This is a wonderful book about the complexity of friendship, love and loss. Even for a non-gamer, I found the premise, characters and storylines interesting and compelling. I cannot give all glowing remarks, however, because the author appeared to be trying way too hard to make herself sound smart by using "big" words sprinkled throughout the book. I found myself checking the Kindle dictionary too often only to discover that she could have delivered the same thoughts and messages in clearer and more succinct manners without negatively impacting the tone or context. This might be a case of using "big & smart sounding words" solely for the sake of using "big & smart sounding" words at the reader's expense. It interrupts the flow and pace of the reading process and serves little purpose other than to make the author sound pompous at best. Disclosure: I received a copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley.

Sam and Sadie and Marx. What a great story of friendship. I am not a gamer, but I still didn't feel completely lost as they discussed all things gaming. I will recommend this book to the some of my younger friends that I feel are the target audience. I think they will be pulled into this story quickly!

This is like nothing I have ever read before. I could not stop listening to it, and was enthralled by the characters and the plot. The writing is lovely and readers will empathize with all of the dynamic characters. I am unable to pinpoint why this book resonated so much with me, because I'm not into video games or anything like that. However, It was such a unique look at the capability of the human spirit to love, grieve, forgive, and create...and it was wonderfully done.

Despite not having any interest in video games, I was surprised how quickly I became absorbed in this newest novel from Gabrielle Zevin. The three main characters faced many issues in their deep yet complicated relationships. It was also interesting to follow the early history of video game development as Sadie, Sam and Marx plunged into creating their first games and ultimately forming their own company. Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the ARC!

Spanning thirty years, Gabrielle Zevin presents a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the nature of identity, disability, failure, redemption, and our need to connect.

I've heard so much about this book over the last few months, and it did not disappoint. Being a video game lover took this book to another level for me. Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a heartbreaking, beautiful, special book that I'd recommend to anyone. Best book I've read in a while.

I loved this book! Although I usually wouldn't gravitate towards a book "about video games", this book had so much going on! The characters were all really well-developed and you got a sense of what was driving each of them. I could sympathize with the work that they were doing and their need to be fulfilled and to produce work that they were proud of.

My only criticism of the book was the chapter that took place in the game - that one lost me (perhaps it was too "video-gamey" for me). Overall though, this one was fantastic and I will be recommending it to my book club.

This book is a must-read for video game lovers! I loved getting a change to get into the minds of two brilliant video game creators. You will fall in love with Sam and Sadie: they are both very flawed characters that you simply cannot stop rooting for. They will make you angry, happy, and even teary-eyed at times. I loved the non-linear timeline, which little by little revealed details of Sam and Sadie's lives and put their behaviors and choices into perspective.
However, this is not just a book about video games. It's a book about loss, grief, racial and national identity, love and friendship, violence, disability... all packaged neatly within the world of video games.
The writing was beautiful and engaging, but not pretentious. Some knowledge of video games is recommended to get the full experience of this book.

3.5 stars [I liked it]

I really wanted to love this book but I found it a tad underwhelming. I did enjoy it but I thought it dragged a bit at times. I really loved the writing and the characters. I enjoyed the video game design aspect more than I thought I would. This book was so unique and nothing like anything I’ve ever read. I think if it was shorter and more fast paced I would have absolutely loved it. It really didn’t compare to my fave, A Storied Life of AJ Fikry but I will keep reading anything by this author, the writing is always fantastic!

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for providing a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

<b>A book about childhood friends making a video game is an unexpected, captivating setup for this wonderfully deep, epic dive into connection, creativity, tragedy, and love.</b>

<blockquote>"And what is love, in the end?" Alabaster said. "Except the irrational desire to put evolutionary competitiveness aside in order to ease someone else's journey through life?"</blockquote>
Childhood friends Sam Masur and Sadie Green are brilliant, creative collaborators and a wonderfully complementary pair since their chance meeting in childhood--and they're also (sometimes) full of love for each other.

Reunited in college, Sam and Sadie come together to try to create a masterpiece: a video game unlike any that has come before. Something immersive, something fascinating, something irresistible.

<blockquote>A programmer is a diviner of possible outcomes, and a seer of unknown worlds.</blockquote>
Their wild success and their devastating lows--both individual and collective--test their loyalty to each other and to their vision, offer joy and unexpected pain, and push the limits of their friendship and connection.

A book about longtime friends creating a video game feels like an unusual vehicle for delivering the beauty and depth Zevin builds into each page. But <i>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow</i> (the title comes from the second line of <i>Macbeth</i>) is an epic view into a lifetime of friendship and love, tragedy, renewed faith in others, and overcoming incredible hardship. It's a captivating account of the making of a video game, the love of other specific games and playing in general, and the power of play to bring people together.

<blockquote>Why wouldn't you tell someone you loved them? Once you loved someone, you repeated it until they were tired of hearing it. You said it until it ceased to have meaning. Why not? Of course, you goddamn did.</blockquote>
There are fascinating, heartbreaking, heartwarming echoes and swirls of themes and details that repeat and connect through time and through virtual reality--and that frequently cross into the gritty messiness of real life. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is smart and holds layer upon layer to explore.

