Thursday 5 October 2017

Book Review - Hannah Green and Her Unfeasibly Mundane Existance by Michael Marshall Smith



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.

 - 4 stars

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