I try to rate books based on my personal enjoyment, rather than trying to stress over what I believe it's "objective" quality. 3.25 is not a bad rating, its a satisfactory one I think. This is my first bell hooks book, and unfortunately while I went in with extremely high expectations, I left a little disappointed.
I'm aromantic, so naturally I'm very aware of love's many names and definitions. I appreciated hooks' critiques of how much we value romantic love and her calls for community and acceptance of each other. I also, as a young feminist, find many of her critiques of how we view masculinity and gender roles still very relevant and well-said.
But as well, I found she often went to places in her writing where she lost me. I didn't expect her to talk so heavily about spirituality, and specifically her experience as a Christian. While I agree that community through spirituality can bring many people joy and fulfillment, as a pagan I found myself becoming annoyed when she began speaking on her belief in the importance of spiritual faith. I often wasn't sure whether hooks was attempting to make simple commentary, or to dispense advice, and it made it harder to take in her words.
I was sold this book as a new, refreshing look on love, but I felt more like it was a call to enlightenment with no real answers, often contradictory between chapters, and ended with me with a strange taste in my mouth.

This is not to say I didn't enjoy this book. If I did not enjoy this I would not have finished it. I agreed with more of hooks' opinions than not, and when she hit me with something good, she hit hard ("the desire to love is not itself love. love is as love does. love is an act of will(...)" is one line that really stuck out to me.), I just suppose my expectations were subverted in a way I had not necessarily wanted them to be.

A Man's Skin by Hubert

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