3.5*
Zevin is a skilled writer and this time she sets her sights on the world of gaming. Sam and Sadie have been friends since childhood. Sam spent months in a hospital recuperating after his foot was almost destroyed in a car accident. Sadie befriends the lonely, quiet boy as they bond over video games. Years later they renew their friendship and create a best-selling game that makes them famous.

Though the two are attracted to each other, they haven’t yet managed to become a couple. Their friendship is strained by rifts that periodically keep them estranged. Yet the gaming world has made them icons and this gives them the chance to create different gaming worlds.

While the story centers on gaming, it’s the interpersonal story that is key to the plot. Sam and Sadie are like magnets that attract and repel, depending on their direction. While not as strong as The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry this book offers an intriguing look at two very different characters who are brilliant and flourish together in business yet their relationship with each other is complicated.

One doesn’t need to love gaming to find this a fascinating read but it will have more appeal to gamers who will enjoy the back story of the creative process that ends with a successful gaming world.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow gives its readers a perfectly flawed group of central characters to both root for and against. As they muse about mortality – the nature of partnership and the Big Stuff Of Life – a partnership forms and anchors the novel.

California native Samson Masur is a game-lover with a dream. Half-Korean, half-white, he doesn’t know who his biological father is (though he does come to suspect the truth), and his maternal grandparents often take over the raising of him while he mother pursues acting work. She finally became a big star on a network television game show, but tragedy struck in the form of a fatal car accident.

Sadie Green has been programming her own games for years. Her first, EmilyShooter, is centered around shooting your way through the poetry of Emily Dickinson to combine verses and earn your way into decorating a room in the recluse’s Amherst house. Coding became a respite from her sister Alice’s cancer treatment, and it’s because of Alice that Sadie meets Sam, who is in the hospital following the car accident that severely injured his foot and killed his mother. A misunderstanding separated them as teenagers, but a chance meeting in a busy Boston train station sparks off a conversation that turns into a partnership when Sadie hands Sam a copy of her latest RPG game.

Sam is impressed, and they sit down over a school break (he’s at Harvard; she’s at MIT) to co-create the game Ichigo: Child of the Sea. While Sam concentrates on level design, story, quality and character quality are important to Sadie; the two of them perch upon two totally different but complimentary spectrums when it comes to what they want for the game. Sam’s friend Marx Watanabe comes aboard to offer them business-related assistance and space to code in. None of them know that they’re about to change their lives, creating a hit game that will spawn a series, make them rich, open professional doors for them and complicate the romantic friendship that has colored their lives since they were children.

Throughout the years, Sam and Sadie struggle with their pasts, find love, lose love, build lives, shatter their lives, and try to cope with those old childhood hurts. Sam becomes the face of the company while dealing with having his foot amputated; Sadie deals with a relationship that goes south and another that thrives and ends tragically. All the while, Sam becomes the showboating center of their company, making Sadie resentful. Estrangement settles in, and it will take several tragic deaths to bring them back together again.

Don’t go into this one expecting Sadie and Sam to actually end up together; this is a move that Zevin wisely avoids. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is too busy obsessing about the Bitch of Living to stop for their romance, though another, effective relationship does take place.

The book provides rich opportunity for representation. Sadie is proudly Jewish and Sam’s amputation, phantom limb pain and various trips to rehab are big parts of the book. The landscape shifts from Boston to California back to Boston again, with a stop in New York thrown in for good measure. The west coast settings in particular are portrayed with loving grace. Sadie grows from being a fully introverted coder to a mentor who finally sheds the image of being the brains behind Sam’s showy beauty; Sam has to learn how to grow up and think beyond gaming to relate to others.

And yet the book is imperfect. Some passages feelings almost fetishizing of Sam’s fragility, though he grows beyond these early assessments of his character. I was kind of disappointed by its treatment of bondage – it’s another way for Sadie’s boyfriend to exert control over her in the end, and something she’s not comfortable with. There are ways to portray kink, and the book completely misses the point to turn it into a way for one character to express his ‘dark side’ and abuse another.

