Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

This book is definitely out of my traditional comfort zone. This book was chosen as the book of the month to read for my local library’s book club. When it was chosen, I honestly was disappointed. I found myself already dreading to read the book. With my first impressions of the book driving my decision, I concluded that I would not read the book. Then, things changed, and I was put into a position where I was required to read the book, even though I had no interest in it. After reading this book, I believe even more in the saying that one should not judge a book by its cover. With that being said, let’s dive into my review.

I want to begin this review by discussing the cover and the title. I do believe that the cover and title of this book played a huge part in my reluctance to want to read it. Not only was I put off by these at the beginning, but I also found the overall description of the book to be dry and unappealing. The cover, while I understand the reasoning behind its graphics, I am not a fan, even after reading the book. I feel as if there is just so much going on and find it to be distracting. Concerning the title, I was originally very put off by the choice. However, as I reached the end of the book, I began to understand the choice, and surprisingly gained an appreciation for it. I will not reveal any spoilers, but I will say that the reason behind the title was a revelation to me and brought tears to my eyes as I made the discovery.

Now that I have gotten my first impressions off my chest, I want to discuss more of the storyline and the writing. Regarding the storyline, I found that once I got over my reluctance to begin the book and started reading, I began to enjoy the story. I started to enjoy not only the story but found things in each character that I could relate to, appreciate, and understand. If it were for the storyline only, my rating of this book would be higher. I honestly would have probably considered rating it a five if I could be blind to the issues that I found throughout the novel as I read. Due to my original thoughts of the novel, I find myself being embarrassed about the fact, that the storyline in my mind was well done. But this wouldn’t be an honest review if I withheld this, would it? Honestly, I found that throughout the story I experienced so many emotions, and found myself immersed in the story, and wanting it to continue. I found myself falling in love with it and saw my overall thoughts and rating improve.

But, as you can see, my rating was influenced by more than the storyline. My rating, as all ratings should be, is based on the storyline as well as how the author delivered the story. While I like the storyline, I was not a fan of how the author wrote, and how some of the messages were delivered. For example, how it followed multiple perspectives, I feel was a distraction to the reader. Instead of giving perspectives their own chapters, their own light, in other words, the perspectives were intertwined with one another inside chapters, inside paragraphs, etc. I felt that with the power that the story could have had, I think if the perspectives were given their own room to grow and develop, it would have been less of a distraction and more of an aid to the novel as a whole.

The other thing that bothered me about the writing may just be a personal preference. Call me old-fashioned if you need to, but I thought that the language, drug use, and sex throughout were unnecessary and hindered the novel. These were the reasons that caused me to rate the novel lower. Again, this could just be a personal preference, but I had very strong opinions about how prevalent these were throughout the story.

For more reviews and discussions, listen to my podcast The Honest Book Reviewers with Nate and Emma.

https://open.spotify.com/show/3H3ugH4xlzvjMXuUo1Lyvh?si=ewdzfkUnSVKyDmAvHMHIPQ

Content Warnings

narbine's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

Content Warnings

cynthianohemi's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

lexyan's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I found this book really frustrating. Ostensibly it's a book for gamers, but it felt the need to pause the story and explain a game or a concept that most people interested in this book have probably already heard of. Sorry, but why did we pause the narrative so I can read the beginning of a Wikipedia article about Harvest Moon? Then, as the story moved away from needing to explain things, the characters became increasingly more exhausting. I appreciate that it's realistic but god it's depressing. I didn't hate it, I probably wouldn't have finished it if I did, but I don't see myself recommending it to anyone.

Content Warnings