Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for an opportunity to review this book!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a story of two childhood friends who lost touch and meet again as college students in a subway station. At that moment they reignite their friendship and creativity to inevitably create a blockbuster hit game Ichigio. The story follows the two individuals over the course of 30 years through love, friendship and betrayal.

I was absolutely drawn to the premise of this story as a casual gamer myself I believed I would be the perfect audience for this type of story. Unfortunately, by the 65% mark I quickly began losing interest in the story line and characters.

Characters:

I enjoyed Sam as a character. I felt that his behavior based on his previous experiences in life made sense. I absolutely despised how toxic his relationship with Sadie was. Sadie’s character grinded my nerves and I think the way the author portrayed her character was well done if that was the intent.. As a reader, it was frustrating to read such a toxic relationship that could have merely been fixed by having a level headed conversation. As both character’s carry their own baggage with them they give themselves excuses to not address these conversations and it just ends up in a disaster of a car crash we are all watching happen in slow motion. Outside of Sam and Sadie I think Marx was extremely refreshing and well developed as a supporting character.

Plot:

The plot itself evolved slowly as this is more of a character based read. The inclusion of flashbacks and forwards helped with maintaining my interest only for the first half of the book but as the story lines became clearer I became less engaged in my desire to know how the story ended. I didn’t feel any particular pull or connection with either main character throughout the entire story and I’m not sure if it was because I wasn’t able to sit with a character long enough in the beginning in the book to settle in to who they were and why I should care. By the time that was all revealed it was too late for me as a reader to connect.
The second half of the book completely disconnected me. I could predict that more “events” would take place to spice the narrative up and add more conflict and I did not enjoy that. As I hit the later end of the book I was read for the story to be over. I think it also dragged out for me and could have been 100 pages shorter and had the same effect.

Writing:
It was mentioned that those who aren’t gamers would enjoy this story and I think that is not the case. There is a lot of information in this book in regards to gaming and game development that I believe someone with zero interest will not enjoy outside the themes of discussion. I think the knowledge base is great and refreshing personally to read myself but not all readers are gamers and I think this could narrow the reading audience a bit.

The themes explored within this book friendship, love, disability, toxic relationships, death, trauma, and sexism. I think Sam’s themes were handled well and seem genuinely developed. Sadie’s story line came off to me as unbelievable. I personally just did not get on with her character at all which gave me feelings of frustration and anger when she was on page.

Who would I recommend this book to?

General fiction readers who have an interest in gaming or fiction readers who like explorations of trauma or self would find intrigue in this story. For individuals who hate gamers/gaming, I would caution them with reading as the game development and gaming aspects may disconnect them from the themes discussed.

I loved the characters and the development of their relationships over time, but I had a difficult time getting into the video gaming aspect of the story. This is my reason for the 3 stars instead of 4.

Sam Masir steps out if a subway car and sees a vision from his past. Sadie Green is standing there and he is completely shocked. How is he in Cambridge Ma and she is right there with him? He calls her name and she pretends not to hear.. then he calls her name again and she turns his way. This meeting sets them up for 30 plus years of friendship and partnership.. they both are in school Ma, Harvard and MIT. They are both gamers and this meeting helps them create one of the most popular games of all times. With this success comes many positives and some negatives. I really enjoyed this story. Their honest friendship and relationship was so good. As the years passed the author really captured their individuality and their work life balance, beautifully.. I enjoyed the story and I really liked the characters as well.. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin was a four star read for me. I want to thank Netgalley & the author for my copy, for an honest review.. at first it didn’t seem like my kind of read but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. I hope you enjoy it too!!!

Fantastic! Love a good coming-of-age story, especially from my age range. Made me kind of want to play some of those video games from when I was a kid.

