Name: Anthony Teo's review of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Item: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Rating: 4
Author: Anthony Teo

Gabrielle Zevin

"A modern love story about two childhood friends, Sam, raised by an actress mother in LA's Koreatown, and Sadie, from the wealthy Jewish enclave of Beverly Hills, who reunite as adults to create video games, finding an intimacy in digital worlds that eludes them in their real lives, from the New York Times best-selling author of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry"--

A Novel

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

- TIME MAGAZINE: Buch des Jahres 2022 - Amazon USA: Buch des Jahres 2022 - Apple: Buch des Jahres 2022 - US-Indie-Buchhandlungen: Buch des Jahres 2022 - Goodreads: Buch des Jahres 2022 Mitte der 90er-Jahre in Massachusetts: An einer U-Bahn-Station trifft Sadie, hochbegabte Informatikstudentin und angehende Designerin von Computerspielen, ihren früheren Super-Mario-Partner Sam wieder. Die beiden beginnen, gemeinsam an einem Spiel zu arbeiten, und schnell zeigt sich, dass sie nicht nur auf freundschaftlicher, sondern auch auf kreativer Ebene ein gutes Team sind. Doch als ihr erstes gemeinsames Computerspiel zum Hit wird, brechen sich Rivalitäten Bahn, die ihre Verbundenheit zu bedrohen scheinen. Ein Jahrzehnte umspannender Roman über Popkultur und Kreativität, Wagnis und Scheitern, über Verlust und über die Magie der Freundschaft. Daniel Schreiber zu MORGEN, MORGEN UND WIEDER MORGEN: "Ein fulminanter Roman, superspannend und gleichzeitig wunderschön."

Roman

Morgen, morgen und wieder morgen

Franzi

Man muss sich klarmachen, dass eine Beziehung aus Abschnitten besteht, und wenn einer endet, kann die Beziehung als etwas anderes weiterbestehen. Die Liebe ist Konstante und Variable zugleich.

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.

Leonor Faria

You couldn't be old and still be wrong about as many things as she'd been wrong about, and it was a kind of immaturity to call yourself old before you were. 

Maria Buitrago

Computers are great for experimentation, but they're bad for deep thinking.

To design a game is to imagine the person who will eventually play it.

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

. It is the dog putting its mouth around your hand and never biting down. To play requires trust and love.

"But it is worth noting that to be good at something is not quite the same as loving it."

"How many times can you look at something and know that everyone around you is seeing the same thing or at the very least that their brains and eyes are responding to the same phenomenon? How much proof do you ever have that we're all in the same world."

Steph Lodico

“They die all the time, actually. It doesn’t mean the same thing.”

There is no purity to bearing pain alone.

How much of your life had been happenstance? How much of your life had been a roll of the big polyhedral die in the sky? But then, weren't all lives that way? Who could say, in the end, that they had chosen any of it?

The way to turn an ex-lover into a friend is to never stop loving them, to know that when one phase of a relationship ends it can transform into something else. It is to acknowledge that love is both a constant and a variable at the same time.

Vera Heilig

There is a time for any fledgling artist where one's taste exceeds one's abilities. The only way to get through this period is to make things anyway. 

jean

“This life is filled with inescapable moral compromises. We should do what we can to avoid the easy ones.”

“people who give you charity are never your friends. It is not possible to receive charity from a friend”

Eneko Uruñuela

"Come on, Sadie. There'll always be another class. How many times can you look at something and know that very- one around you is seeing the same thing or at the very least that their brains and eyes are responding to the same phenomenon? How much proof do you ever have that we're all in the same world?"

they were talking about a dog and it actually explained the trust between human and dogs and i love it

“I know you won’t hurt me, even though you can.”

“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.”

Iris van der zanden

No, that came out wrong. What you meant to express was the existential grief that comes with the knowledge that all things die. You are not dying, except insofar as you have always been dying.

Throughout his life, Sam had hated being told to "fight", as if sickness were a character failing. Ilness could not be defeated no matter how hard you fought, and pain, once it had you in its grasp, was transformational. 

“to be good at something is not quite the same as loving it”

SO CUTE i think this is what it means to have a childhood ? 😭

“I’m always seeing the world with magic eyes,” he said. “I’m exploding with childish wonder.”

In the midst of the crowd, I don’t see nobody but you? 😭

“She scanned the crowd slowly and when she spotted Sam, the smile spread over her face like a time-lapse video he had once seen in a high school physics class of a rose in bloom.”

“Time was mathematically explicable; it was the heart—the part of the brain represented by the heart—that was the mystery.”

