like everyone else ive seen, i loved this book!!! elsewhere is one of my all time favourite books but i havent read anything by gabrielle zevin in years. spanning decades, it tells the story of sadie and sam two childhood friends who meet in hospital and then reconnect when they're both at college. their brains work so well together that it feels like nothing can stand in their way to make popular and amazing video games. but there's conflict and so many human emotions in amongst the coding and the set designs and, even after they all relocate to l.a and grow their business, drama continues to build. i loved loved loved the video game conversations, how original the ideas were, along with wanting to shake the book to make the characters be happy. really loved

As a lifelong gamer, I had a feeling I would like this book but I had no idea I would love it as much as I did. It is so good! It spans over the course of 25 years and we see the ups and downs of the friendship between Sam and Sadie and their professional relationship as video game developers. I loved every single character in this book, despite their many faults and follies. Each character had such a distinct voice and unique personality, which really allowed the third person omnipresent narration to shine. They are very realistic and well-developed characters that you will spend the whole book rooting for. Marx was my fave by just a bit because he’s that guy you just can’t help but love, and he had significantly less faults than the others as the glue that held Sam and Sadie together. “The arrangement went largely unmentioned: Marx was Marx, so that Sam and Sadie could be Sam and Sadie.” Truly a book that will stick with me for a long time. And the original games they created or mentioned! I just want to play them all! Ichigo sounds like a game I would’ve been obsessed with as a kid.

A lot of it resonated with me but I don’t think you need to play video games to like this one, it is a fantastic piece of literary fiction. It explores so many important themes: the cross between love and friendship, mental health, mortality, loss, identity, the escape we occasionally need from our own realities to cope, and more. This is a pretty long read and I can see some people being disinterested in the second half, but I loved it all the way through. If you liked a book like Ready Player One, then you will love this one (though I liked this book more).

Highly recommend! Read the synopsis and if it sounds interesting, just go for it!

It is very probable that my opinion of this book is skewed by having pretty high expectations from early reviews/ratings. My hang-ups were typically due to lots of the conflicts in the book being a result of characters just not communicating; that's a pretty common theme that just thoroughly irritates me. Two of the main characters, Sam and Sadie, were frequently selfish/self-centered, and it just got tiresome after awhile.

I did not expect much of this book since I am, by no means, a gamer. But to my surprise, this is going to be one of my favorite releases of 2022, by far. The story starts tragically at a hospital where young Sadie has to visit her sister Alice. While her mom tends to her sister, she ends up meeting a little boy her age. They play together video game. This random encounter leads to a friendship for life.
This book was deep, all characters well so well developed with their qualities and flaws, and story talks about how the outcome of life traumas (in your childhood as well as adult life) can alter your personality, perception of self and others, and it taught me yo never rush; let life take its course. Time is on our side. Time is needed to heal mental wouldst, just like the physical ones.

A marvelous story of love and friendship. I am completely in love with Sam, Sadie and Marx. And yes, this book confirmed what I already told myself in the past; that life is like a video game. It really is.

A big nod to the author, who I look forward to know more by reading more books of hers. She is so talented! Her writing is exquisite and her style poetic yet intellectual, just like I like it.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange of my honest opinion.

This is a complex, incredible book and there’s a reason everyone is talking about it and reading it right now.

Sam and Sadie meet as adolescents, brought together by circumstance, and develop an intense friendship before not speaking for six years. Reunited in Boston, they begin careers as game developers (in the early 2000s) and their relationships and lives evolve and change and couple and decouple in ways that are just incredible and moving. I am not a gamer, but I was so invested in this story and how the making of games is really about collaboration, art, and world building - all while the world builders are navigating their complicated relationships with their own selves, each other, and others. The book was often surprising, lovely, poignant, and introspective. I really loved it.

As an aside, Zevin’s Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac was one of my favorite books as a teenager and I have loved reading her adult fiction since then, over the years.

Read this book.

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for a copy via NetGalley. I also bought my own because this book is worth it.

I would have given this book 5 stars, but the ending wasn't it for me. It felt a little rushed, which was a bummer because everything else about this book was utter perfection. I loved the intricate storyline and the dynamics between the characters. It was fun and engaging. The NPC part broke me, though. It was so so heartbreaking. The narrator really did a great job on this as well. Can highly recommend this book!

This story centers around a small group of friends who love playing and creating video games and start up a video game company.
I don’t love video games and don’t play them, so there was quite a bit of dialogue and descriptions about games that didn’t really mean much to me.
That being said, the majority of the story was about the complex relationships between the friends, which was the part I actually dug. I wasn’t expecting the book to be as emotional as it turned out to be, but definitely in a way that made it so much better.
I could have done without the deep dive into a video game that took us out of the initial story for a bit near the end of the book (it just went on too long) but all in all, an enjoyable read.
Thanks to #netgalley and #knopfpublishing for this #arc of #tomorrowandtomorrowandtomorrow in exchange for an honest review.

