I actually found the book quite intuitive and helpful in understanding linear algebra. It does explain a lot of the intuition for many definitions, as well as mathematical techniques.
It's easy when presented with new things that you don't understand to reflexively dismiss them, but the ideas here are quite solid. It's also a textbook which aims to introduce students to a slightly higher level of mathematical thinking.
I self studied from this book as an undergrad. I was an EE major and took linear algebra as part of the mandatory ODEs class but didn’t “get it.” At a certain point, it became clear that if I wanted to learn the more advanced applied math I was interested in studying, I needed to really understand linear algebra. I thought Axler was great at introducing both the material and teaching me how to prove things rigorously. The month or so I spent that summer reading that book made the rest of the math I took in undergrad trivial.
It's easy when presented with new things that you don't understand to reflexively dismiss them, but the ideas here are quite solid. It's also a textbook which aims to introduce students to a slightly higher level of mathematical thinking.