Anthony Teo

This story was so complicated. I loved the evolution of each character and their wholesome and sometimes infuriating friendships. Initially this book felt slightly tedious as it was rather slow, but as you become more invested in each character you cant stop yourself from reading just one more chapter. I have to admit that I found the female MC more than a little annoying though… she seemed overly unreasonable on many occasions. I have to say however that I do feel inspired to start playing some more video games :)

Anna

Molly Bridge

I did not read the summary before starting on this book and it was not what I expected; not in a bad way as I still really enjoyed it. maybe I haven’t read enough but I don’t think gaming, as a context/plot is common for fictional novels. I found it romantic, kinda geeky, kinda sad, creatively put together and heartwarming with friendship as a key theme. 

victoria lim

It would be especially unkind to say, but this feels a bit like a novel Elon Musk would write.

The first third or so is the best and the two main characters are generally well drawn. Their initial friendship and foray into game design is an enticing read. The author is clearly intelligent and knowledgable, and the book is full of  references for the curious. 

That last point is one of the problems. The frequency of references and accompanying explanations doesn’t help the narrative, especially when some side characters only exist to deliver an info-dump that just happens to be exactly what one of the protagonists needs to hear. 

The video game theme is handled well at start. I’m a gamer but no designer; nevertheless, it was gripping to read about the duo creating their first game and the emotional punch behind the clash over the game engine. 

Unfortunately, the gaming theme is not threaded so well for the rest of the story. Multiple characters make references to 1ups and ‘game overs’ and how these relate to life which is not only cliche and repetitive but also overused to the extent that it reveals nothing about these people. A section toward the end based in a role playing game is an improvement, but stretches credulity as a game and a character moment. 

A shocking event later in the novel ultimately feels underdeveloped, and only seems to happen to further explore the friendship of the main characters. Elsewhere, some of the dialogue (of which there is far too much in general) is extremely clunky and didactic. One conversation during a dramatic flashback comes off as completely unbelievable and unlike any conversation I can imagine two human beings having in such circumstances. 

Luke Pearce

It would be especially unkind to say, but this feels a bit like a novel Elon Musk would write.

The first third or so is the best and the two main characters are generally well drawn. Their initial friendship and foray into game design is an enticing read. The author is clearly intelligent and knowledgable, and the book is full of  references for the curious. 

That last point is one of the problems. The frequency of references and accompanying explanations doesn’t help the narrative, especially when some side characters only exist to deliver an info-dump that just happens to be exactly what one of the protagonists needs to hear. 

The video game theme is handled well at start. I’m a gamer but no designer; nevertheless, it was gripping to read about the duo creating their first game and the emotional punch behind the clash over the game engine. 

Unfortunately, the gaming theme is not threaded so well for the rest of the story. Multiple characters make references to 1ups and ‘game overs’ and how these relate to life which is not only cliche and repetitive but also overused to the extent that it reveals nothing about these people. A section toward the end based in a role playing game is an improvement, but stretches credulity as a game and a character moment. 

A shocking event later in the novel ultimately feels underdeveloped, and only seems to happen to further explore the friendship of the main characters. Elsewhere, some of the dialogue (of which there is far too much in general) is extremely clunky and didactic. One conversation during a dramatic flashback comes off as completely unbelievable and unlike any conversation I can imagine two human beings having in such circumstances. 



Let the games begin! From the New York Times best-selling author of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry--a glorious and immersive novel about two childhood friends, once estranged, who reunite as adults to create video games, finding an intimacy in digital worlds that eludes them in their real lives. 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. They borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo: a game where players can escape the confines of a body and the betrayals of a heart, and where death means nothing more than a chance to restart and play again. This is the story of the perfect worlds Sam and Sadie build, the imperfect world they live in, and of everything that comes after success: Money. Fame. Duplicity. Tragedy. Spanning over 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, games as artform, technology and the human experience, 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.

Listening to the horrendous performance from the narrator of the audiobook made what would have been a decent book, pretty intolerable. I was entertained, but man did the author love making lists… if I had to hear the monotone, drudging  through one more list of things Sam and Sadie felt or did… this book was def overhyped. 

Jacob Hopkins

Lovely depiction of friendship, love, and video games. I wish Sam and Sadie the best

Caroline Piephoff

I really enjoyed this book - I had no expectations going in and I thought the different styles and characters really drove the story. A lot going on as far as topics covered, but overall a sweet story about friendship and challenges of programming games. 

Paige Paul

wondered why it’s getting so much love. finished the book in two days it’s so utterly readable.

My 7th grade math teacher Mr. Dillenberger was named in the acknowledgements for being one of the oregon trail creators. What a guy. <3

mara henderson

wondered why it’s getting so much love. finished the book in two days it’s so utterly readable.

