I was excited to read a book set partially in the 90s computing world, as I have fond memories of those early days when it seemed like anything was possible online. This is a sweet trip through time with three unique characters, their creative lives, their loves and losses. Quirky but lovely, this book gave us characters that I'd love to spend more time with.

This book truly was a pleasant surprise. As I started it, I wasn't quite sure how it would go. It started a bit slowly for me. There was a great deal of gaming discussion because that was the world these main characters met in and it was their central focus for the majority of the book. Yet, once the plot started really moving along, you could see that it was about so much more. These characters were people who had real feelings. They had insecurities. They hurt each other and had misunderstandings.

This book is a beautifully written story of friendship, love, forgiveness, loss and survival. It's a story of life. The characters might discuss fictional worlds of video games periodically throughout but they are living through real life experiences themselves. I think the author did a wonderful job of bringing forth real human emotions and how they make us stumble in the real world even when we can seem so infallible in a video game. It really speaks to so much.

Long story short, I started this book thinking I might not like it and ended up really enjoying it. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a beautiful and complicated story of friendship. When Sadie and Sam meet in a LA hospital, little did they know that their meeting would intertwine their lives forever. Their shared love of video games and a chance encounter in a Boston subway station paved the way for their future. Gabrielle Zevin writes characters you that make you feel like you're part of their world too, and in such an interesting way! Her use of games and the gaming industry is a fresh backdrop, and it's not at all intimidating to us non-gamers. Plus, she integrates games into her storytelling as a way to propel the story forward. Cannot recommend enough!

While this book synopsis didn't totally call to me, raving reviews do! I wasn't sure where I would land but I don't like to miss a hyped read!
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While the story does come together quite beautifully, it took a little too long, at least for me! The narrative includes many important and timely topics but I felt totally inundated with the book being based around video games.

The writing is beautiful and layered, and the storyline packs an emotional punch, but I just felt too disinterested by everything else going on.

The pages felt tedious because I was wading through a topic that just didn't connect, even though the characters themselves are real and imperfect (my favorite kind!) ⁣
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All in all, this just didn't totally work for me, but it doesn't mean it won't work for many other readers…And I do have to do a shout out for the cover, because it's stunning!!

As always, I am super appreciative to the publisher for allowing me to read this book and share my genuine thoughts.

I am enchanted! I fell in love with these characters and their stories. After spending childhood to adulthood with them I feel like I know them personally. We moved back and forth across the country, we went to college, we got jobs. This was a beautiful story about love and friendship and how messy and wonderful both can be. It was a longer book, but I devoured it. I felt the pull to keep picking it up. This one is going to stay with me for awhile. I’m glad to have met Sam and Sadie.

This is very much one of the best books I have read this year, and in my short list of favorite books of all time. Since finishing it two days ago, I can't stop thinking about the characters, and want to re-read it immediately. It is very much one of those books I wanted to rush through to find out what happens, but also wanted to savor so I could spend more time with the characters.

I loved two previous books by Gabrielle Zevin, so I was very excited for this one - and I quickly fell for both Sadie and Sam. I adored watching all the dynamics of their relationship, and their relationships with others. Gabrielle Zevin did such an amazing job of depicting friendships, and friendships that feel like family.

My only criticism is that the games they make aren’t real! I so badly want to play them and can visualize them so well. I hope someone endeavors to make some of them, the imagination and world building of them was incredible.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

An exploration of love told with care and compassion. When the most important person in your life is your partner in work, art, and life the traditional love story won't do and this is not a traditional love story.

What a profoundly beautiful novel! I cried when I finished it; not because I was sad, but because I already missed Sam and Sadie. I have not read such a striking novel about platonic love in quite some time. A perfect story in every way!

I found this book to have depth that I did not expect.
Before I read it, I saw somewhere "you don't have to be a gamer to enjoy this".
That both intrigued me as well as made me wonder if this was the book for me.
(I hate to waste my time; you know - so many books, so little time.)
I'm glad I read this book.
Yes, there were a lot of references to real video games. I'd heard of some of them.
The story was about a girl and a boy who meet under what seemed like unusual circumstances. They "click" with each other, they enjoy each other, they understand each other.
Then, they meet again as college students and begin creating video games together.
There are other characters; some I liked and some I didn't.
Their business is a major character as well.
But the two characters and their relationship are the real story.
So, yes, I would recommend this book, even to non-gamers.

