Thank you so much for the ARC of this incredible novel. This is my favourite book of the year! Sprawling, building to the most beautiful crescendo, relatable characters and multi-layered relationships. Divine.

I was so looking forward to this one. My fiance is a gamer (and me too, sometimes) and I had heard such great things about how non-gamers had really enjoyed this one too.
I do think it would be more enjoyable for gamers- there are a LOT of video game references and I don't know if that would make people struggle to connect.
The plot was good, but I much preferred the first half to the second. It dragged on too long in the latter stages, and now I can barely remember the ending.
It was mostly enjoyable, purely for the nostalgia of the references to video games I remembered.

Oh, this book, this wonderful, captivating book - one of the best books I have read in a long time. I have little interest in gaming but I loved all the discussions, descriptions and narrative around games, creating and crafting them, and the love that Sadie and Sam shared over gaming. But it's more than just that. Relationships, friendships, work, love, loyalty and a whole other range of human complexity and emotions.

I keep thinking about this book, the little things, the 'big' things, the stunning covers of both hardback and paperback (so much so that I have bought both!), and I would desperately love to see this adapted for TV or film. Definitely on my 'to read again' pile!

Something completely different for me but I have to say that I really enjoyed it.

A plot that flowed and characters that I liked reading about.

Cannot wait to see what this author has in store for us next.

Recommended 4 stars from me.

I loved this book. The relationship between Sam and Sadie. The nostalgia. One of the best books I have read this year. Thank you NetGalley!

What can I say about this book? I was thoroughly captivated by this story in just a few pages. The video game aspect was my favourite part of the story as well the characters’ relationships. And any book that manages to tug on my emotions is a good book in my eyes. I can’t wait to read it again in future!

An absolute masterpiece, I, along with so many others, loved this book. The characters were so real and fun getting to know. I never wanted the story to end. The premise was so interesting, the pacing perfect. I will definitely read anything this author writes!

This was a moving account of a friendship exploring love in all its shades. The three main characters were beautifully conceived and drawn and it was very enlightening to see into the gamers’ minds (I am definitely NOT one myself!) the story was slow and a little sad but this in no way detracted from my enjoyment. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

One of my favourite books of last year. With complex characters, relationships, and video games! If you're even a little on the fence. about this one, just pick it up!

I get the hype. This hasn’t left my mind since finishing it and I could easily pick this up again and re-read it.

I loved this, a really interesting story about creativity and inspiration. It was refreshing to read a novel about a platonic friendship between a man and a woman. Zevin is an awesome writer.

There's a line in this book which sums up my thoughts nicely.

"These images make me feel...I don't know the word. I guess they make me feel."

That what this book does. These words, these characters and their stories. They make you feel.

The characters are so well developed, they felt so real which amplified the emotions throughout the book.

I was absolutely hooked. To the point of staying up until almost 3am to finish it.

A truly fantastic book.

I started this last year, but moved house and got distracted. I finally got back to it this month and loved it! I often wanted to bang the main characters’ heads together, but loved the storyline and I liked most of the characters. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a physical copy. I would definitely read a sequel if there ever was one. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Loved this book!
It took me a few tries to get into it but once I was in, I was pulled into its orbit and was reading every chance I got.
It reminds me a little of ‘One Day’, but only in some respects - but if you liked ‘One Day’ you’ll love this.
Great characters - I both loved and hated Sam and Sadie and they will stay with me for a long time to come.
Highly recommended.

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.