I accredit Hiaasen for my worldview.

Driven by nostalgia, I delved into this book. I had hoped to break free from a slight reading slump, but instead, I found it challenging to stay engaged for most of the story.

Hiaasen's witty satirical critiques of Florida hit the mark, yet often at the expense of a solid plot.

Now that I've regained my awareness, I've uncovered aspects of his writing that eluded me as a child.

Hiaasen comments on what it means to be a Seminole in the modern era, along with a significant dose of environmentalism. After all, he's Carl Hiaasen, and how could he not?

And yes, the characters do ultimately come together in a way you wouldn't anticipate.

The humor might be lost on those not well-versed in Florida and its residents, but then again, the news headlines about Florida can be helpful (and perhaps desensitize readers). 2/5 ⭐️

A couple of quotes are worth noting:

“Sammy Tigertail was wearing a fleece zip-up from Patagonia, a woolen navy watch cap from L.L. Bean and heavy khakis from Eddie Bauer, none of which would be considered traditional Seminole garb. Wilson asked Sammy Tigertail if he had one of those brightly beaded jackets and maybe a pair of deerskin moccasins. The Indian said no.” (4)

“‘Fine. You’re the Indian,’ she said. ‘Tell me what’s safe to eat around here.’ Sammy Tigertail didn’t have a clue. Since returning to the reservation from the white man’s world, he’d been unable to shake a fondness for cheeseburgers, rib eyes and pasta. Because of modern commerce coming to the Big Cypress, there had been no need to familiarize himself with the food-gathering skills of his ancestors, who’d farmed sweet potatoes and made bread flour from coontie. Sammy Tigertail wouldn’t have recognized a coontie root if he tripped over it.” (115)

“Long before the Seminoles arrived, southwest Florida had been dominated by the Calusa tribe, which fought off the Spaniards but not the sicknesses they brought. The most striking remnants of the sophisticated Calusa civilization were their monumental oyster middens, engineered to protect the settlements from flooding and also to trap fish on high tides. Sammy Tigertail felt proud, and inspired, to be camping on an authentic Calusa shell mound. He hoped to be visited in his sleep by the spirits of their long-dead warriors—perhaps even the one whose well-aimed arrow had been fatal to the invader Ponce de León.” (116)

“Even as its numbers dwindled, the tribe’s prominence was inversely escalating to a dimension that boggled the elders. Wealth brought what three bloody wars had failed to win from the whites: deference. Once written off as a ragged band of heathens, the Seminole Nation grew into a formidable corporate power with its own brigade of lawyers and lobbyists. The Indians found themselves embraced by the lily-white business establishment, and avidly courted by politicians of all persuasions.” (314)

Learned a little, laughed a little, just enough to get through the whole thing.

Books like this may be ending the popular Florida mystique. You still have to have a good story, and this is mass market material at its sell-out finest. There were a couple of laughs and adroit turns of phrase. For example, a lazy, loser character is described as "staunchly incurious and devoid of awe". Sometimes it's funny when the action stops so that the machinations in a character's mind are revealed. The character arc for the Seminole character Thlocklo is interesting, entertaining and believable. The college girl Gillian is also open and interesting. So when she interacted with Thlocklo and another character named Eugene, I was engaged.

Too bad the rest of the books lacks credulity. The good characters are too obviously good and the bad characters too obviously bad, and everything plot-wise is telegraphed way in advance. The writing and character development are herky-jerky, as if Hiaasen couldn't decide on a clear style. The dialogue/accent for most of the characters sounds the same or forced, and there's TOO MUCH description of character motivations instead of clear action.

Now I can say I've read the popular Hiaasen - and he's not my cup of Orange Julius.

I decided to pick this particular book as it fulfilled a specific prompt for The Finer Books Club. The prompt was to choose a book where the main character had an unusual name. And boy, did this book deliver! The main character's name was Honey. Seriously, no kidding!

As I delved into the story, I found myself completely absorbed in the life of this woman who was afflicted with OCD. It was truly fascinating to see how she coped with it on a daily basis. Her young son was like a precious jewel, bringing light and warmth to her otherwise complicated life. And her ex-husband, well, he was simply priceless in his own unique way.

The plot thickened as she managed to get herself into a situation that just kept escalating into the realm of the unbelievable. But then again, this is fiction, right? So why not let our imaginations run wild and enjoy the ride? It was a captivating read that took me on an unexpected journey through the life of Honey and her struggles, joys, and everything in between.

Change sometimes is an iffy thing.

This particular work is a significant departure from the typical "pollution by corrupt Government and revenge tale by a nuts protagonist whose chased by even more nuts villains" story that Hiaasen is renowned for. To be sure, some familiar elements are still present, but there is just enough variation to make it a bit of an outlier. So, how does it actually read? Well, it's kind of nuts, and not always in a positive sense.

