I started reading this as soon as I received it from NetGalley, but I put it down after a week, deciding I wasn't the right audience for the story. After hearing it recommended by the Amazon Books guru on a morning news show, I decided to give it another chance. I'm so glad I did.

The framework for the story--video game programming--was just the scaffolding, which couldn't convey the depth of interest I found in character development, relationships among friends and lovers, betrayals, assumptions tainted by experience and disappointments, twists and turns, and the book's sober ending.

I finished reading with great respect for the complex characters, the author and the story's uniqueness among modern novels.

A true gift of a novel that opens your eyes to new ways of seeing relationships, art, and the journey of time.

Such an amazing book. I loved the character arcs, the gaming vibes, and following the friendship over time. It’s a long read but worth it.

I was hesitant to read the b/c it's about gamers, but I ended up loving the story of Sophie, Sam and Marx. Sophie and Sam meet as children over their love of gaming and reconnect as college students. Marx is Sam's roommate and they start a company together. It was a novel about love and friendship and work and it all just came together beautifully.

When deciding if I wanted to read this book, I saw one review that said it was the best book ever. Hmmm... a high bar, but ultimately, it did not reach anywhere near that level.

Yes, it was good, but it felt about 1,000 pages too long. Sadie and Sam meet as children in a hospital where Sam is a patient and Sadie is there to visit her sister. They play some games together and a friendship for life was formed. Once they get to college IMIT and Harvard) they reestablish this friendship and start making games together. Their games are good, very good in fact and a business is formed with Sam's friend Marx as producer.

Over the years they create games that millions love to play. The business aspect is successful, but the friendship has the ego issues to deal with so it's a rocky road. We all know 3 people cannot always play nicely together.

I won't say more, but it is worth reading if you have a ton of free hours. Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a story! I can see why it got all the hype. I loved the friendship between the two main characters and how it followed them through the years/stages of their lives.

I wish we could have followed them for a little bit longer, but that's my only gripe. This story gets all the stars!

I never thought a #book about video games would have my heart, but oh my goodness this one makes you feel every emotion under the sun. Bonus points for the brilliant use of the Hokusai Wave 🌊 #bookcover and it’s role in the story.

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An unlikely friendship in California formed in a hospital arcade room turns into a later partnership and a video game empire shared between Sadie Green and Samsun Masur, with the complicated friendship, unrequited love, and business partnership of this unlikely duo setting the backdrop for their lives, as they struggle with disabilities, relationships both good and bad, creative failures, creative successes, death, and more, from Massachusetts to Venice Beach.

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I cannot do this one justice - it is poetic, deep, and philosophical in so many ways.

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I will say, though - I struggled with my thoughts on Sadie. I found most of the time that her behavior and treatment of Mazer was wholeheartedly undeserved, petty, and ridiculous. I was not a fan even though at times I understood her pain and struggles.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin!

I feel there is not much else that can be said about this book. I really enjoyed this book! I do like video games, but you don’t need to know about them to like this book. It is a bit of a long read, but that didn’t stop me from loving it.

Gabrielle Zevin is one of my favorite authors and she does not disappoint in her newest story. While this is a story about gaming and the people and industry that creates these games, the themes that are central to the core of the book are far reaching. I am not a gamer, but yet found that part of the book fascinating. Friendship, lovers, expectations, depression, heartbreak, death, disappointment and sheer joy and disabilities are just some of the topics covered. The book is a roller coaster ride of emotions and everyone will find themselves or their situation in there somewhere among the quirky wit that puts Zevin at the top of her game. A great read. Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday for providing me with an Arc to review.

Definitely a sweet story for almost anyone, although I have a hard time understanding why it has been chosen as Book of the Year for various groups. The story is centered largely on a triparte friendship between Sadie Green, Sam Masur, and Marx Wanatabe. The three are video game developers who eventually end up owning their own developing firm. Sadie and Sam have been friends for decades, stemming back to Sadie's 600+ hours of visiting Sam in the hospital as he recovered from a serious injury. Marx comes into the picture much later to fund development of one of Sadie and Sam's games. The story is a very slow burn. Although you need not know anything about video games to enjoy it, the description and development of various games will not be for everyone and seems to drag out. I wanted more of the personal stories and relationships between the three characters than development of the games. The chapter regarding Marx's reflection on life (no spoilers!) was one of the best chapters I've ever read in a book - I wanted more of that!