This book felt very long, and I eventually started to skim. It is about 3 young people who develop a video game business and, eventually, an entirely predictable love triangle. I am not the intended audience for this book. All of their games sounded alike to me, and none of them sounded like fun. Maybe that’s why, despite their success, these three never seemed happy. There is a lot more here than gaming, including an abusive relationship, friendship, friction between partners, competition, living with pain and dealing with death. But so much of this book is about game development that my eyes just glazed over. This just wasn’t for me.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

“Tell me I don’t know you, Sam thought. Tell me I don’t know you when I could draw both sides of this hand, your hand, from memory.”

This is the story of Sadie and Sam, two childhood friends who team up to make games together, following them from their preteen years until middle age. As I’m sure hundreds have already said, I don’t even play video games and I still absolutely loved this book. Like any great novel, TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW will be adored by many and for an infinite number of reasons.

These are mine:
-- The celebration of creativity, from the energizing and grueling work of building to the thrill of experiencing the finished product
-- That specific mind meld of finding someone you work so perfectly with
-- A LITTLE LIFE vibes (exploring the beauty and tumult of friendship over decades) without quite as much devastation (though be warned there’s a hearty dose still)
-- The way Zevin leans into the intimate messiness of a long-lasting friendship: the joy of connection; the slights and grievances that warp and grow over time; the deep feeling of recognition and later, its opposite; the indescribable kind of love that is more than friendship, or romance, or family
-- “The NPC” and “Pioneers” sections MY GOD I AM UNWELL
-- I felt Sam’s relationship to his chronic pain and disability to my core: the internalized ableism, the fear of someone seeing your weakness, the desire to feel nothing, and the learning of this lesson: “There is no purity to bearing pain alone.”
-- So much good representation in general, that leans into the intersections of identities and how conflicts related to these come up between friends, lovers, and work partners

Probably the biggest compliment I can give this book is that it broke my heart and I still didn’t want it to end. Thanks to Knopf for the eARC and to Libro.fm for the ALC!

Content warnings: hospitalization, chronic pain, ableism, racism, suicidal ideation, depression/mental health issues, completed suicide, sexual harassment, sexual assault, abusive relationship, mass shooting/murder, loss and grief

Alert: I finished a #bookofthemonth book the week that I got it!! Okay, it was mostly because I had it on #netgalley, but also because I’ve been seeing rave reviews for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin and I needed to see what the fuss was about.

Well. I’m not sure I quite know what to say about this book. I definitely enjoyed it, for many reasons. I do love video games (huge #zeldafan here) so I really liked the game building aspects of this book. I also liked the history of Sadie and Sam’s friendship, and even more when you add in the other characters like Marx, Simon and Ant, Zoe, and even Dov. It was almost like reading a memoir or biography at times.

This is a pretty long book at almost 400 pages and for me, it was not one I could read quickly. It’s also very character driven, and I usually prefer plot driven books. There’s also a lot of content warnings packed into the plot so if you are sensitive to certain topics check them first. I don’t get triggered by many things, but there is one part I wish I had been aware of - but then again, if I knew ahead of time it might have given me a preconceived negative anticipation (is that a thing?) and I wouldn’t want that either.

Anyway, this book won’t be for everyone, but it’s unlike anything I’ve read before, in a good way. I would love to see the notes the author made while planning out the plot!

Thank you so much to Knopf Doubleday Publishing for this eARC of one of my most anticipated books of the year!
I have loved Gabrielle Zevin's work since reading The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, and her newest book did not disappoint! Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow follows childhood friends Sadie and Sam througout their lives, exploring friendship and the relationships that can both bind and divide us. Whith moments of both joy and heartbreak I could not stop reading! Set in the world of video game design, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but Gabrielle Zevin's magnificent writing makes Sam and Sadie's story compelling, even if you aren't into video games. Of course if you also have memories of playing Oregon Trail that might make it even more appealing.

To simply say I loved this book would not be enough.
I spent six consecutive hours reading this book because I didn't want to do anything else, which is a big deal for someone who has trouble staying still.
I love Sam. I love Sadie. I love Marx. I love that they all love each other. It's beautiful. Even when they fight, they care about one another. They work together, or try to at least, even when they don't understand one another's plights.
This book is touching, creative, and inspiring, and I didn't want it to end.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who has ever loved in any sense - no gaming experience required.

