I just finished reading this book and what a wild read! I really enjoyed this novel by J.L. Bryan! It really fits well with young adult audience.

The Good: I was really nervous after reading the blurb as to how Bryan would navigate this novel. I was scared it would either come out too juvenile or completely unreadable…but he totally
made everything work! I loved the mixture of the magical world with the real world. When it started I totally got a Labyrinth/Alice in Wonderland type of vibe and I loved the main character Jason. I liked his relationship with his sister. It was like a brother/sister ally type of thing and it’s refreshing instead of seeing the typical I-hate-my-sibling relationship. The world building was AWESOME in this novel. Bryan totally brought to life the world of Faerie and I almost wish I could visit!! I LOVED LOVED LOVED the goblin Grizlemor and again reminded me of the goblin from Labyrinth. What I think I appreciated most from this novel is that it is such a fun, light read. YA is saturated with such heavy topics right now (not that I don’t like that…I do!) but it’s refreshing to read something that isn’t super depressing or heavy. This is a book that leaves you smiling and happy after the last page. Lastly…I just want to praise the amount of brilliant editing that went into this book. This book is a prime example of what self-published authors need to start doing. Invest in a good editor and cover designer! Even I have taken notes from Bryan on how to produce a brilliant self-published book!

The Bad: I would have liked to see his characters just a BIT more realistic per their age. I felt that whenever Jason talked…he was more along the ages of 14 or 15 and not a junior in high school. Most of the characters seemed much younger than what their supposed age was.

Overall, this was an AWESOME read and I highly recommend it, especially for the younger audience! I give it an A-!!!

**I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review. All the opinions are my own and I was not obligated to write a favorable review.

THE FAERYS VIEW:

Fairy Metal Thunder by J.L. Bryan is a One-Sit-Read! Even if I wasn’t a lover of all things Fae, Mr. Bryan would have still captivated me with his dazzling tale of what can happen if you sneak into the world of the Fae and leave with enchanted objects.

The main character, Jason, plays in a garage band named the Assorted Zebras with his pals Mitch, Dred and the girl he secretly yearns for, Erin. They’re good but not good enough to get any gigs. One night Jason is awakened by his younger sister, Katie claiming there’s a monster in the house and when Jason goes to investigate what he finds is unbelievable. He follows a strange little creature to the neighborhood creepy lady’s back yard and follows this creature down a hole only to find he’s in a very strange place, indeed!
The little creature known as Grizlemor-a Goblin, catches on that Jason is following him and becomes extremely upset-If the Queen of Fairy-land finds out he led a human into their world, his goblins cooked! Grizlemor does whatever he can to get Jason out of there. Grizlemor is an expert thief but he’s butt ugly and stinks like Faery Farts from Hell, but he’s very good at what he does. In order to get Jason out of fairy-land, he promises to give back the necklace he took from Erin and goes off to his stash pit, leaving Jason listening to the most enchanting music from four Fairy-land `residents’ in a band. When they take their break and leave their instruments unwatched, Jason quickly becomes as good a thief as Grizlemor and absconds with the fairy instruments, leaving before Grizlemor returns with Erin’s necklace.

Jason hides the instruments in his garage and when he goes to get them out, they are super tiny but when he takes out the one that looks like a guitar and runs his fingers over the strings it quickly adapts and grows to form perfectly for Jason. The music Jason makes with this new guitar has the power to evoke powerful emotions. When he shows the instruments to the band members they scoff at him until they try out their own little instrument, each band member ends up with an instrument that is perfectly suited to them. When they make music together it is instantaneous emotional combustion! Before they know it they’re on youtube and are instant celebrities overnight. What happens from there is bizarre, at times frightening and Faery wicked cool.

There’s just one little problem: Queen Mab is furious that magical items have been taken out of Faerie, an elf and his unicorn are sent out into the mans-world to find and retrieve the missing magical articles. Hoke, the elf and Buttercake, his unicorn or cornhorse as he calls them are unrelenting in their search. Things could end up pretty badly for the original four instrument owners and there’s a sympathy factor there, for sure.

I’m not going to go to much further into what else happens in the novel; I’m trying to keep this as spoiler free as possible and even though I’ve shared a lot, there is so much more to this story. Mr. Bryan writes with a keen sense of descriptives, personalization and emotions making his characters and the world(s) they live in so easy to become invested in. The story flows beautifully from chapter to chapter and is incredibly thrilling and exciting but there’s always an undertone of this is to good to last. The cliffie at the end was unbelievable! I’m anxiously awaiting the next book in this series!

