Love is a very universal topic. Especially self-love has become a very important (book) trope over the past couple of years -which is great. Bell Hooks has some great points and highlights how much love actually influences us in our every day life. Her take on work (“many jobs undermine self-love because they require that workers constantly prove their worth”) blew my mind, because it’s one of the many things I never considered, but it makes so much sense. At some point I felt like Hooks was running in circles, always coming back to the same phrases/arguments, which made it hard for me to continue at some point. It gave me flashbacks to when I was desperately trying to get to my word count in an essay, back in Highschool. Also saying that we should meet every stranger with love instead of fear might be a bit dangerous. Especially as a female presenting person, just existing can be dangerous. I wish we could live fearlessly, but that’s a very naive utopia. I am also not a religious person and not really into the whole spirituality discourse. Nevertheless the book is able to spark a lot of conversation and is great food for thought. I would probably still recommend it to others, as it had some eye opening points in it.

It took me a while to read this, though it is not that long. But it is dense! Packed with so many things to think about! It is very insightful on trauma, family and society, how the media and politics influence those and what capitalism makes us do. Also I like that there are (hidden in between) some practical things the author applies to her own life. The only trouble i had was the spiritual part. Though being very rational in the beginning towards the end she speaks about god and angels. I don't believe in god, still i could take a lot from those chapters. But i guess everyone needs to see for themselves. All in all are there many many good topics for deep conversations :) I would recommend! 4 / 5