Member Reviews
As someone who has studied the Enneagram and finds it useful in personal growth, I was curious to see how the author would traverse bringing humor to the subject while maintaining credibility. This book has a lot of great and useful information and uses humor not to stereotype each type but to bring some additional insights. I appreciated that she stepped away from the pop culture phenomenon of using type to be all-defining and by extension limiting (ie. all 8's are raving control freaks.). She also refers to some of the leaders in the field and references their work offering additional depth to her work.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Unfiltered Enneagram is available now.
Grabbed this one because I’m forever curious about enneagrams and what it all means. It’l was accessible for someone who didn’t previously know much about enneagrams, and I appreciate the humor and the sentiment behind “embracing your shadows” rather than “stroking the ego”. Still a little heavy to sort through all the info if this isn’t what you’re into. Maybe I needed an intro book first.
Thanks to NetGalley and Convergent for the ARC of this title.
If you're looking for a starter guide to the Enneagram, I'd probably recommend this to you (along with a few other books I think are just a _little_ more robust without getting preachy), but I'm also at a point where I've read enough books on this subject that it didn't give me anything particularly new about the types I generally check inside these.
Like any other self-respecting used-to-be evangelical millennial girly, the Enneagram was my ✨thing✨ for a hot second. I felt seen in a way I hadn’t before and understood more about how my own brain worked.
However, I will say, a lot of Enneagram content is overwhelmingly optimistic and falls short of the tool for growth it CAN be. But my goodness, @rudeassenneagram came in swinging with this book. It’s so refreshing to see the flaws of each type put front and center ALONG WITH actual suggestions for self reflection and growth.
The Unfiltered Enneagram by Elizabeth Orr was an excellent read! I have read many books on Enneagram and this was such a fresh look at the different types. I love getting roasted by @rudeassenneagram on Instagram, so I knew I would enjoy a deeper look into the types from their perspective. I will absolutely be recommending this book to friends interested in learning more about the Enneagram!
There’s a lot of enneagram information out there these days, and a lot of books, but this is one of a kind. The tone is like your Tell-it-like-it-is Aunty. Someone who is serving you harshness with a “it’s for your own good” motive. Funny and really refreshing, it’s tempting to just set up camp in your own number but I learned a lot about every type from reading the whole thing.
Great fun with a lot to ponder, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital arc.
Not your typical enneagram book! And definitely not your typical personality type book. The Unfiltered Enneagram is helpful and straight forward with wit and sass and all the necessary fun needed when talking about personality and motivation. Thank you for the advanced copy, I loved it and will be getting for all my friends birthdays!
I have taken this test and read quick little things online about the types but I loved getting deeper in this book. I loved the background of Enneagram. This was something I have been wanting to know more about. I also was curious how this author was going to address the information on it. I found it both interesting learning more about people's personality types as well as possible behaviors that can stem from it and I loved how it also showed downsides but in funny ways. I got seeped into each new part of this. I hope to buy it at some point to add to my collection.
I have always been interested in learning more about my enneagram number and what is means. I don't think this would be a good introductory book for someone, but this was still very informative.
This book focused on the shadow versions of each enneagram, versus all the positives. I know some reading this, had issues with that, but I thought it was refreshing and REAL. You can only go up from here.
I don't necessarily think the humor was quite there for me, which is why this is only 4 stars for me. But this book was easy to follow and entertaining to read!
Y’all, I finished reading a book. This has been my only New Year’s Resolution for several years now and for who knows how many reasons (hi, Type 7 here), I have never completed it. Until Unfiltered Enneagram.
This book is the kind you can’t put down, yet want to take in every bit of wisdom, so I’ll be reading it again more slowly and taking time to reflect more thoughtfully. First read through was an Enneagram roast of me and everyone I love (and don’t love so much), and I guffawed throughout, so a warning: do not read in a public space if your own solo laugh embarrasses you.
In Unfiltered Enneagram, Liz holds us and all our weird parts in humor and honesty, but also in rocksteady belief in each of us. It sucks to have to admit how we suck, but this book doesn’t condemn us to that mess, rather provides a laugh and a way forward. Read it, it’s not that bad.
Both the account @RudeAssEnneagram and this title are hilarious and wise. I love that this title was written by an enneagram 8, is critical of chaotic personality test culture, is full of thoughtful and actionable advice, and is funny in the most poignant way. Thanks to this read, I've finally been convinced that I'm not allowed to type other people AND that 2's and 4's are friends...not food. Thanks, Elizabeth!
As a person with a pretty basic understanding of Enneagram (any fellow 5s out there??) and a follower of @rudeassenneagram, this was exactly what I expected! Informative, casual, sometimes rude but mostly the tone of an older sibling who is just trying to look out for you, this was a great entry-level introduction to enneagram.
