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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
A pretty ridiculous book. A bit like a Tom Robbins novel set in the Everglades, but less clever. OK for a cruise read that doesn't require many brain cells. But overall, pretty bad. I remember liking Hiassen's "Sick Puppy", but guess I've turned into a book snob since then.
Diverting but not Hiaasen's best. I wish there were half stars--I'd give it a 2.5.
I avoided Carl Hiaasen like the plague ever since I a) moved to South Florida, and b) discovered a lava bed of hatred for this god-forsaken place lurking deep within my soul. So I was pleasantly surprised that such funny, insightful descriptions of characters came out of someone born and raised in the Sunshine State. There is hope for me yet.
This is the first of Carl Hiaasen’s books I’ve read. I enjoyed the general flavor of wackiness in his characters. By exaggerating their character flaws and placing them in ludicrous situations, he also makes them incredibly human.
Floating on the outer edges of everyday reality, half the fun of Nature Girl is not knowing how far the characters will go and who will make it to the other side of the story.
Floating on the outer edges of everyday reality, half the fun of Nature Girl is not knowing how far the characters will go and who will make it to the other side of the story.
If I could- I would give this book a 3.8/5 rating. I enjoyed the easy-reading character developing moments that seem to be a theme of Carl Hiaasen’s writing. He definitely made me chuckle with his unexpected crude yet witty humor and surprising one-liners from the leading ladies in the book. However, I felt like the book left me searching for more as the perspective was evenly split amongst 4-5 characters. The entirety of the plot covers only a few weeks of time, mainly focusing on Honey Santana, a spunky, slightly manic, yet morally guided single mother. Honey is raising her son Fry in a small fisherman Floridian town called Everglades City, far from the typical tourist’s paradise. The plot opens when Honey receives and unpleasant telemarketer phone call during her sacred dinner time from Boyd Eisenhower in Texas. After a heated exchange, Honey feels compelled to teach Boyd a moral lessen by pretending to be telemarketer selling him a free trip to Thousand Islands, FL on an all-expense-paid eco-tour with a guest of his choice. Meanwhile, Boyd the lack-luster phone scammer in TX is cheating on his wife Lily, with Eugenie Fonda, a colleague at Relentless Phone Company. Boyd and his mistress Eugenie fly to Florida to what they believe will be a 5-star all-inclusive resort only to find the contrary: a double-wide painted like a rainforest cafe and two kayaks and matching duffle bags to trek into the Thousand Islands with Honey as their eco-tour guide. Character plots of a half-Seminole Indian Sammy and his half-hostage Gillian on Thousand Island’s Dismal Key collide with Lily’s hired Private Investigator to get a “money shot” of Boyd and mistress for $25,000. On their tail is a crazed ex-employer who is stalking Honey Santana, and a worried ex-husband and son Fry following the stalker. Basically, it’s a funny shit show, and imaging city-folks who are used to Judge Judy and Jamba Juice try to make their way through the inhabitable Dismal Key island makes for good entertainment. The author, Floridian native, exposed the mis-treatment of indigenous Seminole people, and kept to his witty nature-descriptive and women-empowering writing style. Overall, I would recommend to a friend for a light and entertaining read.
Laugh out loud funny, incredble characters, and an environmental message. Awesome summer read.
Crazy and convoluted but in a good way. A quick light read perfect for vacation.
First off, I'm a huge fan of Carl Hiaasen's work. I have nearly all his adult fiction books in my bookcase. Nature Girl, while not a horrible book, is just about my least favorite of his novels. I couldn't get involved with main protagonist, Honey Santana. I don't know if she was poorly written or if her personality made her unlikeable but, there it is. She made the book a drearly slog rather than a delightful romp. The rest of the cast of characters are what you would expect from a Hiaasen novel. Bad guys get their comeuppance in spectacular ways, beautiful Florida backgrounds abound, political commentaries duly noted.
If this is your first foray into Hiaasen's work, I would recommend foregoing this novel in favor of better ones he has written: Stormy Weather, Tourist Season, Skin Tight, Strip Tease, and Skinny Dip - to name but a few.
If this is your first foray into Hiaasen's work, I would recommend foregoing this novel in favor of better ones he has written: Stormy Weather, Tourist Season, Skin Tight, Strip Tease, and Skinny Dip - to name but a few.
This book was definitely a strange read. However, I liked the quirky characters and the funky plot. Never read a book like this, but I did like it for the most part. Not a fave, but a decent book.