Bending the Spine: Review: Fairy Blues by by J.L. Bryan

Title: Fairy Blues
Series: Songs of Magic #2
Author: J.L. Bryan
Paperback: 230 pages
Published: January 24, 2012
ISBN-10: 1469958724
ISBN-13: 978-1469958729
Source: Author
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The sequel to Fairy Metal Thunder.

With their enchanted instruments charming the crowds, the Assorted Zebras attract interest from record producers, and soon they’re off to cut their first album and music video. Jason and his friends don’t know they’ve just become pawns in a sinister plot by a cabal of evil fairies...

Meanwhile, Aoide and her band pursue a new strategy for regaining their stolen instruments, one that will take them into the most haunted region in Faerie.(Goodreads)

Review

I am such a big fan of the Songs of Magic series! Fairy Blues flows flawlessly from the first book in this series Fairy Metal Thunder, which I loved. I think I may have had even more fun with Fairy Blues than I did with Fairy Metal Thunder, if that is possible.

Jason and his band mates continue to be in trouble up to their eyeballs whether they have the sense to recognize it or not. As Fairy Blues begins They are all recovering from what happened at the end of Fairy metal blues.

Jason lifted his t-shirt and looked at his back. He hadn’t found any four-leaf clovers for Grizlemor's potion.
The long, deep dragon scratch, and the infected-looking curlicues snaking off on either side of it, had been turning an ever hotter shade of pink over the last few days.

Aside from all that the band is having to learn to deal with, their newfound fame has recording deals starting to come their way. Do The Assorted Zebras pick the safe contract with the label they know a lot about, or do they pick the contract that has them flying over to Ireland away from everything they know…These are teenagers that have a knack for trouble and who play instruments stolen from Faerie, what do you think they do?

One member of the band is a bit hesitant about signing the music contract.

Mitch whispered. “This is it. This is everything we wanted.”
“Is it?” Erin said. “Becoming rich and famous stars overnight, is that what we really want?”
“Yes,” Mitch and Dred said.
“You can’t pass up an opportunity like this!” Zach told Erin.
“You’d be crazy to turn it down.

I liked Erin before but I totally loved her in Fairy Blues. She was the only one to really question anything the record company wanted them to do. On top of that there is this whole mystery thing going on with her. She doesn’t even know about it… but I don’t think Erin is completely human. I all kinds of want to know what the heck is going on there.

Something I absolutely adore about J.L. Bryan is how he can go from Faerie to the human world and still keep me completely interested.

In Faerie, Aoide and the fairy musicians she plays with are still searching for someone to track their stolen instruments down from the human world. The fairies journey throughout Fairy Blues reminded me of The Wizard of Oz, in a very good way, They are continually running into trouble beyond their control. I loved how unexpected that trouble could be.

“Who dares disturb the pumpkin patch?” a voice asked. Ahead of Aoide, one of the pumpkins glowed with a fiery light. It glowed from several spots—two triangular eyes, a triangular nose, and a jagged, scowling mouth.

I couldn’t help but feel for the small band. Everywhere they turn they are stuck between a rock and a hard place…or in their case fairy eating pumpkins. Aoide has become one of my favorite characters in this series and I really want her to catch a break. She is working so hard to get the instruments back to Faerie regardless of the dangers.

The sense of adventure in this series is so awesome!

If you have not started the Songs of Magic series you don’t know what you’re missing! Go grab these books and be prepared for all the fun you will have reading them.

Happy reading,