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 Christine Yi Suh’s experience of being a four.

There was a lot I could relate to. There were also things that were nowhere near true to my experience. There were moments when I nodded my head in agreement and moments when I sat back and pondered. Christine’s experience of being a four has overlap with mine and it also has areas that are as different as night and day. This is the beauty of a God who creates us each individually and yet gives us overlapping passions, motivations and emotions.

I think that the book is very helpful for stirring compassion. It might also be really helpful for someone who thinks they might be a four but hasn’t done much Enneagram work. I think for someone who has researched and evaluated personality types as much as I have that it carries the gift of getting to know Christine Yi Shu through her own eyes, to share her journey and to discover the beauty and the burden of her life as a four.

I received a digital, pre-release, unedited copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

✦ 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 more about how marginalized the author is. There was some interesting theology in here as well, to say the least (I could comment a lot on that because it was extremely prominent at times, overpowering the topic again), but I *can* say it was extremely well written! Even though this book wasn't a winner for me, this series is intriguing and I hope to pick up the "5" book in this selection, because I absolutely adore Morgan Harper Nichols' work. And who knows, maybe I'll do some of the other types of people close to me if I check out the other authors beforehand.

This book is written in a perspective that is truly unique (of course, this is one of the traits of a 4!). I loved hearing the author's perspective on being a 4, a woman of faith, and a person of Korean heritage. Eye-opening truths were told about her experience in America and in the church. Although my heritage is different from the author's, I still found myself closely identifying with her in many ways. She has been a female pastor, which is controversial within different faith communities, including mine. Yet, she has so much wisdom to share with women of faith. I am glad I had the chance to read her book. As a 4, I felt that she did a fantastic job and gave me new insights into the 4 experience of life.