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tellasdantes's review
4.0
"It's nothing personal, but you're going back to hell."
Zombies, hellhounds, magic, enemies to lovers, a girl with a machete and a talking cat. What more could you want in a funny, ya fantasy short novel?
Ivy Mann is a likeable protagonist straight from the beginning of Raising Hell. She is not perfect, she makes mistakes such as her and friends opening a whole rift as teenagers and now there are hellhounds and zombies roaming around London— but her being a messy protagonist worked and maade her so much more interesting.
What I liked the most about Raising Hell? I liked that the world building of the magic system was easy enough to follow along with, that all of the characters were developed as the story went on even just as side characters, but the biggest highlight? Gran.
The enemies to lovers trope of this story did not feel lacking to me either, despite this novel only having 240 pages. I thought it was beautifully written and developed well at the same time as all of this action and gore.
If you like magic, if you like stories that have stuff kicking off right from the first chapter, and if you like the idea of Gran's soul being stuck in a cat and there to give advice and be funny — Raising Hell by Bryony Pearce is the perfect short story for you.
Thank you so much to the publishing team and to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this delightful short tale of Ivy Mann.
Zombies, hellhounds, magic, enemies to lovers, a girl with a machete and a talking cat. What more could you want in a funny, ya fantasy short novel?
Ivy Mann is a likeable protagonist straight from the beginning of Raising Hell. She is not perfect, she makes mistakes such as her and friends opening a whole rift as teenagers and now there are hellhounds and zombies roaming around London— but her being a messy protagonist worked and maade her so much more interesting.
What I liked the most about Raising Hell? I liked that the world building of the magic system was easy enough to follow along with, that all of the characters were developed as the story went on even just as side characters, but the biggest highlight? Gran.
The enemies to lovers trope of this story did not feel lacking to me either, despite this novel only having 240 pages. I thought it was beautifully written and developed well at the same time as all of this action and gore.
If you like magic, if you like stories that have stuff kicking off right from the first chapter, and if you like the idea of Gran's soul being stuck in a cat and there to give advice and be funny — Raising Hell by Bryony Pearce is the perfect short story for you.
Thank you so much to the publishing team and to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this delightful short tale of Ivy Mann.
thelibraryofklee's review
4.0
"I know what you're thinking, but I'm not half faery, or demon, or angel or anything like that. Mum's a Body Shop consultant living in a bungalow in Birmingham and Dad enters crossword competitions."
Raising Hell is a fun, dark urban fantasy from literal hell. Four years ago, Ivy and her friends, while drunk, decide to give some dark magic a whirl and unleash a rift that lets dark matter spill into London. Suddenly kids have the ability to perform magic. Sounds good right!
This book has hell-hounds, zombies, and oh so much death and gore. SO MUCH GORE. I was absolutely endeared to Ivy our lead, she's extremely kick ass and clearly a special character with more than meets the eye. And Grandma really brought a special something to the narrative.
To be honest though, the character development and world-building lacks. And the speed of the story leaves a bit to be asked for in terms of relationship building. But I genuinely think young adults (older teens) will not care about that so much with the plot being so fast-paced and high action.
I really thought this was a great short 'n' sweet YA read and think this would be a great addition to any school library. As an adult I would give this a 3 star, however, for teens who I am certain this ia marketed for, its a solid 4.
Raising Hell is a fun, dark urban fantasy from literal hell. Four years ago, Ivy and her friends, while drunk, decide to give some dark magic a whirl and unleash a rift that lets dark matter spill into London. Suddenly kids have the ability to perform magic. Sounds good right!
This book has hell-hounds, zombies, and oh so much death and gore. SO MUCH GORE. I was absolutely endeared to Ivy our lead, she's extremely kick ass and clearly a special character with more than meets the eye. And Grandma really brought a special something to the narrative.
To be honest though, the character development and world-building lacks. And the speed of the story leaves a bit to be asked for in terms of relationship building. But I genuinely think young adults (older teens) will not care about that so much with the plot being so fast-paced and high action.
I really thought this was a great short 'n' sweet YA read and think this would be a great addition to any school library. As an adult I would give this a 3 star, however, for teens who I am certain this ia marketed for, its a solid 4.
kellyvandamme's review
4.0
I happily accepted a Raising Hell proof because the blurb and the cover simply oozed Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and you know I’ll pick up any book that reminds me of the Buffy-verse. Do I even need to say it? Going in I had EXPECTATIONS (dumdumdumDUM)!
Four years ago, Ivy and her friends did A Thing. They didn’t really believe they could raise the dead but apparently all the wrong stars aligned and they not only did what they set out to do, they caused an actual rift with dark matter seeping into the world and becoming dark magic, and now London is a magical hotspot, with teenagers casting spells, hexing each other and quite literally raising hell.
