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gossamer_lens's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I have very mixed feelings about this book. As far as the writing style goes it is a 10/10 for me. I loved how the text bounced from past to present and from various points of view and perspectives. It was a book that kept me hooked on finishing it despite how much I disliked certain aspects of it. The writing style saved this book from being a 1.5 star.
So to talk about what I didn't like.
Characters - I basically didn't like any character in the book except for one. I didn't hate them, but I found two of the central characters to be very dry and boring. They felt like a lot was going on, but they were written to be so "real life messy" that they felt like flat characters of the phrase "people are complicated." This is fine I guess, but in real life, I hope to never be closely tied to people who are so "complicated" that they cannot think to apologize, reach out, or otherwise acknowledge their flaws. I love my friends and family and I expect some basic courtesy in return at the very least. So it was hard when literally none of the characters in the book demonstrated any knowledge of the concepts of forgiveness, therapy, communication, or establishing boundaries.
Plot - Overall this book didn't have a lot happen plot-wise. Some people do well in their careers and they all still have issues before, during, and after their successes. Not a problem... but when the book is so character based and I didn't love the characters... it made the writing style do a ton of the heavy lifting and left me hoping for more the whole way... only for it to end. Reflecting makes me realize it never gave me... "more".
Video games - I was super excited to read a book that centered video games. Over the last few years I have slowly become more and more aware of games. I was generally aware of them growing up but stuck to books. Then 2020 hit and my gamer husband (fiance at the time) got me invested in games by gifting me Animal Crossing. Since then I've played a bunch of cozy games, alongside a good smattering of fighters, platformers, Assasian's Creed, Indie games, etc. But besides that I've now watched hours upon hours of video game history video essays by developers, artists, and players. All this knowledge I thought would be helfpul and fun.
Instead, it made me vastly annoyed as I found the author gave credit to the most basic and well-known games while making up a lot of games OR taking actual games and giving them new names as if the author herself invented them. This wouldn't have bugged me so much had the writing not come across as "super gamer is making up cool ideas". At the back of the book the author makes acknowledgment to several games and to me it read as "this is what I referenced" and implied that the unmentioned things were her own invention. Looking across discussion forms and listening to my fellow book clubers talk about this book, this seems like how a lot of people read the book and her acknowledgment. I guess I don't expect a fiction book to have an annotated bibliography... but I expect more of an author than taking people's real-life work and not acknowledging them at all AND changing the names of games to try and hide that she is essentially taking others work and writing those concepts into her work.
I could write a dissertation on what all this author drew from real-life artists' work without acknowledging it. But the most egregious example is probably that of her not giving credit to a Jewish woman whom she not just took the game from but also some of the surrounding circumstances. Just very odd and the Washington Post goes into it in more detail here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/24/train-board-game-brenda-romero-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow/
So to talk about what I didn't like.
Characters - I basically didn't like any character in the book except for one. I didn't hate them, but I found two of the central characters to be very dry and boring. They felt like a lot was going on, but they were written to be so "real life messy" that they felt like flat characters of the phrase "people are complicated." This is fine I guess, but in real life, I hope to never be closely tied to people who are so "complicated" that they cannot think to apologize, reach out, or otherwise acknowledge their flaws. I love my friends and family and I expect some basic courtesy in return at the very least. So it was hard when literally none of the characters in the book demonstrated any knowledge of the concepts of forgiveness, therapy, communication, or establishing boundaries.
Plot - Overall this book didn't have a lot happen plot-wise. Some people do well in their careers and they all still have issues before, during, and after their successes. Not a problem... but when the book is so character based and I didn't love the characters... it made the writing style do a ton of the heavy lifting and left me hoping for more the whole way... only for it to end. Reflecting makes me realize it never gave me... "more".