I am completely and utterly wrecked by this book. To try and sum up the story succinctly is impossible. At the barest minimum the story is about Sam and Sadie, two childhood friends who reconnect while they are in college in the 90s to develop a game and their life from that point on. Except that it is so much more than that. This book is a story of love and of loss, betrayal and loyalty, and most importantly of lifelong friendships. As a reader I went from fully loving and then distrusting to loving again almost every character in this book. It resonated with me as a reader because who hasn't had friendships like this, where the relationship ebbs and flows throughout your lifetime. I wish to find my one true love like Sam and Sadie have found in each other, whether they know it or not.

This book made me wish I was more of a gamer than I am. Even though I am not a big gamer, the story still certainly resonated with me. The sense of nostalgia this book brought was impressive while not being too kitschy. Also, personally love the characters of Sam's grandparents Don Hyun and Bong Cha; their appearances throughout the novel came at always the perfect time and they had perfect wisdom like most grandparents do.
It was truly a beautiful story and the characters of Sam and Sadie will stay with me for a long time to come. I cannot wait to read this book again and recommend it to all of my friends. Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for provided a copy of this brilliant and beautiful novel. All the opinions in this review are my own.

This was a lovely book. Its beginning and end were great, I def cried at the end. The middle of the book felt like a slog.

“Video games don’t make people violent but maybe they falsely give you the idea that you can be a hero.”

Let me start this by saying that I love love loved The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, so that is quite a book to live up to. Maybe it was that or maybe it is just my moody self, but this one did not wow me the way Fikry did. I very much enjoyed the characters and their trajectory. I loved the gaming aspect which gave me some Ready Player One vibes. But I honestly felt like the last half could have been cut by at least 100 pages as I struggled to stay invested in the story all the way to the end.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Knopf Doubleday Publishing, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve already recommended this book to everyone I know. I love stories that follow relationships for decades. While it’s certainly a long book, I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on any of the story.

I really enjoyed this book! The characters came alive for me, as did the settings. You don’t need to be a video game player to enjoy this book, but it may make you want to play Oregon trail, donkey Kong, and the og mario brothers one more time!

Have bought for library collection and already placing on staff picks wall. Good book with great discussion.

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story about games - all kinds of games. It's also a story about life, love, growing up, self-discovery, pain and grief, and what it means to be a partner. It's masterfully written and not to be missed.

I waited a while to read this book because I just knew it was going to break my heart. And it did. There's so much joy and so much pain and it is handled with the utmost respect and care. It stitched my heart back together, too. Every moment, no matter how dark or lonely or painful, is full of hope. It might not be obvious but you can feel it. It's an integral part of the fabric of Sadie and Sam's story.

Their story is told in a weirdly linear and nonlinear fashion. It's not always my favorite narrative because it's hard to do well but Zevin nails it. You immediately fall into the story and the time jumps work. They make sense and they fit and the story couldn't be told any other way.

If you're a gamer, you'll love this. If you're not a gamer, you'll love this. It's beautiful and moving and gut-wrenchingly sad and 1000% worth reading.

Enjoyed this wonderful story of friendship told through the voices of three friends. The common element of video games created a bond that endured for many years. Even if you know nothing about video games, Zevin has created unforgettable characters and a plot to withstand the ages. Highly recommend.

Wow! I am not a "gamer" so it took me awhile to read this after I downloaded it. And I thought it was kind of slow as it started out, but when I hit about 39% it suddenly got interesting for me. So, don't give up! Yes, it is a story of a group of friends making games and opening a business, but the book isn't really about the games. It is more about the friendship that started between Sadie and Sam when they were very young, and how, no matter how many fights they had and after many misunderstandings, they somehow always found their way back to each other. Is it a love story between them? Yes, but they never really connect in a romantic way, and their friend Marx is also always there for them. I was glad that I finally got around to reading this book. Thanks, NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday for the chance.

Loved this novel about friendship, love, and the power of storytelling. There's something in this book for everyone, and the carefully drawn relationships were a highlight, as were the conversations about romantic vs. platonic love, gender dynamics, and grief. I've already recommended widely!

