What do you think?
Rate this book
Hippy Chick
For Honey Ballantyne there's a lot to thank the Seventies for and her name is just for starters. Then there's the whole hippy-dippy flower-power thing that saw her parents move to Ibiza and fall in love with each other and everyone else. From the author of 'Six Reasons to Stay a Virgin'.
320 pages, Paperback
First published July 6, 2007
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 1, 2017
Hippy Chick was a fun and easy read. I normally read fantasy and sci-fi and stay well away from romance, so this was a big departure for me. It was okay, but it didn't hook me.
Honey Ballantyne is the daughter of a free-spirited couple who own a hotel on Ibiza. They prefer to lounge around, mingle with guests and enjoy the party lifestyle, so Honey has to take responsibility for running the place. At the beginning of the book, she feels heavily burdened with this and has an 'all work and no play' kind of lifestyle. When her old friend Edouard shows up on the island, he tries to get her to let her hair down a little and it's obvious that he would like to be more than just friends. There was a lot of 'will they, won't they?' kind of drama most of the way through, which did get a little boring for me.
The storyline about Honey's past and her father's secrets was more interesting than the romance and I did want to find out what the big mystery was. When the revelation came, however, it was a bit of a let-down and I found the way the characters handled it seemed unrealistic. There should have been a bigger explosion of drama, but instead, everyone just accepted it quite happily and the climax kind of fizzled away at the end and everything wrapped up just like that.
I didn't particularly warm to any of the characters. Honey was likeable enough, but she was a bit of a Mary-Sue, with other characters constantly telling her how beautiful and exotic she was, as in this extract:
'Don't think it's a criticism, please,' Julia said. 'It's a compliment, you look gorgeous. British girls spend their lives trying to look like you.'
Honey shook her head. 'You can't say that.'
'Oh, she can, because it's true,' Beth agreed. 'It's the way you're put together, look at you and look at me.' As she spoke she looked down at her own very white legs, freshly shaved, the pink nail polish on her toes peeping out of flowerly flip-flops, and sighed. [...] 'If I put some little plaits in my hair like you've done, I'd look like a fool.'
And this one:
'Yes, I want to look like her. Honey's gorgeous and so is her hotel. And please don't you pretend that you don't think so too and that you haven't been dying to meet her.'
Edouard came across as boring and pretentious-not my type at all. Honey's parents seemed a little pathetic and I felt faintly embarassed for them every time they appeared in a scene.
The main things I liked about the book were the descriptions of island life-the scenes where Honey and Edouard rode horses into the sea and camped on a beach under the stars did transport me to a sunny paradise and make me feel relaxed.
Overall, Hippy Chick was a pleasant read but wasn't really for me. It would be perfect as a holiday read to flick through while lounging on a deck chair by the pool or on the beach and would probably appeal more to people who enjoy reading contemporary romance.
Honey Ballantyne is the daughter of a free-spirited couple who own a hotel on Ibiza. They prefer to lounge around, mingle with guests and enjoy the party lifestyle, so Honey has to take responsibility for running the place. At the beginning of the book, she feels heavily burdened with this and has an 'all work and no play' kind of lifestyle. When her old friend Edouard shows up on the island, he tries to get her to let her hair down a little and it's obvious that he would like to be more than just friends. There was a lot of 'will they, won't they?' kind of drama most of the way through, which did get a little boring for me.
The storyline about Honey's past and her father's secrets was more interesting than the romance and I did want to find out what the big mystery was. When the revelation came, however, it was a bit of a let-down and I found the way the characters handled it seemed unrealistic. There should have been a bigger explosion of drama, but instead, everyone just accepted it quite happily and the climax kind of fizzled away at the end and everything wrapped up just like that.
I didn't particularly warm to any of the characters. Honey was likeable enough, but she was a bit of a Mary-Sue, with other characters constantly telling her how beautiful and exotic she was, as in this extract:
'Don't think it's a criticism, please,' Julia said. 'It's a compliment, you look gorgeous. British girls spend their lives trying to look like you.'
Honey shook her head. 'You can't say that.'
'Oh, she can, because it's true,' Beth agreed. 'It's the way you're put together, look at you and look at me.' As she spoke she looked down at her own very white legs, freshly shaved, the pink nail polish on her toes peeping out of flowerly flip-flops, and sighed. [...] 'If I put some little plaits in my hair like you've done, I'd look like a fool.'
And this one:
'Yes, I want to look like her. Honey's gorgeous and so is her hotel. And please don't you pretend that you don't think so too and that you haven't been dying to meet her.'
Edouard came across as boring and pretentious-not my type at all. Honey's parents seemed a little pathetic and I felt faintly embarassed for them every time they appeared in a scene.
The main things I liked about the book were the descriptions of island life-the scenes where Honey and Edouard rode horses into the sea and camped on a beach under the stars did transport me to a sunny paradise and make me feel relaxed.
Overall, Hippy Chick was a pleasant read but wasn't really for me. It would be perfect as a holiday read to flick through while lounging on a deck chair by the pool or on the beach and would probably appeal more to people who enjoy reading contemporary romance.
September 6, 2018
This book was okay, a quick and light read. I found I didn't really connect to Honey and I found the whole story a bit all over the place. I didn't particularly like any of the characters and the twist at the end was nothing too special. Not a bad book, just not for me.
September 7, 2018
I found it hard to get into when I first started, but as I went on I found it easier to read. Not one of the best books I’ve read, it’s very all over the place and gets a bit confusing at times.
November 25, 2023
4.25 stars because messed up families are my speciality
I am such a fan of Louise Harwood and this book didn’t disappoint.
Easy, light read full of heart, love and family connections.
I am such a fan of Louise Harwood and this book didn’t disappoint.
Easy, light read full of heart, love and family connections.
August 8, 2012
It was an easy read, but kinda boring. It felt like a lot of the story was happening off the pages and we only got Honey's reaction to it. Sometimes that made it a little hard to follow the story, not to mention boring, because the plot was told instead of "experienced". Sometimes it also seemed like commas were missing which made it hard to understand as some sentences changed meaning completely, depending on where you put the emphasis. I'm not the best at punctuation, but that is why you have editors, right?
November 29, 2011
A nice easy to read, holiday read.
July 17, 2013
Light easy holiday read. Little bit of romance, not too thrilling but I still didnt put it down and read it all in one evening.
January 14, 2017
One of the most laid back and easy reads I've had.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews