Reviews with content warning for Death - Amanhã, amanhã, e ainda outro amanhã

I don't think I understand the hype. This is a very well written book, and has some very good ideas about relationships, emotions and misogyny in the gaming world. But for something that can get so deep about gaming, it feels surprisingly superficial about real life, despite the topics it covers.

I think my main issue was that I really didn't find much to like in the characters. Sam and Sadie's friendship felt like a crash course in how not to communicate. The character I loved most didn't get enough page time, and the one I hated got more than they should. The real world sections manage to feel like a summing up more than they feel like a story.

The game worlds and concepts were fascinating and beautiful. But ultimately I got a little bored with the minutiae (in fact, my favourite part of the book was immediately followed by a huge game-immersed section that kind of ruined it for me).

I didn't dislike the book overall (despite how this review sounds!), but it didn't have the impact I'd hoped. It feels like I should have loved it but unfortunately it just didn't hit the spot the way I expected.

Content Warnings

ashleighf's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I had really high hopes for this book; I had seen many people giving it 5 stars and raving about it. However, it fell very flat for me. **Potential spoilers beyond this point...**

There were things I did like about this book, the first being the exploration of emotional topics, like death, grief and emotional/ physical abuse. The final 100 pages in particular became a bit more enjoyable to read. I thought it was refreshing to explore a plutonic friendship between a girl and boy, and how it can evolve over a long period of time. The concept of this book had so much potential, and generally, I enjoyed reading about the production and making of video games.

However, I have major issues with this book...
The first problem that took a while to get used to was the style of writing - it was written in 3rd person and kept switching between different people's thoughts and perspectives. This made it harder to follow, and the sentence structures were short and disengaging. I understand that this is sometimes a creative choice, but a whole book written this way made for a boring read.

Secondly, I connected with Marx's character much more than I ever did with both the protagonists. Both Sadie and Sam were generally unlikable, and feeling sorry for their starts in life wears off pretty quickly!

My final big problem with this book is it was simply boring to read; it had a lot of unnecessary detail and at most points throughout the book there is no sense of direction. You are literally just reading about the next stages of Sam and Sadie's lives as video game producers. Mostly I found myself reading on because of the pretty cover, rather than it being an interesting read.

I'm glad I read and finished this book, however I don't think I would recommend to friend.

Content Warnings

oppesaddle3's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

fi_sandison's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

brokenpickle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

intrepid_bibliophile's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

lahars_little_library's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The writing style by Zevin is gripping. Watching the story of two friends live and work together over decades and the realistic ways their relationship changes was masterful. There was quite a lot of triggering content but it was all handled delicately. I was so invested in the lives of these characters they felt so real to me as a reader.

Content Warnings

brlylcl's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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