Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

794 reviews

gvstyris's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.5

The way to turn an ex-lover into a friend is to never stop loving them, to know that when one phase of a relationship ends it can transform into something else. It is to acknowledge that love is both a constant and a variable at the same time. 

Man. Such an engaging read, and Zevin plays with literary techniques quite creatively, particularly in the novel's last few sections. Marx's character was truly such a highlight (although his name choice is...questionable?), especially as Sadie/Sam grew increasingly unlikeable and cold.

Zevin's consideration of platonic and romantic love here is also so, so validating.

It soon becomes refreshingly irrelevant whether Sadie and Sam's relationship is romantic, because of how it is underpinned regardless by their mutual love and fascination with one-another.

I appreciated that decision a lot, particularly as someone pretty jaded with our wider culture's obsession with romance.

I do have a lot of research to do about this novel's various plagiarism & Zionism controversies, however...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gun violence, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Grief, Death, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Racism, Cancer, Racial slurs, Medical content, Homophobia, and Ableism

Minor: Abortion and Antisemitism

lovelikethiswillendintragedy's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

I loved the author’s writing style! The characters were interesting and their character arcs were beautifully written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Blood, Suicide, Cancer, Sexism, Ableism, Car accident, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Homophobia, and Gore

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Vomit, Abortion, and Alcohol

Dubious consent, death of grandparent

mloschi's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this book, I like the complexity of the characters and the various forms of attachment, friendship, love and partnership depicted. I’ve never read a book about video games before and found the descriptions of the game design very captivating. I read this very quickly for a bookclub discussion and liked exploring it with others after finishing. I think at times the author can be a little heavy handed with the allusions and some vocabulary choices took me out of the flow (kinda felt like words pulled from the thesaurus for the sake of it rather than adding value sometimes). Once I got over that and into the flow of the larger story I really enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Death, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Grief

petyapav's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Suicide, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Cancer, Car accident, Drug use, Gaslighting, Murder, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Sexism, Sexual assault, Classism, Grief, Racism, Rape, and Stalking

chill1996's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Grief, Medical content, Chronic illness, and Death of parent

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Minor: Abortion

bbmaan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Violence, Cancer, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Chronic illness, Confinement, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abortion, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Car accident, Death, Drug use, and Homophobia

auniverseinside's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Car accident, Mass/school shootings, Death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Grief

samglade's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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

2.75

Please check the list of content warnings before reading this book, if you have any triggers at all - it throws a lot of dark elements at the reader offhandedly, without much buildup.
While I enjoyed the nuanced characters and their relationships, my enjoyment of the book was spoiled by some of the choices the author has made. The author decided on a style heavy on clinical, excessive details (e.g. a list of video game merchandise on a shelf having over 20 items, comma-separated), which betrayed that she is not a tech person and the incorrect usage of technical terms was jarring. More importantly, it felt like she was ticking off all the dark themes she could think of from the list of possible content warnings, all packed into the lives of three individuals. For shock value? I can't tell why it was needed. Given how the story was progressing, I was genuinely surprised that miscarriage wasn't used as a cherry on top. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death of parent, Drug use, Mass/school shootings, Toxic relationship, Death, Sexism, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Car accident

Moderate: Cancer, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Drug use, Sexual content, and Chronic illness

Minor: Abortion, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Gore, and Hate crime

lindsayd's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

3.5

It's intricate and emotional and compelling but not my thing. I wish I had checked content warnings before reading. I also wonder about the role/perspective of the narrator. At some times they feel like a journalist with excerpts of contemporary sources and at other times they are much too intimate to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Gun violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual content, Medical content, Vomit, and Terminal illness

bethtrigg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Car accident, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy