Every so often there is a book that comes along and makes you think differently. I have been very lucky in my reading over the past few months and encountered one of these types of books in Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy. I had not expected to find another so soon but here we are: Zevin’s novel centres around two central protagonists Sadie and Sam who meet as young people at a children’s hospital. Sam is recovering from a serious car accident that will see him live with a physical disability all his life, whilst Sadie is there visiting her gravely ill sister. Their lives are bought and bound together by different kinds of trauma however what solidifies their bond is their love of video games.
Individuals who love gaming will no doubt find this book an absolute delight. It opens in the late 1980s and has many contemporary gaming references such as Super Mario Brothers, The Oregon Trail and Commander Keen. As a reader who does not have a strong knowledge of these particular games, I was still able to be totally immersed in the narrative lives of both Sadie and Sam. Both follow their passion for gaming throughout their adolescence and eventually join forces to build their own video game which will provide them with instant success and world wide fame. Despite the lucrative nature of the endeavours, the writer explores the nuances and seasons of their relationship both through good times and bad. I really enjoyed the narrative structure, enabling the reader to see events from the perspectives of both characters. It enabled you to see their own reasoning and justifications behind disagreements and arguments which at times felt frustrating but enabled you to really empathise and love these characters.
Throughout the course of the lives incidents happen both in their private lives and spheres but also in the wider political context. These events change the dynamics of the relationships within the story but always they return to gaming as both a solace and a refuge from the sometimes savage nature of the real world. One of the characters, Marx, who works to alleviate some of the tensions that arise between Sam and Sadie works to highlight this savagery. Beloved by both, and a colleague who supports their artistic endeavours, his narrative is both heart breaking and beautiful. This dynamic of heartbreaking and beautiful is an idea that plays throughout the text as Zevin includes lots of issues that the characters have to face such as domestic abuse, sexism, terrorism and cultural appropriation. At times it felt very overwhelming, an experience I had felt with Hanya Yanagihara’s ‘A Little Life.’ In particular the character of Sam who tries to hide both his physical pain and his trauma around loss really made me think of Jude, a character I also absolutely loved.
Zevin’s use of narrative perspective created a slow build and increasing tension in a way that made the book unputdownable. Sadie’s and Sam’s bond and love of gaming tied them inextricably together in a way that I had not seen platonic relationships presented in literature before. It was so compelling how the writer presented the give and take, the trials and tribulations that life presents but ultimately what remains is love.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow follows the lives of three friends- Sadie, Sam and Marx- through the decades, the good times and the bad, the falling outs, the successes and the failures.

I’m not a gamer so I wasn’t sure if I would like this book but I read so many wonderful reviews that I had to give it a try.

The first 50% of this book was an easy 5 stars, I absolutely loved it! The gaming didn’t bother me, in fact I felt it added to the story. I could not put it down. The book actually reminded me a little bit of A Little Life (obviously without any of the trauma), just from the way it was written and the friendships.

Unfortunately those 5 stars didn’t last! I don’t know what happened in the second half of this book but it was a mess. I ending up hating Sadie and Sam, the story was boring and hard to get through and just nothing like the first half. The ending was unsatisfying and rushed and almost came out of nowhere because of the way Sadie had been for years prior.

I feel a bit robbed actually, it was on course to join my favourites list so I’m incredibly disappointed! Those 3 stars are all for the first half only.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review

🕹Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow 🕹

One of my very favourite YA novels was written by Gabrielle Zevin so when I spotted this on @netgalley, I nabbed it. I had no idea how many other people were anticipating its release.

Like my other experiences with Zevin, it's the vibe is primarily wholesome (although admittedly less so without the YA element) and character-orientated.

It spans the complicated thirty-year friendship between Sam and Sadie, who met while playing games in hospital. They have a possessive and protective kind of love for each other, which ignites their creative partnership creating games together.

The title flips the Hamlet lines on their head - instead of accepting the inevitability of our mortal progress, the gamers view life in the redemptive second, third and fourth tries. This game theory and speak wove through in a very accessible way and as a non-gamer and added a novel backdrop and exciting storytelling devices based on artificial realities.

I loved its wholly unconscious feel, truly a well-crafted and dazzling novel that makes you forget it's fictionalised. It easily holds 90s nostalgia of the past and the present identity politics, along with disability, authenticity, mental health and abuse.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

With thanks to the publishers and the author.

This book started off good, but sadly it soon became a DFN for me. It just wasn't for me.

wow wow wow wow wow

What A BOOK.

It kind of changed my life- I loved this as much as I loved Babel so that's some context for you.

This book is above all about friendships and connection and creation, but the nostalgic throwbacks, simply cannot be ignored

What a freaking masterpiece

“What is a game?" Marx said. "It's tomorrow, and tomorow, 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."

