Thank you to Knopf for providing a NetGalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 7/5/22
Genre: coming of age, books about friendship
In one sentence: Friends Sam and Sadie were the brains behind video game sensation Ichigo - but what will happen to their friendship after early success?

Friendship is one of my favorite topics to explore in a book, and I loved how Zevin told Sam and Sadie's origin story. Their platonic friendship was more captivating than some romances, especially with the give-and-take that happens with a close working relationship. I'm not a big gamer, but I enjoyed the video game references (especially to Oregon Trail) and seeing how much games meant to both main characters. Sam and Sadie are both good friends and bad friends individually and as a pair at different times in their friendship, and I liked seeing the conflicts they went through.

The book lost me a bit in the last third - the plot didn't live up to the promise of the beginning of the book, and I could guess where things would go long before the book ended. I still enjoyed the book a lot, but I think it would have been a five star read with some editing. 3.5 stars.

Initial reaction: Holy shit. I love this book so much. A formal - and probably long winded- review to come. Going right to the all time favorites list though.

"Formal", long-winded review:
This is a story about friendship and love, but not in a way that you have ever read before. I absolutely loved this book so much, and I am going to do my best to explain why. First, there were many nights where I stayed up entirely too late, hours later than I should have gone to sleep, in order to keep reading. This book made me feel very intense feelings for these incredibly well fleshed out characters.

As for the craft of the storytelling: while the book follows a mostly linear timeline from the 80s through present day, there is some excellent use of non-linear storytelling which I thought was incredibly well done. You would understand something from a particular perspective, and then later Zevin would loop back around to the same incident and reveal something that completely shifted how you perceived an event or character, with new depth or clarity. It was brilliant.

I was so invested that more than once I may have sat up and said out loud "no they f*cking didn't" repeatedly and with new emphases on a different part of the sentence every time.

Warnings: this book gets sad. It's not a sad book, but you will be sad, maybe devastated, at times.
Content warnings: a suicide and an active shooter situation are both described on page (I know that sounds intense, which is why I felt compelled to mention it, although I hope it doesn't deter you from picking up the book)

Lastly - I may have one quibble. Still a favorite book of all time. But I have a quibble. And that is the absolute insane use of vocabulary words which I had never in my life heard before. It got to the point that 20% in, I started writing them down on a note in my phone. I have 34 words written down that I absolutely could not tell you what they mean. I would have been able to use context clues without a dictionary, but I am so happy that I read this on my kindle, because I used the in-device dictionary A LOT. You may be thinking, Lauren, surely it wasn't that bad. Here are a few examples: ligneous, grokking, copacetic, ameliorated, patchouli, hirsute, ouroboros, vertiginously, bloviating (2x), raconteur, habiliments, sepulchral, sinsemilla, puerile, palimpsest, ouroboros AGAIN, susurrus, purloined, jejune, simulacrum, verdigis. It honestly got to the point of laughable. Did I learn anything? Doubtful. But I felt compelled to mention it because it felt notable.

ANYWAY. LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH.
I even DMed the publisher on instagram to find out where I can pre-order a signed copy, even though they gave me a free copy in exchange for a reiew. Which:
Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for providing an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a book about many things tucked inside a story about video games. I’ve heard so much hype around this book, but unfortunately I just could not get into it. I rarely DNF, but I just could not make it through. I had heard that whether you like video games or not it would be possible to connect with the underlying story here of friendship, but there is a LOT about video games. And game development. And game companies. And…well, you get it. However, I recommend that if you find the premise at all interesting you give it a read as it seems to be enjoyed by many. I was provided an ARC of this book for review.

This was a lovely book about friendship and I have no idea why I liked it as much as I did. I know, what a weird way to start a review of a book I enjoyed, but hear me out:

1) While I understand this book covers the span of many years so this was, to an extent, necessary, this novel tells instead of showing way too much, which is something that drives me crazy. Don’t summarize the action for me, let me see it!

2) I did not find Sam redeemable at all. He gave me major incel vibes and was kind of a generally not a nice person. I get that he went through some intense trauma as a kid, but his possessiveness is creepy and over the top.

3) Boston/Cambridge doesn’t feel right to me. No one calls the T the subway. And when Dov was listing things that Boston does better than LA, he mentions bodegas, bagels, and late night dinners. He’s talking about New York, not Boston.

And yet … I loved this book. I didn’t care about things that would normally turn me off of a story. I loved the references. I loved the study of how a friendship evolves and changes throughout a person’s life. I found it moving and delightful and even cried. It makes no sense to me but that’s where we are *shrug*

The only reason I didn’t give this 5 stars was because it dragged a bit, and the weird stalking chapter was unneeded and completely lost me. But this book was an absolute delight.

