An homage to Scarface and Orcas that is sometimes funny but also doesn't really mesh. The history of Cubans in Miami and of orcas were interesting. Too much Scarface recap.

This story surprised me! You think you will get something, and in the end you end up with a really interesting, experimental feeling story. The story starts with Izzy, who has been making a sort of living as a Pitbull impersonator until he receives a cease and desist order. He now has to figure out a new way to make an easy living. So, he decides that he will follow the blueprint of Tony Montana from Scarface. So you think you know where this story is going to go, except it is also the story of Lolita, an orca held in captivity in an aquarium. She remembers her family but was ripped from them at a young age and is able to make a connection with Izzy.

I am not sure how much more I should say. This is a story about Miami, about being Cuban-American. It is both a love letter to and a critique of those elements. That duality is written beautifully by Jennine Capó Crucet.

I don't know if every element of this story worked for me but I do know that this is a story that kept me guessing and has stayed with me and that is enough that I think people should pick it up.

"Say Hello To My Little Friend" by Jennine Capó Crucet is a genre-bending novel set in Miami, Florida, that follows the story of Izzy, a Cuban immigrant who came to the US on a raft as a child. After a failed attempt at being a Pitbull impersonator, Izzy sets his sights on becoming the next Tony Montana from Scarface (granted, I still don’t understand what his end goals here were or why he was doing this…but if you’ve ever lived in Miami, this somehow still makes sense). The novel also features Lolita, an orca held captive at the Miami Seaquarium, as a significant character.

The book is rich in local Miami references and Scarface movie allusions, which may be challenging for readers unfamiliar with the location or film. I personally have lived in Miami but never seen Scarface, and found my lack of familiarity with the film distracting as I read the book — but this may not be an issue for others. Overall, "Say Hello To My Little Friend" is recommended for fans of Scarface and those familiar with Miami culture.

It will help if you refresh your memory about the plots of Moby Dick and Scarface before or as you read this novel that demands attention and might well lose you part way through because it's all over the place. Focused on Izzy, whose mother died on the raft which brought him from Cuba to Miami, and Lolita, an orca kidnapped from her family in the Northwest, it's a mash up that baffles and entertains. Izzy sees himself as being Tony Montana in Scarface and wants to recruit others to fit the other roles. And he wants to find the truth about his mother. He's fascinated with Lolita, who is communicating telepathically (I suppose) with him and, oddly, giving him migraines. I was also fascinated with Lolita, her life, her thoughts. I almost gave up on this more than once but then I'd hit a paragraph that engaged me (usually Lolita but also Julisa or Miami atmospherics). I also kept reminding myself how much I liked Make Your Home Among Strangers. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. It's not an easy read and it won't be for everyone but it's intriguing and interesting. And you'll learn about orcas.

This isn’t a book that I would ordinarily read but 1) my favorite publisher is Simon & Schuster and 2) this book was on several Most Anticipated Books of 2024 lists.

Is the hype real on this one?

Ismael Reyes (“Izzy”) is a young man living with his aunt in Miami. He works as a Pitbull impersonator until one fateful day, he receives a cease-and-desist letter. Now, Izzy is at an inflection point—he has to carve out a new identity for himself. For some reason, he decides to become Tony Montana from Scarface.

At the same time, readers are introduced to Lolita, a captive whale, who lives at the Miami Seaquarim.

Full disclosure: I spent more time learning about whales than reading this book because Lolita, Hugo, even the birds are real! This book might even be viewed as historical fiction as it chronicles the history of a real-life whale, plucked from the ocean and kept in a tiny tank.

If you are interested in learning more about whales, here are some of the videos I watched (please note some of these contain disturbing images and mature language):

Lolita the Killer Whale: Slave to Entertainment
Inside the Tanks
Seaworld exposed by former killer whale trainer
What happened to Keiko? The Whale from Free Willy
Blackfish

Say Hello to my Little Friend is rather entertaining for about two-thirds of the book. Although I have never seen Scarface, I enjoyed Izzy’s quest to find people to play certain roles in his life. The last third of the book is rushed and didn’t land like the first part of the book.

Moreover, while I would consider myself an environment, the topic of global warming was a recurring theme, but it didn’t feel organic with the text—it came across as a bit awkward and felt a bit like pushing it agenda; it might have been okay if it wasn’t so heavy-handed.

Overall, Lolita is the hero of the book, and everyone in my life wishes I would shut up because I keep bugging them with newly discovered (to me) facts about whales.

*Thanks, NetGalley, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.

How much I spent:
Electronic text – Free/Nada/Zilch through NetGalley provided by publisher

This is a really complicated book with a lot of wonky imagery, but it works pretty well. I can't say that I loved it, but I liked what it was going for. There were many moments where I was sort of taken aback and just sort of dumbfounded at what was happening, but I think in the end it was all worth it. The loss of the star is primarily because I think that things could have been a bit more clear and concise with the plot. The characters were well developed, but the whole of the book was a bit weak around plot and theme.

