I was pretty surprised by this book. Its not at all what I thought it would be. I did love this book. Its full of action and excitement. This book !makes you cheer for the hero and its wonderfully written. The author makes you want to read more about this hero who turned zero to hero in a couple of chapters. Loved the book and so worth reading.

I received a free copy of the book and is voluntarily writing a review

Action, sarcasm, and fighting-grit fill a modern world, which has long since been taken over by demons and isn't even aware of it.

Jestin is an orphan, whose gone through several homes...and killed several of the 'parents' of the homes along the way. Guilt never sets in since he knows that these were truly demons, sapping the life out of the children they supposedly cared for. His latest 'kill' has put him on the radar of the demon fighters and the head of a demon region. Now, he's being hunted and his only hope lies in joining a group, which is fighting an impossible battle. And even then, he only has a chance to survive if he learns to wield the dangerous ,yet, powerful dragon metal.

If you're looking for an action packed beginning with dark undertones, this is it. The first chapters grab with quick-pace and tension pure as Jestin runs from a burning home and cops and demons and more. This setting holds on for more than a couple pages, making it hard to put the read down and simply enjoy the dangerous situations, one right after the other for the first portion of the book. This follows a tight weaving of magic and demons as well as villains, which demand to be feared. Jestin, of course, has a lot to learn and makes more than a couple huge mistakes, which he pays for dearly before growing. The battle of good versus evil is clear cut with high stakes, making this everything a story like this needs.

Fantasy fans are going to get a thrill as they come up against the monsters and watch Jestin slowly adapt into the situation. It is refreshing to have a story where the main character isn't a special snowflake, and his determination is inspiring. Jestin's hard life comes across in his snarky attitude, too. The only thing to mark against him (which isn't his fault) is the constant naming him as an 'orphan' instead of 'he' quite often. The reader watches him struggle with his own self-doubt and sees that sometimes our own demons are the biggest opponents we have.

The tale runs smoothly with a little slow-down in the middle, but it isn't enough to hurt the read. There are some unrealistic plot points, which irritate, and there's a little background missing on other points. Even the characters, especially the priest, had me wondering at their lifestyle and word usage, but action addicts will forgive all of this. Don't expect much character depth, but it's also not needed. If any of the characters truly won me over completely, it is the cat. Let's just say the tale wouldn't have been the same without him.

This is definitely worth a read to those who love action pure.

Thank you to Teer Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC in return for my honest review.

On a semi-positive note, I loved the animal companion, but the name Jestin gave him was lame and I hated that he continued to use it even after finding out that the cat already had a name it called itself. So disrespectful.

The rest of my review is... less positive. I did not finish this story. I read 51%, skimmed a good portion and read the last 2 chapters. My reasons for not reading the entire book? They are many and they include a few spoilers. Be warned.

1) The orphan. ("The orphan collapsed...", "The orphan gritted his teeth.", The orphan muttered...". "The orphan lunged...") There were 174 instances of phrases like this through the story. Almost without exception, "he" or restructuring of the sentence would have been preferable. This writing tic grated on my last nerve,

2) POV: From one paragraph to the next. the story veered between a tight 3rd person to a more omniscient view in a disorienting way.

3) Jestin, the main character, is supposed to be funny. For me, his humor fell flat most of the time and was overdone.

4) Implausible plot points:
a) 2 kids fake admission into a private school in the middle of the school year with the help of a "hacker". No interviews, entrance exams, paper transcripts or tuition paid. No parental figure involved. And no school admin question this. And this is a school that harbors some secrets so you would think they would be careful about who they let in. Not buying it.
b) The fantastical elements of this world are supposedly not widely known, but Jestin so often runs into people supernatural beings and people who know about this "secret" world that I wonder how EVERYONE doesn't know.
c) Why is Jestin not dead? There is a scene early on in which he fights an opponent who hurls church pews at him. Multiple pews. I've never seen a church pew that wasn't made of solid, heavy woods. The ones that battered his chest so hard they splintered should have crushed his chest and all those pesky organs like heart and lungs. And a whole church pew hit him in the head, but Jestin just got a little dizzy. By the time the magical item he carried had a chance to help him, he should have been dead.

5) I feel like the story started at the wrong point. Using injury-induced flashbacks to convey the backstory felt clunky. Also, Justin's first encounter with the supernatural sounded more interesting than the actual start of the story.

6) This one is minor. I know priests don't take a vow of poverty, but they are expected to live simple lives. So, the classic car collection didn't sit right with me. Nor did the priest's use of profanity. And I especially didn't like that he made a promise to a friend that would fly in the face of one of the Ten Commandments. I wish he had been written as a defrocked priest or not a priest at all.

I tried, but the only thing that worked for me was the concept of the magic system and the cat.

Jestin is in trouble, but the cops on his tail aren’t what they seem. Gideon saves Jestin from those thralls and offers him an opportunity—to train to wield Dragon Metal.

The sarcastic humor kept me turning the pages of this multiple POV fantasy, but I would have liked a little more world-building early on. There were some intense action sequences right away with enough details to orient myself, and then some flashbacks to get Jestin’s backstory, but at the 20% mark I still didn’t have a clear idea what this story was about other than Gideon is going to train Jestin to fight demons, thralls and the Great Dark. After that point, the conflicts and intrigues developed a little more and I was hooked. Lots of great action and fun humor, but the plot details felt a little abrupt and disjointed at times.

Overall, this was a really funny, entertaining read that kept my interest. (And I loved Jestin’s incredible cat.)

Thanks to NetGalley for the complimentary ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Great YA Urban Fantasy book with solid action, fast-paced, teenage sass and witty banter. The dragon metal and magic use is set up quite well and I like how topics like foster care and LGQBTQ+ representation are handled in this book. While this book is written for young adults and you do notice that in the writing style I think older adults will be able to enjoy this book as well. Especially if you're into the superhero, actionpacked books.

thank you so much Netgalley for providing me with a copy of Jestin Kase and the Masters of Dragon Metal!

Where do I start? There are many things that I enjoyed about this book. Well, it is a perfect example of what a YA Urban fantasy novel should be. I love the whole magic system and the concept of the book. There is a lot of action and it is fast-paced, never a dull moment! The writing style is very enjoyable and the characters are just so cool and so badass, they’re just perfect. There is a lot of teenage sassiness and it was so funny. I loved the humor.

The dragon metal seems so interesting, very creative. Also, there is a really cool cat in this book who completely steals the show! We stan Growly McHissy-Face!

What else? Oh yeah, very cute romance with important LGBTQ+ representation. Thumbs up, it was very nicely done and so teenage-y and sweet.

Now to the most important part in my opinion. Not only did the author craft this really cool fantasy world in Chicago, he also did ABSOLUTELY GREAT with incorporating important topics like foster care, BLM, the state of our environment, and other important things. They are subtly discussed within the novel which I find so important. We need to shed lights on these topics so we can inform ourselves better and make a change for the better. So bravo to the author!

I highly recommend this book. Especially if you were a teen when you read City of Bones for the first time. I felt the same joy and was kinda brought back to my teenage years. I also highly recommend it to teens and adults who enjoy YA!

It's a really solid book, nice action and a likeable character, I had a genuinely fun time reading this book, and the other side characters are really cool and likeable too
I like the way the book writes action and all . It's really intense.