The world in this book is Florida, which is just as strange as ever, with its people being just as interesting and larger than life. However, this time the parts of Florida that we see are actually not that extensive. It's pretty much confined to one island and a little bit of Texas. The world this time around, in my opinion, does not play as prominent a character as in other Hiaasen titles. It's good, but it's not quite what you might have been anticipating from him.

The story had a premise that was both nuts and fun, and it really had me hooked for the first half of the book. That's when things took a wild turn and the story kind of went off the rails. There is a large cast in this book, which is typical for a Hiaasen work. There are also zany characters, another staple of his books. However, what sets this one apart is that they are all confined together on an island and interact for long stretches. Normally, they each have their own arcs, which they do have in this book as well, but the close proximity made the tale fairly choppy and chaotic in the latter half of the book. It's still fun and crazy in the best way, but the pacing got rather choppy and jumpy by the end.

The characters are just as fun and batshit crazy as in his other books, larger than life and slightly offensive. I absolutely love it! I won't go into details here because this is always the best part of a Hiaasen book. They are all very interesting this time around, and that's not an issue with the book. It's the way that they interact in the last half of the book that makes it all a bit too much. It's like stuffing your face with too many nachos; eventually, it becomes overwhelming and you start to feel sick.

The last half of the book was fairly chaotic, and the way all the characters were mashed together made for a rather relentless and exhausting read. I can't believe I'm saying this about a Hiaasen book, but at times it just got to be a bit too much.

Onward to the next book!

Sarcasm and irony at its absolute finest!

It's truly hilarious that the main character, Honey, who has bipolar issues, is actually more sane than those surrounding her.

Well, except for her ex and son, who mostly just chase her around to prevent her from getting into trouble.

This is an amazing book that delves deep into modern human nature.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it on audio.

The reader, Lee Adams, was simply fantastic.

His performance added an extra layer of depth and entertainment to the story.

It's one of those rare books that manages to be both thought-provoking and highly amusing at the same time.

Highly recommended for anyone looking for a unique and engaging read.

You won't be disappointed!

I recently completed the novel "Nature Girl" by Carl Hiaasen.

Regarding the structure of the book, I would rate it four stars out of five for several reasons.

One reason is the interesting characters. Take Honey Santana, for example. She was a multi-layered character who was difficult to fully understand. I appreciated how Hiaasen described her crazy personality in a fun and engaging way.

Moreover, it's impressive that he was able to write for a wide range of characters, each with completely different personalities. This justifies the positive aspect of my rating as he did an excellent job with the character work. While reading, I could relate to some of the characters, which is not something I often do.

Another reason for the four-star rating is the adventurous plot. There are three different story lines running simultaneously, and they intersect in the middle. It was exciting to see how the plot developed as each character's story line drew closer together.

This justifies my rating as, although this type of writing is common, I thought it was a cool way to tie all the stories together, especially considering the crazy plot.

In conclusion, this was a very good book, but it was a bit slow at the beginning, which initially made me lose interest. However, I would probably read another book by Carl Hiaasen if it is similar to this one.

This book was truly not to my taste.

It was overly chaotic, making it difficult for me to follow the story.

The plot seemed to jump around randomly, lacking a clear structure or direction.

Moreover, some of the characters in the book were not believable at all.

Their actions and behaviors did not seem to be in line with their supposed personalities or the situations they were in.

It was as if the author had created them without fully fleshing them out or considering their motives.

Overall, I was quite disappointed with this book and would not recommend it to others.

I prefer books that are well-written, with a coherent plot and believable characters that I can connect with on an emotional level.

This book simply did not meet those criteria for me.

"Bad Things Happening to People Who Kind of Deserve It", also known as "Nature Girl", delves into the lives of a baker's dozen characters who experience karma firsthand.

If you found "Game of Thrones" complex with its numerous protagonists and antagonists, "Nature Girl" might not be your cup of tea. Each chapter follows the lives and misdeeds of two or three rotating characters. Fortunately, readers don't require a flowchart to understand Hiaasen's narrative. It's straightforward to the point of being simplistic and lazy. The intellectually weak characters and plot, held together by pure coincidences, form the feeble backbone of the story.

As this is my first encounter with Carl Hiaasen, I'm unsure if this is his typical style or just one big joke. There's also a disconcerting emphasis on and amount of gratuitous sex, which makes me question if I'm ready to leave the safety of Young Adult and Juvenile literature. It's truly awful, and I wholeheartedly do not recommend it. I only compelled myself to finish this book to meet my reading quota. There's simply nothing enjoyable here.

In conclusion, "Nature Girl" fails to deliver an engaging or satisfying reading experience.

I am an avid fan of Hiaasen's books. There is no shame in admitting this in my literary pursuits. I am truly enamored with how he populates the pages with a zany and eccentric cast of characters. It's as if he has a magical cauldron from which these goof ball personalities emerge.