Believe the hype people! If you are fond of stories about connection, comradery, understanding and perseverance, then this is the book for you!
5 stars in not enough and this book takes joint spot with Babel (seriously- same book; different font) for my favourite book of the year...maybe even ever?!?!

Ok where to start?
The nostalgia! This book (especially for any child of the 70's/80's/90's) is 'Ready Player One' kind of nostalgic. The references and throw backs were engaging, descriptive, visual and warm. They made me feel like I was in on a secret.

But this is not a book about gaming- that is the joint interest of the main characters and what brought them together, yes. However, for me, it is truly about friendship, creation, evolution, acceptance, and absolution.

The depth to which this book explores the notion of 'Love' is profound.
Not because of how poetic or romantically it is portrayed but for how real and raw it is and for how it DIDN'T try to force itself to be a fairy tale.
One minute you had friends blaming each other for things and the next, they were trying to release each other from guilt "there was nothing you could have done, Ant. The game wasn't winnable" ...the never ending contradiction that is love.

Sam and Sadie are flawed! There is no denying it. They are flawed in the way we all are and Zevin does a beautiful job of using Marx to inject light (and lightness).
Sam and Sadie love each other from and to their cores and what do we do with/to people we love on such a cellular level? We can sometimes shit on them, and blame them and we take advantage of them because 'we can' and they do it to us because we will allow them to... sometimes pushing a little too close to the edge, knowing they have the exact tools to take you apart but trusting that they won't.

“To allow yourself to play with another person is no small risk. It means allowing yourself to be open, to be exposed, to be hurt. It is the human equivalent of the dog rolling on its back---I know you won't hurt me, even though you can."

They love each other as a fact of life. It is not a choice and there are elements of this book that are about what we do with the space that hangs between the things that are and are not within our control.

The references to Macbeth were not lost on me and given how beautifully tragic this book is, I think the title is perfect. I love the idea of the perceived 'lost childhood' that we all battle with as we get older and the reminders that we should stop mourning things that are not yet dead "...it was a kind of immaturity to call yourself old before you were", Especially when the tragedy is in our heads and I felt that I was being acknowledged throughout this entire story:
“Sam's doctor said to him, "The good news is that the pain is in your head."
But I am in my head, Sam thought.”

I could go on and on and on about this but for now, upon initially finishing it, what I can say is that I loved it, terribly.

I don’t think I can adequately talk about how much I loved this book, emotional and moving, I cried so many times, a story about love and friendship and how our relationships can evolve during our lives. A five star must read book.

Just the best book i’ve ever read. Forgot to review this one but truly it left me speechless, and I’m so glad everyone loved this as much as me.

Let me start by making it clear that I am probably not the intended target audience for this book. I know nothing about computer games and when I was a kid only one person I knew had a computer and that was the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. It was all gobbledygook to me then and it has pretty much remained that way.

However, pushing the game stuff to one side for a moment, I could not stop reading. It is strangely addictive in its joys and tragedies. The characters are compelling and I enjoyed getting to know them and all their flaws, of which there are many. At times I was smiling as they triumphed in completing a game and at others I was exasperated with their maddening stubbornness.

Sam, Sadie and Sam’s flatmate Marx go from playing games to creating them. Marx working behind the scenes to ensure their lives run smoothly as they set up Unfair Games.

It doesn’t take long until jealousy rears it’s ugly head with Sadie feeling like she is doing the donkey work while Sam takes all the credit. Each of them suffers from personal issues that they keep secret and I was longing for them to just open up to each other.

Life is not a game with infinite lives or a reset button, it is messy and complicated with no winners. It really is all about how you play with others, the connections you make and showing up even when things are difficult.

“𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒆.”

I loved this book. The characters were so human - lovable and imperfect. I was invested in their friendships and lives. I feel like I really knew them. This story is why I read fiction!

I've been a fan of Zevin for a long time, and this is her best novel yet. Complicated characters who are well rounded but you ache for their lives to be fulfilling, even when they are behaving terribly. I fell in love with every part of this story and didn't want it to end,

Zevin doesn't go for easy outcomes that part of us would wish for, instead she stays true to the personalities of her characters, the result is one of the most engaging, intriguing and true pieces of fiction I have read in a long time.

And incredible book that I gave five stars and featured in my top 10 books of the year. This book has everything: beautiful writing, complex characters, and a well-paced plot. I can’t imagine a reader who wouldn’t love this book.

This is one of the best novels I've read in a really, really long time. It was emotional with lovable and fully fleshed out characters -they really felt real! She almost made me want to start gaming, I loved the allegories between parallel lives and everyday lives.

I'm afraid I'm in the minority here.

I seem to have been reading this title forever, and forever, and forever and have sadly decided to DNF this at around 45%.

The early marketing around this book sold me and indeed the hype. How can you resist a quote on the cover from one of your favourite authour's who says it's one of the best books they've ever read.