There are too many beautiful quotes in the book for me to share them here. I savored this story and delighted in its characters and just loved this book.

Gabrielle Zevin is also the author of <i>The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry,</i> a book I loved.

I received a digital advance reader copy of this book courtesy of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley.

<b>To see my full review on The Bossy Bookworm, or to find out about Bossy reviews and Greedy Reading Lists as soon as they're posted, please see <a href="https://www.bossybookworm.com/post/review-of-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-by-gabrielle-zevin/"><i>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.</a></i></b>

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I need to break this book down into 3rds for the review:
1/3- the first third of the book had me instantly hooked! It didn’t matter that I’m not a gamer and didn’t matter that I knew nothing about that world. I flew through the first 3rd of it because I almost immediately became invested in the characters and I wanted to know more!
2/3- the middle was a little hard for me to get through. I think it fell flat in many ways, and I found myself wanting to speed through it.
3/3- the final 3rd made up for the lull in the middle! It wasn’t as good as the first 3rd, but I’m glad I powered through. and Overall, I would say I enjoyed the book, and it’s worth the read! :)

If you ever die, I'll just start the game again." and "I am going to play until I die."

These two quotes were very simple yet such huge philosophical ideas at the same time.

This book has great reviews and at 80% in with my @librofm copy I can tell why.

This book about two kids who bonded over video games during a hard time in their life. Then reconnected in college to build games together. All the while struggling with relationships and work.

I did have a long conversation before dinner about Sam's injuries. They were pretty tragic and gruesomeish. There were a lot of tough topics discussed and this book was in second person which is always interesting.

Today was my Dad's birthday and after having a big piece of chocolate cake in his honor. I listened to a part of this book where someone's life passed before their eyes and it made me relive his time in the hospital. Hoping he could hear me too. Btw that part sucked wish that didn't happen, I really liked that character and wished he could get his extra life. But my Dad always told me life isn't fair. 

The negative reviews for this one seemed silly, so you do you. 

Thank you libro for my alc for my honest and voluntary review.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow follows Sam and Sadie over the course of 30 Years. They meet as preteens in a hospital. Sadie is there to visit her sister, Alice, who is undergoing cancer treatments. Sam is a patient who has undergone multiple surgeries on his foot which was crushed in a traumatic car accident. They meet while playing video games in hospital lounge and bond over the shared love for these games resulting in an unlikely friendship.

A misunderstanding separates the pair, but they bump into each other years later. Sadie is studying at MIT and Sam at Harvard. They both have changed, but their love of gaming hasn't. They collaborate on creating a new video game, this collaboration helps to forge a relationship that carries them forward through the years as friends, partners and game designers.

This is a story of Sam and Sadie and the worlds that they create together in real life and their gaming worlds. The themes of love, loss and life are captured with sincerity and depth and explore the different types of love found in relationships.

I thought this was well executed. On the surface it is a book about video games, but at its core it is much deeper than that. It is about loving, living forgiving and grieving.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC of this beautiful book.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow follows two childhood friends, Sam and Sadie, as they become creative partners in the world of video game design.

As someone whose video game experience is limited to childhood games of Mario Kart, I did not expect to enjoy this book so much, especially the aspects of the history of gaming. However, I found it fascinating to learn about how video games are created, and how this process has changed over the years with technological advances. This history is interwoven with the novel in such a fascinating way, and I love to read about people who are so invested in the work they do, even if it is not necessarily something that I am interested in myself. Reading about the passion Sam and Sadie have for video game design was a large part of why I loved this book.

The characters were definitely a highlight as well. It was very clear the love that they all each had for each other, in both romance and friendship. Although they all had their flaws, their relationships with each other kept them grounded and likeable, and made them feel very realistic.

This was very close to a 5 star read for me, but I found that the ending was not satisfying for me, although I can’t quite articulate why that is. That said, this has definitely become a favourite novel of mine, and I can see myself wanting to revisit this story and these characters in the near future.

Thank you to Knopf Publishing Group for providing me with a review copy through NetGalley!

Here are five reasons you should read Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, which you absolutely should read:

1. If you like epic stories, stories that span entire lives, this one is for you. It tells the story of Sadie and Sam, who meet when they are young and become business partners later in life, when they create their own video game development company.

2. This book has a heavy dose of nostalgia. 80's, 90's, 00's, there's something here for you. Especially if you have ever been a video game fan.

3. There is good disability rep in this book. Sam is severely injured in a car accident as a young boy, and the author does a great job and demonstrating how this challenges him throughout his life--both mentally and physically.

4. The characters in this story are fantastic. They are nuanced and complicated. You might not always like them, but you will root for them. The relationships are complex and just incredibly well done.

5. If you want to feel something, you will feel it in this book. It is clever and funny and at times heartbreaking.

This will be one of my favorite reads of the year.

I want to clarify that I am not a fiction reader- I read fantasy and I read young adult. I want to escape reality and have fun. This book was the opposite of anything I normally love to read, BUT this book will probably be in my top 5 favorite books of 2022.

If you want to big cry- heartbroken cry, laugh cry, angry cry- this book is a perfect choice for you.

