✨Book review✨
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
By Gabrielle Zevin

This was not my usual type of read, but I had heard such great things about it, that I had too!

What a cute story! The relationship between the two main characters is so beautiful, and watching their love change over a 30 year span was amazing.

As an 80’s baby, I LOVED all the pop culture references, they made the book for me!

I really enjoyed this one, and if you can handle video game banter, suggest checking this one out. Zevin is like a poet with words.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This book has a pub date of July 5th, be sure to check it out.

QOTD: What is your fave video game? My son loves Kirby!

Thanks so much to @netgalley and @knopfdoubleday for sending me an e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow stunned me. I was prepared for a nice read, a fun read, but instead, I was completely stunned.

In Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow we follow Sam and Sadie, two video game lovers who eventually start their own company together where they make video games.

I love a book that teaches me something and this book taught me about the video game world while holding my attention. It's clear Zevin knows her stuff, but she kept the story accessible to all readers. And, though I'm not a gamer, I found myself interested in the parts where she describes the process of creating a game.

But! I think Zevin is trying to get the reader to understand that video games are stories and art. The book becomes almost philosophical at times about things like art, work, love, games, friendship, and story. These parts really elevated the reading experience for me and prompted long dinner-table discussions about the intimacy required for playing games and if openness about trauma makes art better. Plus, there were plenty of references to classic literature to keep this English major happy!

The best thing about this book, though, is the relationships Zevin manages to capture. I can't count how many times I was like, "Yep, I know someone just like that." I thought she must have been exhausted bringing so much reality and dynamic representation to every one of her characters. Sadie's sister plays a side role but she is well developed. Sam's grandparents come into the story only occasionally but I was completely attached to them. And don't get me started on Sam, Sadie, or Marx.

I loved Young Jane Young, but with Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Zevin has hit her stride. She's an auto-read author for me now.

This was an excellent book… not quite the ‘perfect play’ but very close, for me. I really enjoyed how there were different styles incorporated throughout the book, such as portions of interviews and from the point of view of a secondary character, and would have liked to see a little more of that as I really enjoyed it. The pop culture references were mostly known to me, some areas felt a bit heavy with them, but overall they did a great job of setting the scene.I enjoyed the pace of the book, though I did feel it slowed a little in the last quarter or so, if I’m being picky.
Overall a fantastic book and I’d have been very happy if I’d purchased and read it! I enjoyed the list of games that provided inspiration at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What to say about this absolutely beautiful piece of art? While most of the description say this is a book about two friends who make video games together, I’d argue it’s about three friends who make video games together: Sam, Sadie, and Marx. We see more of Sadie and Sam as their friendship started when they were just children in a hospital game room, but Marx is just as integral to what they create together. As many reviewers have already said, you don’t need to be a gamer to appreciate this story but in reading it, it felt as if the games, and the worlds of those games, were real. If they were real, I might even be tempted to try some of them out. But the games aren’t real and they weren’t created by three brilliant minds but just one- Gabrielle Zevin. And that is why this book blew my mind.

Yes, the games seemed like they could have been real, but more importantly, the characters felt like real people. Zevin has an obvious talent for dialogue, creating jokes between friends without it feeling forced, staging arguments that you might overhear in Ikea, writing tension and love in palpable ways. I knew I was reading something great pretty early on but by 75% I was so invested, I felt some emotions viscerally in a way that I haven’t with a book for as long as I can remember.

I recently defined my star ratings and said a five star is one that I could re-read, would need for my shelf, and would recommend to everyone. I don’t know if I could bear to read this a second time, that’s how hard it hit me. I also don’t know that it will be a fit for every reader out there. It’s not a light read. But, if you want to read something that feels incredibly real, by which I mean full of the sorrows and pain of real life and the ups and downs of real friendship, then please pick up this book. The point being, this book is absolutely deserving of five stars because it is an incredible piece of fiction and probably the best book I have read this year and possibly last year too.