4.5 stars. Thanks to Knopf Doubleday and Netgalley for the ARC

I feel like I'm emotionally hungover after reading this book. I really enjoyed the story for the most part, and the video game premise was both unique and interesting, but Sadie really wore me out. I was just exhausted reading her parts sometimes. Overall it was a good and deep read.

Remember, the strawberries are a trap.
Gabrielle Zevin has written two books, and I'm surprised by how similar they are. If you like The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, you'll like this book.
The story revolves around three friends, from the childhood of two and the third comes in during college. They dropout to make video games, and ultimately make a successful video game company. We see them grow, fail, learn, adapt, and love. But not marry, cause we're bougies like that.
You ever have a dream and you see someone from behind and you KNOW it's your childhood best friend without knowing why? It's a dream, you just KNOW. That kind of logic only makes sense if you're in a dream, but Zevin writes like you're in a dream. The exposition is heavy, you as a reader need to KNOW things, so Zevin just tells you. Time gets in the way of the story, so time gets moved, we are where we need to be in the story for the story to make sense.
For the (at least) second time, Zevins also writes a great slow death, a character gets to process their upcoming death and we get to go along with them. Unlike A.J. Fikry though, this time we get to see the aftermath, the pain and healing of their loved ones. I think the accuracy is excellent, the way the pain flares up years later when you thought you were done.
Highly recommend.
**I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Brilliant and complicated love.
Many thanks to Knopf Doubleday and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am now a Gabrielle Zevin fangirl! I thought I enjoyed her writing before, but now I think that she may be an auto-buy for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will continue to recommend it to friends and patrons.

This is the first book I've ever rated 5 stars after wanting to DNF it multiple times while reading. Nothing about my enjoyment of this book makes sense. I don't play and know nothing about video games, yet somehow I'm in love with this story? Gabrielle Zevin is apparently THE author for me. There are so many things to love here, but my favorite was the exploration of platonic love and how it can be just as important as romantic relationships. I’ve never read anything like this and doubt I ever again will.

4.5 stars - This was another excellent book by Gabrielle Zevin. It is a story of friendship and love about friends who are video game designers. Sadie and Sam meet at 11 year olds and the book follow them into their thirties. Marx was my absolute favorite character in the book. It was so well written and all the characters - even lesser ones like Dov, Zoe, Simon and Ant - were interesting and well developed. I highly recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Sadie Green and Sam Masur meet as children in a hospital, with Sam there as a patient and Sadie there for her sister. That meeting over video games in the common area of the hospital is the beginning of a lifelong relationship between Sam and Sadie that ebbs and flows through the years. I loved all of the characters in this book, and I enjoyed learning more about the process of creating video games. They truly are labors of love. This beautiful book is filled with all kinds of love. I highly recommend it.

On the surface you may think this book is about video games, but it’s about so much more than that. It’s about friendship first and foremost, I think. It’s about love, life, learning, growing, determination, nostalgia, victory, tragedy, success, and failure. About sexism and feminism. It’s about that special bond you can develop with a colleague when you both pour your heart and soul into your work. It’s about the social climate we live in today.

The main characters in this book are deep and complex, and I think @gabriellezevin did such a wonderful job writing them, and staying true to their journey. This is a very character driven story, but it’s another one that really worked for me, and I really enjoyed.

Read this if you love:
- character driven novels
- slow burning plot lines
- Complex characters
- Storylines that play out over decades
- Tragic love

The one and only drawback for me personally, were a few parts that moved a little slow for my taste. But that’s my issue, not the book’s!

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was an absolute joy to read. This story and it’s characters are so endearing. For those of you who have had a friendship spanning a lifetime, you will relate to the ups and downs faced along the way. Sam and Sadie are the best of friends.. most of the time. When relationships, business, and bad decisions interfere, they’re friendship will be tested but they always seem to find each other. For the first half of this book I didn’t want to put it down. I loved the story of how Sam and Sadie met and was rooting for they’re journey to creating a video game. Around the halfway point I struggled to keep interest in the side stories and found some aspects to be irrelevant. By the end I still loved the book as much as I thought I would. Needless to say, I will be buying anything Gabrielle Zevin writes from now on!

Thank you Netgalley and Knopf Publishing Group for the advanced copy!

