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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
When obnoxious telemarketer Boyd Shreave interrupts Honey Santana's dinner with her son and then insults her, the mentally unstable Honey decides to teach him a lesson. She lures him to Florida with the promise of a free eco-tour and things are soon out of control. Her plot soon involves not only her son and ex-husband, but also draws in the likeable Sammy Tigertail, a half Seminole struggling with his identity--and the party hungry college girl he has accidentally taken hostage.
"Nature Girl" is the first book I've read by Hiaasen. All throughout the story I kept on thinking that it seemed like Hiaasen was trying to be a Floridian Thomas Pynchon. The basic comparisons are there -- both could be described as "zany" and have outlandish characters who get themselves into unlikely situations which they get out of in unlikely ways. They both also have a place in the US which is significant for them, and they use the history of that place in the work. However, the comparison ends there. Pynchon, while amusing, also has substance. When I am finished with a Pynchon novel, I think about it and often want to go back to and re-read sections to try to figure it out better. With Hiaasen, everything was straightforward, and tied up fairly nicely (if predictably). I had no wish to go back and re-read because there was nothing to figure out.
Ultimately, "Nature Girl" is a lot of antics with no substance, making for a rather unsatisfying read.
Ultimately, "Nature Girl" is a lot of antics with no substance, making for a rather unsatisfying read.
The problem facing any author who develops a distinctive style is that it will one say become a parody of itself. With Nature Girl, Cal Hiaasen is verging dangerously close on that territory.
All of his usual components are here - humor, quirky characters, a Florida setting, convoluted plot, and a vaguely eco-friendly theme - but this time it feels strained, and never coheres. It's a solid read for when your attention span clamors for something light, but Nature Girl never quite scales the heights of Hiaasen's earlier, better work.
All of his usual components are here - humor, quirky characters, a Florida setting, convoluted plot, and a vaguely eco-friendly theme - but this time it feels strained, and never coheres. It's a solid read for when your attention span clamors for something light, but Nature Girl never quite scales the heights of Hiaasen's earlier, better work.
I like the other Carl Hiaasen books I've read, but this one was like having a goofy uncle tell a really long dirty joke, intermingled with passages from Wikipedia about the Florida Everglades. The main problem is, while he will often use his brutal humor to take down corrupt figures of power, in Nature Girl, Hiaasen's targets are a lecherous fishmonger and a telemarketer with bad manners. So he's drifted into some serious Andy Rooney territory that left me frequently wondering why I was reading a book about why it's rude to call someone at dinnertime.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Laugh out loud funny!
One of Carl Hiaasen's better books. He's fun, fast, and a fabulous writer. I wish I could think of more "f" adjectives to make that sentence more alliterative, but alas phenomenal starts with a P.
I totally recommend this to anyone on a beach in Florida looking for something easy.
I totally recommend this to anyone on a beach in Florida looking for something easy.
I like Hiassans books involving mysteries and Mick Stranahan. This was not one of those books. That being said, it was still full of the wonderfully weird and complex characters that fill all of Hiassan's books, and the storyline was entertaining.
Out of all the Hiaasen books I have read, I must say that this has been my least favorite. I could not wait for it to finish.
While usually the quirky characters bounce off of each other well, there was a distinct lack of balance in this book. The lead character Honey was not quite kooky enough, nor was she normal and sensible. I found myself not caring about her at all and finding her unreasonable and deluded. Normally Hiaasen's eco-warriors or eccentric travelers have a cause you can get behind and a clear cut villain they are put up against. Honey Santana's villian however, was mainly the utterly and frustratingly boring Boyd Shreave. While yes, he was a piece of trash, he wasn't really worth any of the effort put on him and I didn't care that he didn't learn his lesson.
All in all, I wouldn't read this one again.
While usually the quirky characters bounce off of each other well, there was a distinct lack of balance in this book. The lead character Honey was not quite kooky enough, nor was she normal and sensible. I found myself not caring about her at all and finding her unreasonable and deluded. Normally Hiaasen's eco-warriors or eccentric travelers have a cause you can get behind and a clear cut villain they are put up against. Honey Santana's villian however, was mainly the utterly and frustratingly boring Boyd Shreave. While yes, he was a piece of trash, he wasn't really worth any of the effort put on him and I didn't care that he didn't learn his lesson.
All in all, I wouldn't read this one again.
I reviewed this one on YouTube! https://youtu.be/TVCtDB8pgAc