This was really easy to read and I found it pretty fun - I quite enjoy reading from inside someone's mind, especially when they're quite messy and dramatic. The narrator isn't relatable at all to me but I enjoy flawed female characters. I really appreciated the social commentary interwoven into the narrator's observations of her experiences but there was a certain point mid-book of a few pages of exclusive commentary which felt out of place. This book touches on a great point of the personal being political. I think ultimately it just wasn't very satisfying, there were some threads that felt unresolved/unanswered and with everything our narrator throws out about everyone else, I think she lacked some better self-awareness and I felt the book lacked maybe some 'closure' on that.

4.75 ⭐️ This book was recommended to me one time as I share a very similar chart to bell hooks. When I started reading, the recommendation made perfect sense. It would be more correct to say this book was validating than illuminating as most of what bell hooks philosophises are notions that I already share. 'Love' in all its vastness is a topic that I have sat with for as long as I can remember. I have many ideas, opinions, values and criticisms on all things love and found many of them written down in this book. bell hooks being the activist that she was, naturally does not theorise on love with a self-help focus only but through a sociological lens also, including deconstructions of patriarchy. This book falls short of a 5⭐️ for me because of the many religious/spiritual references that, to me, can take away from some of the latter chapters. There are also criticisms that bell hooks is a little harsh on women in some chapters - I don't entirely share this criticism as I believe that feminists can and should be critical of women too as criticism is a point of growth.