My first 5 star read of the year. I was hesitant to read this because the hype was so high on BookTok but this lived up to it!

I liked it, and I didn’t.

It’s the story of Sam, Sadie and Marx who build a successful gaming business together. Sam and Sadie meet in the hospital as children — Sam has been in a car accident, and Sadie is visiting her sister — and they connect and develop an enduring but challenging friendship over video games.

I’m not a “gamer” at all, but I didn’t mind that part of the story. I learned a bit, but I also think a lot of references went over my head. I thought it was very well written, had some really interesting and clever themes, but it also read like a YA novel to me…and I thought it was actually intended for adults? Maybe not? It’s got some great messages for a YA audience, particularly on how different generations deal with, or wear, their trauma.

I’m only deducting a star because it just felt like it was a much longer book than it is was. For me. In particular, sections like the “Pioneers” game toward the end of the book…when I finally got through that section I understood the “why”, and appreciated how clever and romantic it was, but ultimately not being a “gamer” meant that I didn’t need or want to be bogged down in so much detail. Although I can certainly appreciate how this kind of detail would be appreciated and necessary for others. There’s a lot I’m still thinking about, and I like that the story means so much to so many different audiences.

Thank you to NetGalley for a e-copy of this book.

A wonderful read, and a well-deserving BOTM of the month pick. I loved this book so much I read it twice within six months. Puts you in mind of the main characters in the movie Free Guy, and was enjoyable through and through.

Sadie and Sam met as tweens and bonded over video games in a hospital common room in LA. After a falling out, they run into each other across the country in Boston where they attend separate colleges, where they begin their decades long collaboration. Sometimes friends, sometimes family, and sometimes enemies, their story unfolds and morphs over triumphs and loss both personally and professionally.

I really enjoyed this one. The story is captivating and the characters unique and realistic. Sadie and Sam both have huge hearts and huge flaws. My one major critique was that it was too long. By the end it felt like too much at the beginning and a tapering off at the end.

Overall, I would recommend regardless of whether you like video games or not.

This was one of the best books I've read in a while. I didn't get lost in the gamer-speak and all of the characters felt real. They weren't all likable, in fact, many of them (Sadie and Sam) are hard to stand at times. The story was well paced and I didn't see certain things coming. I couldn't put this book down.

Perhaps the best book I've read in years. Amid the shadow of gamers, is the real game that we call life. Except there's no refresh button as the characters grow to understand. I loved how even the heroine Sadie is responsible for her own issues and judgements, and as fallible as the others.

I know this book has received rave reviews and I wanted to love it and give it 5 stars It was hard for me to get into the gaming aspects of the book. It is the relationships of the main characters that felt so real to me and that I enjoyed exploring. The book explores many topics including identity, success, failure and the need to have real connections in life.

Such a beautiful, well-written book. There is so much video game nostalgia sprinkled into a book about friendship and love.

What an absolutely stunning novel. The more I read, the more I realize novels about friendships are the most special to me … that is, if they’re done right. And this one is epic. Sadie & Sam (& Marx!) are characters I’ll carry with me forever, & I’ll likely revisit them in the future. I wish I was still in college so I could somehow write a paper or thesis on the relationship between Sadie & Sam for an English class. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cry several times throughout. Oh, & my work on a computer graphics client made me feel VERY smart while reading this.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC. I have done some gaming over the years, but I would not say I'm a big gamer. However, one does not have to know anything about video games to enjoy this book. It's really a love story but not a "rip off your clothes, full of sex" love story. It's the story of 2 kids who meet in the hospital and develop a friendship that lasts decades. Due to the fact that this friendship lasting decades, if you grew up during the 90s, you get to relive this time period through these characters.
Overall, I would recommend this book if you are looking for a book that takes you through all the feelings that an enduring friendship does.

TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW truly deserves all the hype, this book was astounding. I had been seeing this book in circulation all summer, so I was super elated to be able to read it. Gabrielle Zevin has created a masterpiece with this story. All of the components, including the characters, world-building, and plot truly fell off the page--and I could not put this book down until it was complete. I am so happy that this book is getting the attention it deeply deserves, and I cannot wait to see what Zevin writes next!

Oh wow this book was just incredible. It was so beautifully written with characters I fell in love with so quickly.

I knew I'd love it the second I started reading and was reccomending it to friends when I was only 2 chapters in! I just knew it would be everything I wanted and hoped it would be.

It was a very slow read for me which was weird as I'm normally a fast reader but, I genuinely think I was rationing letting myself read it so it could last longer.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a book hangover like this. I somehow loved this book and hated the characters all at once.

I really enjoyed “The Storied Life of AJ Fikry” and so I was looking forward to this latest novel. I must say I started this book with some trepidation because I knew it was heavy on the video game theme.
As it turned out, I didn’t love this book like I hoped I would. It wasn’t the video game portion that got to me, instead I thought the overall storyline was rather dull and I grew tired of Sam and Sadie’s ongoing relationship.

Stunning and emotive prose, brilliant and layered characters, heartbreakingly beautiful story, and imagery that still lingers with me long after I turned the last page. There is a reason why this book has shot to the top of everyone's list. It is without a doubt a masterpiece.

this is a difficult book to summarize. it has been categorized as a romance, but I don’t think that’s accurate. this book is only kind of a love story. this tells the story of Sadie and Sam, childhood best friends who bonded over their love of video games, who go on to make a successful video game company and several very popular games. their relationships go through many difficulties throughout the decades this book spans, and they always come back to video games as a way to make sense of the world and heal.

I love video games. I always have. as soon as there was an Oregon Trail joke on the third page, I was hooked. I fell in love with these characters immediately. the problem is, I didn’t stay in love with them. I KNOW that this book is supposed to highlight the complexities of people, that these characters were not meant to be perfect, but I found them so hard to love towards the end of the book. this book also just had. SO. MUCH. PAIN. and trauma. this is literally a book about trauma. at a certain point it just felt like, can we give these people a break? please????? that’s the main reason I don’t feel like I can give this 5⭐️, because I just ended this feeling like there was so much pain for the sake of pain and plot in this. still, Zevin did something truly spectacular with this book. it’s like nothing I’ve ever read and I really thought it was brilliant. the creativity that went in to each game they created and why, and what it represented and meant for them… brilliant.

This book. No. Not for me. Got 50% but I just keep trying to have nothing to show for this book other than resentment. When I first started this book it felt like a chore to get into it. I didn't like the characters and everyone has this odd way of talking. Were we in a Wes Anderson movie and I didn't know it?

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lots of people loved this one, so I know I’m in the minority. I think I’m just not the right audience for this book. Felt too long and drawn out to me.

I received this in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

I am unfortunately late to review this book so there isn’t much that hasn’t already been said. I really enjoyed the world building and the saga of these character’s lives. I felt like I lived things alongside them. It was emotional and raw and real, with two flawed main characters. I was frustrated at a lot of their decisions, especially when it came to their friendship with each other. Ultimately I was sad it was over. I will say I think I would have liked this book more had I read it before it became so buzzy.

This book is getting so much attention I am not sure another review is necessary but I enjoyed this story despite its do-over type plot.