Had a great discussion on this in book club the other day. <i>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow</i> is a very solid entry into contemporary literary fiction. It's very well written, and once the story got momentum (about halfway through) it was really engaging and hard to put down. It has four stars for the quality of the writing and how evocative the last 1/3 or so is. (Listen, I'm a crier. And I cried for at least the last 1/3-1/4 of this book.) Once the big thing happens (no spoilers, you'll know when you get to it), the rest of the book carries itself through very nicely and keeps a tight grip on your heart as it goes.

That being said, the writing, for me, is maybe a little <i>too</i> literary. While discussing with a friend in book club who is much more well-read in literature and the classics, and teaches literature and writing, I realized how many allusions had completely gone over my head. Not saying you need to be a Shakespearean scholar to enjoy this book, but I bet it helps. The main sticking point for me in terms of writing, though, was the vocabulary. This book has a bad case of thesaurusitis. Sure, there were words I had seen before a million years ago and would never remember the definition of, and I don't mind looking those up. But honestly, using "<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jejune">jejune</a>" in a contemporary novel feels like a parody of purple prose.

The writing also falls prey to this Internet-age tendency to write for Kindle highlights. You know, when you're reading a book and Kindle helpfully tells you that 1,109 other people highlighted this passage, so you assume it has some universal appeal or truth because, well, why else would it be a popular highlight? Full disclosure, I read this as an ARC, so I didn't get that lovely feature in this book since Kindle seems to do it only for publisher versions of books. But there's still this sense that the author is trying very hard to write something deeply profound that will get highlighted and excerpted and shared - all while, ideally, keeping to about 280 characters.

Those are literally both from the first chapter of the book. They were the first two highlights I made, along with a note for myself: 🙄 It's also where I gave up on highlighting the bits I found try-hard:
<ul>
<li>"Time was mathematically explicable; it was the heart—the part of the brain represented by the heart—that was the mystery." 121 characters, em dashes and all!</li>
<li>"Sam looked at Sadie, and he thought, This is what time travel is. It’s looking at a person, and seeing them in the present and the past, concurrently. And that mode of transport only worked with those one had known a significant time." 234 characters. And because [book:How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe|7726420] is one of my all-time favorite books, I added the note "ok charles yu give us nothing"</li>
</ul>

I'm not even going to get into the complete mangling of discussion on cultural appropriation and childhood trauma. Both really just boil down to the sentiment that "in the 90s no one cared about these things and life was better" — read: in the 90s, no one spoke up about these things and life was easier for white/straight/cis male people. For a book that's very adamant on exposing the sexism in the games industry, it's honestly just a weird mishmash of stances to have.

Apparently this is one of those reviews where I change my star rating by the end of it, because I think I'm officially giving three stars. Looking back, I think the end really influenced my initial rating because I was so emotionally affected by the plot and some really beautiful writing in that one part (those two parts, I guess (no spoilers!): the second person chapters, and the Oregon Trail section). Holistically, though, this is really solid literary fiction, but ultimately I think it tries too hard. I can definitely see this as being a symptom of a young writer and I will say I'll keep an eye on Gabrielle Zevin's future work, because I think she can mature into a real literary fiction powerhouse.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. Thanks Netgalley! Sorry I didn't get to read it until several months after publication!

Everything about this novel is realistic in such a painful way. The flawed characters, grief, chronic illness—the ugly sides of friendship. Mostly you know the characters are on a collision course to disaster, and you have no choice but to sit back and watch the implosion. It employs so many rarer narrative techniques in isolation (i.e. a single chapter in second person), and spectacular callbacks dropped in little moments: a line from a poem, a poster from decades ago, giving the characters the kind of depth you'd expect of a real lifetime.

One of the best books I've read in years. The years long relationships as the characters navigate high school, college and beyond. I found myself rooting for Sam, Marx and Sadie at different times.