I really loved the first 30% of this book. Found the prose to be devastatingly beautiful. I ranted to everyone who would listen how beautiful this book was. I loved the direction it was going and I would still recommend this book to others but I felt that it dragged on too long. It was much too long, it created a messy world in the end and the pivotal moment where things changed... without going into spoilers kind of ruined it for me. Maybe it's the state of the world and where we are that it felt too gratuitous but I didn't love that and felt like I had to drag myself to even finish after that.

Everyone became unlikable, the charming coming of age story I was enjoying turned bitter and the dynamic between the characters lost its luster for me. Also, the forward looking reviews etc were a little distracting.

It seems like I'm the last person on the internet to have read this book but at last, I made it. I was unsure about picking this one up mostly because it's a book centered around video games and quite frankly, that's not my thing. However, everyone on earth had incredible things to say about this so I couldn't be left out. Let me start by saying I loved this book in the beginning- it immediately felt like YA but for adults somehow, if that makes sense. I thought it would continue with the typical young kids turn from friends to lovers while becoming coworkers vibe, however that's not what this was. In general, the writing was good and I ended up being really intrigued by the overall game production parts despite having no interest in video games whatsoever. I liked these characters at surface level but there was so much jumping from character to character and from past to present that it left a lot to be desired since I didn't have the time to invest myself in each story before jumping to the next. I realize this is totally a personal preference and it's not that I didn't like this book; I did. It just wasn't my taste. I'd still recommend giving it a try seeing as I'm seriously in the minority on this one!

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a beautiful depiction of a male-female friendship's evolution, from the Harvard campus to the gaming industry in LA. As a university student, I related deeply to the parts of the novel where the characters where in college.

“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow / creeps in this petty pace from day to day / to the last syllable of recorded time…”

🕹👾🎮

I loved this book. I gave it all the stars. I made family and friends read it. I’ll probably listen to the audiobook before the end of the year.

You don’t have to love video games to love this book. It’s a love story to them, sure. But, it’s so much more than that. It’s a tender portrayal of friendship. Oh, and it’s a love story of a kind as well.

🕹👾🎮

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this gem with me. All thoughts are my own.

“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.”

Quirky, immersive, and wholly unexpected.

Drenched in hardship, this {non-romantic} love story was even more compelling because of its foundation in the need for evolution.

I finished this book in July and have been thinking about it ever since. It has sat deeply in my soul in a way words cannot properly express… though I’ll try…

Tomorrow x3 is told at a meandering pace. It’s meant for contemplation. With stunning prose, the writing is richly detailed and multilayered. Deeply emotive, the novel journeys through pain, overcoming, grief, and loneliness, yet finds hope throughout.

While I’ve never been much of a gamer, Zevin’s usage of it as a vehicle for storytelling was compelling. Gaming provided a unique platform of discovery and connection between Sam and Sadie that felt organic and authentic and not achievable otherwise.

There’s so much more I loved about this book…
Dynamic side characters (Marx!!!)
Coming of age focus that made me sentimental
That 80s, 90s, 00s nostalgia
Look at the evolution of relationships over decades

Hyped books are often hard to judge, but the hype is well earned in this one. This book will stay with me tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

I partnered the physical and audio version of this book. Narrated by Jennifer Kim and Julian Cihi, the depiction is well executed and adept. But overall, I preferred the physical book, particularly in game play sections.

Many thanks to my partners @prhaudio and @librofm for #gifted audiobook.

I really liked this book about of Sadie and Sam, who meet as 12 year olds and sustain an on-again, off-again friendship and business partnership over the course of their teens, 20s and 30s. I like how throughout the course of the book you get to learn more and more about these two, as well as about the third main character Marx. At times the book got a little to clever/gimmicky for its own good - no spoilers, so I won't describe those parts here - but I am willing to overlook those because the story itself was so good. You do not need to be a video gamer or into computer programming to appreciate the inside look into that world. We chose this for book club and it lead to some good discussions.
Recommend.

NOTE: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.