Stunningly beautiful. I’m no longer much of one to reread a book, but I’m already planning to do so with this title. I adore it - a love story at the heart, but meticulously crafted within the world of video games. Five stars.

It took me a minute to get into it, but the characters and so we’ll-written and interesting I got sucked in. I cried, I laughed, I nodded along to the references (I must be the exact age of the protagonists).

I absolutely adore The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and I was super excited about her newest release, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Set at the dawn of the video game age, Sam and Sadie have been friends since childhood when they, as seniors at separate elite universities, decide to try making their own game. Teaming up with Sam's roommate as producer, the three of them become famous in the world of gaming. There are successes and failures, loves and losses, and heartbreak both temporary and permanent. These characters are brilliant and brilliantly written. They are flawed and perfect in the most wonderful way.

The push and pull of friendship and the various kinds of love in this novel give it so much heart. The prose is beautiful. Zevin forces the reader to see her characters and so is drawn into their adventure and plight. I truly enjoyed this book. It was a fast read that kept me up too late at night. I hope you'll read and enjoy it, too.

I was slow in reading this, but I’m glad I did. What a great story of friendship, love, and video games. I’m not a gamer, but I really enjoyed learning about the game design process through the eyes of Sadie and Sam. There were some skippable pages for me (explicit content), but overall a great book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc.

What a beautiful novel. I am just past the age where I ever cared about video games, but I sure know and care about friendships, work and the sacrifices needed for success, the desire to transcend reality, and the need to connect with other human beings, and ultimately, that’s what this book cares about most.

That said, along the way, you learn about the nuts and bolts and commercial imperatives of the video game industry, and author Zevin writes with a real command and confidence.

Zevin writes with a light touch, and by the end of this engaging novel you understand and love two highly-flawed, highly-gifted artists. A wonderful read.

Many thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the ARC.

I enjoyed this unique book. The love story has layer upon layer featuring the love between people, love of the work you do, love of the place you work, the games you play, and who you play them with. This tale of gamers is a book filled with entertainment, fascinating characters, and an in depth look at what it takes to be a successful game designer.

The main characters, Sadie and Sam, meet while Sam is undergoing rehab on his foot after a terrible accident and Sadie is at the hospital with her parents while her sister is undergoing treatment. They become best friends after a difficult start, which lays the foundation for their story. There are many interesting, strong characters in this tale filling out the story for the reader. I enjoyed meeting Ms. Zevin’s imagination and her characters. It is a fun read.

However, I found it overlong and a little pretentious. That does not mean I would not recommend this book, just a note to prepare you for a long journey through lifelong gamers lives. If you have ever wondered what it took to become successful in the gamer’s world, this might help satisfy your questions. And it is a fun read.

Wonderful book! Many people bring up the video game plot, but really this is a story of friends with complicated relationships and how they evolve from kids to college to adults. The video game part of it (which is the main part of the plot to be fair) was well done for the average reader. I do not play video games and while there were a few times I didn't understand something they mentioned, I never felt like that took away from my experience with the book. It had a satisfying and realistic ending which is always something I look for in books.

Thank you so much to netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review

If you are person who likes gaming or building video games this book might really speak to you.
This is a character driven story in which we see Sadie and Sam meet as children and bond over their love of video games. After a falling out they reunite in college to build a video game and with the success of this video game they build a video game empire along with their producer and arguably the only friend in the book, Marx.
While the prose is undeniably great- sorrow does not equal plot. I am not a stranger to the character driven story (The Goldfinch is one of my all-time favorite books) but the execution for a character driven story must be flawless. You must give the reader as much joy to bond with the character as you do pain otherwise, they won’t become emotionally invested. All we were fed here was the pain. The one enjoyable character was killed off in a random act of violence that had no place in the book and overall, the suffering of the book felt untrue. Had anyone had to endure what Sam has I would want the entire book to take place in therapy. All there was was sadness and for the periods in their life they were happy- the happiness didn’t shine through (read: was not emphasized) the way the sadness was.
There are so many times in this book that you are randomly expected to feel something, but I felt like I wasn’t led there by the writing. Sam has a terrible response to Sadie and Marx coupling up, but I didn’t even know he had romantic feelings toward her and thought he was asexual the entire book and honestly wouldn’t care.
The only time I actually knew Sam and Sadie cared about one another was when they were children so rooting for them to reunite as adults never happened for me. The books spans something like 25 years and I think Sam and Sadie like each other for like 5 of them. Their entire dynamic was toxic, but I really finished the book thinking that Sadie stood out as the least likable character I have ever read. She held so many things against Sam that we as the reader are never shown him to be doing so I can only believe he didn’t do them and she’s a jerk. She didn’t deserve Marx or Sam and neither Sam nor Sadie deserved Marx. And Marx deserved so much better.

I know very little about video games, even less about computers and next to nothing about coding. Despite that glaring lack of info/experience I found this a riveting book.

Sam and Sadie meet at a hospital when they are kids and bond over video games. They maintain that keen interest throughout their lives, working out their personal issues across the gaming platforms they create.

The book spans 30 years of their lives, as they cross paths and intersect again and again.

The leads are engaging, flawed, sometimes difficult characters. The video game descriptions are detailed and technical. The writing is lush and evocative, pulling you into the narrative and holding your interest. I was surprised at how invested I became and how emotional I found myself at certain points as I read. There are moments that broke my heart, had me at the edge of my seat with dread/anticipation, left me unable to put the book down.

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow takes its title from Macbeth. It has its share of triumph and tragedy. A very worthwhile read.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC.

How much did I adore this book!
It was my middle school computer class wrapped up with my love of romance. Gorgeous writing and memorable characters that will break your heart, but suture it back together. Going to go back and read Zevin's back list now.

Highly Recommend!

Just finished…
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I have never understood the lure of video games but I understand the lure of a good story. So did the protagonists of this wonderful novel which is what made them icons in the world of gaming. That world becomes the backdrop for the relationship between Sam Masur and Sadie Green who meet as children, reconnect in their twenties, and become partners in their gaming company that becomes popular beyond anything they’d imagined.
The business ties them together but also pushes them apart. Through Sam and Sadie, we are introduced to a new kind of love story – one that takes unexpected and sometimes painful turns and asks us to consider all the forms love can take. It is impossible to root for one character over the other. The story spans years but the pages seem to turn themselves, a testament to Zevin who invites the reader in from the very first line and doesn’t let them go. This was the first book I’d read in a long time that I couldn’t wait to finish but hated to put down when I reached the end. As a byproduct, I came away with a little more understanding about the common ground shared by novels and video games, something Zevin herself emphasized in this interview with Publisher’s Weekly.

Me and my colleagues all read this and it seems to be a real marmite book - its lovely in many ways but just not for me. Having said that....I was one of the few who didn't enjoy it so I think maybe I'm....wrong? Or...different? I'm going to say a solid 3 stars because I can see the appeal to others±

I got to 47% before I decided I couldn’t finish it. It took me about 3 months to get that far and I just didn’t care about any of the characters and wasn’t interested in continuing. I’m happy the book has so many positive reviews but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" is the first line of a speech by MacBeth that is more recognizable for the ending versus the beginning, but that's the point in Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: all possibilities exist in tomorrow. There are, as Marx the actor says in this book, infinite possibilities, infinite lives. However, as also shown in this book, when tomorrow becomes today, there are only singular endings for us as we make decisions minute by minute.

Sadie and Sam meet in the hospital one day. Sam is there for surgeries and rehab on his foot, which has been crushed and mangled in a car accident; Sadie is there to visit her sister, who has been stricken with cancer. Sam, who has not said a word since the accident, responds to Sadie, and they bond over their love of video games. Thus begins a friendship that we get to develop over the next three decades.

They drift apart after their hospital visits, but meet again almost a decade later - a chance meeting on the subway. Both are attending Ivy League schools, and both are still keenly interested in gaming. They join forces and writer, then release, a game that becomes wildly popular. Although Sadie played a large part in the game, it's Sam who gets the lion's share of attention, although initially this does not bother Sadie - she's more withdrawn than Sam - but as the book continues through their years, it's apparent that it does, at least subconsciously.

While they're developing their first game, Marx, an actor and Sam's roommate, becomes Sadie's friend as well, and now there are three of them, dealing with what we would today call a viral success. Their task now: write a followup that is also successful.

The dynamics of their relationships with one another follows what is probably the most realistic friendship arcs I've read. Friendship is not just besties to broken/fractured/lost to time and back to exactly the same deep friendship that existed before. As Heraclitus tells us, we do not step in the same river twice. As people change, so do their friendships.