And then, ever so gradually, he stirs them in this pot, and miraculously, they all seem to blend and merge together. Before long, you have a plethora of crackpots all in one container, and it seems highly improbable that this chaotic mix could ever work.

Yet, miraculously, it does. With the perfect seasonings of abundant humor, Carl weaves it all together into a seamless and delightful whole, much like a scrumptious crab boil on a sweltering Florida night.

Now, it's time to move on to the next read! A new year is fast approaching for us fellow readers. I sincerely hope that your reading experiences have been wonderful throughout this year.

May the coming year bring even more captivating and engaging books to our literary adventures.

If you have any acquaintance with Carl Hiaasen's fiction, you can largely anticipate what awaits when you open one of his novels. Hiaasen, who perhaps pioneered the genre of Wacky Florida Eco/Crime Fiction, has previously been a brilliant satirist of the crazy happenings in Florida. And nearly every novel he has penned adheres to the same pattern: Someone or some entity perpetrates an eco-crime against Florida, usually aided (or the story is otherwise embellished) by a collection of oddballs unique to the Florida scenery. Credibility is frequently sacrificed for the sake of comedy. Although it is often slapstick, Hiaasen's work has been both poignant and often uproariously funny.

However, I wonder if there exists in the writing world a "law of diminishing returns" such that if you persist in writing books with the same formula, eventually you will exhaust your "creative ammunition". I believe "Nature Girl" might be a crucial novel for Hiaasen: "WRITE SOMETHING ELSE" it shouts (at least to this reader). There is only so much wackiness that can be written about...it's beginning to become trite, Mr. Hiaasen.

The setup for this one is simply unimpressive: a woman (Honey Santana, one of Hiaasen's frequently used wise eco-friendly empty-headed bimbo characters) becomes extremely angry when a telemarketer trying to sell worthless land to her calls during dinner hour and is rude to her. Evidently, she is off her medications and decides to seek retribution by finding out who this telemarketer is and inviting him to an eco-tour of the "10,000 islands"...

Hiaasen anticipates hilarity to follow from this setup...but I think I laughed perhaps only twice in 300 pages. Coupled with the fact that it seemed like recycled material from his nine previous novels (reusing the same characters from previous novels typically doesn't work unless they are sequels, and to my knowledge, none of his novels are sequels), this novel was monumentally dull for me. (The part that I laughed (weakly) at? When one of the idiots shoots himself in the privates with a Taser...good times).

True, indeed - Carl Hiaasen offers a product, and that product consists of zany Florida crime escapades. However,哎呀, this particular one seems rather formulaic.

It commences with an individual being unceremoniously dumped into the water (much like in "SKINNY DIP"), and then progresses to a scam set within the Florida Everglades (similar to numerous other Hiaasen stories).

One anticipates a certain level of insanity from this author, but "NATURE GIRL" essentially deteriorates into farce. It is enjoyable to a certain extent, but Hiaasen's readers are aware that he is capable of far more, and this volume unfortunately has to be regarded as a letdown.

Perhaps Hiaasen was having an off day when penning this one, or maybe he was simply following a tried-and-true formula. Whatever the case may be, it is a pity that this particular offering doesn't quite measure up to the high standards he has set with his previous works.

Nevertheless, it is still Carl Hiaasen, and there are moments in "NATURE GIRL" that are entertaining and engaging. It just doesn't have the same spark and originality that we have come to expect from him.

Overall, while "NATURE GIRL" is not a terrible book, it is definitely a disappointment for fans of Carl Hiaasen.

I've never read this author before, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what to make of this book.

It seems that he has a particular style that might work well in small doses. However, when it comes to 300 pages of unrelenting crassness, it gets pretty boring, pretty quick.

The book also touches on some difficult topics such as the genocide of Native Americans, sexual violence towards women, and mental illness. But it does so in a heavy-handed and blunt way that doesn't really reveal or illuminate much. It feels a bit like a shell game, showing but not really revealing anything.

Similarly, the characters, all painted as brightly (or perhaps luridly) as oddballs, never really transcend caricature or change in any interesting way. This all feels very intentional on the part of the author, and I think I had the intended experience (apart from some tone changes that puzzled me and took me out of the story).

But here's the thing, I'm just not the intended audience for a work like this. For regional, zany, crime fiction, I'd much rather revisit something like the Hoke Moseley series by Charles Willeford. Or, even though it's less region specific but has a strong sense of place like Detroit or LA, I'd prefer Elmore Leonard's work.

However, my tastes change so much as I get older. I wonder if I'd feel just as underwhelmed reading those books again. Some books speak strongly to us at certain times in our lives and then not at all at other times. Maybe at some point, I was the perfect reader for this book. But I like to think that some books, including this kind of very specific genre fiction, can feel more alive, fluid, and able to move with us through life.

This book, on the other hand, is more like a pair of raw-denim, skinny jeans. They're just never going to fit again, and that's okay with my old self.