THE FAERIES SAYS: MOST DEFINITELY READ THIS BOOK!

Wow this was a really fun and fast read. Taking the tried and true fairy worlds of Ireland and Britian, J.L. Bryan has focused on the magic of music.

Watch the adventure of Jason as he discovers the land of Fae, steals four magic instruments. Becomes an overnight You Tube sensation and threatens to tear apart the boundary between that other world and our own.
Fairy Metal Thunder (Songs of Magic, #1)

I love books where music is used with magic and shows how powerful music can be. I’m a musician and it’s very cool to put myself in the character that plays the guitar and wish it was me. Very cool.

Another amazing debut, I had a great time reading this book. It moved wonderfully, allowing my mind to immerse in a great story!

What if the instrument you played is magical? It can gather a crowd and make you famous in a instant. I know, right? Imagine what theses instruments could bring you! And that folks, is exactly what the book is like. Jammed packed with great action, instant fame, and of course who can forget those pesky fairies. Pssh!

The love interest is what I expected. I love watching them admire each other from afar. I have a feeling that around these instruments, their love will deepened. I liked that they already have a friendship established and the tension between them is the best. They understand each other and have a love that I hope will one day will be.

If you love an out of this world story read this! It’s really unique with a fresh new spin on music. Fairy Metal Thunder represents everything that should be in a YA book. Fun, exciting, and magical! Thrilling and awesome, Fairy Metal Thunder rocks!

his was a very fun read and I highly enjoyed every single part of it. J.L. Bryan delivers some pretty cool characters in this first book of the Songs of Magic series. I loved Jason from the get go and how he is written to be a REAL teenager, good for the most part, but he makes some mistakes due to lack of judgment.

This has been one of the coolest paranormal books I’ve read because it takes a magical world in which fairies are actually scary! Loved that!! I couldn’t believe how mean and frightening JL made Queen Mab, wouldn’t want to get into it with that chick for sure!

I really enjoyed this book and read it rather fast. There was never a dull moment in the story and I thoroughly enjoyed all the characters from the beginning to end. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to J. L. Bryan.)
All Jason wants to do is play guitar in his fairly mundane teenage band `The Assorted Zebras’, even if his parents would prefer he get a job or play his clarinet. But things are about to change for Jason and his band, when he catches a goblin stealing his mother’s earrings one night.

Following the goblin to the fairy realm, Jason notices some instruments that some fairy musicians have left unguarded, and taking his chances, he steals them and runs!
Back in the human world hours have passed, and Jason is in trouble for being out all night, but he soon comes to realise that it was worth it, when the fairy instruments turn out to be magical and enchanting.

With his entire band playing the magical fairy instruments The Assorted Zebras are a big hit, and suddenly they have thousands of fans and a big gig lined up. But the fairy queen knows that the instruments have been taken to the human realm and wants them back. Can Jason and his band really outwit the fae and keep the instruments for themselves?

I really enjoyed this book. It was just so light and fun and addictive! The story was nicely paced and easy to read, and flowed really well.
Jason was an average teen with the usual problems with parents and sisters and girls, and the rest of the band were also a fairly normal bunch. I loved the fairy instruments and how everyone responded to them, and there was just the right amount of magic and normality to make it believable. I also loved the assortment of fae in the book, including the gorgeous yellow and pink unicorn!
Some of the songs that the band performed where also pretty funny, including the one about `I stole a rhino for you’. I also thought the band name was pretty original!

Overall; a light, fun, enjoyable read.
7.5 out of 10.