I thought the approach of self-compassion made this stand out a bit from other basic literature I've read on enneagram, making it a tool to be leveraged rather than something that defines everything about you. I did find the voice of this a bit too casual sometimes, I could see the constant "lil"s and "babe"s grating on people who are not into that kind of thing. It was also a bit repetitive, which I think made sense for what this kind of book is (she even mentioned at the beginning that she knew people would skip directly to their Type and never look back, so doubling down on information is important for the skippers), but even within each section it feels like everything could have been summarized in two pages of bullet points. She also does not go into how to type yourself really, so you kind of have to go into this book generally knowing what type(s) you might be and then find what resonates, so I'd recommend having at least a general idea of where you fall beforehand.
In the end, I felt rightfully dragged and also given a few actionable tips to tend to the parts of me that need some tender care. If you're looking for a readable, accessible, and often a bit silly intro to the Enneagram, this is a great one to go with!
The Unfiltered Enneagram is an honest and humorous look at a long standing personality assessment and growth tool. Personally, I love the Enneagram and, for that reason alone, have read a number of books on it. In her “Author’s Note” to start the book, Elizabeth Orr says that what she’s written “is not principally about the Enneagram,” but rather about self-compassion gained through use of the Enneagram. Truthfully, I’m not really sure that that came through for me. I did love the questions at the end of every chapter that stimulated this thinking a bit (especially for my dominant type and wing) but I don’t think that thread of self-compassion was very dominant throughout the entire text - at least not any more than any other Enneagram book I’ve read.
It’s a fun read, that’s definitely lighter and more humorous than other books that I’ve read on the topic, but not worth buying if you’re looking to get a whole lot more than what you’ve previously read on the subject matter.
The book itself is well put together and based on that merit alone deserves four stars.
Thanks to Convergent Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Most books on the Enneagram will give outlines for each of the numbered types that people will try to explore to figure out who they are, what their friends or family likely are, or what book characters will be. In this book, instead of descriptions that feel generic, Elizabeth Orr explores the shadows of each Enneagram type. She lists the core beliefs, fears, defense mechanisms and vices of each type. It's all done in down to earth language, it really feels like you're sitting with someone knowledgeable about the topic outlining the things you really needed to know that simply aren't found in most books.
I love how approachable this is, because other books I've read on the topic seem to make sense in the moment but are ultimately forgettable. This one has a very conversational style, and there are even action plans at the end of each chapter so that each personality type can look inside themselves and start doing the work to reverse the nasty habits they developed with time. I feel this is the best part of each chapter for readers to take away.
This is a deceptively slim volume that you can read through quickly, yet come back to time and again to gain more wisdom from it.
I loved this fun approach to the enneagram! And it opened my mind to ponder aspects of my own enneagram and how to challenge it to become more compassionate of myself and the world
I have followed Liz's account on Instagram for a VERY long time and, as an enneagram 5, knew I NEEDED this book as soon as she announced it existed. I was PUMPED to be given this ARC when I requested it. The Unfiltered Enneagram is, yes, another book about the enneagram, but it's written with Liz's great sense of humor and wit. I LOVE her voice haha. She's hilarious, but she also cares about people and she enjoys the enneagram. All of these things are clear in this book. I can't say I learned too many new things since I've investigated (hehe) the enneagram for years at this point, but some of the phrasing she used did require me to look at myself and other types in a new way and, as most of these kinds of books do, force me to step back and take a look at myself and ways that I might be able to change my behavior to be better overall. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning more about the enneagram and getting a good laugh in in the process. I've already purchased a copy for my sister!
I am someone who has been personally "attacked" by the instagram account "rudeassennegram" so I was delighted by the chance to read Elizabeth Orr's book. It was smart, insightful, and really interesting and engaging to read. I loved it.
I did like this book overall, and the content was good. However, I am not a big fan of the tone/presentation of the information. It makes it hard for me to focus on the information when it feels like the author is trying too hard to act like a "cool" friend than to just present the information. It's totally great to show some personality in a book like this, but this one felt a little bit overkill to me.
If there’s one thing outside of books that I find fun to talk about it’s the enneagram.
Captured in my bio, I’m am a Type 1, proud and extremely flawed 😂
📖For those who don’t know The Enneagram:
This concept is a personality/motivation identification tool that helps you know how you can work better with people around you and be an asset to others who don’t carry your strengths. Much like Myers-Briggs personality types, the enneagram dives deep into your identity and the fears/talents that might be associated with your type.
📖For those who know The Enneagram:
…. liz makes this a fun and heartfelt approach to poke fun and heal yourself at the same time. She does a great job of clueing you in on some basic ways to keep your head above water and understand how someone like you can really do great things in the world. 🌍
For some fun, I included my favorite quotes from the book on each enneagram type! Let me know which ones you like the best 😂
✨If you are looking to read this book (which you should it’s hilarious), make sure you know your enneagram type or take one of the free tests you can find online!
A beautiful and honest representation of the Enneagram that goes far beyond common tropes and memes. Well written and easily readable. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.