You won’t necessarily need to be a gamer to enjoy the richness of the character work and the deep dive into Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.

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This book was fantastic!

This book is a story of two friends from childhood to adulthood. They create together, live together, and grow together. Through life perils and turbulence these two are there for each other.

It’s hard to give a synopsis of this book without giving things away. I would definitely recommend this book to all the Taylor Jenkins Reid fans out there. The storytelling is so visual and dramatic. I felt so connected to Sadie and Sam, like I was right there with them. This book is about video games, and even though I really do not like video games, I appreciated this work of art. Much like I don’t like tennis but loved Carrie Soto is Back!

I happily give this book 5/5 stars! Many thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for my gifted copy in return for an honest review.

Sadie and Sam meet in their preteens at a time that they both could use a friend. Sam has been in a car accident that has severely injured his foot and his mother. Sadie's sister is in the hospital with cancer. Video games bring these two together.

Sadie and Sam meet again in college and decide to make a game together. Sam's roommate/best friend Marx becomes their producer.

On a surface level this book is a love letter to games. PC games, console games, MMRPG games, and later phone games. On a slightly deeper level it's about friendship. To me this is a book about love in all it's forms. Romantic love, friendship, family, parental, grief, and even hatred at times. Relationships evolve and change. People come in to your life and take up so much space and sometimes leave. Friends become lovers, lovers become friends, friends can become enemies, relationships can be one sided or with one person carrying the weight of the relationship. Your lens in life change with age and experiences and when we look back something might seem completely different than it did when we were going through it.

I think the author did a beautiful job showing this. She did a great job with changing to different narrative styles to tell different parts of the story or to change the view point to a different character. The only part of this book that I didn't love was a chapter told through a video game. It was important to the overall story, but it threw me out of the story for a bit and I didn't really get drawn fully in until that chapter ended. I'm sure some people will love that chapter, it just wasn't my personal favorite.

I loved the characters. I loved following them through 20+ years and seeing the ways their relationship changes and all of their growth throughout. There are times that the narrator is unreliable and you never really figure out who was telling it correctly because the way we see and feel things influences how we tell our story. There is a reason the saying goes there are three sides to every story, yours, mine, and the truth. so that makes the story all the more relatable.

I just finished Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin and I thought I should try to get a review written while it’s still fresh, but honestly I’m sitting here not sure what to say which I’m pretty sure is a big compliment.

Sam and Sadie meet when they’re young in a hospital. He’s traumatized and in a lot of pain after an accident, and she’s visiting her sick sister. Sadie is the first person Sam talks to and they become best friends while playing video games in the hospital. But there’s a bit of a hitch which I won’t spoil. Years later when they’re both in college, they meet again and decide to make video games together. Sam’s roommate Marx gets involved as a producer and the three set off on a decades-long collaboration with many ups and downs and in betweens.

This is one hundred percent a character driven novel. And I believe these characters will stay with me for a long time. But in much the way I feel about Sally Rooney books, I’m not sure I can put into words why. But I absolutely think anyone who loved Normal People, will like this book.

A lot of bad/traumatic things happen in this deceptively quiet story. I will list some here with no specifics, but skip the next sentence if you want to be spoiler free. There’s suicide, gun violence, abortion, S & M, amputation, depression, sexism, homophobia, racism. In the end, the book left me feeling a little sad, but I’m hopeful for the characters and loved getting a chance to see how they grew over the decades covered in the book and also how they stayed tied to each other in a pretty beautiful way.

I don’t think you have to be a gamer to enjoy this one, but I do think it would help to have an appreciation of game construction. I listened to the book, and mostly there’s only one narrator (who does an amazing job) even though the story is told from both Sadie and Sam’s POVs. There is one chapter with a different narrator that uses some gaming metaphors that I struggled with at first, but ultimately those pages totally broke me.

I’m so grateful to @knopfdoubleday and @netgalley for a copy of this one.

On the recommendation of multiple people I trust regarding books, I decided to give this book a try despite the book’s premise based on video games. But in reality the video games provide the apparatus for the characters to meet, work together, and fall in love. Somehow the author also makes the world of video game development interesting without spending too much time on explanations.

