Scan barcode
jaclyncrupi's review against another edition
3.0
A beautiful, at times tender and heartbreaking love story. Two timelines run throughout portraying the secret love between Wendell and Frank when they first meet after WWII and sixty years later when Frank suffers a stroke and early stages of dementia. The consequences of keeping their illegal and forbidden love secret are keenly felt. Be warned - there is an incident involving on animal on page 202 that is truly shocking and didn't totally fit with the cosmology of the book. #hide
casebounder's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. Today is the anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which makes an interesting time to post Matthew Griffin's new novel, Hide. The couple at the heart of Hide are not the LGBTQ+ forebearers who led those riots, but instead the ones who needed that revolution. In rural North Carolina, Frank and Wendell have isolated themselves from most of society, foregoing family, friends, and dreams of a fuller life. They do so because they don't know how else to be together. They could be arrested for their partnership, but they can't bear to part.
Yet, Hide - for me - is foremost a quiet and poignant story of aging, and of the difficult, moving ways we care for one another as we age. Elder care is often a roller coaster ride of deep love, regretful frustration, fear, dedication, and exhaustion. It's not usually easy. And Wendell certainly doesn't have it easy caring for Frank, with absolutely no one else to turn to.
And yet still, Hide is also so brimming with life! Griffin has a gift of imbuing every tiny moment with the intimately familiar. He describes even the glare on a car window they way I've sometimes noticed but never really expressed. It's wonderful. I won't be forgetting this read very soon.
Yet, Hide - for me - is foremost a quiet and poignant story of aging, and of the difficult, moving ways we care for one another as we age. Elder care is often a roller coaster ride of deep love, regretful frustration, fear, dedication, and exhaustion. It's not usually easy. And Wendell certainly doesn't have it easy caring for Frank, with absolutely no one else to turn to.
And yet still, Hide is also so brimming with life! Griffin has a gift of imbuing every tiny moment with the intimately familiar. He describes even the glare on a car window they way I've sometimes noticed but never really expressed. It's wonderful. I won't be forgetting this read very soon.
cecedonia's review against another edition
4.0
A very sad and moving book. There is a scene with the harm of an animal I wish I'd known about so I could've skipped it, but it is what it is. The only book ever to make me SOB for the last ~70 pages. Beautiful work!
quixote's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
kdodos's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
lili92's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
lediamond4's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I liked the writing.
This book was an absolutely miserable slog through the life of two men who loved each other and were afraid to be together. The problem is that the love they had for each other was VERY rarely ever showcased. I guess in the flashbacks? The main plot was Wendell caring for Frank in the aftermath of a stroke and holy heck, is it just straight up disturbing and depressing.
I know, I KNOW that being a caretaker can be absolute hell. And Frank is not only suffering the effects of a stroke at 83 but also likely the onset of dementia. He’s rude and nasty and beyond difficult. And WENDALL!? WENDALL does nothing but resent Frank and complain. It’s like the entire point of the book is them loving each other, afraid of being together, and then being stuck together while they’re both just the most miserable men on the planet.
I’m not even going to get into the gruesome taxidermy stuff and the effin scene with the dog and the lawnmower.
I read a lot of sad and depressing books. I know that life isn’t always happy go lucky. But I failed to read anything in this book that reflected the good in life despite all of the sad stuff. If I wasn’t already depressed this book probably would have made me depressed.
This book was an absolutely miserable slog through the life of two men who loved each other and were afraid to be together. The problem is that the love they had for each other was VERY rarely ever showcased. I guess in the flashbacks? The main plot was Wendell caring for Frank in the aftermath of a stroke and holy heck, is it just straight up disturbing and depressing.
I know, I KNOW that being a caretaker can be absolute hell. And Frank is not only suffering the effects of a stroke at 83 but also likely the onset of dementia. He’s rude and nasty and beyond difficult. And WENDALL!? WENDALL does nothing but resent Frank and complain. It’s like the entire point of the book is them loving each other, afraid of being together, and then being stuck together while they’re both just the most miserable men on the planet.
I’m not even going to get into the gruesome taxidermy stuff and the effin scene with the dog and the lawnmower.
I read a lot of sad and depressing books. I know that life isn’t always happy go lucky. But I failed to read anything in this book that reflected the good in life despite all of the sad stuff. If I wasn’t already depressed this book probably would have made me depressed.
itsalexjackman's review against another edition
4.0
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.
tmiles's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
thebookboy's review against another edition
1.0
A depressing, dull and meandering book that constantly throws things in for unnecessary "shock value" while failing to build any meaningful characterisation or plot.
On the surface, Hide is actually a fantastic concept for a novel. Following the lives of two gay men who must disguise their love and shared life from everyone in case they are arrested or even tortured due to their sexuality, you would think this novel would be full of secret longings, sweet memories and fully represent the fear and the rush of it all that would make hiding a romance both beautiful and painful in equal measure.
However, what we are given is two elderly men who both have very few redeeming qualities, moping about and barely seeming even like friends let alone individuals who have spent a whole life together in love. Add to this lots of very, very, very dull gardening descriptions and talk about tomatoes, passages about cleaning sinks and some pretty grim scenes of animal death and taxidermy, and you have to wonder what the point of this novel is at all.
I'm not one to be put off a novel by animal cruelty or anything like that as long as there is a reason for it occurring, something which Hide really fails to do. There's nothing artistic or profound about 30 pages of a dog being butchered by a lawnmower. And even the scene where the two men skin a deer together for the taxidermy process is dull and adds nothing - I have a sinking suspicion it was sort of meant to be sexy, and it really wasn't at all. I finished this novel knowing literally very little about these two men - so what was the point?
I will say that there are moments of beauty in this. Though I'm not a fan of the style or any of the plot, the last few pages were quite moving and nicely done - though the abrupt ending did also feel like the author had given up.
It may be a case of "it's not you, it's me", but this is a book I would very much struggle to recommend to anyone.
1.5 stars
On the surface, Hide is actually a fantastic concept for a novel. Following the lives of two gay men who must disguise their love and shared life from everyone in case they are arrested or even tortured due to their sexuality, you would think this novel would be full of secret longings, sweet memories and fully represent the fear and the rush of it all that would make hiding a romance both beautiful and painful in equal measure.
However, what we are given is two elderly men who both have very few redeeming qualities, moping about and barely seeming even like friends let alone individuals who have spent a whole life together in love. Add to this lots of very, very, very dull gardening descriptions and talk about tomatoes, passages about cleaning sinks and some pretty grim scenes of animal death and taxidermy, and you have to wonder what the point of this novel is at all.
I'm not one to be put off a novel by animal cruelty or anything like that as long as there is a reason for it occurring, something which Hide really fails to do. There's nothing artistic or profound about 30 pages of a dog being butchered by a lawnmower. And even the scene where the two men skin a deer together for the taxidermy process is dull and adds nothing - I have a sinking suspicion it was sort of meant to be sexy, and it really wasn't at all. I finished this novel knowing literally very little about these two men - so what was the point?
I will say that there are moments of beauty in this. Though I'm not a fan of the style or any of the plot, the last few pages were quite moving and nicely done - though the abrupt ending did also feel like the author had given up.
It may be a case of "it's not you, it's me", but this is a book I would very much struggle to recommend to anyone.
1.5 stars