This was one of the strangest books I’ve read, yet I loved it for that. The main character, Ishmael aka Izzy, has a strange connection to an orca named Lolita. He also starts as a Pitbull impersonator but when he gets a cease and desist order he decides to model his life after Scarface.

I felt like I must have been on a trip reading this yet this was the story. There’s a lot of soul and character put into this story and so much about the Cuban-American living experience and culture but told through such a bizarre and interesting lens. Also, part of the story is told from Lolita’s perspective from her tank and I was confused at first but then really loved it.

This was a truly memorable read.

Thank you to Simon Books for the gifted copy!

Finished this book today from a NetGalley copy. I enjoyed this book and it was a refreshing fun little book. It was funny and gave a real sense of Miami. I highly recommend this book.

“Say Hello to My Little Friend,” by Jennine Capo Crucet, is one of those books that has a ton of great reviews on Goodreads, but I just didn’t get it. There were a lot of aspects that I thought were just kind of weird (and I’m usually all for weird writing!). Words like ‘groundbreaking’ and ‘fearless’ are being thrown around, but I’m afraid it just didn’t connect with me.

One of the main reasons I couldn’t truly dive into this is because pretty much the entire book is devoted to references from the movie, “Scarface” (hence the title). I’ve never seen the movie, but I didn’t think that would matter until I was a few chapters into the book and realized how much the movie would be discussed. “Say Hello” is centered around Ismael ‘Izzy’ Reyes, a 20-year-old living in Miami. He came over from Cuba with his mother when he was a little boy – his mother drowned, but he was rescued. If this book had just been about this storyline, I would have loved it. Instead, it’s about Izzy’s misguided quest to become the next Scarface.

Oh, and I did mention a good portion of the book is told from a killer whale’s perspective? I think that personification is really tough to pull off. It’s not so much that Crucet failed at it; it’s more that the sections told from the whale’s perspective felt like I was reading an entirely different book. The whale focuses on really deep themes, and then we switch back to Izzy’s POV, and there’s more of a humorous tone. The switch back and forth felt way too disjointed to me.

I also really didn’t love the ending. I think it could have worked for some readers because it is pretty shocking. But for me, I was left with an uncomfortable feeling and sort of an emptiness.

I’ve read Crucet’s non-fiction, and I really enjoy her writing style. It’s very fluid and descriptive. But there were times when I felt like paragraphs just went on and on. A pet peeve of mine is when writers list things that aren’t interesting to the reader (I don’t need to know every item on the shelf that the character sees, for example). I think this book could be a hit with some readers (especially the more imaginative ones), but for me, this was a miss.

Very bizarre read, but also very funny! I have a hard time describing exactly what this book is about. It involves a Pitbull impersonator, lots of Scarface references, and a lonely orca whale named Lolita. You wouldn’t expect these things to mesh as well as they did but Jennine Capó Crucet does it so well.

I loved the parts involving Lolita- I learned a lot about the cruelties of keeping orcas captive. Izzy’s life was so interesting and I loved to see the development of his character. That date with Julisa🤣🤣

I’d say the writing style was slightly hard to get used to. There were long sentences and long paragraphs, but once you get in the groove, Say Hello to My Little Friend is a wonderful and thought-provoking read. I also really enjoyed the ending!

3.75

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster, for my free digital copy for review.

This book presents a uniquely peculiar narrative that deftly blends humor with a dash of the surreal. Following the journey of Izzy, who harbors ambitions of emulating Tony Montana from 'Scarface' for fame, power, and respect, the story takes a comedic yet insightful turn. Izzy's obsession drives him to uncover startling truths about his past, including forgotten memories of his journey from Cuba to Miami.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the story is Izzy's extraordinary connection with Orca, named Lolita. Their bond, characterized by telepathic communication, adds a layer of depth to the narrative, showcasing Lolita's protective and caring nature towards Izzy.

The conclusion of the story is as unexpected as it is thought-provoking, making this book unlike anything I've read before. It's definitely a read that took me out of my comfort zone.

Maybe all those stories about the collective consciousness of orca and their concerted efforts to exact their revenge on humans have a basis in fact. Say Hello to My Little Friend has convinced me that these tales are certainly believable.

The 1983 movie Scarface is an awesome guilty pleasure. With its nonsensical plot developments, its ludicrous accents, its miscasting of virtually every character, and its complete over-the-top-ness, it is almost inexplicably entertaining in a way few other movies have been. Of course, problems would necessarily ensue if a person attempted to use Scarface as a blueprint for his own rise out of mediocrity. That is what Ismail “Izzy” Reyes wants to do after his first idea, being a low budget Pitbull impersonator for hire, flames out. As you might imagine, emulating Tony Montana does not turn out to be the most solid plan either.

The mystical connection between man and creature across time and space is a fascinating part of Moby Dick. This concept is put in a modern setting, filtered through the perilous state of the environment and our fraught relationship with wildlife as entertainment, then combined with an insipid, but ultimately likable, character who has a somewhat mysterious origin story. This is only relatable if the author has the skill and talent to pull it off. And Jennine Capó Crucet certainly does.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley, I was able to read an ARC of Say Hello to My Little Friend in exchange for my honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would heartily recommend it.

Say Hello to my Little Friend wasn’t at all what I was expecting. It’s hard to really tell how I feel about it. I was expecting a fun, somewhat comedic story, and while there were funny parts, it ended up being much deeper than I anticipated.

Though it started off very slow for me, I ended up binging the last 60% in almost one sitting mostly because of being sick but also because I couldn’t put it down. I don’t think this will be for everyone, but if you’re a fan of contemporary fiction, Moby Dick, and Scarface, I’d definitely recommend it.

I’m torn between 3.5 and 4 stars for this one but decided to round up to 4.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own!

Say Hello to My Little Friend is an exquisite fever dream of a novel, and honestly maybe the most Miami novel that has ever existed. As someone who grew up frequently in Miami and who has lived here for nearly a decade, the Miami I experience, filled with Cuban Spanish and the other side of the glamor and nightclubs, is frequently absent in the Miami novels I've read. As a result, the real Miami feels left out. Not so in this beautiful novel, written by my favorite Miami native, Jennine Capó Crucet. This is Miami as the locals experience it. Yes, it's a wild ride. Yes, every bit of it feels truer than life in the way of the best fiction.

I can't wait until more people get to read this one.

What great character development and establishment of setting. The pacing of this story was just right and delivered the perfect amount of ambiance and history to connect with the characters and care about their backstory. I cannot wait to hear how readers felt about this book!

Sometimes a book with an unusual storyline is exactly why I choose it. As someone who reads as much as I do, the “Scarface meets Moby Dick” premise was too interesting to pass up. I have not read this author’s previous works, but I do love a coming-of-age. This one just completely caught my attention.

Izzy (Ismael) lives in Miami with his Tia after immigrating from Cuba as a young boy. He works as a Pitbull impersonator (sort-of) and is obsessed with the movie Scarface. In fact, he is on a mission to become Tony Montana himself. Izzy receives a “cease and desist” letter from Pitbull’s legal team causing him to embark on this desire to become the King of the 305, and thus starts his step-by-step checklist in fulfilling his dream of becoming a modern day Tony Montana.

Instead of purchasing a Tiger like in the movie, Izzy finds himself somehow connected to a local Killer whale named Lolita. Lolita is captive at the Seaquarium, performing shows and fantasizing of escape. Tony decides that Lolita is who he wants, and moves forward on his list. Yet, Lolita has her own story to tell, a POV I never knew I needed but absolutely loved. Her chapters at times almost brought me to tears.

This novel will take you down a rabbit hole into Izzy’s immigration to Cuba, one he doesn’t fully remember and wants to understand. The descriptions of Miami were so realistic, I could almost feel the sticky, humid air through the author’s writing. And she can write! Here is a quote from one of Izzy’s earlier chapters that took my breath away…

“Are these men ultimately too entrenched in the imagined ethos of this city to see that ethos for what it is: a falsity they themselves might be perpetuating with their every move? How to find some way out, some way to whatever—whomever—might now be home? How to transcend all this, how to escape it. How to escape.

Whose thoughts are these, Izzy wonders.”

To explain to someone how this novel ends would be impossible. I think there’s a lot of symbolism that went completely over my head. Like the synopsis states, it is very much a “fever dream” at times, which I had difficulty comprehending. My final reaction to his was truly a “What the…” feeling.

Once finishing, I stepped away from the book yet somehow the story stayed with me. Izzy, Lolita, and even Pitbull. Strange and lyrical and illuminative—I don’t think I’ll ever forget this book.

Thank you so much to @simonandschuster and @netgalley for my advanced e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

JCC nails life in Miami and manages to wrap it with a cautionary climate change bow. Different from anything I've read lately. A curious mélange of literary fiction and and character driven humor. The dialogue struck this former Miamian as on the $$$. What fun!

So, I definitely know that the phrase “say hello to my little friend” is from Scarface, though I have never seen it. I do want to watch it based on all the references to it in this book. There is also a whale in this book. And a former Pitbull impersonator. Everything did come together at the end but throughout the book I was wondering how all these things went together. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I was a Scarface aficionado, so if you are this book may be for you!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I've read all her books so I was excited about this one! I love her exploration of Miami in this book. It's almost a character itself. I was honestly a little disappointed the main character was a man but it was entertaining---a Pitbull impersonator liberating sea life? You don't see that every day.

A rather strange tale of a young man determined to make a name for himself. And a whale! A definite must read.