The author presents gaming as an allegory of life, where multiple choices are presented to you. But what happens when something goes wrong. You can’t start over like in a game. Or can you?

I was a little concerned at the beginning that the story because was giving me “A Little Life” vibes. But even though tough things happen, the overall story is much more hopeful.

My only criticism of the book is the frequent use of uncommon words. It’s not often these days for me to have to consult a dictionary while reading fiction.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #TomorrowandTomorrowandTomorrow for an advanced reader copy.

Full Disclosure: I received an advanced reader's copy of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group via NetGalley.

Even if I hadn't received an advanced copy, I would have read this book. Just from the description alone, I knew I was really going to love it or be terribly disappointed. I was not terribly disappointed. In fact, this may be my favorite book I've read this year. The gaming world is the backdrop story, but it is really more about relationships. One might even say it is about love, and maybe it is, but not in the way you'd think. I delighted in being with these characters as they grow up. I sobbed a couple of times. I also had to stop and game sometimes.

As a gamer, I loved all the gaming references. Sadie, especially, plays many of my favorite games. Shout out to Harvest Moon! Even the fictional games mentioned had me wanting to get my hands on them. I might finally have to break down and buy Animal Crossing, a couple years too late.

Bonus points: I was in the Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop today and saw a pillow with the Strawberry Thief on it. That got me gushing about this book.

This latest novel by Gabrielle Zevin will undoubtedly be on my favorites list for 2022. She has done such a winning job of describing a true friend experience, warts and all, in the best possible way. Misunderstandings, miscommunications, things left unsaid, all of it is addressed among the three friends, Sadie, Sam, and Marx, who as college friends, start a video game company. The characters are all so fleshed out that even a waitress who takes up only one page in this book with her observations was so well described.
I add my praise to all the accolades for this book. Congrats Gabrielle Zevin for such an unforgettable story.
Thank you to #Netgalley and #Knopf #Doubleday.for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my review!

Once again, Zevin has delivered a story about storytelling and human connection. While I didn't feel the same, visceral love for "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" that I did for A.J. Fikry, I think it is in some ways richer, more complex, and more mature. At the book's heart is Sam and Sadie's ever-evolving friendship, at once both beautiful and constantly strained. We see it and themselves reflected in the games (and stories) they create.

Sam and Sadie are captivating in a way that made it difficult to put down. Zevin has a remarkable talent for capturing the inner workings of people, particularly the combination of love and selfishness that motivates so many of us.

Like a lot of literary fiction, I felt vaguely dissatisfied after the last page, but I'm also very glad I read it and suspect I will think about it for a long time.

It’s quite good - but not as universally appealing as AJ Fikry. Zevin’s writing is wonderful and the characters will stay with me. My only hesitation is the gaming aspect which is a world I am completely unfamiliar with. My point of reference to the work and game development was Halt and Catch Fire - and similar to that show - this book is more than the story and really about the characters and devotion to others. It’s a quick and engaging read - recommend trying it out!

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is a story about gaming and the stories you can tell with it. Sam and Sadie meet as children and bond over their love of gaming. They have a falling out but reconnect in university over a game that Sadie creates. This sets off a creative partnership that spans their successful careers.

The thing about this book is that more than anything it focuses on the relationships between two people who are not romantically involved, and at times are not even friends yet are the most important people in each other’s lives. While it also has fascinating things to say about the first generation of gamers, I think its real power is in how it centers Sam and Sadie as imperfect people who need each other.

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday for providing an e-Arc of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin for my review.

A richly imagined, wonderfully written story of relationships, identity, generations, & connections.
I've been a great fan of this author & have adored her last two books. Unfortunately I think the gaming theme played too central a role in this narrative for me to fully connect.

With great thanks to NetGalley & Knopf Doubleday for this e-ARC!

