Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Mañana, y mañana, y mañana

"It isn’t a sadness, but a joy that we don’t do the same things for the length of our lives."

This book captivated me more than I expected. I saw it on a friend's story and decided to read it because I like the title, the cover was pretty, and she raved about it.

The characters are painfully realistic, falling into the traps of their own personalities and egos, but it was such a pleasure to experience life along side them. This book covers so many themes I didn't expect - women in gaming, racism, death, love, disabilities, creating art, etc. I loved going in blind because I truly didn't know what to expect.

I especially love the clever extended chapters to give different POVs, especially The NPC with Marx. I didn't expect it and it made his death more emotional for me.

Sadie & Sam have such a complicated friendship, and I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. It wasn't narratively satisfying, but it felt emotionally satisfying. I want to see more of them, but I'm also so sick of them haha. Would recommend!!

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bridgetkay's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I adored this book. Zevin somehow managed to evoke that addictive and moorish feeling you get when playing a really good game in her writing. I am by no means a gamer, but I found myself wanting to know more about gaming culture whilst also getting bursts of nostalgia for the games referenced. I found myself backing the two main characters, which at times was conflicting, but it was a perfectly subversive coming of age tale.

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heather_harrison'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

4.75

What an emotional and tender slow burn! I loved the flawed characters, the gaming, the complex relationships, the growth and set backs. This is an amazing example of realism in fiction.

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mygnomehands'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? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

My initial take on this book was that I really loved it, but in the long run, I'm not sure that I actually did. It was a very painful read--it was rather tragic overall.
I think tagging this as a beautiful, platonic love story is woefully inadequate. Sure the book is about love, friendship, and work, but I found it to be mostly super toxic variants of those things.

I absolutely loved how motherhood was presented in this book. Acknowledging the darker, less IG perfect aspects of having a child is alway appreciated.

There was great representation in the book: one main character is Korean and Jewish (and comes off on the page as Ace), one is Jewish, and one is Korean Japanese.

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eralbesu's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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kelly_e'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? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Title: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: July 5, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Original • Nostalgic • Thoughtful

📖 S Y N O P S I S

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. They borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo: a game where players can escape the confines of a body and the betrayals of a heart, and where death means nothing more than a chance to restart and play again. This is the story of the perfect worlds Sam and Sadie build, the imperfect world they live in, and of everything that comes after success: Money. Fame. Duplicity. Tragedy.

💭 T H O U G H T S

What can I say that hasn't already been said about the hugely popular Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow? This book was absolutely everywhere in the latter part of 2022, so it's no surprise it would fall onto my TBR as well. It is beloved by many, understandably so, and it really is unlike anything I've read before.

Spanning thirty years, this character driven story is about video games on the surface, yet when as you dig deeper it is truly about the human need for connection - with ourselves, with others, with the world. Gabrielle Zevin weaves deep emotion into her well-thought-out plot. There is trauma and grief. There is heartbreak and struggle. There is an exploration of love in the broader sense. There is diverse representation without it being a focus. The friendship between Sadie and Sam was flawed, genuine, and messy. Marx was a great addition.

The world of video games is a huge part of the plot, and at times, it got bogged down. I appreciated the the exploration of games as a form of escape. But sometimes I wanted more of the characters and less about the process. It did broaden my scope and understanding of the appeal of games by so many. Additionally, Gabrielle Zevin writes an ode to the creative process, something I cannot say I've witnessed in my reading life before.

Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is a favourite of mine, so I was expecting more of the same. And I do think this is in the similar vane, yet for video games. Perhaps if video games were my escape, as opposed to books, my experience would have been reversed. With that said, this book is a reminder that life is heavy and hard, complicated and messy.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who like character driven stories
• gamers
• book clubs

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"It is to acknowledge that love is both a constant and a variable at the same time."

"Maybe you need to let more people know you."

"'What is a game?' Marx said. 'It's tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It's the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing, you could win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever.'"

Content Warnings

cookiecat73's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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