Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

93 reviews

lisa00's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Drug use, Car accident, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Vomit, Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Emotional abuse

ajdenson's review against another edition

Well, this felt quite a lot like pandering to our collective fear of an

Spoiler

active shooter

to cash in on a bestseller. The author develops three wonderful characters and just as things start going right for everyone,

Spoiler

kills the one that no one expects will die, by an active shooter

. I stopped reading after the fifteen pages of a character being in a

Spoiler

medical coma and describing everyone he loves visiting him and pleading for him to get better

. Big nope from me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Mass/school shootings, Grief, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

hattieosha's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Car accident, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Cancer, Pregnancy, Racism, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Abortion and Eating disorder

laheath's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

This was such a unique book! Like other reviewers have mentioned, I was hesitant about reading this since I'm not a gamer, but finding out that it was more about relationships convinced me to give it a try and I'm so glad I did. Told primarily in alternating points of view of the main characters, Sadie and Sam, who first meet in a children's hospital and bond over a shared love of video games, the story follows them for years. We're also introduced to interesting and significant secondary characters such as Sam's mother, grandparents, and college roommate, Marx; Sadie's sister and grandmother; Dov, one of Sadie's professors at MIT; Zoe, Marx's girlfriend; and Ant and Simon, software developers who work with Sam and Sadie, among others. Their stories will stay with me. Ultimately, though Sadie and Sam are the best of friends, and love each other deeply, they could never be more than that due to their own flaws of arrogance, ambition, and jealousy. Over the years, we see how their creative differences, dating relationships, and careers drive a wedge between them while keeping them connected no matter what happens. There is so much going on in this book, and a lot of trigger warnings, that the ending seemed a little anticlimactic, but in reality, it was perfect. Great classic literature and pop culture references for the time period and too many wonderful quotes to list here! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Cancer, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Car accident, Death, Sexual content, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Minor: Abortion, Panic attacks/disorders, Antisemitism, and Suicide

sabmanosa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

"It isn’t a sadness, but a joy that we don’t do the same things for the length of our lives."

This book captivated me more than I expected. I saw it on a friend's story and decided to read it because I like the title, the cover was pretty, and she raved about it.

The characters are painfully realistic, falling into the traps of their own personalities and egos, but it was such a pleasure to experience life along side them. This book covers so many themes I didn't expect - women in gaming, racism, death, love, disabilities, creating art, etc. I loved going in blind because I truly didn't know what to expect. 

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I especially love the clever extended chapters to give different POVs, especially The NPC with Marx. I didn't expect it and it made his death more emotional for me.

Sadie & Sam have such a complicated friendship, and I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. It wasn't narratively satisfying, but it felt emotionally satisfying. I want to see more of them, but I'm also so sick of them haha. Would recommend!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Violence, Death, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Mass/school shootings, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Abortion, Panic attacks/disorders, Chronic illness, Vomit, Racism, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia

Minor: Cancer

cmaree88's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective 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

4.75

<strong>I never loved video games, but I love this book</strong>

My godfather recommended this book, and though he is very widely traveled, I don't believe he's ever played a video game in his life. But my partner is a big-time gamer, and I thought I would check out the book first since I read faster. Reader: I loved it.

This book mainly follows Sam and Sadie, two video game creators who meet as pre-teens (right before her bat mitzvah) and reconnect in college. We are mainly in their third-person POV. The book covers nearly 30 years. At times it felt like Bridge to Terabithia, or Bone Clocks, or even Beach Read. 

But this being a book about and inspired by video games, everything isn't that straightforward. We have an omniscient narrator at times, seeding interviews and events of the future. We get an incredibly poignant second-person nonlinear dive into another major character. And we play some games, in-world. Yes, there are also a lot of SAT-level words, but it all works.

I am not a gamer, but I do love good storytelling and complex relationships. This book has all of that and more. There are common themes of friendship, love, grief, jealousy, and more. But the rich characters and their drive to create are inspiring.

I also enjoyed the discussions on sexism, relationship power dynamics, anti-Semitism, homophobia, racism, and classism. It's all woven into the storytelling, and you're never beat over the head. Depression is a major theme as well, very relatable.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence and Suicide

grandpabuxton's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I did not expect to love this or be floored by it in moments. And I was. It was unpretentious and complex an beautiful and simple.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Vomit, Sexism, and Racism

fareehareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was phenomenal. I'm so glad it was my first read of 2023. I loved the exploration of the creative process through time and through the lens of companionship, I just wish it was driven home in the end. Following these characters through notable cultural moments really grounded the narrative and made me feel as if I was watching the film of these real live game developers. While I overall had a positive experience with this book, I wish there was some more special care taken with Sadie's character.

Spoiler

Her toxic relationship with her professor morphing into two colleagues chatting over lunch in the future felt odd to me. There were no repercussions for his behavior. Her entire period of postpartum depression and grappling with Marx's death were funneled through Sam's perspective.

This is the type of book I could see myself rereading in a few years.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, Ableism, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Abortion and Sexual violence

Minor: Suicide

ryankey721's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

The basic story and writing could be cute, but the toxic main character relationship made it hard to finish. Also the writing felt like it was trying to be something or prove something that often didn't match what the story was doing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Suicide, Grief, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Homophobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, Gaslighting, Blood, Antisemitism, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Grief, Genocide, Sexism, and Mental illness

microbemom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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

5.0

Loved this book.  I have been thinking about ever since I finished it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Car accident, Toxic relationship, Violence, Transphobia, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Misogyny, Hate crime, and Homophobia

Minor: Grief, Cancer, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Abortion, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Drug use, and Vomit