Since this book features computer gaming, I anticipated it would appeal to young adults. The book has adult sexual content, however, including "S & M" so I could not recommend the book to that population. It seems a shame to me, because the friendship that develops between two young people in California and extends to their sojourn at Harvard and then through a successful collaboration in game development would seem to be a potentially inspiring story. Oh well.

from the moment i heard about gabrielle zevin’s tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, it felt possible that this was a novel i’d been waiting for my entire life. as a lifelong gamer and reader, i’ve craved writing that exists at the intersection of these two interests, that treat video games as i’ve always seen them: a form of storytelling just as transportive, life-saving, and formative for me as books, if not more so. in the beginning of this book, we meet sam masur and sadie green in their childhoods as they bond in a hospital ward over the escapism of video games. after reconnecting in college, sam and sadie—along with sam’s loving, charismatic roommate marx watanabe—form the company unfair games, kicking off a lifetime of game development, complex relationships, and the many beautiful and tragic intersections between them.

this is a novel that is deeply in love with the creation, playing, and existential effect of video games and i ache that i cannot play the games that sam and sadie develop in tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, which take inspiration from various games throughout gaming history, but which feel mind-bendingly original and impactful. given how much of this story is dedicated to showing the process of game development, discussing game history, and describing game mechanics, i can see how this book may not work for people who have no knowledge or interest in video games, but intertwined with the tumultuous path of unfair games, zevin has written one of the most gorgeous accounts of friendship, romance, betrayal, and humanity that i’ve read in a very long time. from sam and sadie’s friendship and partnership, sam and marx’s respective families, and all of their colleagues at unfair games, i found myself invested in every character that zevin put to page, all of whom felt like they could walk off the page at any moment.

what zevin does in this novel that i felt was particularly clever, however, was the way she took the losses, tragedies, and failures of life and balanced them against the eternal promise of video games. not only do video games offer comfort, escape, and wonder for those in need, they allow us to become anything we want to be—a lost child finding their way home, a hero of a fantasy realm, an explorer in the american west, a detective in elizabethan england—and do not limit us the way that life can. if you die in a video game, one click or press of a button reverses it. you get to try again, you get to remedy what went wrong, and you get to succeed in ways you feel you may never be able to in reality. there are save points, methods to heal, wondrous worlds to explore, ad infinitum. in life, there are only choices and consequences, but when you work in video games, it can feel like anything is possible.

so much of what makes this book work for me is that it takes my interest and curiosity about game development and creation and my love of intricate, character-focused stories and combines them into a sweeping, beautifully written novel about human connection, creativity, and what it means to put everything you have into your one brief and marvelous existence. tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow did for the gamer in me what erin morgenstern’s the starless sea did for the reader in me. it is, as i suspected, a novel that i’ve been waiting for my entire life. regardless of your relationship to video games, i implore you to give this book a chance. not only is this one of the best books i’ve ever read, i don’t think i’m ever going to read a book like it again.

I’m such a literary philistine that I didn’t recognise that the title Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, is from Shakespeare. Shame on me. Didn’t stop me loving it though! A contemporary novel about friendship in the world of video gamers, this was not an obvious choice for me - I can’t actually remember what led me to pick it from NetGalley - possibly a FaceBook recommendation. I’ve never been into gaming - beyond playing some variant of Pac-Man in the very early 80s, and getting sucked into Tetris on long-distance flights, they otherwise always seemed like a waste of valuable reading time. This is not to denigrate anyone that does play, it’s just not my thing, but this was not in any way a barrier to me becoming totally immersed in this lovely, elegant, compelling and moving book.

Sam and Sadie meet by chance as children in the mid-80s, and bond over loneliness, a shared geekiness and love of video games, becoming best friends. After a falling-out, they don’t speak again until they are both students in Boston, and join forces to start making the innovative games which will change their lives and make them rich. The book follows their ups and downs, loves and losses over the next twenty years, and explores the meaning of a unique friendship.

