Perhaps not for me. While I found some of the 80s/90s nostalgia charming I feel like pop culture is a little oversaturated with the theme following the success of Stranger Things. In general the writing was enjoy but did wander a little, as though the author couldn't choose what to focus on and then would drop in a word like 'jejune' not because they were the most appropriate for the moment but to prove the author has a broad vocabulary. I also didn't find the main characters loveable or sympathetic; this isn't to say they have to be completely 'lawful good', just... not what was presented here. For a story that spans years I was expecting to see more growth from Sam and Sadie, but that all seemed to get left to Marx. Given that a selling point of the story is that it's about friendship I had a hard time rooting for a pair that I thought would be best if they agreed they'd grown apart.

I've thought about this book constantly since reading it and it's worth all the hype it's received and so much more.

An incredible exploration of love, loss and friendship.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I think I have much more mixed feelings about this book than quite a few readers. Even leaving aside the author's opinions and background, and the plagiarism issues, I think this book is not as romantic as everyone seems to think it is. Sadie's character in particular is actually very unlikeable at times - not always a bad thing, but here it is due to the actions and choices she is making without any consideration for the consequences. She keeps backing out of her relationship with Sam (friendly or romantic, you choose) without talking to him about why or having adult conversations about her feelings. And Sam is just as much of a man-baby at times, and the fact that he actively pushes Sadie back into a relationship with an abuser is horrendous - even if you accept he didn't fully know, he definitely knew something was wrong (this is the one time I approve of Sadie getting mad at him!). This means at times I was very frustrated with the narrative and just couldn't bring myself to care that much. I did like the underlying context of the world of gaming and appreciated the author making this accessible to non-gamers. But I don't really understand why people rave about this.

This is my first experience with Gabrielle Zevin, and I'm genuinely impressed. The novel blends smart storytelling with beautiful prose, alternating between past and present within the realm of gaming. Even if you're not a gamer, don’t let that deter you—this book explores universal human experiences such as relationships, friendships, and the contrast between the digital world and real life.

The story begins in the late 1980s, where Sam and Sadie bond over video games in a hospital. Their paths cross again years later, and they collaborate on creating games, with their partnership further supported by Marx. Their success brings both triumphs and challenges, vividly portrayed through the diverse and well-developed characters.

Zevin offers a fascinating look into the gaming industry, touching on themes like identity, love, loss, and the power of escapism. It's an imaginative and thought-provoking read that’s likely to resonate with a wide audience. Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC.

This was a very enjoyable read, and I recommend it if you want something to get you out of a reading slump, that will carry you away with its story and characters.

I realise I’m rather late to the game with this book so I won’t write a full review as I’m sure many others have already done so. However, what I will write is that this is a fantastic book. You really don’t have to be a gamer to appreciate it - I’m not and I still loved it! The characters are fantastic and I almost wish I had eked the book out a bit so I could spend more time with them. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys well written fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

I'd seen some positive reviews and, based on the blurb I thought this would be my thing. Not a romance, but about love? Centred on game developers? Ooh, geeks! Quirky! Bit of fun!

Sadly it was none of those. Rather, it was really quite hard going. I went back to the reviews, to check it was the same book. One actually said that the audiobook was easier to follow - a red flag right there - so a quarter of the way through I switched to audio. No better. Plus, the reader sounded like she had a cold half the time. (Side note: why is modern audiobook production so amateur?)

All in all, long, hard work, no fun, really darn serious, a very annoying character that anyone in their right mind would avoid and some rainbow stuff thrown in like it was trying too hard to be "now". You want an honest review? Not recommended I'm afraid.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for a fair and frank review.

I felt a bit behind reading this because I am not a gamer and didn’t understand most of it and all the terminology confused my head. It had a sweetness to it but I couldn’t bypass the gaming.

A wonderful read, characters so warm and well constructed- their relationships and interactions are very believable and in turn relatable. Having only a slight interest in gaming and being only able to draw on some from childhood, some sections of the book were a little lost on me personally. It did not inhibit my enjoyment of the book, but for someone very into gaming- I imagine the book being excellent.

Zevin's writing style, has an ease- it is conversational and companionable. At its heart it is a love story, not just of romantic love but friendship too and how are relations with one another change as time passes. The novel spans some thirty years and extends to various geographic locations including Cambridge and California. It shifts from time periods throughout, this is done well- giving the novel a nice ebb and flow. Characters are given equal space in the book too which is refreshing.

