Wow, wow, wow. I read this in a span of 24, maybe 36 hours--and yes, I was home sick with COVID, but no, I wouldn't have plowed through just any book like that. The writing is crisp and the plotting is really excellent--only a few lags of repetition in the relationship between the two protagonists--and I CRIED and it nearly had me playing King's Quest IV again and it was just so very amazing and good. I absolutely loved all of the references (I am a big Macbeth fan, of course) and the characters felt so very real and engaging and engaged and complex. This is such a good, valuable read. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something they cannot put down but also need to be literary--a very difficult combination of things to pull off.

This will also appear on my permanent Instagram highlights called "Book Recs" in which I make sure to point out some of the best books I've read via NetGalley.

loved this so much that I highly recommended it even before it was released and all my friends and family that like to read bought it the minute it was released. I highly recommend this book to everyone if you do pick it up I promise you wont regret it.

Loved loved loved the friendship of Sam and Sadie. The book felt epic, and intimate at the same time. Interesting to learn about the world of gaming. Brought out all the feelings and didn’t want it to end.

This book is just as good as everyone says it is. I loved the deep exploration of friendship, in all of its messy, loving, frustrating glory. Sam and Sadie were such well written, well rounded characters and I loved being able to follow them over 30 years.
Sam and Sadie create video games together, and we learn so much about that process which I thought was fascinating. It was so unique to the book and led to some very interesting scenes. No prior video game knowledge necessary!
I enjoyed that parts were set in Cambridge as well! This was a great book club book, so much to discuss and our whole group enjoyed it!

I was so excited to read this book because I absolutely loved The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Zevin. However, I did not care for this story. I enjoyed many things: Zevin’s writing is beautiful, her characters feel real, and writing about gaming is needed in literature. She also explored many important themes: relationships, LGBTQ+ rights, and sexism in the gaming industry. The story follows Sam and Sadie from childhood to adulthood and focuses on their love of gaming. They build a company with Sam’s roommate, Marx, and start producing video games.

Unfortunately, the characters didn’t grow. Sam and Sadie were absolutely terrible to each other and never resolved to fix their awful behavior toward each other. The ending felt rushed and flat, despite it being a 416-page book.

Marx was my favorite character, but he was clearly the NPC. Spoiler Alert! His death felt gimmicky, and the book fell apart for me after his death.

Trigger warnings: abusive relationships, murder

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC.

I don't game. The last game I played was Ms. Pacman on my Atari in the 80's. For this reason I was unsure of starting this book, thinking that maybe it wouldn't be "my thing." But it doesn't take a gamer to appreciate a book like this. I got to meet Sadie and Sam, childhood friends who hadn't spoken to each other for several years while each attended their respective university, One day Sam happens to see Sadie at a crowded Subway station resulting in a friendship reunion and a return to their mutual passion for gaming, then designing a game of their own. Their game is an immediate triumph launching them into a whole new world of success and financial bliss. Their story spans over 30 years of their friendship, love, and loss.
Gabrielle Zevin is a master artist in the craft of storytelling. I could have sworn she was a game designer herself! Being immersed in a whole world I knew nothing about turned out to be a positive experience for me. I was fascinated from beginning to end. If you love stories about the longevity of friendship, this is one you don't want to miss!
5 stars

I was definitely hesitant about starting this as I am not a gamer at all! However once I did start it I couldn’t put it down. Hooked from page one! I was so invested in the Sam/Sadie friendship. The author did a fantastic job of keep the plot moving while developing deep connections to the characters. Can’t wait to read more by her! Thank you for providing this copy.

Thank you for NetGalley for a copy of this book! It was highly anticipated. I have not read many books like this - and I loved it! The characters were great, the plot was complex, and it was all beautifully written.

Excellent book about love, friendship, loss, work, youth, death and LIFE! I absolutely devoured #tomorrowandtomorrowandtomorrow and adore all the characters who are funny, sympathetic, aggravating, and people you would like to personally be friends with even though they might be a bit flawed. I wish to thank #netgalley and the publisher for this digital copy to read and review, all opinions are my own.

I struggled with this one so much. After seeing all the hype and praise, I expected to love it. But between the pacing and the complete apathy I felt for the main characters, I had no desire to continue with this book.

The story was beautiful and unexpected and thought provoking. It will stay with me for a very long time. It absolutely deserved the Goodreads Choice Award.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC.

Loved this book! Messy, complicated, beautifully written. Very engaging and feels like an honest story or love, friendship, ego. Not a boon about video games. So much more….

So... Sam's mother, Marx's (his randomly assigned college roommate) mother, AND the lady who randomly jumped off a building in front of them are ALL named Anna Lee ??? Absolutely idiotic.

There are an infinite reasons I HATED this book. That is just one of many nonsensical, cheap examples.

I wish I could give it ZERO stars.

I didn’t hate nor love it. It was a very character driven book and I just couldn’t connect with the characters. There wasn’t really much of plot which left me disappointed.

I will be thinking about this book tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. This novel was complex, beautifully written, and extremely thought-provoking. While the book focuses heavily on video games, I didn’t feel like as though my reading experience was diminished as a non-gamer. Gabrielle Zevin perfectly captured the complexities of friendship and I grew to love all of the characters with all their flaws. What a book. 4.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital advance readers copy of this book!

I really enjoyed this one. It did get a little video game production heavy at times , but otherwise I found it to be captivating and by the end I was deeply invested in the characters' relationship.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book since I don’t and haven’t played video games before. But reading this book, you quickly realize that this isn’t a book about video games, it is actually about friendship. The two friends felt very real and I was on board and ready to root for their friendship, despite the bumps in the road. BUT, I gave up on this book at only 32% because there is a side character that I just Hate!! He is so… there is a long list (!) and he ruined the book for me (so sad). There may be a time in the future when I can handle it, but for now, this book lands in my DNF pile.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-Arc.
I'm honestly surprised how much I stuck through this despite getting bored nearly halfway through this book.
It's a beautiful story, and it is heartbreaking.
It's also not a typical love story. It's not the usual 3rd act break up type of story. It's actually a twist of women's fiction and literary fiction.
But I feel like you have to be the right type of person to truly appreciate this story, and sadly I'm not one of them.
I would try again when I am in my 30s,because mayhaps I'm not adult enough to truly take it for what it is.

I finally got around to reading this book. There was so much hype for it, I wasn’t such what to expect. The author does an excellent job of evolving the characters over a large time frame. I loved Markus character so much at the end of the book. However, there was some times where I was trying to figure out what was going on. I do tend to struggle with books where the POV shifts a lot between more than two characters. I feel like that is why this book was such a low rating for me. The ending was very good and made a big difference in my rating.

This one was chosen for my January book club read. I was both excited and nervous to read it. I know this one won the Goodreads award in 2022 and because of that I had high expectations. I really wanted to know if it was worth all of the buzz. I switched between the audiobook and reading the ebook. I found both formats to be fine and didn’t really have a preference except for the convenience of the audiobook.

It’s not you, it’s me? I guess since this book is so popular the issue must be with me. I didn’t love this book but I also didn’t hate it. It’s sad to say but I literally have zero thoughts on it. I thought it was just meh/okay. It started out good and I liked both characters but as it kept going and going and yes, going I lost interest in all of it. I am a huge gamer and that aspect didn’t even save it for me. I also did not care for the author’s writing and the word choices she made. Overall, I’d say give it a try because just because it wasn’t for me doesn’t mean you won’t love it. I am definitely looking forward to discussing it with my club.

Thank you so much to the publisher for the gifted copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.