I'm not sold however. The plot and pacing seemed lacklustre and almost halfway through the book I was still waiting for it to kick into the next level.

Ultimately, a love story about programmers is probably not my cup of tea. And throw in a strange S&M plot twist that left a strange taste in the mouth (it just felt misplaced) and that's me used up all of my lives before the end of the game.

Game over for me but I can appreciate that it WILL be someone's high-scoring novel.

I wanted to love this, so much. Because the Storied life of AJ Fikry is one of my favourite books of all time. But unfortunately it fell short for me. I didn’t like the characters so I found myself not caring about what happened to them. The female lead came across as very fickle; I just wasn’t buying into any of it. Shame. It’s very popular though so it’s probably just me!

What an incredible book. At first glance, a book about gamers was not a book that really appealed to me, but the more I heard about it, the more I realised that is a book that is about so much more than gaming. It is a beautifully written exploration of friendship, of love and of the complex journey that is life in all its messiness. The characters are wonderfully developed and they leap off the page as the reader gets to travel through life from childhood to adulthood with them. This is a book that will stay with me long after I put it down.

If I could give this book fewer than 1 star, I would. Paper-thin characters, overly long and self-indulgent. If you want to read a book about the difficulties women face in tech and the 90s tech boom, Allegra GOodman's 'THe cookbook collector' is excellent. Her book in the world of video games 'THe chalk artist' is also very good. For a book that's about the creation of new technology, the innovations in a nascent industry, Tracy Kidder's 'The soul of a new machine' is absolutely excellent, and beautifully written and absorbing. THe only interesting thing about Zevin's book is the conceit behind the title, of how video games let you live through an infinite series of tomorrows. THe book's about childhood friends, Sam and Sadie, who reconnect in college and collaborate to come up with a game, with the help of their mutual friend and early investor, Marx, and where that takes them. THe characters are very badly written-Marx, for instance, serves no purpose apart from being rich and having money. Sadie is another women in the long list of female protagonists over the last 3 years, who are extremely entitled and have no personality traits apart from imagined traumas, while people around them have real traumas ( a character in the book gets an amputation and Sadie treats it like they stubbed their toe). Increasingly I find that authors ignore character development completely and this book suffers a lot from this-characters behave in very strange ways, adults who could resolve things by a simple conversation absolutely do not bother. One of the characters, who has till then not shown any signs of it, suddenly turns into some excellent at PR and working a crowd, and this ends up being a plot point, when we've not been given any writing to lead up to this at all. A lot of space is given to a college professor who has sexual relationships with his students, and for some reason this is glossed over completely and normalised by the end of the book. Also, what's with authors starting to throw in badly-written BDSM into their books, as a substitute for a character arc? Sally Rooney did it, and so does Zevin-did all these women read 'FIfty shades' and think they could improve on it? Because they're not doing a better job, and it's completely unnecessary! 'The soul of a new machine' had writing that made you feel deeply invested in the development and creation of new technology, and despite Zevin mentioning that she's an avid gamer, her writing about the development of their game felt at a remove. I cannot understand how this quite silly book is making it to so many year end lists.

I love the fact that the title of this very modern book has its origins in Shakespeare, and feel that this sets the tone for the rest of the book, where the modern virtual world coincides and conflicts with the age old world of human emotion and experience.

The book is very much character driven, and I loved all three main characters who were all exceedingly flawed but very human and relatable. Not an awful lot happens for the majority of the book, but this doesn't matter as I loved getting to know the characters and what makes them tick and how they relate to each other, how small misunderstandings can become huge and can affect how the rest of their life plays out, how trust is developed then lost, how friendship can turn into love, or not.

The book was heart wrenching and engaging throughout and I couldn't put it down. I'm not a gamer, so couldn't relate to some elements of it, but that didn't matter as it was so well described and explained that I still understood the characters motivations and feelings.

Highly recommended.

I wasn't too sure what to expect with this book, as I don't read contemporary often, but honestly I think this may be one of my favourite contemporaries out there. I loved seeing Sam and Sadie grow up and I loved to hear about all of the games they created. Kind of sad when I remembered that none of these games exist in real life, because I would have wanted to play all of them! Will definitely be recommending this to my friends and I am 100% going to get myself a physical copy asap!

Sadie and Sam shares the love of video games, they met in the hospital game room when Sadie was taking a breather from her sister, who was a patient at the hospital. The nurse was gobsmacked when Sadie told her about the encounter with Sam, as he had not spoken a word since he was admitted following an incident.

Sadie and Sam become friends and the book tells the tale of their friendship throughout the years, how they become partners and make video games together, with the help of Sam's roommate Marx.

A nostalgic book, beautifully written, which will take you on a journey.

I really enjoyed this. Not at all what I was expecting but a great read. I would read this author again.