I was so excited to be granted an advanced readers copy for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I had already heard rave reviews about the book and it was one I was very much looking forward to.

I read this book on vacation, and my summer of 2022 vacation has been defined, in part, by grief over the death of a friend. I didn't realize how poignant this book would be. I also read this book slowly, due in part to being busy with the work of camping with kids, but also because while many of the video games mentioned in this book do not hold particular resonance to me, reading this made me feel nostalgic for the games I did have experience with. I found that playing Stardew Valley paired nicely with reading this book.

The truth is, you really don't need to have any relationship with video games to understand and relate to the characters and their experiences. Having some experience with games is like a bonus that opens up a depth of connection while reading. While not a pandemic book, this novel captures the experience of those of us who picked up Animal Crossing at the beginning of COVID-19. It captured what we were looking for, and why we gravitated towards that at that moment. Broadly, the themes of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow examine human connection, play, work, and how we process our world.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is primarily about Sam and Sadie, and their deep, long, haggard, and creative friendship. We journey with them from the beginning of their friendship as children in the 1980s into their middle age in the twenty-first century. We watch what binds them, what breaks them, and what brings them together. This book, even while being built on the framework of video games, is so deeply human. Reading it was simply lovely.

I loved reading this book on a Kindle, particularly because Gabrielle Zevin has a wide vocabulary and I found myself looking up the definition of many words, which is unusual for me while reading.

If you liked this book and are interested in picking up a video game that feels a lot like this book, I suggest Spiritfarer. Spiritfarer was not listed in this book, but the game feels so intentional and artful, and it deals with complicated feelings, as does this novel. Keep the Gates chapter in mind in particular while playing.

This was amazing!

Complicated relationships, self-delusion, anger, lies, misunderstandings, poor choices and not communicating take the two main characters Sadie Green and Sam Masur from their childhoods to their mid-thirties. They meet when kids in the hospital: Sadie's sister is there for cancer treatment, and Sam is there recovering from a car accident. They begin playing a computer game and gaming then becomes the background and foundation of their friendship, and carries them through their lives.

The two best friends, Sadie and Sam, have a interesting relationship; they both need each other, both emotionally and professionally, but neither really knows how to treat the other well, taking the other for granted or misconstruing motives of the other. It's an intense friendship, and Sam's university roommate and friend, Marx, is part of this messy situation, becoming first their tester, backer, then manager/producer. Also, Sam suffers from near constant pain from his childhood accident, and this adds to the tension, at times, in his interactions with Sadie, who often does not appreciate his suffering.

Though much of the book is about designing computer games, author Gabrielle Zevin actually concerns herself with the characters and their interactions and thoughts and trials as they grow up, rather than the technical aspects of programming games. It’s a sensitively and beautifully written story of friendship, living with a disability, and growing up.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I found the premise of this story to be super
intriguing, the focus on a long term friendship, in
particular drew me to this book. I love books that
focus on non-romantic relationships, and I also love a long timeline.
I totally see how so many people are loving this book, and calling it a favourite of the year. The long timeline and focus on the characters makes you care about what happens to them, and you get invested in their careers like they are really happening.
This ended up being a liked not loved book for me (which might have been partially due to the extreme hype). I'm not sure why, but I struggled to emotionally connect with the story and so the big moments didn't hit very hard for me. There were also a few plot choices that were made that made me groan because it was so not what I wanted to happen in the story.
I will say that the two chapters that follow a different format from the rest of the story did work well for me, even after being skeptical when they started. thought that they still fit well with the rest of the narrative and those were my favourite parts.
I would recommend giving this book a try, because I think there is a lot to like about it and I enjoyed the reading experience! I would highly suggest buying peaches before you get to ~page 300 because there is a description of how good peaches are that' I make you need to eat one immediately.

This one started off a bit slow for me, but by about 50 pages in I was hooked. Who would have ever thought a book about 2 people making video games would be so good. But honestly, it was the relationships of the characters that had me sticking around. I really liked the dynamic between Sam and Sadie. And Marx for that matter.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

* Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for providing a digital copy of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow in exchange of a honest review.

