Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry was an ode to books and her Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is an ode to video games.

We need stores, alternate stories than ours because they help us see our stories better. They also give us a time out from our troubles, make us think, give us hope, show us different perspectives and make us part of the bigger world. I think that it does not really matter where these stories come from, be it books, video games, theatre, pictures, art in all it's forms is welcome as long as it touches us. I am not a gamer but it did not matter here because I was still drawn in reading about it. After all that is one of the reasons I read, to taste different things.

Around this love poem to video games, Zevin builds the story of three friends, their dreams, pains, loves, needs. How all these change with time. How life itself sculpts our decisions and all is a work in progress.

Great read.

An ARC gently provided by author/publisher via Netgalley

What an astounding book. I think even if I tried I could not put into words how absolutely I adored this book. Confession, I am not the worlds biggest gamer, I don’t like video games on consoles but regularly find solace in games that Sadie loves. The best thing is that didn’t matter. If I knew the games referenced or not the feelings about the games really underpinned everything.

It has been years since I have stayed up sobbing my heart out unable to put a book down because it is everything I wanted it to be even when it is so heartbreaking that you’re not sure you’ll ever recover.

It is the most glorious story about overcoming adversity, hard work, friendship and love. And I love this book. I imagine it will not be long before I re read it. I will miss the characters, and their story. The phrasing and the intricacies and way that historical writing is woven in so perfectly.

Thank you for the opportunity to read a book that at once broke my heart and filled it up simultaneously.

This one isn't for me I'm afraid. Nothing wrong with it other than personal taste. DNF at about 75 pages in.

Love, Friendship and Extreme Gaming.

In common probably with most of us, I know at least a little about love and friendship, so two of the three ‘abouts’ were likely to have some resonance.

I hesitated long before requesting this, put off by the gaming subject. One I have no interest at all in. I ADORED this book. Now, it is possible, - or even probable – that if I were a gamer, I would have adored it even more.

Do not hold back from reading this if you are uninterested, disinterested or completely put off by the idea of gaming. I doubt I will ever want to game, but I did fall in love with the invented games, the way these were imagined, in the same way that my imagination and interest has been stirred by novels where invented works of art are beautifully described, so clearly that the reader is convinced they must exist

Frankly, given my DISinterest in gaming, I’m still amazed and surprised by how much I loved this, it is inventive, playful, intense and immersive in its writing. Zevin created characters who were real, prickly and troubled, both irritating and, ultimately ones the reader cares intensely about.

There are 3 major characters, two of whom meet as children in hospital. Sam and Sadie are obsessively entranced by gaming. They are bright, hurt, resentful and marginalised, for different reasons. The narrative jumps both forwards and backwards in time, sometimes revisiting experiences told earlier, but with a somewhat different perspective. The sections of the book are divided into game epochs. Sam, Sadie, and the third character, the beautifully grace endowed, compassionate Marx, whom Sam meets as a student, end up as creators of a gaming company.

Ultimately aspects of friendship, aspects of love, in all their rich and often troubled forms are explored.

I have no desire to say any more about the ‘what happens’ To do so would take away the pleasure of the reading encounter. The reader needs to ‘play’ this reading adventure for themselves, and explore the worlds within

I’m certainly noting the writer’s name, and absolutely would read anything else she pens

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher’s – and the early reviewers who persuaded this ‘why on earth would I want to read a novel about computer games’ to take a punt. And most of all, of course, to Gabrielle Zevin

This story follows Sam and Sadie and their journey of playing, creating and promoting video games. Spanning over 30 years, we see the pair grow up, fall out, drift apart, and come back together, with their lives intertwined. Aside from Sam and Sadie - both of whom are incredible characters - I really love Marx. He truly cares about Sam, and would do anything to protect his friend. I'm not much of a gamer but this story is fascinating and I found myself wanting to play the games that this wonderful trio created - especially Ichigo. Despite this story being quite turbulent at times, the ending was hopeful.

I have to admit the following things.

First and foremost I am a sucker for a coming of age story.

I am also a geek.

I liked playing video games when I was younger.

I love to read.

If you are also all (or most) of these things then Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is the book for you. It is a character driven novel, looking at life, coming of age, relationships, friendships all through the eyes of video games. Don't get me wrong, even if you have no interest in video games you will still enjoy this book however I think it will be even more special for those of us who do.

I really like all three main characters, both within themselves and how they were with each other.

This is my first book by this author but it won't be my last.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Vintage, Chatto & Windus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Magnum opus. A pretty epic story that covers on all experience of human existence - love, friendship, loss, sadness and happiness. I was utterly captivated and did not want it to end.
Beautiful characterization and a plot full of challenging situations. Will be recommending to all book lovers!

