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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
If I had have known that there would have been such a focus on taxidermy, I don’t think I would have read this book, to be honest. Wendall and Frank’s love was apparent but there were pages that I had to skip and it made it hard to enjoy it fully.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This debut was so quietly poignant--it reminded me of some of my favorite indie movies that are so spare and seem to have no plot at all, but still leave you with gratitude that the story is being told. This book is not action-packed, or heavy on drama, or even completely heartbreaking or joyous, but it does paint a lovely portrait of two men trying to build a life together when it wasn't so easy for them to do just that. No huge twists, turns, or cliffhangers--but if you're looking for a smooth story that will poke (not stab) at your heart every couple chapters, I highly recommend it.
A slow and moving book that explores the beginning of love and the end of life. Hide, a debut novel, expertly tells the story of a gay couple living their life out of view of a world not yet ready to accept them.
Hide tells the story of Wendell, a taxidermist, and Frank, a veteran, and their long life together. Simultaneously exploring the beginning of their relationship and the end of it, the book pushes you forward - though it's vivid detail makes it feel slower, like the long life they've led.
Griffin has mastered the art of quiet storytelling, crafting in detail a love story that stays with you long after the final page. With little more than two characters, the writing pulls you in to the intimacy of a life lived only for each other. It is a rewarding read, with vivid imagery, that will make you laugh and cry throughout.
Hide tells the story of Wendell, a taxidermist, and Frank, a veteran, and their long life together. Simultaneously exploring the beginning of their relationship and the end of it, the book pushes you forward - though it's vivid detail makes it feel slower, like the long life they've led.
Griffin has mastered the art of quiet storytelling, crafting in detail a love story that stays with you long after the final page. With little more than two characters, the writing pulls you in to the intimacy of a life lived only for each other. It is a rewarding read, with vivid imagery, that will make you laugh and cry throughout.
Unflinching, heartbreaking, original, humorous, beautiful. A love story that transcends all cliches and interrogates what we gain and lose when we choose love above safety and enact that choice for 50 years. Isolation is a key theme of this book, and the author does a wonderful job of making the house both haven and prison, a complex and multifaceted character that captured my attention as effectively as the characters of Frank and Wendell. Bravo.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I've been reflecting heavily on my readiness and desire to have a life partner in this past year, announcing my wish to start finding someone to share love, build memories and a life with. In other words, I want to overcome the bitter difficulties of finding someone who wants the same thing and enjoy the sweet fruit(cakes) that should come upon finding him. Hide is a not-so-gentle reminder of the bitterness that may come later on in a relationship, not because you no longer love this person, but because poor health has turned them into someone you no longer recognize. It is an exploration of our obligation to our life partner in sickness and in health, the pain we may inflict upon our partners and ourselves in the process of care. I found myself frequently frustrated with Frank as experienced by Wendell in a way that made me wonder whether I truly am ready for a life partner.
Griffin succeeds in giving us a fresh and unique perspective - a surviving gay couple that no longer has to hide, but has lived through enough time in hiding that the fears linger, sacrifices are made, and time can not be turned back. In Wendell, we also get a taxidermist, the writing on which I have seldom if ever encountered and offers readers something different. It feels amazing to have read something that has something new to offer.
Would make for an interesting companion read to Thomas Savage's The Power of the Dog.
Griffin succeeds in giving us a fresh and unique perspective - a surviving gay couple that no longer has to hide, but has lived through enough time in hiding that the fears linger, sacrifices are made, and time can not be turned back. In Wendell, we also get a taxidermist, the writing on which I have seldom if ever encountered and offers readers something different. It feels amazing to have read something that has something new to offer.
Would make for an interesting companion read to Thomas Savage's The Power of the Dog.
emotional
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
Such a great and lovely concept and story idea destroyed by mundane events and characters. I thought I would be loving this book but it’s sadly not true.
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The story felt nice from start but slow and nothing was happening. I thought it would change after a bit but unfortunately I got more bored as I read more. I had to rush it to end because I felt so bored. 😑 There was seriously no love events truly.
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They were secret lover hiding from society but there was no intimacy among them. I am not asking for smut scenes, but still they looked more like friends than lovers tbh. The story lacked so dept and the story was just the girl on tv which was completely irrelevant and their cat daisy. Seriously I wasn’t reading this for a cat relation.
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Couldn’t feel connected to the characters much either. They lacked details and connection.
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This was book about 2 lover secretly hiding from society and law and then when they are in 60s one of them gets dementia and how they cope with it. But there was hardly any of it in like just 50 last pages.
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Highly disappointing. Such a great concept ruined by dept. The writing seemed to be made a little complex for no reason with giving too much details to useless things.
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I expected this book to more sad and intense. He should have talked more about their past experiences as secret lovers in hiding, what they faced hardships and how they coped and how it impacted them.
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And dementia scenes could have been given more impactful events to make the story more sad and interesting but he failed it. 🥹 I was expecting a heart wrenching story but it was just OK. Could have been so better
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The story felt nice from start but slow and nothing was happening. I thought it would change after a bit but unfortunately I got more bored as I read more. I had to rush it to end because I felt so bored. 😑 There was seriously no love events truly.
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They were secret lover hiding from society but there was no intimacy among them. I am not asking for smut scenes, but still they looked more like friends than lovers tbh. The story lacked so dept and the story was just the girl on tv which was completely irrelevant and their cat daisy. Seriously I wasn’t reading this for a cat relation.
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Couldn’t feel connected to the characters much either. They lacked details and connection.
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This was book about 2 lover secretly hiding from society and law and then when they are in 60s one of them gets dementia and how they cope with it. But there was hardly any of it in like just 50 last pages.
-
Highly disappointing. Such a great concept ruined by dept. The writing seemed to be made a little complex for no reason with giving too much details to useless things.
-
I expected this book to more sad and intense. He should have talked more about their past experiences as secret lovers in hiding, what they faced hardships and how they coped and how it impacted them.
-
And dementia scenes could have been given more impactful events to make the story more sad and interesting but he failed it. 🥹 I was expecting a heart wrenching story but it was just OK. Could have been so better
I didn’t like the characters until the last chapter. At that point I caught a glimpse of a love so strong I cried reading it.
However, the book is quite gruesome. I don’t just mean the fine details of him being a taxidermist but in the way both men are just crude. How daisy dies made me cry and I wondered if it really needed to be in the book.
But I guess at the end it all ties together. The love he has for frank ensures all of the reality of life.
However, the book is quite gruesome. I don’t just mean the fine details of him being a taxidermist but in the way both men are just crude. How daisy dies made me cry and I wondered if it really needed to be in the book.
But I guess at the end it all ties together. The love he has for frank ensures all of the reality of life.
There is skill in the writing, but it was relentlessly depressing