A review by tasleemreads
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz

slow-paced

0.5

Before I share my thoughts, I want to share a bias I may have. I don’t like self help books. I’m not opposed to reading them but I haven’t read one that I actually liked, so maybe it’s me 🤷🏽‍♀️ 

The four agreements has 4 messages and takeaways; be impeccable with your word, don’t take things too seriously, try your best at everything and another point that I can’t remember right now. 

It seemed pretty common sense but I guess it it can serve as a useful reminder. 

However, the bit that really grinds my gears is the reductionist view that Miguel takes throughout his examples within this book. He takes a one size fits all, no mention of intersectionality or a multifaceted approach. For example, we’re not clear with our language hence why we have wars and conflicts. It’s just bewildering to me how someone can strip everything away and state the reason there is mass death and destruction is because of our lack of coherency. This is why I don’t like self-help books and especially if they’re written by men 😭 

I’m not going to go on a tangent of why I didn’t like this book because I’ll be giving it more time and energy that it deserves. 

0.5 star rating.