Reviews - Year of Yes | The StoryGraph

2.97k reviews for:

This was really fun to read/listen to! I find Rhimes's success amid balancing her own life really impressive, and I have to admit I'm a big fan of her shows! I love how she highlights that there is no one right way to do life, no one right way to be a parent, and no one right way to success. I also loved how her one year project of opening more opportunities for herself by saying yes to more events and projects turned into a much longer lasting lifestyle for her. The thing I guess struggle with is that I don't find it very... relatable? Rhimes does a great job of showing how hard she worked to get where she is while also acknowledging some resources she had access to that many don't, which is good. But, there were a few times that I found myself thinking "it must be nice..." Because of this, there were many times I personally didn't find myself connecting to the book, but it is still seriously a fun read, and I loved getting to know Shonda Rhimes a little more!

nrc1's review against another edition

5.0

A great book with lots of laugh out loud moments. I listened to the Audiobook and I highly recommend it because Shonda Rhimes narrating her own story is hilarious. I was also pleasantly surprised with how each "yes" unfolded and progressed. I would highly recommend it!

pallavishakya's review against another edition

5.0

I hated Shonda Rhimes for getting rid of Cristina Yang but I love her for writing this book! What an amazing read!!

katieqfay's review against another edition

2.0

I don't really get the hype. I felt like it was really built up and then it was just a constant stream of consciousness from Shonda. I'm glad I better understand her now, but I was not impressed

gmolinar's review against another edition

3.5

funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

natalia643's review against another edition

4.75

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

Someone recommended this to me at exactly the right time. I’m not normally a fan of non-fiction, especially self help books, but I’d put on my instagram story that I’d tried doing something different by going on a podcast—people keep asking me about things like that, and I’ve always said no. I’ve had two different podcasts ask me on, and I’ve said no. But this time… I really wanted to actually do something. To surprise myself. To be brave, even in this tiny way, by coming out of my comfort zone. And you know what? I had a great time.

A friend saw me talking about this and told me to read this book—and I happened to have the day off work, so I grabbed the audiobook and listened all the way through.

It was incredible. The author had me wrapped around her finger, waiting to hear what she’d say next. The talk about motherhood might usually bore me, but she’d hooked me in to caring about her life story, so I wanted to know everything that happened— especially when her talking about motherhood tied into sexism in general.

I need to take a page out of her book, I really do, and it’s inspired me to try. A year of yes—I could do that! Maybe I will! She said that at first it felt like forcing herself, but eventually she didn’t get that panic attack feeling anymore—and I would really, really like that. So yeah, I’ll try. This book could actually help change my life, like the year of yes clearly changed hers.

Special shoutout: I loved the audiobook being narrated by the author. I especially loved that where able, they took direct recordings of her actual speeches and inserted them into the audiobook— it really added to it. You could tell she was nervous in them, because she was talking at double speed, but she did such an excellent job even in her first speech as a college Alumni in front of all those people. I’m really glad I picked this book up, and especially glad that I did so in audiobook form.