I heard so many good reviews about this book which made me seek it out and request a review copy on NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley for accepting my request!

This book took me on a journey through the lives and friendships of 3 college students, 2 of whom were unexpected childhood friends and later reunited by chance. A bit complicated at times, as well as heartbreaking, this story was filled with nostalgic references from the 80s & 90s and the world of gaming and its evolution. It was a fun ride to follow along and see if I could figure out the references. I felt lost at times with some of the gaming terminology and how the story started but it quickly picked up for me.

Max was my favorite character and his devotion to Sam was endearing. I loved their friendship.

I recommend this book to everyone, it was a nice change of pace for me in between beachy reads.

In Gabrielle Zevin’s latest novel, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, I audibly sighed when I finished the book. It was a sigh of deep contentment. When I first heard that the story is about video games, I passed. I’ve never been interested in video games. But then I kept hearing such positive reviews and I thought I’d give it a chance. I’m so thankful I did.

This novel is about so much more than video games. It’s a story about a lifelong friendship between Sadie and Sam. Yes, they are video game lovers and successful game designers but the video games just serve as a backdrop to the messy lows and euphoric highs of a deep friendship that spans decades.

In the end, I enjoyed the view into how video games are created and why they have such a broad appeal. Many people love them because they offer an escape to another world which is something we all need sometimes.

Zevin made me feel deeply about the characters. She also wrote beautifully about how important our real-world connections are to living a meaningful and healthy life. I highly recommend this story. It will stay with me for a very long time.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing Group for this ARC.

I requested Zevin's book for background reading for an editorial feature on BookBrowse. I'm pleased to say that our reviewer gave it a full 5-stars. You can read the review and our related "Beyond the Book" article at the links below -- and (from Aug 3) we are featuring the book across BookBrowse for a week as a "Today's Top Pick" during which about 120k unique users will visit BookBrowse. And we are featuring it in the Aug 4 Highlights newsletter to about 47k with an open rate of 40%:
https://conta.cc/3JtAT40

Review: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/reviews/index.cfm/ref/so286976/tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow#reviews
Beyond the Book: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/btb/index.cfm/ref/so286976/tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow#btb

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

This story follows Sadie and Sam from childhood friends to adulthood where they work together in the video game industry. I don’t know why the author picked two S names for the main characters (plus another side character is named Simon).

While I liked the aspects of seeing the creative process for video games, there were a lot of triggering elements in the story. I liked the scenes that showed the characters processing things through playing games. I wish there had been more of those scenes. For my tastes, this book was too much trauma and too little hope. Sadie in particular has so much trauma and I wish she had been able to get the help she needed. I wish she had confronted her predatory advisor instead of becoming his friend as every time he showed up I wanted something terrible to happen to him. I also didn’t like how entitled Sam was towards Sadie and I was really hoping they wouldn’t get together.

I saw that this book was optioned for a movie and while I think it would probably translate well, I would not watch it. There is an active shooter scene and death from that gun violence and there’s so much of that in the news every day.

Triggers for abusive relationship, sexual assault, physical assault, drug use, death of parent, car accident, amputation, chronic pain, active shooter incident, gun violence, suicide, gun death. It’s a sad reality we have to live and I don’t need to read about it in fiction and I especially don’t want to see it in a movie.

I would maybe recommend this to the right kind of reader but this was too much trauma and too little hope for me.

3/5 stars

This book was fantastic! Some of the best writing I have read in a long time. In a lot of ways the transitions and chapters reminded me of A Little Life. The movement between sections and chapters was done so well! The writing was able to pick up on certain words and remarks that made those transitions so clever. It was so hard to put this book down.

An unconventional love story about different types of soul mates. For people who are drawn to video games this is a must read. As a self proclaimed “nerd” this type of book and writing was just what my fiction shelves were missing. The best apart of this story was the intertwining relationships. There’s a certain intellectual depth to this type of relationship building and writing that helps you connect to the characters and become emotionally attached to their relationships and the transformation of these relationships. From the moment I read about Sadie and Sam I immediately connected with them.

I loved every minute of reading this book and think it was absolutely beautiful!

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin was one of my favorite books of the year. It reminded me so much of Meg Wolitzer’s and Celeste Ng’s writing styles so needless to say, I loved it.