This book was one I would not have generally picked up just based off of the synopsis. I am not an avid gamer though I do like games occasionally. I kept hearing about this book through some of the book groups I’m in and everyone seemed to love it, so I had to see for myself. I did enjoy it and will agree with a lot of others, you don’t have to be a gamer to like this book. It has enough of a storyline and plot to carry it. I would t say it was a top read for me though. I didn’t necessarily love or relate to the characters. I found Sadie to be very selfish, though that’s exactly what she constantly thought Sam was. There are some slower parts and then parts where the pace picks up quite a bit. I’m glad I was able to read it, courtesy of NetGalley.

Awesome, amazing, fantastic! This book is all of that and more. Everywhere I turn, I’m seeing review after review for this book and usually, this kind of hype really turns me off. This one however just had a pull and I’m so pleased I picked it up.

So, if anyone out there is like me and has expectations that are usually too high regarding the popular books.
I’d say put your reservations aside and pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed!'

Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for my arc.
5 out of 5.

I feel confident in saying that this book will be one of the best I read in 2022. There's still almost half of the year left but this novel, this incredible book, is well-worth every accolade it's received. I'm already going to recommend it to you and the rest of this review is my case for why.

I am astonished by this book. The depth and complexity of the characters is mind-blowing. They're more human that the majority I've read. They don't stick to some character development outline, their changes and logic for choices can be convoluted and strange but it works because that's how real people grow, not on some chart but with stops and starts. Sam, Sadie, Marx, and really the whole cast are more real life than fiction, reminding me of characterization in Fredrik Backman's books.

It's hard to pick a favorite but I adore Marx. He is the light that always pushes back against the darkness and he brings a beautiful, unshakeable belief in the goodness of the world to balance to Sam's dogged determination (downright compulsive at times) and Sadie's pessimistic practicality. The author does some interesting things with point-of-view, particularly with Marx's section in the middle (my favorite part) and the gameplay chapters.

As a gamer (but newer to it than most of my generation, which includes the protagonists) I really enjoyed the gaming references. That said, plenty of them went over my head and it didn't detract from my exerpeince at all. This book is only about making games on a surface level. The way they love games in this book is the way people love other things too, the things that get us moving when we don't want to. Anyone can relate to that along with the line "That's the gamer in you", that wish we all have sometimes to rewind the clock and try again for a better outcome.

To be honest, I felt bittersweet at the end of this book. It's so deeply sweet at times and so painfully bitter, it can be hard to separate the two to appreciate them both. It's the honesty of the book that hurts the most and there are a LOT of hard topics that get touched on: the shock of childhood trauma, chronic pain, family dynamics, motherhood/postpartum, depression, gun violence, partner abuse. I thought the page count was too long but it was absolutely perfect because there's SO much in this story.

Truly, it's a book I finished, looked at, and said aloud, "*That* was an incredible book." I received a free ebook copy for this review but I loved it so much I bought myself a print version. It's just the kind of book that is so intimate and special, you want to hold it close to you. I cannot recommend it highly enough.


Note: I received a free electronic edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank them, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to do so.

This one was BEAUTIFUL. SO BEAUTIFUL.

I loved the writing, the relationship between Sam and Sadie and literally every piece in between. 4.5 stars!

Normally I wouldn't have picked this up but I heard great things. Definitely out of my wheelhouse and kind of weird, but I really liked it. A beautiful story of love & friendship.

Sam and Sadie met as teens under odd circumstances while Sam was in the hospital and Sadie was visiting her sister there. Their quick friendship ended due to a misunderstanding. Years later in college, they run into each other again, and before they know it, they’re working together to make their first video game. Spanning three decades and various settings, TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW is a discussion on friendship, identity, failure, imposter syndrome, love. This is a love story like no other.

The short of it: I loved this book.

It took way too long for me to mesh with it but when I did, it was beautiful. I cried so much over the last 35% of the book.

At times, the writing was lyrical and gorgeous. Others, pretentious and unnecessary. This book has a lot of DNF-able parts in the beginning but they are so worth pushing through. The friendship discussion alone is beautiful. The gaming aspect was an interesting backdrop.

Sam and Sadie were characters I immediately fell for. Marx, Sam’s college roommate, is a fantastic third to add to the group. There are other characters that just add so much to this story — some good aspects, some bad aspects. This main three were especially real and felt like friends of my own.

I know it’s weird to highly recommend a book while also encouraging people to push through some parts, but I just feel that the overall story is lovely and captivating enough to do so.

“How I will miss the horses.”