I loved this book. I savored the story of friendship, work, love, loss, tragedy, and success. Even though a lot of the book is set in the recent past (90s and early 2000s) and there's a lot of video game nostalgia (Donkey Kong, Mario, Oregon Trail), the story is fresh and unique. You do not have to be a gamer to enjoy this book though some familiarity (like myself) is probably helpful. The book is unique in its story telling and foreshadowing and switching between time periods. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

Check content warnings if you need it. While not a heavily triggering book there are aspects (particularly if the 2022 news cycle is problematic for you) that you may want to know if in advance if that impacts your reading.

Thank you to Knopf Publishing Group at Netgalley for the electronic copy.

The characters in this book are perfect. I became invested in their lives and relationships early on. However, I did find parts of the book to be slow and maybe even a little boring (which is why I did not give 5 ⭐) There is a heavy focus on video gaming in the story, which may have been why I was bored at times. Although I am happy to play video games from time to time, I am not a gamer. That being said, I think this is a must read for anyone interested in ever changing relationships between people in love (but not in a romantic relationship!)

Sam and Sadie meet in a hospital when they are children. They form an immediate bond over video games. The book follows their relationship over decades. Their relationship changes through it all, despite their overwhelming love for one another. There are years that they don’t speak, years that they are business partners (with a friend who becomes Sadie’s lover) They are there for one another during pain, growth, loss, failure and overwhelming success.

A beautifully written story about the natural changes in relationships. How some are there through the good, bad and inbetween, while others only last a season.

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy!

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is my fourth of Gabrielle Zevin’s novels. My excitement for this release is solely due to my love of the previous three books read: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, and Young Jane Young. On the surface the books seem very different, yet all include memorable characters with complicated relationships that the author deftly navigates the readers through.
The tale of Sadie and Sam felt like an epic journey of love, loss, and tumultuous resets. The structure, language, and obscure vocabulary sprinkled thoughout all worked to build this fictional world that I found myself deeply immersed. I felt a strong sense of nostalgia for the 90’s. The references to Oregon Trail, Frogger, and Duck Hunt in particular warmed my heart and made me smile. My only qualm is that the ending felt slightly unsatisfying. I am not at all convinced that Sadie and Sam have grown enough to nurture a healthy friendship; as such, I fear they are destined to fall back into their respective roles. Nonetheless, this story and these characters will remain with me for a long time.

My best book of 2022 and an all time favorite. (Also a book of the month selection.) And, I’m not even a gamer. I don’t even like board games. A uniquely original and wonderful story about friendship and collaborators, and how life’s traumas and insecurities fuel our creativity. A book I did not want to end. FYI I also loved author’s last book Young Jay Young, although this is an entirely different book. It’s a real talent to not keep writing the same kind of books.

I began reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow with a bit of unease that this latest novel from Gabrielle Zevin would not live up to the buzz. After finishing this one (with tears streaming down my face), I can say the high praise for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is so well deserved in my mind.

Zevin portrayed each character’s evolution with such authenticity that I found myself highlighting constantly. The seamless way the story switched from present to past and back again seemed to make the pacing flow effortlessly. The characters’ storylines intertwined in a way that felt vastly different from other authors’ works. Each character’s personality was unique and so well crafted. Even minor characters played roles that felt invaluable to the plot. It’s no easy feat to create a book that accurately depicts the flawed beauty of unconditional friendship, which is why this read is on my favorites list for 2022.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review. I also purchased my own audiobook copy upon publication.

I really enjoyed this story. I requested it for the author bc I've read another book, but I enjoyed this one much more! I loved the behind the scenes of making video games! I enjoyed the friendship/love of the two MCs. I liked the setting and the real world events equated with the times. I recommend this read, even if you aren't a gamer bc I am not!

ALL the stars for one of my favorite reads of the year. This was just so good. I loved these characters and this was the kind of book that I wanted to stay up all night to finish but simultaneously didn’t want to end. It made my nerdy heart so happy.

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What a special book! I have zero interest in video games but that did not matter at all. These characters and their stories are so unique - flawed & damaged, love interests & friends, struggling with issues of identity, loyalty & belonging - I loved each of them so much. This book is so smart and the worlds created here, both in and out of the game, are fantastic.