For four years, Ivy has felt responsible for this situation. She even started working in her former high school as security officer, because magic doesn’t seem to affect her the way it does other people and things like aversion spells don’t work on her, so she’s there to prevent hormonal teenagers from going on a magical rampage. However, when a student summons a hell hound and Ivy intervenes, she sets in motion a chain of events that make her life even more complicated than it already was.
Well this was just oodles of fun!
Although Ivy is just an ordinary girl and not a Slayer with her own brand of super power, I do feel that the comparison to Buffy is apt. In a nutshell: the girl kicks ass! There are no vampires to be slain, but who has the time to miss Spike when there are evil hell hounds and bloodthirsty zombie hordes to be fought?!
Raising Hell is a really fun YA horroresque urban fantasy that I enjoyed very much. It has magic, it has supernatural beings, it has more serious themes likes friendship and love, dealing with grief and responsibility AND it has the spirit of a grandma in the body of a tabby cat and if that doesn’t convince you to pick up Raising Hell I don’t think we can be friends.
Raising Hell is a book I would have LOVED to read as a teenager, and that I still loved today in my uhm… post-teenage years. Recommended to readers who enjoy YA urban fantasy and / or those who have a Buffy itch to scratch.
Huge thanks to UCLan Publishing and Graeme Williams for the fabulous proof! All opinions are still my own.
Four years ago, Ivy and her friends did A Thing. They didn’t really believe they could raise the dead but apparently all the wrong stars aligned and they not only did what they set out to do, they caused an actual rift with dark matter seeping into the world and becoming dark magic, and now London is a magical hotspot, with teenagers casting spells, hexing each other and quite literally raising hell.
For four years, Ivy has felt responsible for this situation. She even started working in her former high school as security officer, because magic doesn’t seem to affect her the way it does other people and things like aversion spells don’t work on her, so she’s there to prevent hormonal teenagers from going on a magical rampage. However, when a student summons a hell hound and Ivy intervenes, she sets in motion a chain of events that make her life even more complicated than it already was.
Well this was just oodles of fun!
Although Ivy is just an ordinary girl and not a Slayer with her own brand of super power, I do feel that the comparison to Buffy is apt. In a nutshell: the girl kicks ass! There are no vampires to be slain, but who has the time to miss Spike when there are evil hell hounds and bloodthirsty zombie hordes to be fought?!
Raising Hell is a really fun YA horroresque urban fantasy that I enjoyed very much. It has magic, it has supernatural beings, it has more serious themes likes friendship and love, dealing with grief and responsibility AND it has the spirit of a grandma in the body of a tabby cat and if that doesn’t convince you to pick up Raising Hell I don’t think we can be friends.
Raising Hell is a book I would have LOVED to read as a teenager, and that I still loved today in my uhm… post-teenage years. Recommended to readers who enjoy YA urban fantasy and / or those who have a Buffy itch to scratch.
Huge thanks to UCLan Publishing and Graeme Williams for the fabulous proof! All opinions are still my own.
talkingchicle's review
4.0
I got this as an eARC from NetGalley.
I really liked this book! It had supernaturals, magic, hell hounds and the underworld, so if you like all that you're going to love this! I thought the book was well paced and very easy to read. Ivy, the main character, is very sassy and no nonsense and I love it. In fact, I liked most of the characters in this book. An incident happened four years ago that caused a supernatural rift to open, causing teenagers everywhere to use magic against adults and other teenagers alike. Ivy is employed as a supernatural bodyguard to help prevent the use of magic at a school and she's very good at her job. That is until a student tried to unsuccessfully manifest a hell hound on the students, causing it to hunt the student instead. Ivy decides that it's her job to protect the girl and she also decides to try to close the rift, which has not been successful previously. Throw in a good looking man who just happens to be the protective older brother of the hunted student, and a talking cat...what's the worse that can happen?
I really liked this book! It had supernaturals, magic, hell hounds and the underworld, so if you like all that you're going to love this! I thought the book was well paced and very easy to read. Ivy, the main character, is very sassy and no nonsense and I love it. In fact, I liked most of the characters in this book. An incident happened four years ago that caused a supernatural rift to open, causing teenagers everywhere to use magic against adults and other teenagers alike. Ivy is employed as a supernatural bodyguard to help prevent the use of magic at a school and she's very good at her job. That is until a student tried to unsuccessfully manifest a hell hound on the students, causing it to hunt the student instead. Ivy decides that it's her job to protect the girl and she also decides to try to close the rift, which has not been successful previously. Throw in a good looking man who just happens to be the protective older brother of the hunted student, and a talking cat...what's the worse that can happen?
gizmobaggins13's review
3.0
Enjoyed this book quite a bit. Had alot of plot holes but it was a fun homage to black magic horror and the main character was fun to follow
libss's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
shelvesofstarlight's review
5.0
I really enjoyed this book and it was absolutely everything that I expected and more!