A slower read than I'm used to. I was surprised how long the characters stayed with me afterwards. I finished this book over a month ago and still remember all the character names. I found Sadie to be the most relatable, loved Marx and felt so unsure about Sam, which surprised me because he reminds me a lot of my high school best friend. I genuinely don't know if I liked Sam or not. I can't tell if he just lacks empathy, is manipulative or is possibly high-functioning autistic? Like he doesn't process emotions the same way? I still don't know. However, the book went off the rails for me when

***SPOILER***




Marx dies. The way in which he dies feels so unnecessary and violent. He's literally "fridged" to move Sadie and Sam's story along. Marx is so much more appealing than Sam. I just wasn't invested in the book after this part. 3.5 stars

🕹 Unpopular Opinion Alert – I didn’t love this book. I really wanted to like it – and I know many of you reading this did love it - but I was so bored. Or rather, I was bored after they created their first video game Ichigo (which is in the first third of the book). After that I lost interest almost completely.

🕹 I did enjoy the “love story” between Sam and Sadie. They were a unique partnership.

🕹 For me, the book tried to cover too many topics/themes, and since there were so many, they were all diluted.

🕹 Trust me, the video game component of the story isn’t what turned me off. That was probably one of the few elements of the story I actually enjoyed.

🕹 This is an unusual book – and I mean that as a compliment. I’ve never read anything quite like it. Sadly, it wasn’t a book that resonated with me.

Thank you @NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

4.5 stars! I LOVED this book!

Gabrielle Zevin's "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" kept me guessing, entertained, and invested until the very last page! I didn't know a thing about this book until I started reading it, and it was immensely captivating despite my not being a gamer or a computer programmer. It has just enough cultural "member berries" to set the stage without heavily relying on pop culture and video game references to the point of annoyance. There are many other books that do this, and luckily, this one did not. I loved (and sort of hated!) all of the complexities of the characters in this story. I think they are all flawed, and that's what makes them so relatable and compelling. It's not black and white: there are many gray areas where our characters Sam/Mazer and Sadie are concerned. They made me want to scream at them, to cry with them, to mourn with them, to love with them. This book also has a terrific commentary on disability and the trauma surrounding it. Disability plays a central role in the story. It is not glossed over or romanticized in any way. Zevin never once shies away from how difficult it is for Sam/Mazer to live with a permanent physical disability. These portions of "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" made me weep! As someone with a physical disability, I have felt like Sam/Mazer has felt so many times in my life. To see my inner thoughts articulated on the page...it felt like my soul was being laid bare! The reason this book is not a 5-star read is that I thought the pacing could have been better in some areas. Some people might think this book is overly self-important or grandiose to its detriment, but I didn't think so. It's intricate, sure, but Zevin weaves a delicate tapestry and builds worlds on worlds in a refreshing, interesting way, one that I will be thinking about for years to come. I've already recommended this book to many people and will likely keep doing the same for the foreseeable future!

Thank you to NetGalley, Gabrielle Zevin, and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group/Knopf for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

Synopsis: Sam Mazer and Sadie Green make video games, and they are very good at it. But when life gets in the way, they walk the path of adult and interpersonal struggles that will forever change them.

Review: 5 ⭐️/5⭐️
This book is fantastic! I found myself rooting for all the characters and desperately sad when their lives didn’t quite turn out as they would have hoped. I even bought it as an audio book and that added a whole new, wholly wonderful level to this book.

I feel so lucky to have gotten my hands on this before it really got all the amazing hype it so rightfully deserved. This book has so much heart and gripped me right from the beginning.

As someone a few years younger than the main characters, I really enjoyed the nostalgia of this book. All the 90's references were fun. :-) I enjoyed watching the relationship between Sam and Sadie, and liked that it didn't necessarily end with them getting together. It was left open. I loved that Sadie was a strong female character but she still had mental health issues.

I prefer the audiobook as the start has the boredom of school schedules and male fashion choices. Sam is a coding savant pining for the equally autistic Sadie now that they’re out of the Ivy Leagues. They reconnect over Oregon Trail jokes and other try-hard dialogue. Everything they say revolves around a principle of chance or some quirky proof. I just don’t see the general appeal/realism.

