A review by abooknomad
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

emotional hopeful 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

The hype didn’t lie. 

This is a book unlike any other that I’ve read. For one, because I don’t play video games, I knew next to nothing about gaming. But if there’s one thing this book taught me is that you don’t need to be a gamer to enjoy it. Being an avid reader or a book lover is more than enough because, like gamers, we’re constantly on the lookout for new worlds and characters to live through. 

Beyond the gift of following Sadie, Sam, Marx and co. for almost 20 years and seeing the ebb and flow, the good and bad parts of their relationships, the not-so-secret genius of this book is its narrative structure and the way the author played with style and POVs. Embodying the main characters’ passion for video games the book, at times, seemed to read like one by casually switching POVs, carefully laying out details in advance that you realise only later were crucial for the storyline, and by changing the narrative voice (that second person chapter broke me). These are things that could potentially take the reader out of the story, but they’re done in such a seamless and gentle way, you almost don’t notice it. 

Its commentary on human relationships and especially the bright and dark side of friendships and partnerships was a breath of fresh air. This book can be testy at times; for a long time, it seemed that the characters were at a stalemate, without any development or growth, only for that to happen towards the end. But I also think this way of doing things perfectly illustrated the intricacies that exist within friendships and that there isn’t a single or right way to be friends with someone. When that resolution came, however, it was so Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow that I could only nod and think “of course”. 

This story will stay with me for a while, for its originality and characters. One in particular: I want to adopt what I’m calling The Marx Watanabe philosophy to my life.