Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

677 reviews

_pauline's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

• I read it bc of its popularity; liked the first half, but overall not for me
• the MCs entire friendship is based on the amount of time they’ve spent together + a shared talent; they barely talk to / know each other in ways that matter. mostly they’re fighting - but I didn’t care because the good stuff their friendship is supposedly based on wasn’t really established
• as other reviews said: the MCs are insufferable at times 
• so many random plot points & weird details/scenes
• the amount of times someone throws up in this book is insane - there are other ways to show someone’s unwell
• I don’t think the wrong use & explanation of german words was intentional?
• I did like how sam
  showed up for sadie when she was depressed (thanks to marx, he knew how to be a good friend for like 2 pages)
  ; and how dov
  behaved after sadie broke up with him (obviously he was horrible during their relationship & nothing he did afterwards could ever make up for that though)
• check the content warnings for this book before reading!!

anyway, here are some of my favourite quotes because the portrayal of chronic illness was, at times, actually quite good:

"Sometimes, I would be in so much pain. The only thing that kept me from wanting to die was the fact that I could leave my body and be in a body that worked perfectly for a while—better than perfectly, actually—with a set of problems that were not my own."

He was tired of his body, of his unreliable foot, which couldn't even handle the slightest expression of joy. He was tired of having to move so carefully, of having to be so careful. He wanted to be able to skip, for God's sake. … He wanted to surf, and ski, and parasail, and fly, and scale mountains and buildings. He wanted to die a million deaths like Ichigo, and no matter what damage was inflicted on his body during the day, he'd wake up tomorrow, new and whole.

Throughout his life, Sam had hated being told to "fight," as if sickness were a character failing. Illness could not be defeated, no matter how hard you fought, and pain, once it had you in its grasp, was transformational.

Sam was scared and ashamed, because he felt as if he had no control over his body, no understanding of what was causing the pain and thus, no means to ameliorate it.

so I guess I hope this book raises some awareness for that (though maybe the way the characters dealt with their issues takes away from that)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, Cancer, Medical content, Death, Violence, Vomit, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Sexual content, Car accident, Grief, and Abortion

lyriarosa's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Violence, Chronic illness, Vomit, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Car accident, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Medical content

Moderate: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Murder, and Sexual content

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Cancer, Suicide, Blood, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Eating disorder

lizzieowl's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative 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

It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. A must read for anyone, but especially if you are interested in video games. It’s so emotional and the characters are so deep and well written. Truly an amazing book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Mental illness

Moderate: Antisemitism, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Medical content, and Cancer

Minor: Ableism and Cursing

ju_harue's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

Eu amei esse livro. Com a escrita da autora, a história - que poderia ser arrastada - se tornou algo diferente, algo surpreendente, que nem sei expressar o que senti ao ler. Em vários momentos me identifiquei com a personalidade dos personagens, como é a vida real acontecendo mesmo, não parecia ficção. Passei raiva, gritei de nervoso, implorei que houvesse conversa, ri de situações inusitadas e comemorei as conquistas, chorei de emoção. Foi tudo isso e mais um pouco. Sem dúvidas, um favorito.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion

Moderate: Cancer, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Car accident, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Murder, Sexism, Death, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Blood, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

genorgana's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Death, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Pregnancy and Car accident

Minor: Abortion, Cancer, and Vomit

linus_rieper'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

3.5

I don't know if the book didn't live up to my expectations or if I was just not in the right headspace to appreciate it. I expected a 5-star read, but it was just fine.

It's very well written. However, nothing about it surprised me or really stuck out to me. The emotional parts didn't land as I think they were meant to.

I hesitate to recommend it, but I also hesitate to write it off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Medical trauma, Violence, Death of parent, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Hate crime

Minor: Pregnancy, Cancer, Cultural appropriation, Ableism, Chronic illness, Drug use, Homophobia, and Misogyny

noveltay's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

The characters are so complex and their pain cuts deep. The video game presence is cool and fun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Death of parent, Death, Homophobia, Hate crime, Medical content, Pregnancy, Murder, Gun violence, Car accident, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Cancer

lmfry's review

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Car accident, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Cancer, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Drug use, Abortion, Misogyny, Sexism, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

book_dragon_julia's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
-Macbeth

This book was so good in my opinion. I really enjoyed the story and I loved that most of it was set in the 90s and 00s so all the popular culture they mentioned I remembered from when I was a child. 

The two main characters Sadie and Sam were childhood friends having met in hospital at around age 12 where they bonded playing video games. 

Fast forward to their late teens/20s they both have an interest in creating a video game which they named Ichigo. Sam's roommate also helped with the game with money and producing it.

The book follows the characters through the trials and tribulations of working with your best friend, starting a company, artistic differences and personality clashes.

I would definitely recommend this book, I loved it 😊❤️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Car accident, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion and Cancer

jgsnr's review

dark emotional funny inspiring sad fast-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

This is the perfect book. I was so afraid to read it for so long because I was scared it wouldn't live up to the hype. But it was everything and more. All the characters are flawed in the most human way. Their decisions are sometimes frustrating but also understandable from their point of view. It's sweet, it's heartachingly devastating. 
I read it so fast.
I wish for this book to find it's way in everyone's hands

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual violence, and Gun violence

Minor: Cancer, Car accident, and Death of parent