If you want to sit with characters who understand how difficult it is to exist but are also trying to create something meaningful and beautiful despite the difficulties of the world- this book is for you.

If you have lost friends that were not lovers but weren't just friends and weren't just coworkers- this book is for you.

Bring the tissue box and dive in. This book was beautiful.

CW: Gun violence, homophobia, misogyny, and other things that one might have to deal with while existing in the USofA from the 1980s to the 2010s.

P.S. I read this book because I read Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac back in the late 2000s.

3.5, rounded up. This was a really enjoyable reading experience, even though I haven't really been passionate about a video game since Super Mario Brothers (I realize that makes me sound incredibly old and boring).

Zevin follows lifelong platonic friends Sadie Green and Sam Masur from their early teens through adulthood, as they bond over playing Nintendo in a children's hospital in L.A. and start designing games of their own as college students in Boston. Together, these lovably quirky Gen-Xers build a games company that's successful both creatively and financially.

Zevin follows the soap opera of their friendship and business partnership, which sparks all manner of creative conflicts and emotional drama, and bouts of social anxiety and mental illness. And especially in its final third, she resorts to maudlin melodrama, where the tragedy felt gratuitous and unearned. The supporting characters (especially Marx, their bland Keanu-ish producer, and Dov, Sadie's ex-professor and horrible ex-boyfriend) were entirely one-dimensional.

There's nothing especially deep, innovative, or challenging here, but Zevin is a proficient storyteller with an obvious love for her characters and gaming itself. For me (as it was for many readers on GR), the highlights were her descriptions of games that she invented for Sam and Sadie to create, especially a chapter where the two protagonists interact as avatars in a role-playing game.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow tells the story of two lifelong friends and creative partners, Sam and Sadie. After a falling out as kids leaves them not speaking for years the two run into each other in Boston. They reconnect, bury the hatchet, and decide to make a video game together since they connected through games as kids. To say this is a book about two friends making games barely scratches the surface, though. It's a book about love, grief, friendship, creativity, navigating a disability, found family and family-family, and yes- video games.

Zevin has always written people and all of their complexities very well, and this book is no different. Sam and Sadie are far from perfect protagonists. They hurt each other, they hide their feelings, they communicate poorly and behave selfishly. I spent entire chapters infuriated with them, but I always wanted them and their loved ones to be okay.

Even though I overall enjoyed this book, I'm struggling to describe how I really felt about it. Parts of it dragged, and I think that's because it was too long, It's a very character-focused story, which I think can be hard to pull off when the characters spend so much time being hard to like. T3 definitely left an impression on me, though, and I'll be thinking about it for a long time so that means a lot.

I love going in relatively blind to a book and being absolutely blown away. Going into Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, I knew very little except what Gabrielle Zevin shared at her event in Seattle. And then, I read the book. A book that I simply never wanted to end.

Sam Masur and Sadie Green became best friends in a hospital, so when they run into each other in a T station in Boston after years of no communication they’re brought back to their shared passion - gaming. Sadie and Sam build a game together that launches their lifetime of neverending connection to one another in a love story that isn’t the one you’d think in your head.

Honestly, I’m not sure that’s a great synopsis for this book. It’s so character-driven that you really just need to read it and only know that you’re going to get an amazing story of the intricacies of Sam’s and Sadie’s lives. At its core, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is about hope and love. As creators, Sadie and Sam have this mutual understanding that no matter how much trauma life throws at them (literally so much trauma), they have to keep creating with the hope that tomorrow will be better. That the world still needs the joy they can provide. Their story is one of deeply rooted love for each other. Even though the two never get together, there’s a friendship and a bond that can be tested but never broken. I adored these characters. Not only Sam and Sadie, but Marx too. I loved their dedication to each other. I loved the Jewish representation (it’s not central to the story but it’s there). I loved seeing a woman shine in a man’s industry and the struggles that came along because they’re so relatable. And I loved the writing. I could read it forever and ever and ever.

If this book isn’t on your list, it absolutely should be. I’m not a gamer, so while the setting is centered around video games, it’s about so much more. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a book that I will think about for a long time and has earned its spot in my Top 5 for the year.

This book was not what I was expecting. I really enjoyed the story, which involves Sadie and Sam which starts when they were very young. It goes over the issues and traumas both of them go through in their life and the idea of being able to build an alternative reality by making video games. Overall, I really enjoyed the story and found myself to be emotionally invested in some of the characters. I found it sometimes to be quite jarring how they would jump back and forth through time depending on what part they were at in the story. I personally did not enjoy that and would get pulled out of the story. Overall, I gave this book 4.25⭐️.

Since I know this will be asked, As someone who does not play video games I found this book easy to follow. There was only 1 reference or so that I didn’t understand, but overall it can be read by people of all gaming experience.

What an incredible and unique book. Just as the book begins, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it since I don't really play video games. I fell in love with the characters -- even in-between all of the fights and reunions, I was rooting for each of them. It was a heartbreakingly beautiful portrayal of how the video game industry is and what happens when you go against the norm. I'll definitely be recommending this book to my friends and family!