Fairy Metal Thunder was a very fun book. Besides reading I love music. So when there is music in a book, WIN! Fairy Metal Thunder was about a group of kids wanting to make it in the music world. The Assorted Zebras. Jason- the MC, was very likable. All of the characters to me felt real, and not over the top. The writing flowed and you got pulled into another world that JL Bryan has created. A Fairy world, where the creatures were intriguing. Especially Grizlemor the goblin! This ‘creature’ was so funny, and had me literally laughing out. He is disturbingly gross, and you still can’t help but like the little smelly goblin.
Jason is led to this other world by chasing a Goblin, who had been stealing things from his home. When he enters this new world he stumbles upon some magical instruments. Knowing that this is just what his bad needs to make it big Jason steals then and heads back to his world, determined to show the band.
What they don’t know is that, while they are playing these instruments, when they should have returned them. There are people planning to get them back.
You will get a feel of both worlds in the book. I didn’t feel overwhelmed at all while this was happening. While The Assorted Zebras are playing, getting fans, making gigs. The fairies are planning to get back what rightfully belongs to them.
Jason had a major crush on Erin, another member of the band. But, she already had a boyfriend. I felt for Jason, because I mean he really liked this girl, and you could tell that maybe just maybe Erin liked him too. Near the end of the book, something is developing between them, that I cannot wait to read more about in book #2.
I think that the characters should have been a little more questioning of Jason as to “Ok you have magical instruments, that just did some really cool, freaky magical things…let’s play”. I would have liked more of a slight hesitation. Because, I know myself, and I would be freaking out. There would need to be some explaining. SO, that is my only thing negative I had to say, which was not even that big of a deal.
JL Bryan adds so much detail into his writing that you can imagine it perfectly. Everything flows together, the plot, the characters, everything goes together to make you feel like you are actually in the book. I love JL Bryan’s books. I have read all 3 books of The Paranormal’s. He has amazing talent, and I cannot wait to read more of his work and continue on with the Songs Of Magic series.
I am looking forward to see where book 2 takes of from where book 1 left off.
DO not pass it up. You will love this book filled with some really down to earth characters.

I can’t begin to convey how impressed I was by Fairy Metal Thunder, it was a light, totally cheery and FUN read! J.L. Bryan manages to be beautifully descriptive, without being overly wordy. From fairy wings to fairy dwellings, auditions in the city, dwarf merchants and angry goblins- I was totally overcome by word pictures!!

The night Jason has to skip band practice again to watch his little sister Katie, when he discovers a little green man (GOBLIN!!!) stealing his mother’s ruby earrings! Jason chases him out of the house and over the “wall” encasing Mrs. Dullaham’s house and follows him into… well, he ends up in The Land of Faerie.

When Jason finally catches up to the little green man and proceeds to confront him…

“Leprechauns! I spit on leprechauns!! I tie their shoelaces together to make them trip and fall! Leprechauns, indeed!”
-Grizlemor the Cranky (a.k.a. the Goblin when Jason suggests he’s a Leprechaun!)

To get Jason OUT of Faerie as quickly as possible and without anyone noticing that Grizlemor unknowingly led a HUMAN into the Faerie world, he agrees to give Jason back his things… but while Grizlemor is retrieving Jason’s things- Jason decides to “borrow” four magical fairy instruments that enchant human children!

When Queen Mab discovers that Aoide’s instruments have been stolen and taken out of Faerie, she decrees that Aoide must get them back or she will be put to death! As it violates the Supreme Law to let magic leak into the human world!

The keyboard sprouted silver wires that snaked around and plugged into Mitch’s other keyboards.

Aoide and Rhodia, the fae that Jason stole the instruments from, are then forced to travel with Icarus (a member of the Queen’s guard) through the swamps to illicit the help of Hoke, the ELF and his cornhorses (unicorns!!!!!). Now thousands of years ago there was a Great Elf and Fairy War, and the fae won. So you can imagine how highly Hoke thinks of Queen Mab and fairies in general…

Grizlemor (the Cranky… *hehe*) shows up to try and steal the instruments back from Jason and his friends- before finally giving up and MOVING into Jason’s room!!! Under his bed to be exact. So NOW, Grizlemor is trying to HELP Jason keep the instruments hidden from Queen Mab so as to avoid getting in trouble himself! WIN.

“Well, young sir, I can’t live at my home anymore, and it’s all on account of you. So by my measure of justice, it’s your job to provide suitable lodging during my displacement.”

If you can’t tell… While I loved this book, the characters, the world, the setting… Absolutely everything- Grizlemore TOTALLY stole the show for me! He may be a minor and secondary character, but I LOVED him!
One of the main things I LOVED about Fairy Metal Thunder was Jason’s FAMILY. His overbearing, constantly involved, CARING parents. I feel like in Young Adult fiction there are just too many books that have absent parents… For whatever reason. And Katie- Katie was an AMAZING baby sister!

This book, from the characters to the entire plot and setting was just AMAZING. The entire time you’re pulling for Jason and the Assorted Zebra’s, you’re also REALLY feeling bad for the fairies! You completely want them to get their instruments BACK!

“You’ll only draw the fairies attention. And they’ll be quite vengeful.”
“How vengeful?”
“Have you ever been pecked to death by a vulture? Or slowly eaten from the inside by slime worms? Or ripped apart by a blunt-toothed brain bug?”

J.L. Bryan hit the ball completely out of the park with awesome in Fairy Metal Thunder.