Review: Raising Hell
Raising Hell
By Bryony Pearce
Published By: Uclan Publishing
Publication Date: June 3, 2021
Date Read: July 31, 2021
Genre: YA – Paranormal
Source: eARC from Uclan Publishing
Format: E-Book
Pages: 240
From Goodreads:
Meet Ivy Elizabeth Mann:“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, Ivy and her friends did a very stupid thing and now there’s a rift letting dark matter into the world. Dark matter that manifests as black magic which actually works. Now every teenager with access to the Internet is raising hell. Literally.
Ivy’s doing her best to stem the tide, but her new job working school security barely pays the bills and there’s only so much one girl with a machete (and a cat possessed by her own dead grandmother) can do against the forces of evil.
Now she’s facing a teenaged goth with an attitude, a dark cabal with a terrifying agenda and a potential zombie apocalypse.
Ivy losing her job might be the best thing to happen to the world!
How dare you decide that some lives are worth more than others?”
Wow! I don’t even know where to begin with this review. When I first heard about Raising Hell I was like, yeah that sounds like a pretty fun book. I did not expect to enjoy this one quite as much as I did. This book is so much fun. It’s actually pretty damn awesome. I really really enjoyed every single moment of this book.
Raising Hell was my first book by Bryony Pearce… and let me tell you, I am officially a fan. Right from the start, her hilarious storytelling style dragged me into this magical post-apocalyptic story and I was flying through the pages. This book can only be described as hilarious British. If you know about the typical British humour and sarcasm… you will know exactly what I mean. As a Brit who mainly reads books set in the USA, this was such a breath of fresh air. I was actually laughing out loud at some of the comments in this book. It’s just so brilliant.
Raising Hell is a post-apocalyptic book where magic is suddenly real and the main character has to try and fight the hell hounds that unknowing teens bring to life and into their schools. This book is like a post-apocalyptic Buffy fighting to stop the magical apocalypse. As someone who loved apocalypse books and is a huge freaking fan of Buffy, it was absolutely perfect for me. I really enjoyed it and found myself unable to put it down.
I am so glad I finally picked this book up. It’s a fast-paced, action-packed race against the clock that will have you racing through the pages dying to see how it is all going to end. Add in the little touch of romance and it was just brilliant. A fantastic YA novel that is both fun and emotional. It really had everything you could ever want. It has been left a little bit open and I am sat praying that she turns it into a series. If you need a nice palette cleanser between heavy books, pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.
“Maybe the world needs fairytale nonsense more than ever… did you think of that?”
K-Books
I’m Kayleigh, a teacher and blogger who is obsessed with all things bookish. I love reading YA books of all genres and I am happiest when sharing my love and passion for books.