The Honest Enneagram: Know Your Type, Own Your Challenges, Embrace Your Growth by Sarajane Case

The Synopsis:

Find a way to bring out the best in yourself with this heartfelt, informative, and approachable guide to all things Enneagram.
The Enneagram personality system consists of a spectrum of nine personality types. Based on the hit Instagram account, @enneagramandcoffee, this book is an introduction to the Enneagram itself, along with information about each type. With the feeling of your best friend telling you about the Enneagram and beautiful illustrations mixed in with the writing, this book is digestible and engaging for new and seasoned Enneagram fans.

I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review:

My very first exposure to the enneagram was through the Instagram account @enneagramandcoffee, which is run by Sarajane Case. All of my friends were sharing their types’ bingo squares, and I had to see more. A long time and a lot of research later, and I am a huge fan of the enneagram.

This book is written as an introduction to the nine enneagram types and the different subtypes. A lot of other enneagram resources tend to be super technical, and often quite critical. This has resulted in what some claim to be the easiest way to type yourself – read through each type and whichever description hurts your feelings the most is probably your number. Sarajane, though, put a beautiful spin on each type, highlighting weaknesses alongside strengths. In her introduction, she says that she wants the book to feel like a conversation with a friend, which was definitely conveyed in her writing style.

Each chapter starts with a quote about the type, the bingo sheet for that type, and then a graphic about how each type would handle a certain situation. Most of these I had already seen since I follow her on Instagram, but I enjoyed the visual content interspersed between the text of the chapters. She then gives a description of the type and subtypes for each number, and the applies her HONEST method for how to grow. It was a good balance of identifying the areas for growth while reminding readers of their strengths.

Image used from Amazon Link to book. No copyright intended.

My only complaint about this book was that each chapter is really written to that type. For example, I am a five. I read the descriptions of each type, but most of the chapters didn’t apply to me because I didn’t need to know how to grow as a two, because I am not a two. I would have loved it if she had included insights on how to interact with each type as a way of making every chapter more valuable to readers.

Overall, this book is a great introduction into the enneagram!