I would highly recommend this book if you want a book to get lost in and to tug at your heart-strings. The books main characters, Sadie and Sam will stay with me for a very long time.

it's trying to be pretentious whilst lacking in fundamental writing quality

It's using racial, disability, religious and LGBT tokenism to hit charts based in those, but at best it's tokenism and at worst is offensive nonsensical inclusion

The writing falls off a cliff and feels like someone else wrote it about 30% in

It deals with huge topics (professor/student abuse of power and sexual assault, major bodily injury, suicide, parental neglect, incel like behaviour) with so little tact they all feel like offensive portrayals done for shock value, but aren't actually shocking (like horror or whatever) they're just bad

It feels almost redundant to say; this is a good book. It's been said a lot, rightfully. Magnificent, complex, scratches an additional itch of being a gamer who has rarely read books who do something interesting with that. One of the greats of contemporary fiction over these last few years.

Soooo..... I didn't like this book. And then it turned out to be one of the books that got a lot of love from all kinds of websites and people. So, I guess I'm stupid. However, I do see where do appeal is for others in this book, even though it didn't work for me. I do have to say as a connotation that I read the synopsis on net galley wrong and thought it was going to be a bit of a weird alternative reality book that toes the line between reality and the game world. I also thought it was going to be about the characters when they were still children in the hospital, but it's just a small part of the book.

The book didn't really pick up for me until like 20% in. It's one of those books that follows the characters from when they were children up until they are like idk middle-aged? When the book starts when they're both in their 20-something, they had been friends (??) when they were children and then fell out with each other, which I do get. I liked certain talks about arts, games, identity and race. However that kind of ends after the halfway point.

This book is about deeply unlikeable people who just keep spiralling after the halfway point, but not in a fun way. Max was the only person I cared about a little and made me continue reading, I guess since I am a theatre kid at heart, but yeah... if you know, you know.

And so, yeah it ended in the most peculiar way where the writing style changed just before it. It could be that the review copy made it more illegible, but it just didn't work for me in this way, even though I like experimental stuff. It just went on for too long, and was too much of a crass difference with the style before that, also it felt a little bit insensitive for my taste. Since I didn't know what happened in the passages so I only realised afterwards and so what transpired didn't hit as hard as it could've.

I also just don't actually think that it's as much about friendship as it's advertised it is. It is however about a toxic friendship. Also this does include an abusive relationship and the way that ended I absolutely wanted to gouge my eyes out. Anyways I guess I could recommend it to people since apparently people love it, but not for me.

As an avid gamer, I really wanted to love this novel. Maybe I went in with my expectations set too high but, sadly, this just really didn't work for me. Although the plot was interesting, I found the two central characters - Sadie and Sam - to be so self-absorbed and selfish that I just couldn't root for them at all. For all that the book is supposed to be about friendship, forgiveness, and second chances, I just didn't get a sense that either character learnt from or developed as a result of their experiences. I've given it several chances but, sadly, its been a DNF each time and I have eventually come to the conclusion that, for all the hype, this just isn't a book for me.

I was asked to review this quirky book from Netgalley.

Essentially this was about friendship, a lesson in love and a never ending game of life with itssecond chances, lost opportunities and endless possibilities.

I have zero experience of gaming whatsever -so inmteresting to read of this in the quirky book- the main part of this story was friendship,

I can definitely see the potential in this one, but I had to DNF it as it was a bit slow for me. However I think people that are more into literary-style books than I am will enjoy it!

It took me absolutely ages to be in the right frame of mind for this one, but once I was it had me hooked. This was a real slow-burn where not a huge amount happens but the characters were incredibly well drawn and their relationships convincing. I was blindsided by the death of Marx - didn't see that one coming at all - and I felt completely bereft by this. I am not a player of computer games but if anything was going to persuade me that they might have something to offer me then this book is the thing.

LOVED this book. Lives up to the hype.

A love story concerned with friendship rather than romance.

This is a truly wonderful exploration of friendship. Neither Sadie or Sam are flawless and the realistic intricacies of their relationship throughout the years are brilliantly written by Zevin. I loved all the characters and feel like this has to be made into a film!

It makes sense how hugely popular this book is — I loved it. It’s so absorbing and readable, and so affecting.

We follow Sadie and Sam who met at a Hospital some years ago and are brought together by fate. It covers recovery, friendship and disability. Their friendship brings in new hope and new opportunities and pitfalls of life. An engaging story.