Ugh.

Let me begin by explaining that I have been a fan of Common's since he was Common Sense. I love the social consciousness of his rhymes, as well as his social justice activism. So maybe I had too high of expectations for this book.

But now understanding that this is his second book, I'm even more disappointed.

His sentence structure is more akin to his hip-hop than his authorship. There are innumerable run-on sentences that are incredibly distracting to the reader.

More substantively, the book is rather redundant. He probably could've cut it in half and still conveyed the exact same messages. In addition to repeating his message over and over again, he also notes encounters with others that are all but irrelevant.

And as to his self-reflection, he seems to be skimming the surface quite a bit. Shouldn't you try to uncover why you need to go to church alone, without your significant other there, if you admit that you have a greater spiritual experience praising God together with the other parishioners? Why, then, is the presence of your significant other of any consequence to that experience? Why do you need your mother to stay in a hotel, instead of your apartment, while you're out of town? Why is that needing your "own space" when you're not even going to be in the same physical space as one another? And after she'd been staying in your apartment while you were there?

He also spends a lot of time describing his childhood, and the absence of a healthy example of adult love, yet drops in towards the very end the fact that he was raised for almost his entire life by his mother and his stepfather. Apparently, their relationship was the exact kind of example he'd been claiming had been absent in his life (and at least partially to blame for his commitment issues).

It seems as if he's writing this book a little too soon into his counseling sessions. I think the readers would've benefited a lot more from a deeper dive into his intimacy avoidance and love addiction issues. Honestly, the new album (of essentially the same name, and of which came out in conjunction with this book) has more substance than the book does.

Again, I love Common, but this book was a big letdown for me. I almost wish I hadn't read it.

Let Love Have the Last Word - Likewise Book Reviews

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