Rating: 5/5⭐️

Read if you:
-like stories told over multiple decades
-like slower pace, character driven novels
-want a coming-of-age story that touches on tons of themes
-don’t mind a long book (416 pages)

Synopsis:
Sam and Sadie meet under unfortunate circumstances. Sam is admitted after recovering from a traumatic car accident, and Sadie is there visiting her sister who is undergoing chemotherapy. The two strike up a bond over a mutual love of video games, but after months of friendship, a misunderstanding causes a fallout. When the two meet by chance again in college, their friendship is restored and eventually the two form a partnership as video game producers. Told over thirty years, Sam and Sadie’s story is about their friendship, but also about loss, love, relationships, pain, success, and tragedy.

Thoughts:
Ok so a HUGE part of this book is video games but as someone who has never played them, I didn’t feel like I needed an inherent knowledge of them to get this book. Actually, the plot of each game was so interesting to me and added to the depth of the story. This book is long, so be prepared to invest some time. You can’t skim this book or zone out because there’s so much in the details and the prose. But it’s all so worth it. This story is definitely character driven, and relies more on that than plot. But the characters are so well crafted that they feel like people you once knew, or heard about in real life. The pace is slow, but the details are necessary and I didn’t feel like it should’ve been any shorter. I could talk about this book for days on end, but the bottom line is to pick it up if you like rich writing and compelling stories.

Novel that spans decades about 2 friends, Sadie and Sam. The characters were so relatable and engaging. The story is heartfelt and blew me away as a reader. Highly recommend. May be the best book of 2022!

Fantastic--maybe a book of the year. Not only was the writing exquisite, and so expansive and genre-defining, but the characters immediately felt like friends. I wanted to be part of the friend group at the heart of this book. It should win all the awards.

Going into "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow', I was really excited to read a story about friendship. This book gave me way more than I was expecting. From the first few pages, I was hooked. I immediately bought myself a hardcover copy as a was reading the ARC copy. This story, which spans many decades about two friends from younger kids to adults, was by far one of my favorite stories I've read in a long time. Definitely one of my favorite reads of 2022 by far. I've already recommended this book to several of my close friends. Once you start it, you'll be engulfed as well.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again, I LOVE stories about friendships. They get me right in the feels every time. This is more of a love story between a man and woman who only remain friends, but no less poignant and heartfelt.

Sadie and Sam met when they were just kids and bonded hard over video games. They were also both there during times of immense grief and stress, which also puts a strain on their friendship. But flash forward to their college years, and their reunion and intelligence brings forth a highly popular and fame making video game called Ichigo. But as with many artists, there are always clashes in ideas and personality. And in the midst of all that life throws at them, their relationship take many twists, turns, moves, and romances. But somehow they are always able to find their way back to each other.

I walked into this hesitantly because (1) my experience with Gabrielle is very mixed and (2) I don't care a whole lot about video games. But I was able to quickly put both of those concerns to rest within just a few short chapters. THIS BOOK! It's so incredibly human, it's frustrating, sweet, relatable, gut wrenching, full of grief, sorrow, but also exquisite healing. I felt SO much throughout this book and I hope you read it so that you can too.

“But it is worth noting that to be good at something is not quite the same as loving it.”

WOW, i have no idea where to start with this review! I didn’t know what I was getting into when starting this book, but It will surely go down as one of my top reads and even favorite covers of the year!

This book spans 30 years and the plots and time periods were interwoven beautifully. We follow Sam and Sadie’s complicated friendship which begins when they meet in a hospital as children. This book is ultimately a story centered around video games, but ended up being so much more. We get to explore lot’s of different heavier topics, so I suggest checking out TW! I grew up playing video games with my family and we pretty owned every Nintendo console! As a “gamer” I really got enraptured with this book. If you’re not super into 90’s video games, I still highly recommend this book but you might grow bored from some of the finer details.

This book brought me a new all time favorite character in Marx, who was Sam’s roommate in college. I loved getting to watch these characters grow and establish themselves as video game creators and adults. This is the type of book where you forget that you’re reading, and the writing is just fantastic.

This was my first read by Zevin and I’m really looking forward to reading her other books!

I loved Young Jane Young and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and I loved Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow even more! Having three boys that are big gamers I was interested in how this book would play out however the gaming aspect wasn't the main focus of the book. The characters and their long relationship is the main focus. This book made me laugh and cry and I flew right through it. Highly recommend adding this to your TBR.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the digital ARC of ”Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.” I had a very hard time getting into this story. The characters, with the exception of Marx, always seemed to hold each other at arms length and it had the same effect on me as a reader. I just couldn’t seem to really get invested in their story. I felt like I should be almost done with the novel, but wasn’t even halfway through and ended up putting it down to read other books instead. I later skimmed through it to the end.