This book RUINED me. I was reading at dinner, when out with friends, on the bus -- I could NOT put it down for the life of me!! It was so compelling and the premise -- how love and care is built into video games? found family? narratives of loss and creation? so stunningly written, and each character was real.to me, with their own flaws and quirks that I grew so attached to. Marx was a personal favourite!! I cannot wait to get this in hardback when it is published! I eagerly await it.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a book about video games, friendship, betrayal, and love.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book when Sadie and Sam were kids and also when they made their first games; however, as the years went by and they grew to adults I became less interested as the relationships and story began to drag a little.

Overall, I did enjoy the concept of the book, but I found myself slightly unsatisfied by the last half.

This blew me away, a fantastic modern romance with a twist. I loved the gaming theme and how that was brought into a literary novel with contemporary flair and humanity, making it fully accessible, rich and rewarding to explore even if you aren't in that culture yourself. The business dynamics made for fascinating reading and the human relationships were unique, believable, moving and authentically drawn. A really fresh, exciting read - highly recommended, I loved it.

This book didn't grab me a first but I stuck with it and was glad I did aas it really picked up after the first few chapters. The story follows friends who meet as 11 year old children in hospital through gaming and then many years later as (young )adults when they meet again thorugh a chance encounter in a railway station. They reconnect through their love gaming and start to build a business together with another guy and become successful but have to also deal with all the stresses and strains that running a company can bring. I like how the story shows how gaming can offer an escape when times are hard and can enrich your life (rather than often being portrayed as a societal evil in the MSM).

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.

This book is a tremendous accomplishment; it is clever and nuanced and multi-layered and full of intricacies, but also, at the heart of it, is a simple story of friendship. Video games feature heavily in it but don't be put off if you're not a gamer - here, gaming is used as another form of storytelling, so anyone who likes stories will like it (though it was still fun to recognise some of the games I played as a child growing up too). I was completely captivated by this book and would really recommend it, though don't go into it expecting a huge plot. If however you are happy to be swept away with the characters and the nuances of their lives and relationships you'll love it.

This novel is about three students at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts who are heavily involved in gaming and end up setting up a company together. It covers their family and friends as well as their inter-relationships.
There are lots of happy moments, and quite a few dramatic and sad moments.

It doesn't matter whether you are a gamer, it is well written with plenty of gripping content.

I learnt a lot about a generation that is fairly alien to me especially American university students, they are a lot different to UK students in my day.

There are lots of hidden agendas in the book, I am not sure whether all of them were fully explored, perhaps there is scope for a spin-off book.

I enjoyed the book and would consider reading the author again.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy for an honest review.

This is the story of the perfect worlds Sadie and Sam build, the imperfect world they live in, and of everything that comes after success: Money. Fame. Duplicity. Tragedy.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow takes us on a dazzling imaginative quest as it examines the nature of identity, creativity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play and, above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Wow! A mind blowing read!

I'd not heard of Gabrielle Zevin before, and I'm sort of glad I hadn't, because after having a quick look at the goodreads profile, knowing what they'd published before may have put me off even trying this book. I was immediately hooked by the title as well as the book cover, being a fan of both art and Shakespeare.
I struggle to conceptualise exactly what this book is about, because it's so many things. It's a coming of age tale, it's a story of friendship, it's about following your dreams, and at the same time it's not any of those things. It's so cleverly imagined and written, it's one of the only books where I've read the afterword bit, and I really appreciate the time and effort gone into writing the section about inspiration games and which references aren't accurate and why they were still chosen to suit the mood or character at the point in their trajectory. I loved the effort that went into creating this world, and I think that it paid off. Whatever the reader decides it is; it's beautiful. I loved the story, I loved the characters and the way they were written. It has made my "favourite" shelf on Goodreads and I will definitely be reading it again when it's published! It was a tiny bit confusing to follow at a couple of points in the timeline, but that may have just been down to my getting used to the writing style, as well as the disjointedness of the kindle file.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

If you like: video games, strong female characters, slice of life, friendship and love, success, failure, loss and resilience, hope then do not click further.


This book had me repeating one word throughout Smart and Smart and Smart

The story starts in 1985 in a hospital where a boy is healing from a car crash; Sam Masur meets Sadie Green, the girl who is there because of her sister. They became close friends through the joy of playing video games.
They grew close to each other through the 90s indie video games and let me tell you as someone who played these games as a child in the 90s: a sensational way of feeling something completely new and undeveloped, when there was so much room for improvement.

And then as often friends do they get separated because of a minor misunderstanding and get back together after years because of a major coincidence.

They became close friends again and they do what they do best; play and also create games together. We also meet another main character, Marx Watanabe, who is probably every girl's dream; tall, handsome, intelligent and most of all; kind.

And that's when things get a bit more like a neverending side quest where you end up dying at every combat.

The 3 friends were college students in Cambridge, Massachusetts when in a blink of an eye they had an idea, and then after months of painstakingly hard work they make their first game, which later becomes a huge success and because of that, they are able to launch their own company. All of a sudden the 3 kids became parents.