4.5/5

“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” is by Gabrielle Zevin. Some readers may go in thinking that this is a book akin to Ready Player One or Warcross - it’s not. While the main characters are gamers and program games, this book is more about relationships, finding oneself, and figuring out life in general. I was sucked into this book pretty quickly - whether it was the writing or the beginning storyline - it didn’t matter. I cared about these two kids and wondered how the heck this story was going to evolve. Add in Sam’s grandparents (how amazingly wonderful they are!) and some of the other characters to round out the cast - and they just complete this book. Are there flaws - yes, but there are flaws in life. Did I want to smack some sense into the two main characters - quite often, but that’s why I think I really really liked them … flaws and all. I enjoyed Ms. Zevin’s non-gaming little nods - such as art (The Strawberry Thief), literary references (Dickens, Dickinson, and Shakespeare), and cities (LA & Boston). I did find myself consulting a dictionary for a few words (though I laughed at one Latin phrase Ms. Zevin tossed in; no, I don’t know Latin but I recognized three of the words). One section had me confused for a bit - as the story moved to a different person and the reader is dropped into a gaming world for a little bit (all of this is explained and makes sense), but overall for a book that is 416 pages, it didn’t feel that long to me. Do read the Author’s Note at the end … I did like the Magic Eye discussion (my partner also never sees them!). This is a book I can see myself rereading and getting something new out of each time … exactly the type of book I enjoy.

It's hard to describe why I loved this book, but it was amazing. I loved getting to know the characters. No one was perfect - all felt incredibly real. The structure was fantastic as well. This was such a compelling read that kept me wanting to keep picking this up. Don't be intimidated by the video game aspect. While the book is about characters that create video games, the book itself is about so much more than that. This is going to be one of my top reads of the year!

I received an ARC of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. I’m not a gamer, but following the story of these three friends (their friendships are so intricately drawn!) as they come of age, and seeing the role games - creating them, playing them, living between real life and imaginary worlds - makes for a great reading experience: poignant, beautiful, suspenseful & intriguing. I finished almost a week ago and this story is still with me in the best possible way. Highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book.

A great story that revolves around the life of Sam and Sadie’s friendship throughout the years. I don't even know where to start as this covers many themes and a lot of relatable situations such as depression, disability, friendship, family, love, betrayal, abuse, grief, etc. Even if you are not familiar with or ever played video games you will still be drawn to the story and fall in love with these characters. This is definitely a different kind of book as it focuses on friendship, on real problems that we all have to confront. The author did an amazing job creating depth to these characters and you might want to slap them a few times it's all part of their growth. At around 80% into the book, I was SOBBING, I have shed a few tears for books before but this event just shook me to my core and I couldn't handle it. I adored this book so much, it was amazing, I was enthralled in the story and invested in this friendship between Sam, Sadie, and Marx. They were some slow parts but I read every word, no skimming because I wanted to know more about their lives and where would it all go. I cannot emphasize enough how great and beautiful was this book.

Devastating, revelatory, broke me wide open. What is love? It is looking for someone in the dead of night. It is sitting across from them, playing a game. It is an inside joke and the forbidden pleasure of knowing nobody else will understand. It is creating something from scratch and sharing before you’re finished.

I probably should have known how much I would love this because I was a BIG Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac girlie in middle school and a HUGE Halt and Catch Fire babe during my pandemic year. But Zevin just blew me away with everything here: the timeline, and the depth of detail about each character’s life, and the games themselves; but mostly Sam and Sadie together, always in flux, always creating. I loved the setting. I loved the Pioneers section. I just saw a review criticizing the Pioneers section, and I’m like oh, buddy, we’re different. The creativity and the emotion and the heart here is just, whew, eviscerating. It's about games, yes, but mostly it's about friendship and pain and play and intimacy and betrayal and loving each other through it all, even when the love isn't enough, even when the love is too much. My absolute favorite kind of book.

This book is truly a work of art - definitely my favorite book of the year so far and probably the best one I've read in much longer than that. The characters were so well developed that I truly cared about them all and their relationships. I laughed out loud, I cried and I highlighted passages that were wise and beautiful. This story is going to stay with me for a long time!

I received an electronic ARC from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group through NetGalley.
Zevin has meshed gaming, nostalgia, and friendship in this novel of two long time friends who share so much then move apart and reconnect throughout their lives. During college, Sam and Sadie connect with a third person, Marx, and this trio merge their lives, loves and work. These are flawed characters who somehow manage to function and balance each other. Obvious credit to Marx for this part of the story but more subtly, readers see Sam and Sadie work for this too. Life tragedies weave through the story as it moves back and forth in time frames.
As I'm not a gamer, some of the video game creation portions felt a bit long but I appreciated learning more. Kudos to Zevin for the Shakespeare reference title. This is one I need to sit with and think about to fully see all of the meanings.