 Life is long, unless it’s not.

My 7th grade math teacher Mr. Dillenberger was named in the acknowledgements for being one of the oregon trail creators. What a guy. <3

What a beautiful tale of friendship, success, love and how the three things never intertwine seamlessly. This was entirely character driven (which I adore in books) but didn't suffer with the same slow-pace-syndrome that many character driven books can sometimes fall victim to.

I found myself very attached to the three main characters, especially Marx. He was my favourite character by a landslide. I really enjoyed Sadie's character as well, and thought the dynamic between Sadie and Marx was so interesting considering they are introduced to each other by Sam. All that being said, I think Sam is objectively the most interesting character. The most dislikable, but definitely the most interesting. I couldn't figure him out. Every time I felt sorry for him, he'd do or say something that made me dislike him, and every time I disliked him, he'd do or say something that made me feel sorry for him.

The dynamic between the three was just beautifully written, incredibly complex and stunningly layered. I actually found a playlist on Spotify to listen to whilst reading that was described as "a love letter to Sam, Sadie and Marx". I loved how Gabrielle Zevin made the book about all three characters equally, despite the fact that Sam and Sadie have childhood history that Marx isn't a part of. Even the side characters were extremely well-developed. Zevin is objectively masterful at character-creation.

The actual storyline itself was also so captivating. I found it really interesting reading about video games and the process of creating them. It's not something I've ever thought about before and I genuinely feel like I learnt something new about a topic I previously knew absolutely nothing about. The amount of focus on video games was perfectly balanced with the other aspects of the story, making for a well-balanced plot line with wonderful characters.

All in all, an incredible book. Honestly, I'm not sure why I didn't give it five stars because this review certainly makes it seem like I should have. But I did absolutely love this and would very much like to continue reading more of Zevin's work.

Emilia Vulliamy

What a beautiful tale of friendship, success, love and how the three things never intertwine seamlessly. This was entirely character driven (which I adore in books) but didn't suffer with the same slow-pace-syndrome that many character driven books can sometimes fall victim to.

I found myself very attached to the three main characters, especially Marx. He was my favourite character by a landslide. I really enjoyed Sadie's character as well, and thought the dynamic between Sadie and Marx was so interesting considering they are introduced to each other by Sam. All that being said, I think Sam is objectively the most interesting character. The most dislikable, but definitely the most interesting. I couldn't figure him out. Every time I felt sorry for him, he'd do or say something that made me dislike him, and every time I disliked him, he'd do or say something that made me feel sorry for him.

The dynamic between the three was just beautifully written, incredibly complex and stunningly layered. I actually found a playlist on Spotify to listen to whilst reading that was described as "a love letter to Sam, Sadie and Marx". I loved how Gabrielle Zevin made the book about all three characters equally, despite the fact that Sam and Sadie have childhood history that Marx isn't a part of. Even the side characters were extremely well-developed. Zevin is objectively masterful at character-creation.

The actual storyline itself was also so captivating. I found it really interesting reading about video games and the process of creating them. It's not something I've ever thought about before and I genuinely feel like I learnt something new about a topic I previously knew absolutely nothing about. The amount of focus on video games was perfectly balanced with the other aspects of the story, making for a well-balanced plot line with wonderful characters.

All in all, an incredible book. Honestly, I'm not sure why I didn't give it five stars because this review certainly makes it seem like I should have. But I did absolutely love this and would very much like to continue reading more of Zevin's work.

I liked how this captured the essence and complexity of creating something with friends and all the drama that can come with it. Also, the settings were very familiar. My only complaint would be that some of the verisimilitude in the book was hackneyed, hitting all the pop culture touchstones of each time period. 

Jeff Dlouhy

I think book was a good one for those that are game enthusiasts or have a knack for making games. I really didn’t want it to end but all things do. There were parts of the story that actually moved me and made me feel for the characters and relate to. I just wish there was more to the ending but I could see why it is the way it is.

Kayla Pham

Katie Roberts

Amy Burnett

Katerina

This drew me in from the very first page. And it didn’t let go. 

A dear friend of mine recommended this to me, knowing full well how much I enjoy video games — the old and the new. But you don’t have to be a gamer to love this story. It’s a literary treasure and it would be a shame if it stayed only in the gaming circles. 

“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” is a story about Sam and Sadie. Marx and Sadie. Marx and Sam. Sadie, Marx and Sam. It’s a story about love, but I think it’s a story about friendship above all else. Infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. Isn’t that what friendship is supposed to be in an ideal world? I guess it’s more like games in that sense. 

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

I don’t think I’ve even got the right words to express the love I have for this book. The heartbreak I suffered. It started out sweet and gentle. It ended up rough, and raw, and ruthless. Kind of like life in that regard. Kind of like people. 

