Thursday, April 26, 2012

Review: Fairy Metal Thunder by JL Bryan

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Fairy Metal Thunder
J.L. Bryan
Series: Songs of Magic, #1
Release date: September 16th 2011

Goodreads / Purchase

A rock & roll fairy tale.

Jason plays guitar in a teenage garage band called the Assorted Zebras, but they have no fans, no gigs, and they’re going nowhere. Even worse, Jason has a crush on their lead singer, but she doesn’t seem interested in him at all.

Then Jason steals instruments from the fairy world. Soon the band is enchanting crowds, and Jason is a step closer to the girl of his dreams, but the new gear is brimming with dangerous and destructive magic they can’t control.

Their shortcut to success has cost a troupe of innocent fairies their livelihood and turned Jason and his band into enemies of the powerful and ruthless Queen Mab of Faerie, who sends supernatural bounty hunters to the human world to track them down…

*A copy was provided by J.L. Bryan for review purposes*
Fun and quirky; Fairy Metal Thunder is a quick read that you can easily finish in one sitting. After highly enjoying Jenny Pox, I was especially curious to see what JL Bryan had done with his attempt at a YA novel – about fairies nonetheless. First let me tell you that this could not be any more different from Jenny Pox, and I was greatly impressed. This is plain and simply entertaining with an effortless writing style that makes it easy to get absorbed inside this enchanting tale full of music and magic.

Let’s hear it for the Assorted Zebras! Jason, Erin, Mitch Mick and Dred can’t even get one simple lowly gig. But when Jason comes home with instruments from the Fairy Ream, the tables have turned. Now people can’t get enough of them – instant stardom. Like I expected from his previous work, the characters in this novel are all realistically fleshed out. They’re flawed and they make reckless decisions. These are teenagers, through and through. The band dynamics are amusing as well with just a tad of romance woven in. Then, we’ve got the creatures…

Fairies, goblins, elves, and… get this… a unicorn! And this is no ordinary unicorn either! The sweet, pretty, innocent creature is no more! *pets evil unicorn* It was fun to have these exotic mythical creatures bringing in even more life to the party. From delightful commentary on the realm’s past wars, to bizarre and disgusting eating habits; there is no lack of comical antics in this story. Overall we’ve got a great cast with all types of personalities to enliven these pages.

Going from one realm to the other, the plot is pretty straight forward with the Fairy band trying to find their instruments, and the Man-band (teehee) exploiting them. There’s nothing too complex; it’s a very light read in that regard. The Fairy lore is original and creative, although since we spend much more time in the human world, we don’t delve incredibly deep into Fairy technicalities. But we do get plenty of descriptive details when Jason visits the supernatural realm to boost our imagination of this eccentric land, as well as glimpses of what’s coming for these kids in the next books.

Magic music! That’s what you get inside JL Bryan’s charming YA novel. If you want something refreshing and genuinely fun, this is the book for you!  

4 Hot Espressos
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Giselle

Canadian blogger, wife, mother, coffee lover, and sarcastic at heart! She has had a love for all things bookish since before Amazon and eReaders existed *le gasp*. You can also find her organizing tours and other fun things at Xpresso Book Tours.

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24 Responses to “Review: Fairy Metal Thunder by JL Bryan”

  1. Book Sake

    Everytime I see a review on this one I want to read it, but am so overwhelmed right now. Maybe soon! I love the *pets evil unicorn* part of your review….definitely need to read this!

    – Jessica @ Book Sake

  2. Nick

    I’ve never heard of this book before !
    It sure does look original!
    Evil unicorns you say ? I’m in ! 😀
    Awesome review, Giselle 😀

  3. Amy

    I bought this last year,, and like with a million other books, I have not had a chance to get to it yet. I will eventually. I was supposed to get to Jenny Pox for the Indie Epicness Group thing, but I was too busy reading the ATWD series lol!! 😉 Awesome review chick! I will have to get to this soon. If you liked it I know I will.

  4. Sam

    Did you say unicorn? 😀 I must check this out soon! Awesome review, Giselle. I haven’t tried anything by this author before but this book looks like a good place to start. 🙂

  9. Silverlight

    This has been sitting on my Kindle since last year! I forgot all about it! Thanks for the review! *evil unicorns* definietly peaked my interest! ;}

  10. Katie @ BlookGirl

    I have this waiting for me on my NOOK (thanks to YOU!) and must get around to reading it soon.

    Great review, love! I _am_ half-fae, as you know, and am interested to see how J.L. handled a story on my ancestors 😉

  11. Danny

    I love JL Bryan!!! He’s awesome! I’m soo eager to read this one but I never had time for it.. shame on me!!! Everyone of my trusted bloggers loved this book! Thanks Giselle, this sounds like a cute fun adventure!

  13. Giselle

    @Katie @ BlookGirl: Bahahaha you’re awesome Katie! Maybe you can learn your history and meet new family members! I think your brother was the Goblin! 😀

    @Jenni: I was too at first. My pronunciation sounded like what I say when I hit my toe on something O_O

    Thanks so much ladies! I hope you enjoy this one too!!

  15. Jac

    This has me really REALLY intrigued!! Unicorns? I’m all over that action!! I’m definitely curious about the disgusting eating habits! (I need to read more of the books you give 4 and 5 espressos too!! LOL! )

    -Jac @ For Love and Books

  16. Mimi Valentine

    *claps wildly* I LOVE the Assorted Zebras, and I LOVE this book too, Giselle! <3 It was just so much fun to read and you've got it right on the dot about his characters being so fleshed out that you can't help but love them! Although I'd be lying if I said that my favourite part of your review wasn't when you pet the deadly unicorn — so funny! After reading this book, the next time I see one, I think I'll be more likely to run before I pet it! x)

    Awesome review, Giselle! 🙂

  17. Lexie

    Awesome review! This one just sounds so FUN. I love fae, and I love, love, LOVE unicorns, so I think it’d be right up my alley. I just kind of adore the whole concept.

    (Plus. EVIL unicorns? *-* Yes please.)

  21. Giselle

    @Mimi: Yes I saw your review on Goodreads after I wrote this! And I remember the 2nd one on your blog not too long ago right!? 🙂

    @Lexie: It sounds like you’d really love this one chick!

    Thanks so much guys!! <3

  23. Andra

    lol…*pets evil unicorn* I really liked the book as well! TOTALLY different than Jenny Pox, but still a ton of fun! I’m well on my way to reading all of Jeff’s books cause he’s just so fab like that 🙂 Great Review!