Right after it’s release, Tomoorow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin raised a lot of popularity amongst (mainly) the Booktok community. Personally, the book didn’t spark my curiosity at first. However, it was the mothly read for April in a Discord server I’m in, so I decided to give this hype a fair chance. Was it worth it?

---

Title: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Publication date: July 5, 2022
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 9780593321201
Number of pages: 416
Genre: General Fiction

In this exhilarating novel, two friends–often in love, but never lovers–come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.
On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.
Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.

Well, I had not many expectations before I picked up this book. I was a little hesitant as the gaming industry plays a huge part in this book and I’m not a gamer. I don’t know anything about the different types of videogames and that’s exactly what main characters Sam and Sadie develop. Furthermore, huge TikTok hypes tend to disappoint me a lot lately, so I decided to put all my expectations aside when starting this book. I first listened to the audioboo, but the narration was not for me in the end. I liked the sample, so this was just a bit unfortunate.

Actually, I was not the biggest fan of the book. That has to do with our main characters Sam and Sadie, they are both very socially awkward. I mean, I don’t have problems with that, but they mistook their friendship for something that actually is much less than that. They fought a lot, and they appeared to be just aquintances who only have their passion for games in common. Besides games, their relationship is based on nothing. Also, one of the characters suffers from abuse and they just think it’s alright that this happens to them. No, these two are not my types. However, I liked Marx, the third character who plays an important role. He’s not our main character though, but he was the connecting link between Sam and Sadie.

Besides the characters, I had a tough time with Zevin’s storytelling. There were a lot of time jumps which made this book hard to understand at first. The novel starts when Sam and Sadie are both in uni, only to jump back years in time. Afterwards, there is a large time jump forward. It all makes sense later on, but it’s confusing at the start. It even makes the plot quite mediocre. Nothing really happens. Maybe this book is character driven and gives an insight in friendship dynamics, but there was literal no chemestry here. Furthermore, the game tech is really present which makes this book less interesting if you’re not a gamer. I managed to read through it and to see it as a side plot, but if you’re a real gamer this book is more suitable for you.

In the end, I’m glad I’ve read Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. The book is too overhyped in my opinion though. For me, it lacked chemistry overall. The fact that I’m not a gamer at all and this being a key part of the story, probably has to do with it. Also, the writing is lacking a lot for me, it confused me majorly at first. If you’re a real gamer, this book is more suitable for you than for non-gamers.