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Don’t Be a F*cking Idiot
The book lays out a straight-talking guide for men who want to understand their own emotional messes and stop tanking their relationships. It mixes attachment theory, love languages, and daily rituals with stories that bounce between funny and painfully honest. Hill explains his ideas through wild metaphors like Golden Retrievers, Chihuahuas, and Cats, and he folds in pieces of his own journey through divorce, heartbreak, and personal rebuilding. The message is simple. If you want to be loved well, you’d better figure out your patterns and step up.
The writing hits fast. It rarely softens the blow, and that worked for me. It made the ideas feel human instead of clinical. I liked the mix of raw emotion and humor because it turned something heavy into something you could actually digest. I also appreciated that he doesn’t pretend to be perfect. He shows his avoidant streak, his panic, his screw ups. It made the whole thing feel more real. At times, the tone gets a little abrasive, but honestly, that seems to be the point. He wants men to wake up, not tiptoe.
The ideas themselves make sense, and the way he frames them kept me hooked. Attachment styles are usually presented in some dry classroom voice, yet here they’re brought to life through dogs and cats, storms and ships. The stories he shares about couples are goofy but strangely accurate. I’ve seen versions of those people in real life. His approach to rituals also hit home. The notion that small, repeated behaviors can shape a relationship for better or worse is something lots of books mention, but Hill says it in a way that sticks. Sometimes he leans into silliness, and sometimes he goes philosophical. The mix kept me guessing.
By the time I finished, I felt like the book works best for men who know they need to grow but don’t want to wade through academic sludge. It is for guys who can handle blunt honesty and want advice that feels lived in, not polished in a lab. If you want a kick in the ass wrapped in humor and heart, this is your book.
Pages: 53 | ASIN : B0G8RY5KTL
Westfalia
Westfalia by Blake Hill is a novel about a man finding his way back to loving himself and life after being burdened with the news of his wife wanting a divorce. The main character is confused about the reasoning for his wife’s request because he believed that their marriage was immune to divorce. Unfortunately, he missed something within their love. While he is unsure of what he did to contribute to the divorce, he automatically puts the blame all on himself. He was left alone with negative thoughts and uncertainty of his place in the world without his wife and kids. Although it was his wife who called it quits, he couldn’t help but immerse himself in self-hatred. The character even considered death as an alternative to living as a “failure” in his marriage.
What makes this story most entailing is the way Blake Hill started it off with the spiral. There were no happy moments leading to the death of this marriage. This story started off with a feeling we can all relate to, that is sorrow. Another reason why this story was enjoyable was because of the way Blake Hill identified marriage. It takes two to make a marriage and it also takes two to make a divorce. The character in this story is an example of how easy it is to lose yourself in a relationship. Loving your partner with all of your heart is wonderful, but it’s also important to maintain your individuality. Thanks to Charlie, the character was able to learn how to find himself again.
This story has an abundance of meaning in it, but my favorite quote was “You have nothing until you reclaim your soul”. This doesn’t just apply to the character, this applies to anyone who has been gifted with a heartbeat. Without a soul, we are just shells living on autopilot life. As a hopeless romantic, it was hard to read about the death of a marriage, but the author did a fantastic job of unraveling the madness that was inside of the character’s head. The author has shown me that even in the darkest of times, we are capable of loving, forgiving, and living again.
Westfalia is a wildly imaginative novel that takes readers on a riveting adventure of hope and self exploration. This is an emotionally charged story that I found to be deeply contemplative and provides food for thought as well as the soul.
Pages: 216 | ISBN: 0982735111
LITERARY TITAN 