Hell to Heaven is the 5th novel by Australian author Kylie Chan and is the 2nd in the Journey to Wudang series. While her fianc, Xuan Wu, the Dark Lord of the Northern Heavens, aka Hong Kong businessman John Chen, is absent, his Dark Lady, Emma Donahoe is Acting First Heavenly General, Regent of the Northern Heavens and Administrator of Wudangshan and taking care of affairs in his place. This includes looking after his daughter, the half-human, half-divine Simone, who, at the rebellious age of sixteen, is neglecting her training and refusing to go to Celestial High school. Meanwhile, Emma, having been filled with Demon essence by the Demon King, is confined to the Earthly plane except in her serpent form i.e. snake with tiara. John has told Emma to see Nu Wa on the Third Celestial Plane to help ascertain her true nature: human, demon or something else. It is quite some time since I read the previous four novels so it took a while to get back into this fascinating world that Chan has created. Chans extensive research into Eastern mythology is apparent throughout the books and the strength of these novels is in the interweaving of the mythical world with everyday life in Hong Kong. The dialogue is witty and funny and readers will, by now, be familiar with many of the characters. It really is essential to have read the previous novels as there is no recap of earlier events, so readers who start with this novel will be at a disadvantage. The practicalities of getting Emma through the low oxygen atmosphere to the Third Plane were interesting, as was the perspective of the tamed Demon. There was, thankfully, not quite as much of the martial arts in this novel as in previous novels. The fleeting appearances of Xuan Wu were tantalising enough to have the reader eager for the final volume in this series, Heaven to Wudang. Addictive.