The relationships in “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” were so complex. So true to our human nature. The game building was so immersive, so well-researched. The game art was so haunting, as if I saw it right in front of my eyes. The passage of time, of these characters’ lives was so painful. I think I saw some of Sally Rooney’s genius here — in the relationships, in the conversations, and in our inability to communicate when we are most vulnerable, too. The consequences of our actions. The consequences of not speaking up, not going after what we want. 

There is so much I took from this book. So much that touched my heart. 

Particularly, I loved Part IV, Both Sides. Gabrielle Zevin communicated so much through the meaning of games and through the meaning of games’ art. Part IV specifically was genius. The naming of the chapters, each having an A and B side that followed the protagonists separately. Sam and Sadie building two different worlds of the same game, while truly living, for the first time, completely different lives. The emotional distance between them. I think this is where my own heart started to shatter. Here Zevin included a comment about record vinyls’ side A and B, diving deep into an argument that McCartney and Lennon had about which song should make it to the A side, as all the hits were believed to be on the A side. I don't want to spoil but this had such great meaning later, when the game Sam and Sadie were making at the time, Both Sides, got released. There was so much genius in this part that I felt somewhat in awe by the author’s talent (How have I not heard of her before?). 

I thought it was so bold to write the way Gabrielle Zevin writes. She used different points of view — first-person, second-person, third-person… yes, all of these were used, transformed us to different worlds even — there is a part in the book where you’re in an actual game. It felt brilliant to me. 

I have so much more to write about this one. Perhaps I’ll edit this time and time again. Tomorrow and tomorrow. But I guess what I’m really trying to say is that this was an easy 5/5. You might get your heart broken along the way but it’s worth it in the end, stranger. 

My favourite quotes:


“We are all living, at most, half of a life, she thought. There was the life you lived, which consisted of the choices you made. And then, there was the other life, the one that was the things you hadn't chosen.” 


“This is what time travel is. It’s looking at a person, and seeing them in the present and the past, concurrently. And that mode of transport only worked with those one had known a significant time.” 


“There are no ghosts, but up here”—she gestured toward her head—“it’s a haunted house.”

the first book in a long time that I felt I didn’t want to reach the end 

Anna Lane

Mel 

This is what people mean when they talk about literature with a big "L". This isn't just a story about making a game, it's about love, friendship, growing up and existing. Done beautifully and heart-wrenching.

sharkie

Nice story. Was hard to find and connect to the theme of the story. Context clues littered throughout but seemed disjointed. Pretty cohesive overall despite my opinions.

Sarah Henry

Eva Ströberg

“Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow. It’s the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever”
.
I’m torn between giving this book three or four stars. Three because of the friendship/love story that sounds very much like young adult genre to me (now that I’m in mid 40s, most romance / love story sounds like young adult stories with their problems, intrigues and despairs to me). Four because I like the video games reference. The story is set in late 90s, early 2000s and the characters : Sam and Sadie are probably at my age.
.
I remember how I liked to play DOS games and was awed by the graphics back then, and wonder how my life would have been if I had played more games, or like them, became game designers. I had that dream! I like all the video games references, talks and without getting too nerdy about it, I think it’s well written that way.
.
In the end, it’s three stars for me because the book seems flat and anti climatic in general, but nevertheless interesting and entertaining.

Rebecca Hurd

As much as I liked this book and it’s story/plot I just can not get passed how insufferable Sadie Green is throughout this entire book!! Marx is by far my favorite character and Sam is just to socially inept not to love. Sam had no real clue how to ask for help or explain to anyone why he was incapable of doing something. Sadie acted as though she truly knew who Sam was but when it really came down to it she was to selfish and insecure to really be the friend that Sam deserved!!

(3.5) First half was amazing and second half was meh.

Beautiful, tender. Easy to read. Any flaws are overcome by the sweet sadness of Sam and Sadie’s relationship and the book’s insights about love and work.

Spencer Tweedy

Kiran Aftab

This book was incredible. If you like videogames, this is the book for you. And even if you don’t, I feel like the author does an amazing job of writing about relationships. I feel so much nostalgia and I was tearing up so much while reading this. You won’t regret picking this up.

Chris Dailey

Page turner following the low stakes world of video game creation. Two life long frenemies develop and build a gaming empire over three decade while the encounter a series of life tragedies. While games are center stage, it's really about friendship, love, all types of pain, intelligence, expectations, disappointment and jealousy. Popcorn'esque readability that immerses you in the world for the short time you're reading it, I didn't find it had the staying power once it was put down but it was lovely ride while it lasted.

Anthony Teo &
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin