Customer Reviews

Iguana Love (SIGNED)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As always Hendrick's books are much more than the the men, or the tropics, or the sex. Hendrick's Iguana Love is a sorrowful, brilliant piece of American Literature that talks about the lonliness of one woman and her enstrangement from humanity. At the core of Iguana Love is a very desparate creature , rotating from one sensation, to another, searching for that one thing that will make her "feel" something. She finds it in exactly who she is looking for.. a remote and cruel lover: A man she can not love, a man who dishes out pain and finally, a man who will let her remain in her place of numb isolation. Romona compares her iguana to this lover: cold, remote, dangerous. But, the iguana is not Enzo, it is Romona. And like the iguana, Romona is not male or female. And, it is the vacant soul of both Romona and the lizard that makes them the mirror image. And, yet, in the end, when Romona lays herself, crucifixion style across the dead body of the lizard, the depth of her grief, seems boundless . This is terrifying, lovely painful poetry, NOT smut. Like the ocean Romona swims in, there is a dark unfathomable truth about all of Hendrick's work. Her women are lonesome, deformed souls, living in a place devoid of warmth, trust or love. It is an unlearned reader who sees Hendrick's work as just erotic or sexual. Miami Purity and Iguana Love are studies of the desolation of women in the remote and cold reality of the contemporary world.

Fun, fun, mystery noir style of story with the bang of a loaded speargun. The bonus is that it is a story that also makes you think and that you will carry with you even after the story has surfaced.

I was first tipped off to Vicki Hendricks' writing in Naked Came the Manatee, a good collaborative effort. This book is also quite good.

In Iguana Love, we are introduced to Ramona Romano, a very unique woman who easily speaks and acts her mind. Separated from her husband, she tries to invigorate her life with scuba diving and bodybuilding. In her quest of sleeping with many men, she falls for a seedy character named Enzo, who happens to be her diving instructor. He leads her down a negative path until we reach a very suprising ending that will knock you out of your socks.

This book is very erotic, especially as we take a ride with Ramona on her wild romp and conquerings. The writing is graphic, raw, and very straightforward. Hendricks holds nothing back with her protagonist. Throw in the Miami background, and you've got a fairly hot novel.

Although some of the characters were somewhat one-dimensional, they all seemed to be nicely developed, and the plot was well drawn out. This was a quick read, and one that was quite enjoyable, if not merely for the shocking ending, not to mention the wonderful twists and turns. Inguana Love is a nice, yet far from wholesome, adventure.

Iguana Love is a great title for this sizzling, sexy, and primitive ride through yet another dazzling Hendrick's adventure. Brimming with revealing details about the relationships between men and women and not being coy about it either, this novel has more smoothness than Miami Purity (which I LOVED). The situations are more plausible and the people more ordinary. One thing about Hendrick's writing remains totally unique. She lets you look at the world through the eyes of a hungry woman who is operating with boiled-egg coldness. Underneath though--there is always the lost little girl, the needful one, the pure-hearted...a great antidote to the romance novel...I like being in there mud wrestling with the heart's gore...I like meeting women characters who are complex...I like reading Hendrick's novels because I like exposure...the voyeur in you can't help but be enchanted by this one...

The "flinch factor" in this book is unusually high. There are moments in the story many men have been through at one time or another, and I don't think any of us really wanted to know what was going on in the mind of the other person present.

I loved it and can hardly wait for Voluntary Madness to come out!

After always reading books from the perspective of male desire, it's nice to find an author who unabashedly shows us the perspective of female desire. As the book opens, the narrator leaves her husband in search of adventure and sexual prey. Soon, she finds herself hanging out at a diving bar getting to know the various cast of characters and sleeping with all of them, including the mysterious Enzo. Each has their distinct drawbacks, including Enzo who is a dangerous character. Still, she seeks the thrill of diving, mindblowing passion and weightlifting (with steroids) while her life ironically starts to fall apart. This book is a quick read, and one that will leave you breathless. At the end, we can only imagine that like the phoenix, Ramona will rise again, maybe even get her act together for a more balanced life.

Hendricks's protagonist, Ramona Romano, is much better developed than Miami Purity's Sherise Parlay. Romano invites you into her world using the universal concept of love lost. While "Mona" feels guilty about the loss of passion in her marriage. She is determined to make her life worth living- whatever the cost. Iguana Love is not for the squeamish, but has softer edges than "Purity." Regardless of Ramona's promiscuous behavior, the reader will root for Mona's quest for happiness, while worrying about her safety. Mona is likeable, brazen, determined, and passionate. Hendricks's second effort is definitely worth reading. The plot is tighter, and her characters are aptly drawn. South Floridians, especially, will delight in trying to match Hendricks's settings to existing landmarks.

Ms. Hendricks is one of the few writers who can bring this male reader to any book with the word "Love" in the title, but I'm drawn once again to the textured sociopathy of her protagonist. This author's craft and control is so assured, you forget that she's a literary writer and just get sucked into the vortex of her people... which never thrusts them perkily upward. By bringing her aching beauty to the drift toward vile behavior, Ms. Hendricks has enriched the land of noir in a most soaring and satisfying way.

I read the first book, Miami Purity, and thought it was excellent--great story told with great language. The next step is this book, told with the same cold, stripped down style that makes it dig into you so much. Ramona Ramano tells her story, and it's a wild ride: scuba diving, body-building, sex and crime. But the thing is, she *tells* her story--doesn't analyze or justify or speechify. This is what happened, so deal with it. It might make you flinch. I hope so. That's a good thing. Highly recommended.

I found Iguana Love to be an enjoyable book. Ms. Hendricks is building a solid reputation as a writer with a unique voice. I recommend that any reader searching for fresh material and a fresh approach to literary subject matter Iguana Love.