I had not previously heard of this author, but I loved her writing - even though I ended up having to look up more words than I have in years - I read it mostly on Kindle for Ipad so this was not a problem for me, and I actually appreciated the push to learn the actual meaning of words I knew but never fully understood, like ersatz. Do not let this put you off! I thought her three main characters were brilliant - realistically flawed and emotionally scarred - Sam by his disability, Sadie by the unlikely stress of being a pretty girl trying to be taken seriously in a clever boy’s world. And don’t we all want a Marx in our lives? I also liked the realistic diversity of her cast of supporting characters.

It is a long book, but, unusually, I didn’t want it to end - in fact my initial reaction to the slightly muted ending was to feel a bit cheated, but on reflection, it’s perfect. I SO didn’t want this to turn into a romance, there are not enough books written about friendship, and so many bookish happy endings seem to be conditional on the guy and the girl getting together. While this is a book about young adults, it’s not YA, and probably will appeal most to fellow Gen-Xers, with all the nostalgic 80s & 90s pop culture references - even if the gaming ones went mostly over my head!

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, is published on July 5th.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing for an eARC in exchange for a review!

I didn't really know what to expect from a novel about video games, and I think that made the experience all the better. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow took me by surprise, delighted me, and, at times, had me tearing up in public as I read. It is, at its barest of bones, a story where two friends conceive a video game together, and then the aftermath of that game's release into the world. Video games are absolutely essential to the story, yes, but the characters and the relationships between them made this shine.

The character arcs of Sadie and Sam were so beautiful and so visceral that at times I felt emotionally flayed alive, and watching them grow from children to full adults made my heart ache at times. The addition of Marx balanced the two extremely well, and the relationship between the three felt so real and messy that it gave this novel an extra emotional depth. I also really appreciated the focus on Sam and Sadie being each other's most important relationship, even though it was neither romantic nor sexual.

The other thing I could not get enough of was the experimental styles that Zevin employed: I will always love second person, so that chapter was always going to be something I enjoyed, but utilizing A and B sides, as well as spending a little time in one of the video game worlds made me gasp out loud at how good they were. I loved this book so much, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Parts of this book were really beautiful. I loved the writing; I loved the creation of the video games (and I definitely wanted to play allllll the games they made!). However, I struggled with why Sam and Sadie were always at such odds with each other. Sadie seemed to hold grudges against Sam that felt irrational. For example, she was so angry at Sam for pushing her into contacting Dov again even though she stayed friends with him for decades, despite some pretty insane abuses of power. Their constant fights and long freeze-outs made the book so much more depressing than it needed to be.

I was pleasantly surprised to actually really enjoy this book. Sam and Sadie, childhood friends, together with Sam's friend Marx, get together in college and make a game called Ichigo. It's a hit, and the book centers around these three turning their hit into a profitable gaming company while also navigating the pitfalls inherent in doing business with your friends. There's high points and incredibly low points, there's intense character development, and there's both happy and sad tears along the way.

My only hangups were that I thought the book overstayed its welcome a bit. I greatly enjoyed the buildup in the beginning to being a successful gaming company, but I sort of checked out 2/3rds of the way through when we go through Sadie's experiences within the MMO. I thought that was unpleasant and felt a little out of character for those involved. The ending was sweet, though, and I thought it wrapped things up nicely, that part aside. I also despised Dov as a character, even understanding his role as a caricature of many things wrong with the gaming industry.

All that said, I enjoyed the journey this book took me on, and I'm glad I gave this book a chance. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW is the third book by author Gabrielle Zevin that I’ve read and for me, the most fully realized. By that I mean, her characters are well-conceived and original, her plot is complete and engaging, and there is surprising emotional heft to her tale; all issues I had with her previous books. This is fundamentally a tale of friendship tested over time by deeply flawed besties; two people ill-suited,on the face of things, to sustain friendship even superficially much less over decades. The language of their friendship is computer gaming, they both have excellent computer skills, complicating their efforts at friendship. Human interaction is not a native language for them; yet they persist. Despite all odds, they find their friendship sustainable. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for my e-ARC of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

Two friends, Sadie and Sam--often in love, but never lovers--come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow revolves around video games. A lot. I grew up when video games started getting popular (the original Nintendo! and Atari!) so this book definitely interested me and it did hold my attention. I enjoyed this story as it expanded over many, many years with Sadie and Sam. This was my first book by Gabrielle Zevin and I look forward to reading more in the future.

