Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Reviews tagging Gun violence

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

367 reviews

spec_tacles's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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

4.75

I’m in awe of this book, envious of it, and grateful for it. This is now the new gold standard for me in the emerging New Adult genre, although it’s so much more than that. I understand the hype and am now very glad it won the GoodReads Choice Award. There’s so much to love here: smooth and evocative writing, interesting and complex characters, experimental (and successful) structure, thematic symmetry, wisdom regarding impermanence and loss, insight about creative work, the rare valuing of love without romance, humour, representation, and more. Not to mention, I’ve never read anything before that so highly respects video games as art. I didn’t realize how much we needed this until we had it, and now I can see that it fills a gap in that way.

It’s so beautiful that I was tempted to 5-star it, but there are two things that really bothered me, which is the reason for my .25 off. I’ll put them under spoiler tags.

Spoiler

One: Sadie’s continued refusal to talk to Sam was baffling to me and, the longer it went on, the more it became borderline painful to read. The same goes for Sam’s unwillingness to open up to Sadie. However, the conversation about generational differences at the end helped me understand this a tad more. But even so, I find it hard to understand this behaviour, and even if that’s just a personal disconnect, it affected my experience. Two: the way the chapter about the shooting started put me on edge in a way that wasn’t necessary. While the chapter is beautifully done, I wish I knew more going into it. I had no idea IF something had happened, let alone what, because the text from Marx at the end of the previous chapter honestly made everything sound fine. I’m not sure why he phrased his text that way, nor where it would have happened in the narrative. That text message could have set up the chapter with a better balance of anticipation and tension. As it was, I was irritated trying to flip ahead just for a quick spoiler on what I was dealing with. Is this meant to mirror the panic and uncertainty Sadie and Sam had? Maybe, but it could have done so without making me feel completely unmoored from the book and breaking the immersion.

Those are minor critiques of a book that has so much to offer. I will now be recommending this to every friend who plays games, and many who don’t. Thank you to Gabrielle Zevin for sharing this piece of art with us.

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amyeicher's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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juliabrewer's review against another edition

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5.0

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justsmileandnod's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

5.0

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etbliss's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

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samarakroeger's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

one of those books that I was wary about because of all the hype, but I'm extremely glad to say that this lived up to expectations. maybe I had lowered my expectations a bit due to the excessive hype.

this was way more trauma-filled than I was expecting, fyi.

the list of new releases with commercial appeal that have a lot of hype surrounding them that I think live up to their lofty expectations is pretty short: Tomorrow x3, Lessons in Chemistry, and I'm Glad My Mom Died. all are very solid 4.5/5s from me.

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