Something you may have overlooked as it's a bit hidden; but when you open your inventory you see the three symbols to the right; one of them reading "Lore". The other two are "skills" and "friendly fire"

If you open that one and scroll down, you should be able to see all the messages Hugin has given to you. It certainly offers an opportunity to look at those messages later at a more convenient time.

As for other tips I can give you,
Be patient. Take your time to explore your first biome, to get aquainted with the game and its mechanics and how to craft items.
Once you've done that, either start a new world where you will follow the "campaign" or where you will build a nice looking base; while using the old one to get used to the next biome.
Also, try to divide the roles, but make sure you both do all things. It'll make life a lot easier if both are able to cut wood, mine ores, harvest veggies and butcher animals, instead of only one.

Something similar can be said about weapons. It's a good idea if both are getting a bow and raise its skills, but having two different melee weapons won't hurt you much. Instead it may even do you good, as long as you keep in mind that you have turned friendly fire off.

And last - but not least - if you feel this game isn't for you (now) shelve it and give it a try later. The game's still getting updates - albeit most of them are bug fixes - so at some point it may have improved to something you may like more.
There may also be mods to help you improving the game into a direction you like better. Although given the game is EA, you may run into broken ones from time to time.

Thorin :)