LIKES:
1) the relationship with Sadie and Sam. When they say it’s a love story, this one is truly sweet.
2) Marx. He was a great secondary character that stole our hearts.
3) getting a new appreciation for games and gamers. It made me think of Inside Pixar. So much work goes into it.
4) for having neurodivergent character, lgbtq characters, and not making it a highlight (if that makes sense) the fact that more and more books and movies are incorporating more diverse characters is fantastic.
5) continuing to survive amongst some crippling depression l

DISLIKES:
1) I can pinpoint what didn’t connect with me, but I liked this whole story I just didn’t love it.

Kinda wished I reviewed this as soon as I finished it cause I know I had a lot of thoughts on everything going on. To be honest I didn't actually know what this book was about going into it, I just knew it was super popular last year and a lot of people liked it. I thought the book was fine tbh. There's a lot going on and if you're going to read this just know it is extremely heavy on the video game language. I'm honestly not sure if I liked any of the main three characters. I definitely understood where they were all coming from and the dynamics between all three but still as usual a lot of things could be solved with communication. I did love those last few Marx chapters (probably the most interesting chapters to me if I'm being honest.) But yeah this was an alright read for me, like nothing entirely special if I'm being honest. I'm sure someone out there would like this book more than me!

I was kind of surprised to realize I recently read another book by the same author, which I enjoyed more than this. While there is some good writing here, I'm finding it hard to express my thoughts about this book. A couple of sections were practically brilliant but a lot of this seemed tedious. I can see why so many love it though, so give it a try. 3.5 stars

Who would have known a 3rd person POV would have me this captivated? I finished this story in less than 24 hours (which is rare for me these days) because I could not get it out of my head every time I tried to put it down. Captivating is too light of a word for the hold this book had on me. The world that was built was so fascinating. As a gamer for as long as I can remember, I resonated with it always being associated with an escape and a bunch of happy childhood memories.

When I saw I saw not a twist or turn that came in this story. Everything was normal then BAM twist and I was left turning the pages as fast as I could to find out what was going to happen next.

This story was so well done and has left a permanent spot in my mind.

I am not a gamer, and never have been--I do the NYT crossword app, Wordle, and Solitaire--but this novel about game-creators drew me in immediately. The characters are divinely drawn, the story is compelling--I fell in love with all of it. Gavrielle Zevin creates a world that draws us in and stimulates our own creative response. Just lovely.

From the very first page, Sam is delightful. I wanted to listen to him and explore his world. Then I met Marx, and I liked him, too. I found them both to be sincere and enjoyable and interesting characters. The dialog seemed real, and in fact, the whole novel was "step-in" for me, in the sense that Zevin created a world I could enter every time I opened the book.
Sadie was too incomprehensible for me, otherwise I would have rated the book a 5. Her emotions don't often make sense. Neither do her actions.
The most important feature of the novel is the backdrop in the world of gaming. Before I read this, I thought Super Mario Bros was a pizza chain. Zevin did an amazing job of bringing the world of gaming to someone like me. And I'm so glad. Gamers are an important part of American culture, and for this reason, I think everyone should read the novel..

I loved this book! I was one of the best books I read in 2022. I liked that this book focused on love between friends more than romantic love. Gabrielle Zevin made me feel as though I was in the story. I came to deeply care for the characters and still about where they may be now.

Loved this book about a loving and challenging and deep friendship. Scratched the itch I had for a book like The Interestings which I loved long ago.

I'm not a fan of video games - I know NOTHING about them - but that did not matter one bit. Similar to The Art of Fielding, where I don't care about sports but loved the book anyway, this book is a character-driven novel where I cared deeply for the lead characters and the ups and downs of their friendship. The author's note at the end reveals that she is a gamer and she explains any games really well. I'll be thinking about these characters for a long time. Thanks for Net Galley for a copy of the book.

Boy and girl meet
They fall in love
Or do they?
Sam and Sadie become friends while playing Mario. This leads to a life of making video games together.
Coming of age story that shows that friendships are hard.

Why didn't I love this book? I feel like everyone loved this book, but I really struggled to get through it. I'm not sure why but it wasn't love for me.