers, I received this book from the Hachette Book Group. I went into this thinking it was going to be pretty good, but it turned out to be better. It follows twins Bree and Kael Skyborn, whose parents were warriors called Seraphim. Their people live on an island in the sky, and Bree feels destined to fly, while Kael is unsure of where he belongs. When they get the chance to take the test that can make them part of the Seraphim, Bree jumps at the chance and Kael, still unsure, follows his sister anyway. I felt that this book had strong characters, an amazing plot, and the world-building was perfect. Highly recommend! 5/5 stars.

Well there you guys have it! As I said, it wasn't much, but I felt good about the books I read this month. Happy New Year!

Top 10 Books I Read This Year!

Hey everyone, I hope you all are enjoying your holidays! As the year comes to a close, I thought I'd share with you guys my top 10 list for the best books I've read this year.

1. The Infernal Devices trilogy - Cassandra Clare

I almost wanted to put the Legend trilogy at #1 because I loved that series soooo much, but then there's the Infernal Devices. I just couldn't let Cassandra Clare down. (Sorry, Marie Lu.) The Infernal Devices is a prequel to the Mortal Instruments series, which I'll talk about in a sec, and it's set in the 1870's in London. It revolves around a young shape-shifter, Tessa Gray, and a love triangle involving Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs. I promise, this is not chick-lit. It's an amazing paranormal fantasy trilogy that had me hooked from the first sentence. If you haven't read it, I don't know why you're still reading this. You need to go read it now.

2. The Mortal Instruments - Cassandra Clare

Another Cassandra Clare series that I loved very much. I read the first 3 about 2 years ago and I heard the TV show was starting in January so I read all through the Infernal Devices and then read the last 3 Mortal Instruments books in about 3 or 4 months (I read a couple books in between to get a break). It doesn't matter what order you read the books in, but I recommend the Infernal Devices and then the Mortal Instruments. You'll be spoiled for Clockwork Princess in City of Heavenly Fire if you don't read the Infernal Devices first.

3. Legend trilogy - Marie Lu

See, I had to get this series in at least at #2 or #3, so this is good. This series was FANTASTIC. I get so confused when people say they don't like this series, or that the last book wasn't good. The last book was phenomenal, honestly, so to the people who say it's bad: you confuse me. But I guess everyone has their own book tastes... Anyway, it's about a 15-year-old criminal named Day who gets framed for killing a young military prodigy's brother. She goes after Day in hopes of executing him for killing her brother, but falls in love with him along the way without realizing he's the guy she's after. Because really, what's a series without a little romance?

4. Percy Jackson & the Olympians - Rick Riordan

I don't know if I even need to go into plot details for this, everyone's read it. I was a little late on the Percy Jackson train. I had really been wanting to start this series for a long time after watching the movies and loving them. (I know, I know. Terrible, right? Don't worry, I hated them after reading the books.) Once I started The Lightning Thief, I couldn't put it down for the life of me. I was so invested in this series, I was done in about 2 weeks. It took me a while to finish the last book because I got interested in something else so it was just eh. But when I finally finished it, I was crying for days. It was so great. Now I just need to start the Heroes of Olympus. By the way, since I was late on this train, I might as well tell you. I've never read Harry Potter. *opens arms so you can throw tomatoes and boo me*

5. Unwind - Neal Shusterman

I read this after a friend recommended it to me and let me borrow it, and I only read the first book. I own the second one but not the others, and I'm one of those people that likes to have them all so I can marathon them. But anyway, I flew through this book. I knew I was gonna like it, I just didn't realize how much I'd like it. It's a dystopian about how after a war, the pro-life and the pro-choice have come to an agreement that from conception until the age of 13, a person is not to be harmed. Yes, that means no abortions either. From 13 to 18, however, a person's parents can sign a form to have them "unwound". This means that they basically cut off all your major limbs and take out your organs and then it's donated to those who need new body parts. It was really gruesome in a way, when they actually described in detail how it worked. But it was such an interesting read. I highly recommend it if you're into weird stuff like that.

6. I Hunt Killers - Barry Lyga

This was also very good. A teen named Jasper Dent is the son of the nation's most infamous serial killer. When another serial killer comes to town and mimicking his father's killings, he tries to help solve the crime to prove to people and himself that he won't become a serial killer like Dear Old Dad. I flew through this one as well, very interesting and occasionally a little graphic. Either way, it's a great book. Hopefully gonna get to the other 2 in the series soon.

7. Legacy of Kings - Eleanor Herman

I got this as an ARC from the author because I had heard many people talking about how they had gotten copies at BEA this year and I thought, "Well, it must be good then if everyone's picking it up." Seriously, though, it was great. It's a historical fiction-fantasy novel about Alexander the Great and his friends as he is getting close to becoming king. I don't normally like historical fiction but this was really good, since it was back in ancient times. Highly recommend! I also have a review for this from July, I believe. Just go to the main menu on my blog and search for it!

8. Eleanor and Park - Rainbow Rowell

This was definitely a favorite that I would put higher on the list if it hadn't been for those other great books. Yes, it's chick-lit, but it was so-freaking-good-I-wanna-read-it-again-now chick-lit. It's about an Asian who falls in love with the chubby red-headed new girl who lives with her mom, siblings, and abusive stepdad. Can you imagine how cute this was? It broke my heart into a million pieces. I just need to read it again.

9. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

This probably doesn't come as a shock to anyone, since almost every book blogger has read this. I picked it up solely because all the other bloggers were recommending it so much and I also have a thing for video games, especially the old ones. So when I read this, I was so surprised at how much I loved it and it made me wanna go to an arcade afterwards. Luckily, I have a friend with an arcade in her basement. If you're a blogger or not and you haven't read this, you definitely should. Right now.

10. Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard

I read this for my school's book club and I didn't really like it that much at first, it was a little boring. But then it started getting amazing and I couldn't put it down, it had me hooked. Now I need Glass Swords. I don't wanna tell the plot because every synopsis I've read has spoiled basically everything and I don't wanna ruin the book for you guys... but just know that it's amazing. SO GOOD.

Well, there you have it, guys! There's my top 10 favorite books of the year! I might do my top 3 worst books tomorrow or Saturday for you all. Have a merry Christmas!

*This article was submitted to a book giveaway contest hosted by www.urbanepics.com*