AMAZING. One of my favorite books of the year... I first ran to my local library to borrow a physical copy of the book because I couldn't put it down.. and than I ran to the book store to buy my physical copy because I loved it that much. The friendship is phenomenal, I identify so much with pretty much everybody even if I don't game... like never. I can't praise it enough. Do yourself a favor and READ IT PLEASE 🤍🤍🤍

I really enjoyed this book. It's a beautiful story of three friends and their lives as they grow up, and start to design video games together. It's a coming of age story filled with some traumas and challenges and interpersonal drama. All set with the backdrop of video games.

I'll be honest - I am not a video game fan. I have minimal knowledge just thru osmosis but I did still found this book really interesting. I really enjoyed the scenes where they were playing thru the games they had designed.

Overall a great book that was more about people and relationships than video games.

It's been years since I read Zevin's Storied Life of AJ Fikry, but I remember it being a love letter to booksellers, book stores, and the people who love them. This book is a love letter to video game designers, players, and those who love them. I am not a video game person, but I loved this book and I thank netgalley for the eARC I received.

Sam and Sadie met and bonded as children in a hospital where Sam was recovering and Sadie's sister was undergoing cancer treatment. But after a betrayal, their friendship abruptly ends. Years later, they reconnect and decide to work on a video game together. Thus begins a novel that sweeps over many years, multiple cities, and an on-again-off-again friendship.

There are some parts of this book that I think could have been cut down, but I still blazed through it in just a couple of days. I loved the very human and flawed characters in the novel - everyone makes mistakes, and bears responsibility for the misunderstandings and betrayals that drive the novel. I also loved how the format of the storytelling changed so many times throughout - it felt like as the games evolved, the storytelling also changed.

TW for: suicide, parental death, childhood cancer, medical trauma

This book was amazing. Character and plot drive, it was a propulsice read. I read it in three days and stayed up way to late to finish. Fantastic book!

This was a perfect summer read. I really appreciated the deep dive into this extraordinary friendship. I am here for books that explore all kinds of love that can exist between people, not just romantic love. I think this will make an excellent book club pick.

When I heard @gabriellezevin had a new novel coming out, I knew I had to read it as The Storied Life of AJ Fikry is an old favourite of mine. The cover alone had me sold.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a beautifully written character study about friendship, love, strength and perseverance. Zevin is adept at crafting these brilliant, complicated and real characters that tug at your heartstrings, yet also frustrate and confound you.

Tomorrow x 3 is centred around the friendship of Sam and Sadie, who, for all intents and purposes, are partners who create a popular video game that kickstarts a lucrative career in game development.

The story itself unfolds via multiple perspectives and time jumps between past and present and brilliantly much like a video game, is laced with tragedy, sadness, and challenges that require the two main characters to decide to persevere or succumb.

The author cleverly disguises her other characters as NPCs (or non playing characters) but really, they were so integral, so woven in to the development of both the plot and other characters, that when it finally came to the NPC perspective, the impact was emotionally catastrophic.

Overall, the story worked for me and I appreciated it’s depth and uniqueness. I do recommend this if you enjoy character driven novels that use a unique vocabulary. Bonus if you love gaming and were born in the 90s.

I received a #gifted copy of this book from the publisher.

I am torn about this book. The first third felt too slow, but I loved the process of sinking into the friendship between Sam and Sadie. These were characters I could love.
The second third was a good pace, but I started to dislike the characters.
The final third goes in surprising directions. The perspective and storytelling changes twice at end. It feels like different books. I didn't enjoy it. It really took me out of the story and world. I understand why it was done, but would have done something different.
I don't think this is a book that is going to stick with me which is unfortunate because it had potential.

Sam and Sadie meet in the hospital.
Sam has been in a terrible accident and hasn't spoken to anyone until Sadie Green enters the hospital game room and pays Nintendo with him.
When a chance encounter throws Sadie back into Sams orbit, their lives slingshot into a world of gaming, money, and fame.
With a story spanning thirty years, Sam and Sadies is one of friendship, betrayal, heartbreak, loss, successes and everything in between.

I am so torn with this book, the first half kind of dragged for me. I found myself a little bored with the story. By the second half, the story definitely picked up, but I found it to be very predictable and I called the ending pretty early on. But despite all that, I enjoyed the story and writing. The characters were well developed and I do love a coming of age story.
While this one may not have been a home run for me, I will definitely check out other works by this author.

