'Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow' by Gabrielle Zevin is a novel that delves into the themes of love, loss, and life tragedies, all captured with sincerity, depth, and honesty. The story follows the characters Sam and Sadie, exploring their complex friendship and the impact of gaming on their lives. The narrative intertwines past, present, and future, creating a storyline that is emotionally engaging and thought-provoking. Through the characters' relationships and experiences, the book offers a profound exploration of grief, friendship, and the benefits of gaming.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings may include discussions of mental health issues, trauma, grief, and elements related to unhealthy relationships.
From The Publisher:
Short-listed, Wingate Prize
In this exhilarating novel by the best-selling author of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry two friends-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.
On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom.
They borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo: a game where players can escape the confines of a body and the betrayals of a heart, and where death means nothing more than a chance to restart and play again. This is the story of the perfect worlds Sam and Sadie build, the imperfect world they live in, and of everything that comes after success: Money. Fame. Duplicity. Tragedy.
Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, games as artform, technology and the human experience, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.
Cover image: The Great Wave (detail) by Katsushika Hokusai. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Ratings (178)
Incredible (44) | |
Loved It (55) | |
Liked It (35) | |
It Was OK (25) | |
Did Not Like (13) | |
Hated It (6) |
Reader Stats (313):
Read It (179) | |
Currently Reading (7) | |
Want To Read (107) | |
Did Not Finish (10) | |
Not Interested (10) |
12 comment(s)
Charming and sweet, heartfelt and curious :) A treat!
Loved it! Loved the characters! Loved the world building details.
It’s an objectively good book, but I just didn’t connect with the story the way I thought I would.
Wonderful story about friendship and loving someone as a friend, accepting the love of someone as a friend, knowing that love can be deeper, more painful, and more enduring in friendship. Life is not idyllic but it can be lasting in a meaningful way.
3.5*
This reminds me of Station Eleven - Zevin also uses Shakespeare as a shortcut for her storytelling. I mean that in a good way even though it sounds like I think she's lazy. She and Emily St. John Mandel use Shakespeare (and the Iliad and Emily Dickinson and others for Zevin) as a plot device and an homage. It's something that could go so wrong but in both cases, is so beautiful.
4 stars
I am listening to this book from almost 2 months now. It has been my constant walk companion. When you listen to a story that long it slowly grows on you. The characters start to become part of your life. Sam and Sadie are like my neighbors now.
We follow Sam and Sadie through a span of 30 years. We see the highs and lows of their friendship, success-failures , love-hate relations and their never ending love for video games. It was heartbreaking at times and warm/cozy at some places. Though the middle part felt a bit long, as a whole story that makes sense.
Beautifully written with so near to life characters.
P.S. This book is not a one sitting kind of book. Its the best if read slowly (my opinion only)
Happy Reading!!
When I started the book, I was a little nervous that it wouldn’t be my cup of tea, as there is a lot of dialogue and story around video games (e.g., ideas of games, producing them, playing them). I, however, loved this book.
The writing is exceptional. Although video games keep the plot moving, the story is about so much more than video games. It’s about friendship, love (romantic and non-romantic), grieving/loss, & much more.
The characters are incredibly lovable. The main three characters are Sam, Sadie, and Marx. Gabrielle Zevin does an exceptional job humanizing these characters, and I found myself rooting for all three of them. I have never liked this many characters in any book I’ve read.
The book is a long book, and it covers 3 decades. Although it may be daunting for some, the length enriches the characters and story.
This book has a lot of hype (e.g., the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards Best Fiction & BOTM’s 2022 book of the year), and it certainly lives up to the hype.
Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the ARC in return for an honest review.
enjoyable read
Rich characters and topics that make you think. I’ll reread this one in the future like replaying a favorite video game.
It goes on, and on, and on.
What can you read after
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow?
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