Fairy Metal Thunder by J.L. Bryan

Jason plays guitar in a teenage garage band called the Assorted Zebras, but they have no fans and no gigs, and they’re going nowhere. Even worse, Jason has a crush on the lead singer, but she already has a near-perfect boyfriend.

One night, Jason steals enchanted instruments from the fairy world. Suddenly (with a little help from YouTube) every kid in the Midwest is crazy about the Assorted Zebras.

The fairy instruments drive the crowds wild, but the new gear is brimming with dangerous and destructive magic. The band struggles to gain control of their instruments and avoid the supernatural bounty hunters sent by Queen Mab of Faerie to track them down, all while trying to finally land their first gig.

Fairy Metal Thunder is such a cute read. I know, I don’t say that very often about any of the books that I review. There just isn’t any other way to describe it. Jason’s cute, the situations that he and his friends find themselves in are cute and I found myself laughing out loud more than once. It was simply a fun read. That’s a welcome diversion sometimes, don’t you think?

Adults will shake their head at some of the ridiculous decisions that Jason and his friends make. I was shaking my head, but only because it hasn’t been that long since I had a house full of teenagers. What seems like total ridiculous to adults seems unarguably reasonable to a teen. The funny part was that most of the time Jason knew he was doing something totally stupid and reckless – yet he did it anyway. Isn’t the teenage mind a wonderful thing? Those ridiculous and reckless things got Jason and his friends in a world of trouble – but it didn’t stop them from making more ‘smart’ decisions. That’s what made it so much fun!

The other characters in Fairy Metal Thunder helped keep the story moving. The creatures in the fairy world that J.L. Bryan created were fantastic and unique. (My image of unicorns has now changed forever. ;)) I liked Jason’s relationship with his little sister – it was sweet and totally believable. His relationship with his parents was hilarious. Most of my laugh out loud moments came from Jason’s discussions with them. I could try to explain why, but it’s one of those things that you just have to read for yourself.

The best part is that the story isn’t over. Fairy Metal Thunder is the first book in J.L Bryan’s Songs of Magic Series. There is a lot more left to this story and I can’t wait to find out where Jason and his friends go from here.