My last review was down on non-linear storytelling. Why did that not work and this did? Because this was mostly linear? Because the last book failed to bring the secondary characters to life, so the choice of a non-linear format made it even more difficult to distinguish people? It ultimately doesn't matter, but here I am, praising this near-perfect book about two flawed people who love each other and create together, but don't always know how to WORK together.

Zevin has grown into such a wonderful novelist. Every time I looked at how far into the book I was, I was SHOCKED; I felt like I had lived lifetimes, even when the characters had only passed a few years. How does she do it? Amazing. If this book doesn't end up on best-of lists, I will scream.

My first impression of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is it is Ready Player One meets A Little Life. There is an immersive video game culture and nostalgia element tied together by the tragic, beautiful, and complex relationship between the main characters. While reading this book I yearned to be a part of Sadie and Sam’s world and to play their life’s work. This is a book that will stick with you long after you read the final page. A must read of 2022.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
by Gabrielle Zevin
Pub Date: July 5, 2022
Knopf
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
Two friends--often in love, but never lovers--come together as creative partners in video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.
I don't have much interest in video games, but I adored this book. I could definitely relate to the references to Oregon Trail and Mario. The reader doesn't need to know much about video games to enjoy this book.
There are also a lot of 80s, 90s, and early 2000s pop culture references mixed in. I loved reading the details behind creating a game and the gaming industry as I was introduced to a whole new world. It's a stirring meditation on the intrinsic hopefulness of games, and what they might mean for us all. Content warnings apply.
For fans of Free Guy, Grace Li's Portrait of a Thief, and Alice Elliott Dark's Fellowship Point.

I loved Gabrielle Zevin’s other book, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry., so I couldn’t wait to read this one. This book is totally different because it is set in the world of gaming: the playing, the designing and the business. The two main characters have a life long relationship. They love each other, not romantically, but as best friends. Their relationship has its ups and downs. I’m not really into gaming, but found the book interesting and enjoyable

Sam and Sadie, who met as children playing video games in a hospital, reconnect as college students and collaborate to create a blockbuster game and then a game design company. Their complicated relationship over the 30 years of the novel encompasses friendship, success, resentment, tragedy, and love - an everchanging variable. Glorious! I was *thrilled* to read another novel by Zevin.

I wasn’t sure how I’d relate to this story. What do I have in common with two young gamers? But I was drawn into this story of friendship.
Zevin has a real knack for creating characters and making you see them as real people. In just a few words, she can focus in one someone’s nature. Sam Masur and Sadie Green are friends and partners, game designers. But they each have their own issues and they don’t always have each other’s best interests at heart. The story mostly alternates between their two POVs, which helps the reader see both sides of their relationship. At times, both come across as insecure and immature. But they always came across as real.
The writing here is spectacular and the scenes grabbed me. For the first time, I really understood phantom limb pain. I’m not a gamer, but I could totally get into how the games were created and the depth of thought that went into them. This is a book that will appeal to all readers, not just the young or the gamers.
It’s not a fast or necessarily an easy read. It’s layered and complex. It speaks to all types of love and grief, about the ability to start over, for multiple chances.
The one part of the book which didn’t work for me was Pioneers, which evokes playing a game. I felt this section could have been compressed. But bear in mind, I don’t play video games, so maybe it will work better for others.
My thanks to Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing for an advance copy of this book.

This book was fabulous! I am not a gamer, and the parts of the book that talked about gaming did not keep me from reading and finishing the book. The characters were wonderful. I truly did not want this book to end!

Gabrielle Zevin continues to impress me with her stories. Each one so different from the last, but all amazing!

