
Member Reviews

A richly imagined, wonderfully written story of relationships, identity, generations, & connections.
I've been a great fan of this author & have adored her last two books. Unfortunately I think the gaming theme played too central a role in this narrative for me to fully connect.
With great thanks to NetGalley & Knopf Doubleday for this e-ARC!

I loved this book. I savored the story of friendship, work, love, loss, tragedy, and success. Even though a lot of the book is set in the recent past (90s and early 2000s) and there's a lot of video game nostalgia (Donkey Kong, Mario, Oregon Trail), the story is fresh and unique. You do not have to be a gamer to enjoy this book though some familiarity (like myself) is probably helpful. The book is unique in its story telling and foreshadowing and switching between time periods. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.
Check content warnings if you need it. While not a heavily triggering book there are aspects (particularly if the 2022 news cycle is problematic for you) that you may want to know if in advance if that impacts your reading.
Thank you to Knopf Publishing Group at Netgalley for the electronic copy.

The characters in this book are perfect. I became invested in their lives and relationships early on. However, I did find parts of the book to be slow and maybe even a little boring (which is why I did not give 5 ⭐) There is a heavy focus on video gaming in the story, which may have been why I was bored at times. Although I am happy to play video games from time to time, I am not a gamer. That being said, I think this is a must read for anyone interested in ever changing relationships between people in love (but not in a romantic relationship!)
Sam and Sadie meet in a hospital when they are children. They form an immediate bond over video games. The book follows their relationship over decades. Their relationship changes through it all, despite their overwhelming love for one another. There are years that they don’t speak, years that they are business partners (with a friend who becomes Sadie’s lover) They are there for one another during pain, growth, loss, failure and overwhelming success.
A beautifully written story about the natural changes in relationships. How some are there through the good, bad and inbetween, while others only last a season.
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy!

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is my fourth of Gabrielle Zevin’s novels. My excitement for this release is solely due to my love of the previous three books read: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, and Young Jane Young. On the surface the books seem very different, yet all include memorable characters with complicated relationships that the author deftly navigates the readers through.
The tale of Sadie and Sam felt like an epic journey of love, loss, and tumultuous resets. The structure, language, and obscure vocabulary sprinkled thoughout all worked to build this fictional world that I found myself deeply immersed. I felt a strong sense of nostalgia for the 90’s. The references to Oregon Trail, Frogger, and Duck Hunt in particular warmed my heart and made me smile. My only qualm is that the ending felt slightly unsatisfying. I am not at all convinced that Sadie and Sam have grown enough to nurture a healthy friendship; as such, I fear they are destined to fall back into their respective roles. Nonetheless, this story and these characters will remain with me for a long time.

My best book of 2022 and an all time favorite. (Also a book of the month selection.) And, I’m not even a gamer. I don’t even like board games. A uniquely original and wonderful story about friendship and collaborators, and how life’s traumas and insecurities fuel our creativity. A book I did not want to end. FYI I also loved author’s last book Young Jay Young, although this is an entirely different book. It’s a real talent to not keep writing the same kind of books.

I began reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow with a bit of unease that this latest novel from Gabrielle Zevin would not live up to the buzz. After finishing this one (with tears streaming down my face), I can say the high praise for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is so well deserved in my mind.
Zevin portrayed each character’s evolution with such authenticity that I found myself highlighting constantly. The seamless way the story switched from present to past and back again seemed to make the pacing flow effortlessly. The characters’ storylines intertwined in a way that felt vastly different from other authors’ works. Each character’s personality was unique and so well crafted. Even minor characters played roles that felt invaluable to the plot. It’s no easy feat to create a book that accurately depicts the flawed beauty of unconditional friendship, which is why this read is on my favorites list for 2022.
Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review. I also purchased my own audiobook copy upon publication.

I really enjoyed this story. I requested it for the author bc I've read another book, but I enjoyed this one much more! I loved the behind the scenes of making video games! I enjoyed the friendship/love of the two MCs. I liked the setting and the real world events equated with the times. I recommend this read, even if you aren't a gamer bc I am not!

ALL the stars for one of my favorite reads of the year. This was just so good. I loved these characters and this was the kind of book that I wanted to stay up all night to finish but simultaneously didn’t want to end. It made my nerdy heart so happy.
Thank you to Knopf Doubleday for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What a special book! I have zero interest in video games but that did not matter at all. These characters and their stories are so unique - flawed & damaged, love interests & friends, struggling with issues of identity, loyalty & belonging - I loved each of them so much. This book is so smart and the worlds created here, both in and out of the game, are fantastic.

Wow, this book was unlike anything I have ever read before. It masterfully alternates between POV, first and third person, as well as format. I was enthralled and enraptured by every word, every character, and every video game created.

I love stories in which the main characters are introduced earlier in their lives, and then we get to see them grow up together. I really enjoyed that aspect of this book, it is a great coming of age story. I also enjoyed the video game aspect of it, which was something different than I have ever read before. The older Sadie got though, the more she rubbed me the wrong way. I can see why she would think the way she did, working in a male dominated field, but she never even tried to understand or ask Sam about a lot of the assumptions she made when they were adults. There were parts of the story that made it feel super long, but for the most part it flowed well and was interesting.

For the first few days, I had no idea how to feel about this book. It's so different from what I usually read. But I found that it was beautifully layered. I loved the 90s nostalgia throughout as well! Go into it with an open mind and forget what you know about the genre.

