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

This was a slow read for me, but the writing was beautiful! I really liked the backdrop of game development, as I have never read a book that focuses on game development.
The narration was a little confusing at times, as it jumped between describing and inner thoughts and emotions or characters, sometimes jumping between characters within the same paragraph. So it was sometimes hard to see who we're currently following. At the same time, the author did an amazing job with the time jumps. We see Sadie and Sam as kids and the narration and the way they spoke really matched their ages, there was a noticeable difference between them as kids (in character, but also in speech, etc.) and them as adults. Throughout those jumps and the book as a whole, you can feel the characters growing up. They change the way they speak, lived experiences alter how they behave and interact with each other.
Another aspect I appreciated was the representation in this book- it was really diverse. There was disability rep which felt very real, especially the struggles that Sam had with his disability and accepting himself. But the book was diverse in many other aspects (religion, heritage), which were woven into the story well!
Throughout the story, in accordance with the heritage of the characters, the author used words from other languages. Usually, I really like this in books. However, when you use other languages, you need to make sure that you use those words correctly. Unfortunately, there was an issue with this that really bugged me. In the book, Simon makes a very cute speech (aimed at his husband) to show him how he always felt alone before he met his husband. Because Simon is German, the author uses a German word in this speech (as in "there is a German word to describe the feeling of ..."). The word the author used was "Zweisamkeit", which is a nice word, but does not mean what Simon says it means whatsoever. I happen to be German, I noticed it and found it to be quite annoying. I assume the author meant "Einsamkeit", a possible definition of which is feeling alone even when you objectively have a large social group or are among people (which is what Simon described). "Zweisamkeit" on the other hand means being with another person (and usually has a positive connotation). Both words have good meanings and could've both been applied in the speech by Simon, but unfortunately, the meaning was taken away entirely because of that mistake.

Very long rant about one mistake, but I really liked the book overall, beautifully written!

Content Warnings

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.5

I get the criticism that its only enjoyable if ur a gamer or make games, but that feels like a stupid approach lol like yeah i didnt get every minor reference to game design but i enjoyed the book and i enjoyed the description of the games (even though i literally never game) and i enjoyed the characters and also i cried so

Content Warnings

itsbumley's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

riverrliam's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

This book took me forever to get through. Most of the time I was bored or annoyed with the characters. There is a lot of violence and abuse that doesn’t seem to have a true purpose. The book felt like it was trying to be progressive given that it takes place in the early 1990s, but then had one of the main female characters in love and obsessed with a creepy, older, abusive, pos man. Not for me. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Content Warnings

cghegan's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

Content Warnings

kyriannaj's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

sbnptwrn's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad medium-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

3.0

The concept/premise was great but I feel that Zevin didn’t pull through with the execution. Felt like it was trying to juggle so many parts or elements that it resulted in way less ‘signal’ than there is ‘noise.’ I think it would’ve benefitted with some more structural edits/different editorial decisions. Often there were parts where the prose felt quite flat or bloated, and while I appreciate the attempts at social commentary it often felt shoehorned and could’ve been integrated into the narrative better. (Same with the homages and descriptions of video games). Second half felt weaker, and while I did find Sam to be interesting I generally find that the characters were not very compelling. I think that this story may have worked better as a TV series/film

Content Warnings

blairsatellite's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

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

1.0

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