There’s a lot of enneagram content out there. I have read enough to grow a desire not to read anything unless it had a new and interesting angle. This series seeks to do just that. As a woman of color and an enneagram four, when I saw the news about this book’s release I was excited! I jumped at the chance to be on the launch team in order to read an advanced copy and journey with Christine. Fours are not a monolith as we like to remind, well, everyone. BIPOC, each in all our beautiful racial an...

I'm a 3 on the enneagram and decided to take this journey to read about the life of a 4.I've read different books on the enneagram journey. They're usually educational, rarely are they ever personal reflections where we are invited into someone else's healing journey. The author of this book was vulnerable and open about their journey. She is open about her journey as a person of color, a woman, the daughter of an immigrant, an artist, a pastor, and an activist. In opening up about herself we le...

2.5 stars, rounded up. Meh, it was ok. The author seemed more concerned with sharing how her political views impact her story than discussing the enneagram, or sharing a devotional. And in this venue, it was overbearing. There really wasn’t a whole lot of spiritual insight. Maybe that wasn’t the point? But I assumed at least that the enneagram would be…If her story is important (and it is) and should be told (and it should) then she should write about it in her own book, rather than using this p...

Having familiarity with the Enneagram and identifying as a Type Four, I eagerly awaited the release of the corresponding volume within the Enneagram Daily Reflections series from Intervarsity Press. I must say that Forty Days on Being a Four by Christine Yi Suh did not disappoint. I identified with so much of what Christine shares about her experience as a fellow Four, in particular, experiencing “a kaleidoscope of living, feeling, conflicting emotions,” feeling like I’m radically different from...

While I'm not a 4, there are plenty of 4s in my life. This book was a joy to read because it was so much about the author's personal experience of being a 4. I too am a Korean American pastor but our experiences are so incredibly different. I ate up the explanations of her journey with her cultural identity. As someone raised by a white family, I thought the distancing was characteristic of Korean Adoptees. It was connecting to read of a "real Korean American" having similar attitudes. While she...

If you didn’t know, I’m an Enneagram four. And so I was curious to read what Christine had to say about her experience of being a four. I could certainly relate to her comments about the question “How are you feeling?”One of the goals of this series of books is compassion. It’s driven by the idea that we need to stop boxing people in with descriptions on a page and try instead to see through their eyes. I love that. And the reality is that this book isn’t entirely about being a four. It’s about

A great exploration of what it means to live as a 4 enneagram and also a person of color in the US. Not necessarily a great starting point if you are on your enneagram journey, but delightful if you’ve started your enneagram journey and are seeking to go deeper.Christine Yi Suh provides a range of stories from her personal life as a rubric to contextualize the different aspects of how 4’s are defined in the enneagram.I am not a Christian but thought the bible references were often interesting as...

Yi Suh offers an insightful picture into describing what she calls “fourness.” Her thoughtful observation about over-internalizing introverts helped put words to thoughts that have often felt intangible to me. At the same time, I often felt a discomfort over the flatting of that experience, as well as the experience of of being Asian American. To read that “Asians are X” or “all Asians have experienced X” or “fours know X,” knowing that those experiences do not apply to me was disorienting, pote...

Rich with Invitations Into Reflection The author brings the lens of ethno-culture to a Christian reading of the Enneagram with 40 short essays, each closing with a call to reflection. There’s a lot to process, and likely works best as a period devotional period. And this reader was raised Christian, thought no longer practice, and I didn’t feel particularly preached at at all, more left out of having a similar connection to the author’s God. And since that’s a classic characteristic of and Ennea...

I felt SEEN by this book:Enneagram 4w3 (check) Type 9 husband (check) Korean American woman (check) Growing up in Korean church spaces (check) Obviously we are different people and I don’t share all the experiences Christine names. But wow, this book touched on some of the core parts of me that felt at times like a healing balm and others like a gut punch (like oof, idk how I feel about being THAT seen). You know when you’ve sorta neglected your houseplant and finally water it and it just keeps

✦ 2/5 ✦Many thanks to Netgalley and IVP for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.I was surprised to find that this book isn't Forty Days on Being a Four, it's really Forty Days on Being a Korean-American female pastor.It's pretty ironic because that in and of itself made it so obvious that the author is a four and I could relate to so many of her thoughts...but it was frustrating reading because the majority of this book doesn't focus on personality typology. At its core, it seemed to be m...

This book shares brief reflections about how Christians who type as Fours in the Enneagram personality system can move towards a state of emotional and spiritual health in their everyday lives. The daily readings are typically two or three pages long, and are quick perspectives based on the author's experiences, ending with reflection questions or personal practices that readers can consider. Instead of being a collection of essays from different Enneagram Fours, this is all written by a single

I first took the Enneagram when I was in high school and like so many Asian American Christian women, was mistyped as a 2— “The Helper”. My winsome personality, Asian cultural values of hospitality, generosity, and sacrifice, mixed with having terrible relational boundaries/self-care habits that were affirmed by bad theology and more Asian cultural norms— I truly believed I was a 2 for nearly a decade. In the last few years as I’ve grown and become (years of therapy, deconstruction/reconstructio...

I feel a kindred with 4s, as an 8, and love the way they see the world. This series is so helpful to understand the Enneagram through the perspective of non-white women, and better understand the gift of the Enneagram to us. Christine is a powerful writer, thinker and teacher. Every time she speaks and writes, I'm learning and growing. Whether you are a 4, know/love a 4, or want to better understand how other people see the world, this book will help you grow in God and self-awareness.

Though I have been resistant to truths found through enneagram learning, it is so easy to appreciate this book of reflections and Christine’s writing. She writes with such honesty, leading others to lean into their own emotions, frustrations, celebrations, and dreams. A short collection of daily reflections, but so rich in beautiful ideas and thoughts!

I loved this book of reflections from Christine Yi Suh on being not only an Enneagram 4 but an Asian American woman. She was insightful in how both played on each other. On how feeling different as a 4 interacted with being a woman of color in the USA. As an Enneagram 4 myself, I appreciated the reflection questions and the invitation to explore my own experiences as a woman (and a woman in ministry as well) in the US. I highly recommend this book.

This is my first review, ever, on goodreads.com. If you are an Enneagram Type 4, expecting to read this book to understand the Enneagram Type 4 (as the title of the book would have you believe), do NOT read this book. I cannot believe the series editor, Suzanne Stabile, let this book slide through for this series. This series is supposed to be dedicated to daily reflections for each personality type. This book was almost entirely about white supremacy and oppression. You might be asking yourself...

I really appreciated this little book of daily reflections. It addressed all the major pain points of a Four, as well as affirming our strengths. I also enjoyed hearing from Christine Yi Suh's perspective as an Asian American - to gain more understanding of another's life, and to see how experiences as a Four differ in another culture, as well as the commonalities across culture.I loved the invitations to reflect at the end of each entry - questions to ponder, thoughts to meditate on, or just an...

It’s probably not fair for me a white American male to even attempt to rate this book written by a younger Korean American woman. I mostly needed to just hear her stories and listen carefully and meditate on her experience as a 4 and let that more fully round out my view of Fourness. I’m so thankful that IVP has given a voice to many different backgrounds in this series.