Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

When I started this book I was bored by the clunky and self indulgent writing, and annoyed by the peak White Feminism critique of trauma and cultural appropriation that was far less thoughtful and nuanced than the Barbie movie.

The root of my dissatisfaction is that reading about a character playing a game is like reading about a character working out…fun when you do it yourself, excruciating when we read the minutiae of another’s experience.

The strongest part of this book is its work with grief, and the metaphors around gaming in relation to grief and loss. That grabbed me in the second half and kept me reading.

But the writing feel excessively overwrought with not enough payoff in either plot or observations on the human condition to make me enjoy reading it.

I cannot express how much I came to loathe many of the characters, particular Dov, the sexual harasser and groomer who (spoiler) gets a fucking redemption arc at the end of the book.

I was surprised that there were fewer attributions than I would expected in the authors note as I recognized many of the book’s references, and Sadie in particular was prone to insightful wanderings that so had definitely read before.

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ellalouisedavey's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated

3.75

Didn’t love it as much as everyone else did but didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would.

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erin1096's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative 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

2.5

I hated all of these characters so much, and not even in an interesting, flawed character kind of way. The book was about 100 pages too long and there was still no pay off or resolution to the plot. It gets 2.5 stars because I was able to finish it and there were moments where I thought it was okay.

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chloel29's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

3.0

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lyndseeh's review against another edition

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challenging dark inspiring fast-paced

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

4.5

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impeynoel's review against another edition

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emotional 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

5.0

One of the best books I have read as of late. The author writes as if you are in a video game and able to restart, but this is life.

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rnbhargava's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is great. It’s not like Ready Player One. It’s kind of like The Social Network but with mildly more sympathetic characters at its core. It’s ultimately about the work/life balance of three friends that start a video game company together told through the eyes of 2 out of the 3 of them. It also might be peak late Gen-X/Early Millennial nostalgia in terms of the video games referenced and it essentially inserts itself into how things actually happened in reality. Please note the sexism, misogyny and racist tendencies the characters Sam, Marx and their family members came across is realistically depicted. There’s also an active shooter situation depicted in the novel so be aware if it triggers you. One character also engages in an inappropriate relationship with a person with authority over them and mind if it triggers you. One character has a mobility disability and there’s vivid depictions of his struggles with medical care and health. There is suicide and car accidents depicted as well.

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avalete's review against another edition

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sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

This book was genuinely awful. The writing is horrid, the characters are insufferable, and I don’t even think there’s a plot? There’s supposed to be a conflict between the main two characters, but they really don’t seem like they like each other. At all. Their problems don’t feel resolved.

I also don’t agree with the author’s views and wasn’t aware of them until I finished the book. I regret reading this book for so many reasons. I wish I could give it an even lower rating.

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