This is one of those books that has about four different plots going on at the same time and at no point could I tell you which one was most significant, and that's a good thing. We have Hannah herself, dealing with her parents recent separation, we have her parents who are doing the separating and we have the devil who is having problems with his sacrifice machine. You'd think there would be an obvious frontrunner but the way this book is crafted the three just work together.

There's something very Pratchett-like in the writing style of this book, perhaps purely because the author is trying to capture the voice of an eleven year old girl, which is no mean feat. I think that he did a good job maybe 99% of the time. There were a few moments of 'hmm would an eleven year old, albeit an intelligent one, process this in that way?' but on the whole I enjoyed being in Hannah's mind. There are some humorous moments, a few of which made me actually laugh out loud, alongside some thought provoking observations about life that were quite poignant.

I think this is a great book to read if you enjoy this kind of writing style. I can imagine some might find it a little waffly or overly thought out but for me it was just right. While I can see a lot of the influences that this author must have, the book itself is pretty unique. Given how often the devil has been portrayed in literature uniqueness is high praise indeed.

My rating: 5/5 stars

A surreal tale about morality and mortality. This strangely beautiful story will be stuck in my bran for quite sometime.

Somewhere between Neil Gaiman and Jacqueline Wilson, Hannah Green is equally a urban magic fantasy book and a book about real family relationships. Hannah, age 11, lives an unbearably dull life in the beautifully rendered California town of Santa Cruz. Happily her grandfather and the Devil arrive on the scene to 1) take care of her while her parents sort out their relationship and 2) find out why the Evil Hell Machine is broken. Smith writes in a casual chatty style that mostly works, sometimes addressing the reader directly. Related to Tom Robbins and perhaps more distantly to Douglas Adams, Smith's book is a fine entertainment and adventure, that may appeal to younger YA readers as well as adults.

...So, what did I like about it?
Michael Marshall Smith is a new-to-me author and I found some of this story surreal at times, quite lyrical, philosophical and even satirical and I did enjoy it. The story was not what I was expecting; less urban fantasy more paranormal fiction.
There are some beautiful pieces of prose in this book and I found the story gripping; I was intrigued as to where the plot would take us next.
I liked the way the story unfolded; how the plot was revealed and the way we gradually saw how the characters were connected. Our host of characters were given a similar treatment; their personalities and histories were revealed progressively throughout the tale, which meant that your feelings towards them could change depending on the information you learned about them. Is it wrong that my favourite character was the Devil?

...So, ummm, was there anything I disliked about it?
Ok, so there were some aspects of this book that hindered my enjoyment.
The first part of this book felt very slow; I understand that the plot, characters & world needed setting up but I was very close to giving up.
There is quite a bit of nonsense mantra that appears throughout this story e.g. you can't change your brain but you can change your mind. Pieces of wisdom that at first glance appear enlightened but on closer inspection are utter BS and mean nothing.
Finally, our heroine is an eleven year old girl and I got a bit frustrated with her world view point a couple of times but I understand her innocence and naivety are pivotal to the plot so I soldiered on regardless.

...So, basically what I’m saying is...
This is a good novel; I enjoyed it. I requested this book from NetGalley thinking it was an urban fantasy tale; it is not. I would recommend this book to fans of paranormal mysteries and as our main character is an eleven year old girl, I can confirm that the content (e.g. language, dramatic scenes, etc) would be PG rated due to the lack of graphic blood, sex and swearing although I would suggest that the target audience is older owing to the tension and thriller aspects of the story.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I went into it not quite knowing what to expect, but the result was a brilliant little quest into Hell with Hannah, her family, and a very funny little mushroom.

Hannah Green and Her Unfeasibly Mundane Existence opens, eventually, on Hannah - an eleven year old girl who has been sent to live with her nomadic grandfather while her parents begin the process of separating. Hannah thinks that although a little 'different' with his lifestyle choices, there's nothing especially exciting about her grandfather, until the sudden appearance of a mysterious man in black who appears to call himself The Devil comes calling asking for help from an old friend.

This reminded me a lot of Good Omens, and in a good way. It was funny, well written and the story flowed well, with some great characters. I liked the relationship between Hannah and her grandfather, and the relationship she starts to build with The Devil. However, the star character in this has got to be Vaneclaw the accident demon. From the moment he is literally peeled off an innocent bystander, Vaneclaw lights up the story. He's funny, and stupid, and offsets the deadpan quality of the Devil. The scene with Vaneclaw and the squirrel in particular stands out, and had me actually laughing aloud.

The story itself was also good. It was fast paced and well developed but not complicated. Everything made sense, and fitted well within the context of the story. There was also scope for any possible sequels within this world, although the ending was satisfactory as a stand alone.

It wasn't perfect however. I would have liked to have seen a little more character development from the rest of Hannah's family - her parents and Aunt Zoe. I felt they were a little lacking in personality compared to the other players in the story, especially Aunt Zoe, who only really comes into her own near the end of the story, and by this point I'd lost interest in her.

All round, an excellent story.