This book is already appearing on all sorts of lists and I know it’s going to make huge waves in the literary community when it comes out next month. I feel so lucky to have gotten an ARC from @netgalley and @knopfdoubleday.

Oh Zevin, Zevin, Zevin. To this day her book The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry is the book I recommend the most to friends and family. I trust her and her ability to make me care about her characters and the story she wants to tell.

Zevin has an ability to create a village of characters that you quickly care deeply about - you are invested in their choices. I cannot wait for you to meet Sadie, Sam, and Marx.

We are given a book about friendship centered around a mutual love of gaming. Or perhaps the opposite could also be said. Regardless, the story is rich with complexities about relationships and choices they make at different stages of their lives. Sure, it’s a book about gamers, gaming, and world building - but it really is so much more. I might have been looking too much into certain aspects, but much like the games they created, there seem to be hidden messages throughout. I found it interesting how similar the names Sadie and Sam are, then when Sam changed his name to Mazer, how similar it was to Marx. The names and the relationships that each character had to one another changed too. The floating Anna Lees sprinkled throughout allowed in grief, and hope, and mystery. I guess it’s all up to interpretation, but I’m interested to hear how that hits others. I absolutely loved this one. Instant classic for me.

Thank you for the ARC!

When I discovered that this is literary fiction about video game creators—with a Shakespearean title, no less—I was intrigued and moved it to the top of my list for the summer. I’m happy to report that, in my opinion, this book lived up to all the hype.

The story follows Sam and Sadie, who meet at a hospital as adolescents and bond over video games. After a falling out, they reunite fortuitously years later and begin to create video games together. We follow them through their successes and failures, both personal and professional, and through the betrayals and heartache that threaten to tear them apart.

I devoured this book. I’ll start by saying that I do enjoy video games—my siblings and I grew up gaming together, so there’s a lot of nostalgia there—but I don’t think it’s necessary to love video games to get hooked into this story. The platonic love and creative partnership between Sam and Sadie is what drives the novel. Gabrielle Zevin does a wonderful job of capturing the messiness of people and relationships. Her characters are so complex and real, her writing is smart, and she does some interesting things with structure and perspective.

It’s not a perfect book, and it won’t be for everyone. The main characters are pretentious, and they make some poor decisions that will drive some readers crazy. Also, if you hate video games with a burning passion, maybe pass on this one. But this is a good fit for fans of literary novels that span decades and focus on the development of flawed, realistic characters.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC. I was over the moon about receiving this one!

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is the first book by Gabrielle Zevin I've ever read, and good lord, it was amazing. Somehow, it took me by surprise how much I loved this, because I really didn't know what to expect. Is this a story about videogames? Is this a story about friendship? And it is a story about both of them, but it's also about love, and the ups and downs through the life of Sam and Sadie, who met when they were kids and develop a friendship that spans almost 30 years, where the main constant are videogames.

I love how the characters are developed in such a complex but realistic way. Sadie and Sam are both stressful, arrogant and with lots of flaws, but they are also very easy to love. Sometimes, their minds go from 0 to 100 in less than a second and it can be a little difficult to follow their lead, but it just shows more about them and their creative, always working minds. Sam goes through a lot during his life, from the death of his mother and the accident that changed his life, to the painful days of his adult life. He also has a physical disability, and the way the author develops it was, for me, proper and respectful. Sadie is a woman in a world made by and for men, so she is constantly underestimated and faces a lot of inequality in various situations. But she's a genius, she loves and hates and suffers and it's very stubborn, and she's probably the character that's gonna stress you the most during the book, but I still loved her so much.

The rest of the characters have a lot of importance for the story too. They all are very well developed and we get to know enough about them to feel sympathy or despise them, depending of who are we talking. I loved Marx so much, he's literally the best friend in the world, and how he was always there for Sam, even when Sam didn't want him to be.