The first thing that came to my mind when I was reading this book was that the author truly loves and cares about these characters.
Both Sam, Sadie and Marx felt very close to me; their personalities were so nicely done that I instantly cared about them.

It also brought back my love for video games as well. The memories I have with my brother playing together. To be honest I'm very thankful for this little inspiration.

I also enjoyed the games themselves and made me want to actually play them.
Can’t tell you how much I wish for a game company to have this thought: ‘Wow, let’s make these games.’ Thumbs up and smile.

Although I have just heard from a little bot that tomorrowx3 is in development as a major motion picture, I’m thrilled and excited to see what’s going to come out of it.

I found the book knowledgeable about game designing and although I'm not a professional it was told with just enough detail that I did not get bored with the technicalities.

As so many reviews emphasized this before me, this story was about friendship and love, and how malleable and flexible these words and their meaning are.

I do think it was about loss as well, how grief seeps its way into our consciousness and leaves a fingerprint on everything we do. Especially if it’s something that we create, like art where you literally put a part of yourself into your work,

The main wonder and gift of the book were definitely how the 3 main characters and their life was so relatable.
How their work had ups and downs just like in real life and how this book taught me that to get back on doing what I'm doing after failing is enough because it is what matters the most.
That I don't give up and keep on going tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

Thank you for Random House UK, Vintage and @trinort04 for my free e-copy.

A more detailed review will be seen on my website: nolitethoughts.co.uk when I will own a physical copy of the book.

If there ever was a book that would make me want to play computer games this was it !I loved the book right from the start I am not a gamer but living in a household with sons who were game mad I found I knew more than I thought I did , I found the games being in the background decades games were in the background of the story as the group of friends grew up and started their company really rooted the sections in those particular eras from early games to later multiple player on line role playing games . The various sections really caught the essence of the decades where they were set and I enjoyed reliving these decades through the different technologies
The author has a clear easily read prose style and I was quickly caught by the characters and wanted to know more about them , I really cared for them .
I loved the relationship between the 3 main characters and the close friendships that morphed over the years between friendship and romantic love ., this was at the heart of the book throughout .
I would recommend the book to people who love a novel looking at relationships over the years . I loved the Tv series halt and Catch Fire for many of the same reasons that I loved this book

There were moments in this book that made me tear up, although I am a sleep deprived mother of a 2 month old so it's easily done. Still, this story has a strong emotional core that will resonate with anyone who has experienced a life altering friendship - the kind of friendship that's all consuming, complicated, and the best thing to have ever happened to you. The tag line of the book is accurate: it isn't a love story, but it is about love, and it was refreshing to read a story that properly explores the depths of a romantic friendship.

If you grew up playing 80s and 90s video games, the book will also draw you in with its nostalgia. I only experienced the very tail end of that era of video games, but there was still plenty for me to be sentimental over. As promised by the Macbeth quote in the book's title, there are also other wonderfully nerdy and literary references that made me feel at home, such as a game based on Emily Dickinson's poems and an apology written in a programming language.

Besides the highs and lows of an intense friendship, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is about the madness and passion of the creative process. Zevin captures perfectly how an idea can get a hold of you and not let you rest until you've worked that idea out of you in some form. Another interesting aspect in all this is Sadie's frustrations over trying to find recognition in the male-dominated world of video games and tech, which sadly remains relatable.

The book falls short of 5 stars because there are scenes here and there that I found to be gimmicky or overwritten, but for the most part its a genuine, tender story about friendships, creativity, and growing up

This is my first taste of author Gabrielle Zavin, and I have to say I was impressed, this is beautifully written and smart storytelling that goes back and forth in time, embedded in the world of gaming. I am not a gamer myself, so if you are not either, do not let this put you off, because this is essentially about the all too human aspects and the complexities of what it is to be human, the connections made through this medium, such as the relationships, the friendships and the joyful delight to be found in a perfect digital world, a sharp contrast to the problems and difficulties that are to found in the more messy real world. Sam and Sadie first meet fortuitously in the late 1980s as children in a hospital, finding common ground in playing games, like Super Mario, competitively.

Memories comes flooding back when they meet again years later at a rail station as we follow their lives evolving through the decades, as they begin to create games together, setting up in business together, the creative input balanced by the grounding and practical presence of Marx. They do extremely well which brings all the pressures and trappings associated with success. The characters are vivid, distinct and from diverse backgrounds, in a narrative that touches on a wide variety of issues and themes that resonate, like identity, love, loss, family, technology, race, disability, betrayal and inevitable failures, and what is important in life.

We are given a insightful glimpse into the gaming industry, its history and business side, and how gaming can help people endure hard times through the escapism it offers. A brilliant and imaginative read that I think will appeal to many readers. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I enjoyed this very much to start with, it was original, quirky and well written. I liked the characters and was invested in them. But for me it went on far too long and I began to tire of the relationship between the three of them, especially between Sam and Sadie. which I began to find too far fetched. I think in all, the book was just too long.