I find it hard to care about video games. I study computer science at university, and with awareness of the intricacy of their development, I still find it difficult to care. Thus, an entire book centered around the significance and art of video games was never really going to emotionally resonate with me. It’s also practically daring me to fact check it on its game dev content. This book makes game dev look spectacularly easier than it actually is. The video game industry is one of the most brutal of an already brutal sector; it’s a money-making factory that, due to the demand of constant upgrades, is known for working its employees cruelly and unjustly. It does make a conscious effort to depict it accurately, and some of the ease can be accounted for by its time period, but it's still doomed to be frustrating. Also, if such is going to be used to justify it’s stilted portrayal of the industry (“it’s not like today!”), then I would have expected much more nostalgia. Instead, I frequently forgot that this was historical fiction, technically.
Beyond my somewhat unsubstantiated dislike of video game centered novels, the other confounding influence to my opinion is the fact that this book is essentially the prequel to Ready Player One that no one asked for. It could, with little modification necessary, be a novellization of the three people who start the RP1 VR world–even down to the sexual envy one of the founders feels for the other. Ready Player One was a deeply flawed novel, and its sequel was quite possibly one of the worst books I have ever read. Perhaps the ties to this book have tainted my reading experience–truly, this reads as the fanfiction origin story of the creator’s of Ready Player One’s universe.
Video games aside, RP1 comparisons aside–the strength of this novel is in its characters, and this, at least, I have little to gripe about. The two characters that carry us through the novel are deeply flawed. I would also like to credit the female characters for where said credit is due; gaming women, more so than many other female demographics, are reduced to manic pixie dream girls with impeccable trigger fingers (I glare, pointedly, at Ernest Cline). She was so truly flawed. Horrible, so frequently. Selfish, so frequently. Still, in the dichotomy between her and Sam, the author allowed her to be annoying and unlikeable in a genre that rarely allows its characters to do so. The response I had to her as a reader was so strong; stronger than a character had inflicted on me in a while, try as much recently released literary fiction might. Some of the choices she made, especially regarding her abusive teacher relationship, could have been clarified (currently, I’m having to give the author the benefit of the doubt on a couple points), and I think the writing fell flat when the characters moved out of their heads and interacted with each other. But, it still stands that Sadie was flawed in a literary space and metaphorical one where that isn’t usually allowed.
Since receiving this ARC, this book has been launched to stratospheric popularity–one of the biggest books of the year. While for one, this is a sad reminder that I should be on top of my Netgalley reviews or face the consequences, it also demonstrates how I could never predict literary trends if I tried. I didn’t think this book would be big–as aforementioned, it's a rewrite of RP1 with actual character development–and I don’t really think it deserves the astronomical acclaim it's wrought. It’s not the worst book the internet could have picked to be its darling, but I’m, once again, left a little confused as to what made it so.

I wasn't sure I was going to like this book, but it was masterful written. Wistful, sad, and full of questions about how our relationships contain layers of meaning. It got me interested in the technology behind video games. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, because at its core this book is about the power of friendship and forgiveness,

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this ARC! I’m very behind on reading this, but I’m so glad I did read it.

This is beautifully tragic and raw coming of age story. I really enjoyed all the video games and Shakespeare references, two things that you would never think would work together, but did. This was my first read by this author, but I’m looking forward to reading more.

This book tells the story of Sam and Sadie who meet in childhood and bond over a shared love of video games at a time when they both needed a friend. Zevin weaves a story taking them into their late 30's as they navigate life through its ups and downs. There are many poignant moments in the book with some lines I will reread. Though this book has the backdrop of the video game industry, it is a book about relationships. I would recommend this book to most anyone except those that desire a fast page burner suspense.

As a lover of video games and stories about the complexities of friendships that sometimes might be more, I knew I would love this book.

It surprised me, made me cry, and made me think about life and art and how we find meaning.

Agreeing with the hype here. This one is fantastic. Heavy and heartbreaking at times, with some clumsy linguistic choices in the first chapter or so, but well worth a read.

I had heard a lot of glowing reviews for it beforehand. Maybe I went in with too much expectation because of those reviews, but this one was just ok for me.

Sadie and Sam become childhood friends at a hospital where Sadie’s sister is being treated. They share a love of video games and a friendship that lasts a lifetime ensues. The book has well developed characters and relationships, but left me wanting something more from it.

Amazing, amazing, amazing!! Easily my favourite book of 2022, and I’m still thinking about it months on. I truly don’t have the words for how much I loved this book.

Such a powerful story. Really enjoyed it. This book made my heart ache. It’s my first time reading a book by the author Gabriel Zavin and I am very impressed!

I went into this book completely blind, and I'm glad I did.

Saw it everywhere and decided to give it a shot and requested it on NetGalley. They accepted, and now here we are.

This book has a bit of a slow start, but once you get through the hump, you are captivated.

This book made me feel like I was alongside Sadie and Sam going through their rollercoaster of friendship. If you are expecting a friends-to-lovers trope, this is not for you. This book is raw, messy, and complicated. Sam needs to learn how to communicate better, and Sadie needs therapy, lol, but I love them. The trauma they went through, and the way they have always been there for each other in one way or another.

I hope everyone has a friend willing to go to the other side of the country for you, I know I do, and just like Sam and Sadie, I am fortunate.

Thank you, NetGalley, Gabrielle Zevin, and Knopf publishing, for my e-arc.

This was a change-up from my usual read, and wow. I didn't think I would be interested in the story, but a friend told me to ignore the video game thing. The story was worth it, and she did not lie. This was a story over decades about friendship, trust, grief, and becoming comfortable with yourself. Be prepared to sob. Highly recommended.