Ivy was a brilliant protagonist because she was funny and snarky and so strong and brave as well. I loved her from the very beginning, literally as soon as the book started I knew that she was going to be fun to spend the book with. Something I really liked about the characters in the book is how the magic system worked with them, especially with Norah and Olivia comparing to Elena and Ivy. One of another character I enjoyed was Nick as he changed a lot through the course of the book and I really enjoyed it!
The plot was well developed and fast-paced and just brilliant. It was just amazing and I loved reading all of it as it went down and the world that it was all set in. One of my favourite parts of the plot was how the introduction of magic into the world happened and how that affected the rest of the book. And omg that cliffhanger at the end! I felt so happy with how it all ended and then Bryony Pearce came and pulled the rug out from underneath me.
The writing was jsut brilliant. Bryony Pearce really knows how to make a book suspenseful and interesting and fun. I hope she continues this into a series because I would love to read more from her.
I was kindly provided with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Ivy was a brilliant protagonist because she was funny and snarky and so strong and brave as well. I loved her from the very beginning, literally as soon as the book started I knew that she was going to be fun to spend the book with. Something I really liked about the characters in the book is how the magic system worked with them, especially with Norah and Olivia comparing to Elena and Ivy. One of another character I enjoyed was Nick as he changed a lot through the course of the book and I really enjoyed it!
The plot was well developed and fast-paced and just brilliant. It was just amazing and I loved reading all of it as it went down and the world that it was all set in. One of my favourite parts of the plot was how the introduction of magic into the world happened and how that affected the rest of the book. And omg that cliffhanger at the end! I felt so happy with how it all ended and then Bryony Pearce came and pulled the rug out from underneath me.
The writing was jsut brilliant. Bryony Pearce really knows how to make a book suspenseful and interesting and fun. I hope she continues this into a series because I would love to read more from her.
I was kindly provided with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
pam_sartain's review
4.0
Raising Hell by Bryony Pearce is set in a world where a rift has been opened which allows black magic to happen. Ivy works as a school security guard in a high school as teenagers are the ones who can work magic.
But Ivy is hiding a secret - she was there when the rift was opened, along with her friends.
This is a YA urban fantasy novel, which is entertaining, and a good introduction to urban fantasy. I enjoyed the way the story was woven together, and was cheering on Ivy and the others.
Raising Hell was published on 3rd June 2021 and is available from Amazon , Waterstones and Bookshop.org .
You can follow Bryony Pearce on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram and her website .
I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to UCLan Publishing .
But Ivy is hiding a secret - she was there when the rift was opened, along with her friends.
This is a YA urban fantasy novel, which is entertaining, and a good introduction to urban fantasy. I enjoyed the way the story was woven together, and was cheering on Ivy and the others.
Raising Hell was published on 3rd June 2021 and is available from Amazon , Waterstones and Bookshop.org .
You can follow Bryony Pearce on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram and her website .
I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to UCLan Publishing .
tartle_frogster's review
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
frombethanysbookshelf's review
4.0
"I know what you're thinking, but I'm not half faery, or demon, or angel or anything like that. Mum's a Body Shop consultant living in a bungalow in Birmingham and Dad enters crossword competitions."
Once upon a time there was a girl, a talking cat, and the apocalypse.
It sounds like the start of a joke, but Ivy's life is anything but - a while ago she had just a normal life but after a very stupid thing she did Dark Matter is slowly leaking into the world, easily accessable by everyone who knows how to turn on a computer.
Hell is coming to earth and Ivy has no idea what to do next.
Raising Hell was a hilarious riot of a story with non-stop action, bloody fights and absolute absurdity. It packed a punch right from the first chapter and kept going - in less than 250 pages this story was ridiculously fun and easy to read, with some very cute moments scattered throughout. Featuring what could have been very typical storylines, Pearce gave her own unique spin on the supernatural. Ivy was instantly best friend material and it was a pleasure to watch her descent into the bowels of hell.
Also ... talking cat.
Once upon a time there was a girl, a talking cat, and the apocalypse.
It sounds like the start of a joke, but Ivy's life is anything but - a while ago she had just a normal life but after a very stupid thing she did Dark Matter is slowly leaking into the world, easily accessable by everyone who knows how to turn on a computer.
Hell is coming to earth and Ivy has no idea what to do next.
Raising Hell was a hilarious riot of a story with non-stop action, bloody fights and absolute absurdity. It packed a punch right from the first chapter and kept going - in less than 250 pages this story was ridiculously fun and easy to read, with some very cute moments scattered throughout. Featuring what could have been very typical storylines, Pearce gave her own unique spin on the supernatural. Ivy was instantly best friend material and it was a pleasure to watch her descent into the bowels of hell.
Also ... talking cat.