Video games - I was super excited to read a book that centered video games. Over the last few years I have slowly become more and more aware of games. I was generally aware of them growing up but stuck to books. Then 2020 hit and my gamer husband (fiance at the time) got me invested in games by gifting me Animal Crossing. Since then I've played a bunch of cozy games, alongside a good smattering of fighters, platformers, Assasian's Creed, Indie games, etc. But besides that I've now watched hours upon hours of video game history video essays by developers, artists, and players. All this knowledge I thought would be helfpul and fun.
Instead, it made me vastly annoyed as I found the author gave credit to the most basic and well-known games while making up a lot of games OR taking actual games and giving them new names as if the author herself invented them. This wouldn't have bugged me so much had the writing not come across as "super gamer is making up cool ideas". At the back of the book the author makes acknowledgment to several games and to me it read as "this is what I referenced" and implied that the unmentioned things were her own invention. Looking across discussion forms and listening to my fellow book clubers talk about this book, this seems like how a lot of people read the book and her acknowledgment. I guess I don't expect a fiction book to have an annotated bibliography... but I expect more of an author than taking people's real-life work and not acknowledging them at all AND changing the names of games to try and hide that she is essentially taking others work and writing those concepts into her work.
I could write a dissertation on what all this author drew from real-life artists' work without acknowledging it. But the most egregious example is probably that of her not giving credit to a Jewish woman whom she not just took the game from but also some of the surrounding circumstances. Just very odd and the Washington Post goes into it in more detail here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/24/train-board-game-brenda-romero-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Rape, and Violence
Minor: Xenophobia
lacanadienneinreads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I sobbed.
A book about the joy and pain of art, of friendship, of play, of creation.
The prose is gorgeous and gripping.
The characters are selfish and needy and frustrating and loveable and brilliant.
I was a bit late to the party with this book, but I am so glad I picked it up.
Loving a gamer, and learning to love games, made this even more meaningful. And it might be one of those books that hits a small audience hardest. But Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow will be existing in the virtual space of my mind for quite a while.
A book about the joy and pain of art, of friendship, of play, of creation.
The prose is gorgeous and gripping.
The characters are selfish and needy and frustrating and loveable and brilliant.
I was a bit late to the party with this book, but I am so glad I picked it up.
Loving a gamer, and learning to love games, made this even more meaningful. And it might be one of those books that hits a small audience hardest. But Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow will be existing in the virtual space of my mind for quite a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia and Xenophobia
infectedarea's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Abortion, and Murder
monicabach's review against another edition
Way too much cursing for my comfort. Too much sexual content, including s&m. I like to be careful with what I allow into my mind…I went this far because I thought once Dove was out of the picture it would get better because it was all from him but he came back so I had to stop. Note- content warnings are for the first 40% of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Minor: Suicide and Xenophobia
vonrxyes's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
i can’t decide if i enjoyed this or not, lots of it made me mad, lots of it made me cry. all i can say is i couldn’t put it down, for better or for worse.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail
dani794's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
edit: read before i knew the author was a zionist but hey u cant win em all
og rating: 3.5
og rating: 3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
thesonnetsilence's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What took me so long to pick this one up? I absolutely fell in love with this story. It was hopeful, heartbreaking, and motivating. Excuse me while I dust off some of my game consoles to enjoy in some quality game time…this story inspired me to do so.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism and Xenophobia
justluck's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this book so much. Complex characters, cool subject matter, and a different kind of love story. Really, really enjoyed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Death and Sexual content
luneclaire's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I don't know how to rate this book. At first, I wasn't in the right frame of mind to read it, but when I finally was, I couldn't put it down. It emotionally slayed me. It got under my skin. I'll probably think about it for a while. I can't tell you definitively if I liked it or not, but I don't regret it.
TW: There is a description of an active shooter scene. If you are someone who has been affected by gun violence, please know this is part of the book.
TW: There is a description of an active shooter scene. If you are someone who has been affected by gun violence, please know this is part of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Mass/school shootings, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Abortion, and Pregnancy
theolivetree's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Antisemitism