Year of the What? by Jennifer Lieberman is an entertaining women’s fiction story adapted from the author’s award-winning solo show. Dana came to New York as a naïve young woman who was saving herself for “the one.” But after four years of being part of an “us” she realizes that she has lost herself and doesn’t know who she is as an individual once the relationship ends. While working as the executive assistant to a wealthy real estate investor, she sets out to rediscover who she is meant to be and finally follow her dream of acting and writing plays. Along the way she struggles through a series of adventures and misadventures in the dating world.

I liked the element of self-discovery in this story and Dana’s willingness to try new and different experiences. By stepping out of her comfort zone, she learned unexpected things about herself. I enjoyed watching her gain self-confidence and figure out what she truly wanted out of life, and the kind of people she wanted in her life. At the beginning of the story she came across as a bit too naïve about love and relationships after having lived in New York City for several years (and having a woman like Kelly as a roommate), but I was happy to see how the author showed Dana had matured by the end of the book.

I was pleased to find that this book is an empowering story about a character taking control of her life, especially towards the end of the book. Too many times, Dana engaged in sexual acts while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, which brought into question whether her judgement was impaired while making decisions that were out of the norm for her. It seemed to me that she was letting things happen to her rather than making conscious choices to forge her own path, and she begins to realize this. As you can tell, I was deeply connected to the character. The fantastic writing makes it easy to form a bond and I was certainly invested. 

The story structure is unique in a sense that the chapters start out with a provocative statement and then the narrative backtracks to explain the current scene and show how Dana had arrived at that moment. I liked this because the reader gets more context, giving the statement more meaning. While I enjoyed the story I felt there was a lot of backstory details when it came to secondary characters. I did like the recounts of the past when reading about Dana in the present because the reader gets to learn more about her as a person and what she has been through.

Year of the What? is an engaging story with a compelling character that goes on a lively journey of self-discovery that was so fascinating and very fun to follow.

Pages: 201 | ASIN: B08NT1PV64