Two friends, Sadie and Sam, often in love but never lovers, pair up to design video games that make them successful - but success isn't everything...
Gabrielle Zevin is one of my favorite authors, and I have read everything she wrote so far (my favorite was the first I read from her, Elsewhere). But this one was not for me. I enjoyed the nostalgia from the '80s-'90s, and I wanted to love this, but I'm not much into video games and this book was very much video-game-oriented and full of the sphere's lingo that lost me. I also found the relationship between a married teacher and his student very cringey. Also, the character development took a long time (this is a long book, but I didn't see much character development until the very end). I'm sure if you are into video games, you will enjoy this story about friendship over time!
I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A gaming friendship spans 30 years in this novel. This platonic friendship is built in their youth through adulthood. These characters experience hardship, love, loss and the renewal to start again together. Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a love story that explores what is love across friends. It does contain a lot gaming references which helps to frame the bond between the characters.
This novel took me by surprise - it is truly an original novel.
Thank you Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the advance reader copy.

Everyone go read this book!!! It is amazing!!!
At first I was worried that the video game aspect would be over my head. But it’s so well written and really just provides a backdrop for the characters story. I actually found it really interesting to read about.
This is a story about friendship and how the love of friends changes overtime. I loved the main characters and found them relatable in their strengths and their flaws. Even when the characters were being frustrating they felt real and their stories resonated with me. There is just so much love and heartbreak in this story I couldn’t put it down.
This is one of my new favorites and I definitely recommend!

I was really excited about this one as I’ve seen so many people recommending it and I’ve got to say it didn’t land for me. I was already on the fence with a story about video games but a lot of people said the 90s and pop culture references made it so much more. I disagree.
There were moments that I liked and a plot twist two-thirds the way through that got me in my feels but overall I felt very underwhelmed with it. There was a lot of video game jargon and references to games I didn’t know. The characters were likeable and I was rooting for their friendship. After the plot twist, I really lost interest with the writing style and story line.
Overall, I was just really ready for the book to be over.

✨ Review ✨ Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
CW: this has a pretty serious moment of gun violence and if you want to know more, please feel free to message me.
This book is absolutely brilliant. The storytelling was immersive and the style evolved throughout the book, leaving me struggling to put this down. The book starts with Sam and Sadie, childhood friends, now crossing paths during their college years at MIT and Harvard. They join together with Sam's roommate and best friend Marx to create a video game together. The book moves from present to past and back again, contextualizing throughout the book, in a way that feels so beautifully written, to tell the story of these friends and their journey to make video games together.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: literary fiction
Location: Boston and Los Angeles
Pub Date: Out now
This book celebrates video games, and might be a bit over the top if gaming isn't your jam, but with that said, I think anyone can get into this book whether you're a gamer or not. I loved how it reflected on storytelling innovation in games, and how this was mirrored back in the text of the story -- it felt very meta but not in an overbearing way.
While the characters were born before me, the pop culture references really resonated with me, as well as the feelings characters explored like loneliness, perfectionism, etc. I'm probably in the peak target audience for this book, and I'm not sure that it will be a hit with all readers, but I really loved it, and can't wait to pick it up again someday!
I listened to much of this as an audiobook and really liked the narration. It worked well on audio, I thought, and recommend this as an option!
Read this if you like:
⭕️ video games and creative narrative storytelling
⭕️ 80s/90s/00s nostalgia and nerdy pop culture
⭕️ platonic love stories
Thanks to Knopf and #netgalley for an e-copy of this book!

I have to admit, I did not think a book about video games would make me cry as much as it did. Sadie and Sam go through so much together and I love their friendship. I’m glad that they never become a romantic couple because it makes their friendship so much more special and real.
There are moments where I hated Sam, and moments where I hated Sadie. But that’s life, isn’t it? People learn from their mistakes and grow as people. This book is tragic and beautiful, and non-gamers and gamers alike will find something to love.
I feel like the author ripped out my heart and absolutely stomped on it, and for that, Gabrielle Zevin, I thank you.
“‘What is a game?’ Marx said. ‘It’s tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It’s the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing, you could win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever.’”

I requested this book from Netgalley on a whim. I read the description and thought the idea of a non-love story about best friends sounded good. Then it dropped to the bottom of my TBR pile. The publication date was suddenly upon me and I hadn't read the book! I started this on the night before publication and if I was not a grown up with obligations then I would have read this through the night. Sadie, Sam, and Marx came alive on the page and I was in their world.
Their world is one of play. Who doesn't love to play? It starts with Sadie and Sam playing Oregon Trail and we watch them learn, grow, play, and love over thirty years. The characters are fully three dimensional and you feel like you are there in the hospital with Sam as he mourns a loss and Sadie festers about missing Space Camp due to her sister's cancer. Then you're in Boston attending Harvard and MIT. They meet Marx. They meet Dov. They learn to create games they love.
There are horrible things that happen to these characters because it's a story about life so of course horrible things happen. And they are terrible to each other, but through it all there is an under current of love. The affection each feels for the other is palpable on the page. They can be infuriating, but you want the best for all of them.
This book is perfection to me. I already don't know how I can move on to the next book. The references to all things Gen X, the games, the friendships, the play, and all the many other things in this book are wonderful. The change in POV is seamless and daring at times - the portion within a game is well written and you find yourself caring about avatars. I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone who has ever had a group of friends who were your world. There is something for everyone to take away from this novel. Pick up a copy, find a comfortable place to read it in one sitting, and enjoy!

The cover is what draws you in.
The writing keeps you reading.
Gaming experience is not required.