Their second release suffers a bit from the sophomore effect, but is still well received. Initially, the three work toward their previous bond, but Sadie and Marx become closer than just friends, which puts a strain on that third bond with Sam.So, they fracture again, more deeply this time.

Then, tragedy strikes the three, which pushes that last friendship to a brittle, thin string and their company to be run by others. The last two part ways, meeting again in a virtual world and then once more in the real world before the book closes.

It's somewhat of a long book, at just over 400 pages. That doesn't seem so much once you've burrowed into the text, especially if you're a gamer or even moderately interested in them. If you are neither a gamer nor particularly interested in video games, each page may feel a bit like trudging through mud. This book is absolutely thick with gaming, coding, actual games, game history, and other nerdly things. The writing may very well pull the hesitant reader through, however, as it's engaging and intelligent, with point of view changes coupled with interesting structural choices throughout.

While I was not really a fan of the virtual world piece just before the end, the remainder of the book I found to be excellent. That minor ding aside, this is a five star read for the reader willing to invest the time.

Five out of five stars.

Thanks to Knopf Doubleday and NetGalley for the reading copy.

The writing here is spectacular and the scenes grabbed me. For the first time, I really understood phantom limb pain. I’m not a gamer, but I could totally get into how the games were created and the depth of thought that went into them. This is a book that will appeal to all readers, not just the young or the gamers.
It’s not a fast or necessarily an easy read. It’s layered and complex. It speaks to all types of love and grief, about the ability to start over, for multiple chances.

this is the story of Sam and Sadie, two childhood friends who reconnect in college and have the ups and downs of long term platonic friendship over many years. They work together on a video game that takes off, making them rich and famous and with that there's many ups and downs. Many have said you don't have to enjoy video games to enjoy this story and I disagree. I found the video games details to be plentiful and very boring. It caused me to lose interest in the story and by the end I was ready for it to be over. It's an ok story overall but one made less interesting with all the video game parts .

✨REVIEW✨
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
By Gabrielle Zevin

sam is in the hospital often for his shattered foot from a traumatic car accident + sadie’s sister has cancer and these two become childhood friends in the hospital’s game room

things I especially loved:
-korean grandparents who run a pizza shop on wilshire in ktown, LA🥹🥹🥹🥹
-1,000 cranes
-precious grandparents 💗

this book is about passionate work, love in friendships, and the shared experiences that connect us all

from firsthand experience you definitely do not need to be a gamer or know about gaming to jump into this delicious novel. this was such a refreshing read, loved getting tangled up in all the emotions & carried along these stories.

I HAVE DIED FROM DYSENTERY but will come back to read this again and again and again

thank you NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for allowing me to read this e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

I had a hard time getting into this one. Everyone says great things. I haven’t read a single bad review but I was stuck at 17%. I hope to get back into it eventually.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Literary Fiction
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 7/5/22
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Pages: 416
Goodreads Rating:

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Knopf Publishing Group and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

My Thoughts: This was a beautiful art of literary fiction. The story is narrated by both Sadie and Sam, unreliable narrators, from their perspectives. Their friendship is powered by love but still complicated. They are likable characters, even if a it frustrating at times. This book’s plot is video games, the playing, building, designing, and anything in between. The characters were well developed with layers of depth, connection, compassion, frustration, and creatively written. The author’s writing style was complex, intricate, thought-provoking, and brilliant. This book will take you on an emotional rollercoaster, experiencing all of the emotions on the rainbow. I love the span of the cultural references from when I was growing up from the 80’s through 2000’s. I highly recommend reading this book that was released in July, it is a little on the long side, but worth the investment.

This is such a unique twist on a love story. Does love just have to be about a physical connection to someone? Is there something more intimate than physical intimacy. Literary fiction may not be.my strong suit or preferred genre usually, but I had heard so many amazing things about this book I had to try it for myself. As a nerdy person I did have some knowledge about gaming and older games, and at least awareness bout things they were talking about with programing even though I am not a video programmer by any means.So I loved these characters having a story.

These friends have such bad miscommunication and I think they realized that at the end, they really didn't know each other well for being best friends. They went through so much and even stuff I never ever saw coming. While it was a slow build up, the ending was very satisfying. I think everyone finally came full circle and while tragic, hard, and scary they had a love that worked for them. These are imperfect characters and they don't have a perfect story and sometimes that is just life and that's the story that needs to be told.