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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
Being a video game lover myself, I loved this book— and its messages outside of what’s it was like to be a game designer in the 90’s will stick with me for a long time. Full of nostalgia, tension, romance, and humor, the story had so much depth in its plot and characters. A fantastic read for any game lover, and a really good read for anyone! Only knock on points for me is I feel while this book explored so many traumatic themes, they all felt a bit underdeveloped because there were so many. This caused me to lose interest a bit in the last third of the book, but I still thought it was great.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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:
Yes
I have such mixed feelings about this book and maybe I should give myself time to process, but I'd rather just write this now so here goes.
I loved the first half (probably two thirds?) of this book so much. I loved everyone and also the way it talked about creativity and about platonic intimacy. I'm not really a gamer and I've never worked in games, but I have always had family and friends in that space and-to me at least- this book did a brilliant job of capturing what making games in the 1990s and 2000s must have felt like and I absolutely loved it.
But the book started to lose me in the second half, and overall I'm not sure how a I feel about it.
To me at least, Marx's death felt like it existed because Sam and Sadie needed to have a falling out and so something dramatic needed to happen (and also it's hard to imagine them falling out that hard if Marx was still around). While the last quarter of novel is largely about Marx's death, it doesn't feel interested in examining the way that death impacts our protagonists lives. Earlier bad shit (Anna's death, everything Dov) feel woven into the novel and sits side by side with Sadie and Sam's creative differences. The first half of the novel did such a good job of looking at their creative lives and also examining how they're impacted by gender and class and race and past trauma. But Marx's death takes over the end of the book in a way that doesn't leave room, really, for their creative lives and then the novel ends early enough that we don't see how Marx's murder weaves into their future careers. I'm just left wanting the book that figured out a creative falling out for them that wasn't Marx's death, that didn't feel so extreme and sudden.
The other thing is that Sadie is a terrible friend to Sam basically all of the time in the second half of the book and it never feels properly addressed. The first half of the book, their relationship really worked for me. I loved their deep intimacy mixed with the guarded nature of their relationship and it felt like they were both able to make mistakes. But in the second half, Sadie just treats Sam very badly and it's never addressed. She knows he has a history of chronic pain and literally never tells anyone anything. Like this is a boy she has seen gasping in pain and then immediately pretend everything is fine, this is a boy who will fall over in the street, break his ankle, and not say anything because it's embarrassing. She knows all this. And yet when they get out to California and he looks exhausted and has lost 20 pounds and is never coming into work her read on the situation is "he must not give a shit" It's weird and callous and either poorly written or deeply disheartening.
Sam definitely makes mistakes in their relationship but those imperfections are acknowledged and he still consistently shows up for Sadie. Sadie, just doesn't? And obviously she's struggling with things and is allowed to treat Sam badly at points, but it always feels one-sided and its worse because Sadie's treatment of Sam exists alongside other relationships that do feel kind and supportive. Like when Sam treats Marx like shit (which happens all the time tbh) we see him acknowledge it, and apologize and own it. Sadie continually misreads Sam's intentions in the second half, repeatedly abandons him, and it's never really addressed.
Again if this was the second act of the novel and there was a third act where they're figuring shit out in their 30s it would feel different. But Sam and Sadie's relationship is the heart of the novel and that repair never happens. Basically at the end, I just felt really bad for Sam because his support structure seemed to be entirely Marx, who is now dead, and his grandparents, who are on their way out.
My final takeaway is just "sucks to be Sam," and that's so disappointing because the first half of this book was brilliant and there are still so many parts in the second half that are gorgeous and thoughtful and work. And of course a lot of this is me and taste and all that. But I feel like either Marx needed not to die, or they needed another 50-100 pages to actually process and deal with all that shit.
So yeah, deeply disappointed but mostly because there were points when I really believed in this book.
I loved the first half (probably two thirds?) of this book so much. I loved everyone and also the way it talked about creativity and about platonic intimacy. I'm not really a gamer and I've never worked in games, but I have always had family and friends in that space and-to me at least- this book did a brilliant job of capturing what making games in the 1990s and 2000s must have felt like and I absolutely loved it.
But the book started to lose me in the second half, and overall I'm not sure how a I feel about it.
Spoiler
I really had two main problems in the second half: the continual compounding of trauma and Sadie's treatment of Sam. I really did not like Marx's death at all. Some of that is maybe that I was hoping this was a gentler book but it also felt gratuitous to me. Obviously lots of bad things happen to people, but by the age of 30 Sam is someone who has had a person kill herself directly in front of him (with the exact same name as his mother btw) AND his mom dies in a horrible accident that also leaves him seriously injured AND his best friend is shot to death by a person looking for him. It just felt like... a lot. And what was more, it felt like it was a lot at a place in the story where the novel didn't have space to really deal with it. Sadie and Sam both have a lot of shit happen to them early in the book but things like Sam's disability and Sadie's abuse feel like they have room to breathe in the novel, like they're taken seriously. The shooting in the last third of the book did not feel like it was given the same space.To me at least, Marx's death felt like it existed because Sam and Sadie needed to have a falling out and so something dramatic needed to happen (and also it's hard to imagine them falling out that hard if Marx was still around). While the last quarter of novel is largely about Marx's death, it doesn't feel interested in examining the way that death impacts our protagonists lives. Earlier bad shit (Anna's death, everything Dov) feel woven into the novel and sits side by side with Sadie and Sam's creative differences. The first half of the novel did such a good job of looking at their creative lives and also examining how they're impacted by gender and class and race and past trauma. But Marx's death takes over the end of the book in a way that doesn't leave room, really, for their creative lives and then the novel ends early enough that we don't see how Marx's murder weaves into their future careers. I'm just left wanting the book that figured out a creative falling out for them that wasn't Marx's death, that didn't feel so extreme and sudden.
The other thing is that Sadie is a terrible friend to Sam basically all of the time in the second half of the book and it never feels properly addressed. The first half of the book, their relationship really worked for me. I loved their deep intimacy mixed with the guarded nature of their relationship and it felt like they were both able to make mistakes. But in the second half, Sadie just treats Sam very badly and it's never addressed. She knows he has a history of chronic pain and literally never tells anyone anything. Like this is a boy she has seen gasping in pain and then immediately pretend everything is fine, this is a boy who will fall over in the street, break his ankle, and not say anything because it's embarrassing. She knows all this. And yet when they get out to California and he looks exhausted and has lost 20 pounds and is never coming into work her read on the situation is "he must not give a shit" It's weird and callous and either poorly written or deeply disheartening.
Sam definitely makes mistakes in their relationship but those imperfections are acknowledged and he still consistently shows up for Sadie. Sadie, just doesn't? And obviously she's struggling with things and is allowed to treat Sam badly at points, but it always feels one-sided and its worse because Sadie's treatment of Sam exists alongside other relationships that do feel kind and supportive. Like when Sam treats Marx like shit (which happens all the time tbh) we see him acknowledge it, and apologize and own it. Sadie continually misreads Sam's intentions in the second half, repeatedly abandons him, and it's never really addressed.
Again if this was the second act of the novel and there was a third act where they're figuring shit out in their 30s it would feel different. But Sam and Sadie's relationship is the heart of the novel and that repair never happens. Basically at the end, I just felt really bad for Sam because his support structure seemed to be entirely Marx, who is now dead, and his grandparents, who are on their way out.
My final takeaway is just "sucks to be Sam," and that's so disappointing because the first half of this book was brilliant and there are still so many parts in the second half that are gorgeous and thoughtful and work. And of course a lot of this is me and taste and all that. But I feel like either Marx needed not to die, or they needed another 50-100 pages to actually process and deal with all that shit.
So yeah, deeply disappointed but mostly because there were points when I really believed in this book.
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was such a powerful read. At times it felt a little long, with the author going off on tangents, but overall it was beautiful and moving.
The friendship between Sam and Sadie was raw, messy, and deeply human. The exploration of video games, both as an art form and as a world of escape, was fascinating and nostalgic for me as a gamer. I especially appreciated the disability representation through Sam, which felt honest and unflinching, and added real depth to the story.
Grief, loss, love (platonic and otherwise), and the passage of time were all explored in a heartfelt and thought-provoking way. While there were aspects of the book that made me pause and reflect, it didn't take away from how much I enjoyed the story and the characters.
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
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2⭐️
Between the repeated and glossed over sexual assault and emotional manipulation, just how drawn out it was, and the almost pretentious seeming climax, I didn’t finish this book (@ 75%). While it had some really great moments, I just kept hoping it would get better or X would get resolved well and I don’t think it ever did.
Between the repeated and glossed over sexual assault and emotional manipulation, just how drawn out it was, and the almost pretentious seeming climax, I didn’t finish this book (@ 75%). While it had some really great moments, I just kept hoping it would get better or X would get resolved well and I don’t think it ever did.
Перша половина книги прям аж дуже сподобалося тим, наскільки життєво було описано такі місцями не прості стосунки між людьми. В другій половині для мене чомусь стало дуже мало Саді, яка кудись зникла із контекстів ситуації, з'являючися лише епізодично і то її персонаж чомусь перестав мати достатню глибину.
Прочитавши про перші дві гри, які Саді розробила, я очікувала, що наступні будуть мати хоч трішки таких же унікальних та творчих рішень. Ще можливо Both side головна ідея була досить цікаво, решта для мене була якась повна банальщина.
Читати 100% варто, але це не прям така вау-вау книга, як про неї всі говорять, то для мене ні. Хотілося б, що коли вже один із центральних героїв НАРЕШТІ є жінка в технологіях/іграх, то її наратив не зникав у невідомому напрямку в середині книги.
Прочитавши про перші дві гри, які Саді розробила, я очікувала, що наступні будуть мати хоч трішки таких же унікальних та творчих рішень. Ще можливо Both side головна ідея була досить цікаво, решта для мене була якась повна банальщина.
Читати 100% варто, але це не прям така вау-вау книга, як про неї всі говорять, то для мене ні. Хотілося б, що коли вже один із центральних героїв НАРЕШТІ є жінка в технологіях/іграх, то її наратив не зникав у невідомому напрямку в середині книги.
I loved this!! I really appreciated reading about a male/female friendship rather than a romance because I feel like that’s quite rare, even though it was super frustrating at times (I'm looking at YOU, Sadie!!!)