Gabrielle Zevin's brand-new novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is incredibly well written with raw emotions and relatable main characters. Zevin eloquently addresses friendship, hope, love happiness and grief. Although it is a story about gamers it covers real life situations that bring the reader to tears. A business as well as personal perspective is woven throughout this captivating story of anguish, success and failure.

Synopsis:
Sam, Marx, and Sadie are friends who bond while creating a video game to market for the public. Due to stress, depression, jealousy and communication issues it is difficult to maintain a consistent workable dynamic between the three friends. In time the trio realizes that while diligent work pays off with riches, heartache follows. Will the friendship between Sam, Sadie and Marx survive long-term?

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is available on July 5th. (4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫)

Thank you, NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, for allowing me to review this outstanding book. Your kindness is appreciated!

This is a really difficult review to write and I'm honestly amazed that none of the early reviewers have talked about this yet. I was SO excited to get an ARC of this as a I loved the Storied Life of AJ Fikry and I'm also a huge gamer, but I'm so disappointed.

I can't speak to the author's own rep, intentions, or life experiences, but the way Sam is repeatedly described throughout this book made me very uncomfortable and seemed deeply problematic. I am not a part of these groups, so I can't comment on it in-depth, but I will give a high-level review of what made me stop reading (I DNF'd around 40%).

Sam is Asian, poor and disabled. When his roommate, Marx, first meets him, he describes Sam as being "cute" because he "looks like an anime character," he refers to him as a "strange boy," though they're both the same age and place in life (arriving as college roommates). And what 18 year old describes his college roommate as sweet faced when they first meet? Direct quote: “With his sweet, roundish face, light-colored eyes & mix of white & Asian features, Sam looked almost exactly like an anime character.”

Marx, as someone who is rich, sees that Sam is both poor and disabled and makes the decision on his own that he needs to take him under his wing and take care of him. Both Marx, and Sam's other supposed "best friend," Sadie, infantilize and pity Sam throughout the whole book. Sam is frustrated by their pity and the way they treat his disability, but that does not stop them. It is possible this was the author's intention, but the way it was represented was not well done. Sam is also very much a "nerdy Asian stereotype" and his voice is repeatedly described by Sadie as "reedy." She also describes him as "moon-faced" at one point, which is not a phrase I've ever head, but when I looked it up I could not believe it made it into the book. It is deeply problematic. The way his disability is described and his walk as "hobbled," and his physical appearance as "small" just all feeds into him as a childish character we should pity, and not as their partner/equals. Though Sadie loves Sam, she is not in love with him and Sam is never ever seen as someone to be desired. They feel SORRY for him. I also saw one negative review that said they were surprised this made it past the editors because of how deeply sad it is so I would NOT be surprised if some other awful thing befalls Sam.

There's a part when one of the characters gets called out in an interview for their game being cultural appropriation and they laugh it off and say "that didn't exist then," so I get the feeling as a reader these thoughts reflect the author's beliefs.

Lastly, a small thing that bothered me was the author's insistence on using huge words throughout the whole book that my kindle defined as "archaic." It was fine when they were adults in Harvard, but 10-year-olds saying "tautology" or "self-aggrandizing" doesn't make sense. Some other choice words: habiliments, bloviate, and grokking.

I don't know if this book had sensitivity readers, and I'm sure as more reviews come out this will be pointed out, but as this book doesn't come out until July there is still time to fix this and I urge the publisher to do so.

TikTok on this, here: https://www.tiktok.com/@lizalovereads/video/7099905036502797611?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7042481933524076037

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Multilayered and textured, Tomorrowx3 is a love story, a story about friendship, and a love letter to video games and their creators.
Sam, Sadie and Marx felt heartbreakingly real from the moment we meet them in the story. I had to ration my allotted pages per day because I didn’t want the magic of living through this story to disappear.
The writing is lyrical and full of insight and pathos. Zevin has once again created a masterpiece that transports readers to an alternate dimension inside her mind, where real characters live out rich, full lives.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an advanced copy!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was a different kind of love story spanning decades. It reminded me in some ways of Ready Player One. I am not a gamer, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment! I highly recommend!