I liked this book but didn't love it. It had so much going on but not enough to hold my attention throughout. There where a lot of topics covered such as video game designing, grief, depression, sick kids, relationships between friends, romantic partners and family. With Sadie it seemed like there was little to no character growth from her remaining stubborn and only slightly opening up towards the end. It only seemed like when Sadie and Sam were working on their first game together, that that was the only time that they could coincide with each other.

I did enjoy the 90's video game nostalgia and pop culture references, growing up with Donkey Kong and the first Nintendo myself. I also loved the pioneer chapter it was such a unique touch.

thank you to netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Gen X and elder millenials will love this book for its references to our favourite iconic video games. Oregon Trail anyone? It has the most lovable characters and reads like the video games the characters work hard to create. It’s a slow burn, but this book is hard to put down and you’ll need to find out just where these characters will end up. They’ll bring you through the range of emotions and have you cheering and annoyed all at the same time. A great read if you’re ok with a long slowly progressing story.

I am not a gamer and didn't know of any of the games mentioned in the book but I did enjoy the characters very much. It really showed the different personalities of people and what makes them tick.
The interaction of two friends and then a third one, makes life interesting and also shows the different ways that people think and interact together.
Good read.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with this free arc in exchange for an honest review.
I have heard about this author from other people and this book for me at least lived up to the hype that my friends have created.
This novel is about friendship and I loved it, it was refreshing to read something different than what I normally do and I had a great time doing so

I was putting this ARC off for a while because I was scared of it and I had every right to be. I almost feel like this novel was made for me. This novel is very much about video games, yes, but also about the love of creating and designing them - so this definitely kept me interested in the novel from beginning to end. Sam, Sadie and Marx are truly meaningful characters to me who absolutely hold the story and make readers care about every single thing that happens to them. I cried reading this multiple times because I felt so much for them (I related to Sadie so much). I also really enjoyed the different techniques Zevin used within the novel (some chapters that were in second person, some chapters that took place inside a video game); it was unique and fresh and I really enjoyed it. I don't think there was any way for me to read this game and not love it.

This is a novel about friendship, love, gaming and life. Sadie Green and Sam Masur meet as children and create a deep bond over video games. Their childhood obsession blooms into a video game collaboration, which sky-rockets their careers. The novel bounces back and forth in time, telling the separate stories of Sadie, Sam and their friend Marx, as well as weaving their stories together. Although video games are the base of the novel, there are much deeper themes at play.

I loved the characters in this novel, and I grew particularly fond of Marx. There were times when I was loving the plot and times when I felt it was missing something. Overall, I enjoyed the read. Gabrielle Zevin is the author of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, which I really enjoyed and why I decided to read this book (plus Instagram made me do it).

I admit, I didn't even look at the description of Gabrielle Zevin's new novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. I picked it up as one of her past books, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. is a favourite of mine.

So, it was a surprise going in. Video games play a large part of the book and that is immediately introduced. And I thought, this book isn't for me. But then I was drawn in... Zevin's imagined games are fascinating and yes, they beckon to the reader to come in and be a part of them. (I was truly fascinated by the details of designing games and the reasoning behind certain decisions.)

On first meeting the adult characters, I thought - oh, I'm not keen on them at all. And then I realized how 'real' they were. Zevin hasn't sugar coated anything. Each and everyone of them has strengths and weaknesses. And yes, I was talking out loud quite often, questioning the actions, decisions and paths that Zevin sets her players on. They were perfect in their realistic portrayal. All of the emotions you can think of are found in the lives of Sadie, Sam, Marx over the course of decades. The supporting characters are just as well drawn. And I was completely immersed in their lives. Each of the lead three is given a voice and we are privy to their thoughts, emotions and actions.

And where do all those years take the three? Sometimes where I wanted and often where I didn't want to go. But again, Zevin has written "the good, the bad and the ugly' paths for her characters to travel. Just as we do.

I was so very wrong - I loved it. Don't wait for tomorrow - pick up a copy of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow today.

I enjoyed the story and the characters. It kept you interested and it was interesting learning about the gaming world. Gabrielle Zevin's writing flows well.