Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

403 reviews

tlindhorst's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

This was a propulsive read. The story is set in the world of game developers - I do not play games, so this was completely foreign to me. The two  main characters, Sam & Sadie grow and change in believable ways across the 20+ years of the book. The portrayal of grief and the way it tears life apart was one of the better characterizations I’ve read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Hate crime, Blood, Chronic illness, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Suicide

spencerthedemonbarber's review

dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Self harm, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Grief, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Vomit

schnaucl's review

challenging emotional medium-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? Yes

4.5

I liked the book a lot more than I thought I would given that a lot of the problems could have been if not completely avoided then at least ameliorated if the characters had just talked to each other.   Similarly, Sadie was very aware of the misogamy in the gaming industry

but slept with her professor anyway even though she knew it would change how people perceived her work if it got out.

But the characters all felt very believable, even if in their selfishness and stubbornness.   And people do very dumb things in their 20s.

So I liked the characters in spite of themselves and I thought all the gaming stuff was handled very well.  

Given Gamergate and the toxicity in some gaming communities, it's amazing what happened to Marx hasn't actually happened.  Poor Marx.

I felt bad for the people playing Pioneers who lost their game because it had served it's purpose, which was never the player base at large.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Misogyny, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Chronic illness

Minor: Gun violence, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Pregnancy, Violence, Cancer, Drug use, Car accident, and Death

mellowkittenreads's review

adventurous dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This was an interesting read. The title and cool graphic design intrigued me. I went into it honestly not even really reading more than the first couple lines of the description. I have never read a book with this sort of plot line - gamers, growing pains, and even painful experiences of racism and discrimination all in one. The writing style was different- I read it digitally and simultaneously listened along with my spotify membership. It was easy to get immersed into this universe. I liked how there was a mix of present, past, and future AND first and third person- I’m telling y’all very different and yet it worked well for the most part. There were a few times I had to reread to make sure I understood who the narrator was embodying. I finished maybe an hour ago and am still digesting. I share the frustration with Sam and Sadie. On one side would’ve loved if they at least had an intimate experience but on the other side I wanted them to be both single and leave other characters alone with their bad communication skills and annoying behaviors. I am disheartened with how things went with Marx’s character. I liked the representation of disabilities, chronic pain, asian characters. However I wish this book included trigger warnings. I feel a bit overwhelmed and overexposed to the asian discrimination and gun violence the characters experienced. Too vulnerable for us bipoc. I am one who loves happy endings and this was as a whole bittersweet. I adored the link to the meeting up in the station and the ending - so sweet! I think that’s all for now. Give it a try.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, and Death

Minor: Death of parent, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Drug use, Mental illness, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders

as much as sadie claimed sam was a bad person, who sleeps with someone in a relationship (dov and then again marx) and one of those people is your best friend’s friend? like girl. I absolutely agree with sam that them being in a relationship which so shady they “hid” it like marx you really tainted yourself, but alas, it did skew sadie being favored. which arguably was intentional seeing how she got her way with dov and got his code and mentorship.

mariabacterium's review

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, Chronic illness, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, and Abortion

Minor: Cancer, Car accident, and Sexual harassment

amanda_reads89's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Grief, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, and Sexism

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Antisemitism, and Abortion

mandyjedi's review against another edition

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Vomit, Miscarriage, Abortion, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Animal death, Car accident, Classism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Bullying, and Acephobia/Arophobia

stagasaurus's review

emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness

Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, Suicide, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

puckeverlasting's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

The perfect blend of hopeful and nihilistic and celebratory of the game of life. Characters felt very human. Prose was eloquent but not in a way that came across as pretentious. Varying narrative styles kept things interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, and Gun violence

meggiecronin's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, Grief, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Death

Minor: Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Cancer, Mental illness, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, and Eating disorder