Reviews with content warning for Antisemitism - Today Tonight Tomorrow

Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon

195 reviews

abbeyroad1410's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

Honestly, this book is fantastic. It's fun and easy to read with dynamic characters and a fun subplot of the game, Howl.
Neil is a fantastically complex character who quickly becomes likeable. The story with his dad is heartbreaking and makes his strive for greatness easier to understand.

Honestly, one of my biggest problems with the book is Rowan using this trauma against him. She was forgiven much too fast for saying something like that.

Additionally, his friend group is clearly very close, and it is nice to see male friendship depicted in such a vulnerable way.
It was also nice to see Rowan's Jewish and Mexican upbringing explored, especially focusing on how Rowan's life was influenced by others' perceptions of Judaism.
If you have issues with an overused miscommunication trope, I would suggest avoiding this book because the lack of communication between characters is shocking and frustrating. Additionally, I at times struggled keeping track of whose name Rowan had in the game of Howl which drove me nuts towards the end.

When the heck did she get Brady's name?

Overall, this is an enjoyable novel and is great if you want a lot of playful banner and a lowkey version of an enemies to lovers romance.

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etbliss's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.25

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teatales's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense fast-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

4.5

no complaints besides the standard romance 'major argument/fight 90% of the way through the book' thing which I find frustrating

Content Warnings

thatbookishwriter23's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

"Theoretically, I want to share my work. I want to fully own this thing I want to spend my life doing. I want to not care when people call it a guilty pleasure, or have the courage to convince them why they’re wrong. Or even better, the confidence not to care what they think." -Rowan, pg 120

Rivals Rowan and Neil Mcnair have always been at each other throats trying to best one another. Yet with graduation around the corner, that battle nearly over. Rowan and Neil have only one more chance to beat each other in the annual competition, Howl.

Pros

+Jewish rep. You a lot times especially in movies, the only Jewish representation I come across was a cheater mentioning their Jewish and don't celebrate Christmas. That it. Like an afterthought. But I appreciate TdTnTm for actually showing the audience Judaism and how it impacts the characters live. It isn't just an afterthought in this book, it's actually representation.

+it was really nice seeing a slow burn romance. Their romantic feelings grew at the perfect speed. I felt like their chemistry was realistic.

+Conversations about romance novel and female empowerment. There are more than several of conversations about the importance of romance novels and how they're not trashy and can actually add to the feminist movement. I LOVED reading about Rowan's love for romance novels and her relatable feelings about admitting she wants to be a writer.

+Parents and Rowan. I loved Rowan and with her parents and that they were parents were so trusting and there. Usually, YA novels try to write the parents out, so it's a nice change for once.

+I love reading the note, texts and emails in between chapters. It was cute and creative.

+The idea of Howl and the safety zones are awesome and so creative especially the clues.

+I loved how soft and sweet Neil was. Even when Rowan lashes out at him, he didn't go for a low blow, he went for the truth.

+I also like the conversations and Rowan struggle with graduating and what the future holds. It was very realistic and made me think back on my high school years.

Cons

-I felt like the conflict with her friends was solved pretty quickly. They never really talked about it. One moment they were mad at each other, the next they were cool. I don't know I just felt like something was missing. I would have liked to see more of them.

Besides the one above, I genuinely can't find any more things I didn't like about the book. The Jewish rep and conversations romance novels really blew me away and I really appreciate. I would definitely like to read more YA books with Jewish rep in them. Other that I definitely recommend this book, especially for graduating high school students and anybody who is Jewish.

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martapsalvado's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.25

The middle of the book was almost a 5 star read, the beggining and ending was probably a 3.75/4.
Books that take place in a single day, for me, are a double edged sword, because they are usually very fast paced and keep me interested, but at the same time they don't leave much room for character development and the plot can seem rushed and a little hard to believe.
Nevertheless, I loved the main characters in this book, their chemistry and the discussions about romance (and children's!!) books being real and important like any other genres. The book snobs are shaking.

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alylentz's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

This was thoroughly enjoyable--a great choice in enemies to lovers for a teen audience. I thought the scavenger hunt element was so fun and kept the story moving forward in a way that felt natural without taking over. Really appreciated the discussions about antisemitism, privilege, and sex in here as well. Would recommend to teen readers looking for "will they, won't they" romance, books that process the high school to college transition, and appreciate a good competition element!

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kathryn_lewis12's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I wanted to read this book as I loved the Weather Girl and enjoyed the Ex-Talk. So obviously I wanted to read more of her work. God, as a 23-year-old, I shouldn’t be relating to Rowan as much as I did.

This book follows Rowan Roth. It's the last day of the senior year and Rowan and her enemy Neil McNair have been rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat Neil one last time. Tonight, she puts up with him. When Neil is named valedictorian over her, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning that a group of seniors are out to them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left – and then they’ll destroy each other. As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams. And maybe by tomorrow she has fallen in love with him.

I love the trope of I'm bullying you because that’s the only way to talk to you trope. I love it I love it I love it. I liked the storyline of this and how it was done over one day rather than a few months. It kept the book very fast-paced. I love Rowan. The whole time I just wanted to give her the biggest hug and tell her that 23-year-olds still feel the same way. And that it is okay to be a dreamer. I also relate to her having to have the perfect day or routines for some things and then when they don’t go right or plans change it can unsettle her - I'm pretty much like that so from the get-go when she had that coffee incident on her dress, I was fuming for her.

I wasn’t massive in love with Neil, as I have been with other MCs, except for the tough subject of his dad being absent, there wasn’t much to him, and he felt very two dimensional. I get why it was done in one day, but I want another book about them in college with a more slow-paced adult book with them trying to navigate a long-distance relationship. Or maybe a book from Rowan’s friends POV in college.

Content Warnings

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.0

~~I'll be posting a fuller review (including more content warnings) when I have more time, but for now it's enough to say that I really enjoyed this. (02/04/2023)~~

Bear with me on this one, it's been a little over a week since I read Today Tonight Tomorrow and it isn't entirely fresh in my mind. I'll be using notes I made shortly after I finished - as well as my own memories - to write this review.

First of all, let me just say straight off the bat that the Jewish representation in this novel is fantastic. I shouldn't have been surprised - I read Rachel Lynn Solomon's See You Yesterday before this one and the rep was similarly good there. Solomon shows us the subtle (and not-so-subtle) aspects of antisemitism that exist in society, as well as different levels of observation, which is great to see.

Aside from the Jewish rep, I felt that there was a diverse range of sexualities and ethnicities within the other characters throughout the novel, even if said characters were only mentioned by name.

I thought the main characters Neil and Rowan-

and their eventual romance

- were developed very, very well. I was a bit nervous going in, given the majority of the novel takes place within the span of a few days - and at the beginning, the characters have been academic rivals from grade school through to high school, and basically loathe one another. But I shouldn't have worried, the reasoning and explanations given in the book were done convincingly and thoroughly by Solomon.

The overall feel of the novel is pacy, with lots of witty, sparkling dialogue.

I did have some minor quibbles regarding the MCs' attitudes to academia -

they're basically vying for top student, or "valedictorian"

- and how they view those less academically gifted than they are. But it didn't bother me all that much.

Overall, this was a well-written book with lots to enjoy if you like a romantic comedy with depth. (10/04/2023)

Content Warnings

fazazzle's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

This was such a cutie lil romance novel with some really fun meta discourse about the romance genre! It’s full of clichés (and even makes fun of clichés simultaneously), and yet it’s still such a fun time I could not put it down. It took a minute to settle into the narrator’s voice, but afterwards I really enjoyed!

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