The book has a lot of videogames references, it's true, but that doesn't stop you from enjoying it even if you don't know a thing about videogames (I know a thing or two, I played many of the games mentioned during the book, but the ones I didn't I still understood because they explain it to you as a part of the story). The writing is very dynamic: it doesn't have long, boring descriptions, it goes back and forth in time so we get to know different aspects of the characters, it can change the point of view a little too fast sometimes, but it always keeps its pace. At some point, I didn't want to stop reading at all!

So give this book a chance. Because it is a book about love, friendship and videogames, and the unlikely chance that you'll find that childhood friend you haven't seen in year on a random day in the same train station you always pass, and how that can change the rest of your life.

Initially I had trouble getting through parts of this book and even put it aside for a day. Some of the details of designing, coding and playing video games were tedious for me to read.

However, when I tried to get into another book – the characters of THIS BOOK kept coming back to me. From 30% on I was invested and fell in love with Sadie, Sam and Marx.

It’s important to note that this book covers several decades so it’s hard to describe all that happens with these characters!!

Sam and Sadie meet in a hospital. Sadie is there to visit her sister, who is undergoing cancer treatment, and Sam is a patient. He was in a horrific car accident and his foot has been repaired but it will never be normal!! He will be in constant pain!!

Sadie and Sam bond over their love of video games, mazes, etc. “They had the rare kind of friendship that allowed for a great deal of privacy within it.”

There is a point where Sadie and Sam don’t see each other for years but when they are back together the magic is still there. Ideas are worked out together, code is written, Marx is the producer and promoter and for a long time all is good.

As with all human relationships that span decades, these three will go through many changes, and it’s wonderful to watch how they grow. All the emotions are here, friendship, love, happiness, grief, depression, exuberance – all so well described that I felt it with them!!

The writing in this book is absolutely wonderful. I love this quote from Marx “What is a game? Marx said. “It’s tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. It’s the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption”.

This book is very unique, I already miss these characters so very much! I would encourage you to give it a try, even if you’ve never played a video game in your life!!!

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.

The novel is set to publish on July 5, 2022

As a non-gamer, reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is experiencing a beautiful epic novel, covering more than twenty years in the lives of Sadie and Sam. It is their platonic love story, best friends who become colleagues in the creation of a massively successful gaming business and who, naturally, have ups and downs throughout. Gamers will appreciate the video game evolution and creation aspects of the story, too.

The novel reads like a cross between Ready Player One and A Little Life, with heavy gaming content combined with a small group of close friends whose story continues over decades. At times, both Sadie and Sam, as well as Marx, seem self-involved, and made me become upset with a character's actions. Sam is traumatized from childhood, which affects his relationships throughout. The story takes the reader on an emotional ride, ultimately leaving them hopeful for Sam and Sadie's future.

Thank you to Netgalley, Knopf Publishing Group and Gabrielle Zevin for the opportunity to read an ARC of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. The opinions in this review are my own.

Wow. I devoured this book. I originally heard about it through Modern Mrs. Darcy and was very pleased when Netgalley and Penguin Random House gave me the opportunity to review this book.

This is a book about the ups and downs of friendship, how people deal with loss, and why it's important to let others in on our pain all viewed through the lens of video games (you don't need to be familiar with video games to enjoy this book) .

I enjoyed the main characters especially because they had flaws and seemed like real people. The storyline of the book jumps back and forth in time in the beginning of the book which really helps move the story along. Zevin is also a master of words - I don't think I've looked up so many words before in a book. It didn't feel tedious or annoying, rather I enjoyed learning new words for daily use.

I did feel a little empty while reading this book - the characters did not have much hope in the world and that was conveyed to the reader.

Overall, this book was masterfully crafted and very engaging.

Gosh, I loved this book. It’s not the gamer aspect per se (I was only a casual gamer, mostly just loved trying to beat my previous high score on Tetris). The book his some great nostalgia notes for those in the late Gen X zone. And I loved all the many different types of love, family, and friend relationships this book explored. And also realities and worlds and perceptions and the ways we unintentionally limit ourselves and project on others. I found the cast of characters rich and the plot compelling. One of the best books I’ve read this year.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the eARC, in exchange for my honest review.

I actually was not entirely sure how this book would land for me, as the synopsis doesn’t tug at my personal interests. HOWEVER, this hands down is going to be one of my absolute favorite books of the year. I immediately felt sucked into the vortex that is Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and fell in love with the characters; development does not lack in plot or character. This was my first Zevin, and I immediately went to order all backlist titles. Highly recommend this enchanting and quirky novel.

And big thank you to Knopf for my ARC.

A beautifully written book on true friendship. The highs and lows, disagreements and loves we share. I just loved this book. It's rare to finish one and just smile because it was just " that good".

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel by Zevin. I love the writers style and voice. Character development and plotting were excellent and it was hard to put down!

Sadie and Sam meet as adolescents and form a friendship based on a shared love of games. Later, in college, they meet again and develop an intellectual partnership. Sam's roommate, Marx, becomes the third member of their group, and his thoughtfulness and practicality combine with Sam and Sadie's technical and creative prowess to form a successful collaboration. But as time passes, the trio struggle with uneven success and the balance of their relationships. Ultimately, the games that brought them together can also tear them apart.

This is the kind of novel that rekindles one's faith in the written word. It has beautifully-crafted sentences and sharp-yet-inevitable turns of plot. The characters are so well-realized I felt I had met them in person, and their - and the book's - intelligence illuminates the pages. The story is grand in scope but intimate in scale, spanning twenty years but lingering in momentary details.

If I have any complaint about this novel, it was that it ended too quickly. I would have happily read this story for another hundred pages, and I think it would have been improved by expanding its second half. As with a video game, we can always hope for a sequel.

This is an epic love story for all the nerds out there. Whether you are a drama nerd, game nerd, or good old well rounded nerd, this is a love story for you. It’s the Shakespeare, it’s the Atari game that you love growing up. Life-long longing for a person that stands right next to you could not be described better than how it was done in this story. You are so close, yet too far.

Two friends who met under very unusual circumstances… They parted ways some time ago but managed to find each other on the streets between Harvard and MIT. They decided to forget about what separated them in the first place and decided to build a game together. And what a game that was! These two along with their theater loving third wheel found themselves in the middle of a dream: they were successful, they were happy. This was until emotions and an unfortunate event took control over their lives. Gaming was their love language; it will be their savior.

I just cannot get over this quote from one of the games that make this book amazing: “"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?'” Forget about romance, give me more of this!

Sam and Sadie are best friends, who met as children in a hospital in California. After a falling out, they meet again when he's a math major at Harvard, and she's an engineering student at MIT. They join forces to create a video game and rebuild their friendship, and make new friends and colleagues. This doesn't make it sound very interesting but it's a compelling read. One of the best books I've read all year.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow has quickly jumped to the top of my list of favorite books. The characters are so complicated and unique. I was also very impressed by the information I learned regarding the video game community. There is a beautiful balance between the light-hearted nature of reading video games and the messy human interaction that grounds all characters.

I was so excited to receive this ARC! I loved AJ Fikry and have been anticipating Zevin’s next book for some time.
This is a TOTALLY different book than I imagined, or that I have read, ever. Even if video gaming is t your thing, there are so many aspects of this novel that may be up your vein. Loss, love, heartbreak, growth, all told surrounding Sam & Sadie, and their non-romantic love for one another. Their creative minds come together to create such an epic video game that launches them into success they could’ve never imagined. But with success comes challenged they didn’t plan for either. And some of these challenges destroy the things they love.

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Wow. Just wow. A deep dive into lifelong love and affection for a close platonic friend over the course of 30 years more or less. Seen through the mists of gaming, a childhood fascination that becomes a lifelong pursuit for these characters. There is so much meat in these relationships and realistic looks at the people behind them, the randomness of life experiences and how people reinterpret those experiences over the course of a life. Sam and Sadie define a certain period of gaming history while at the same time defining platonic love and affection. Incredibly moving. A book worthy to become a classic.