Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

463 reviews

eliajor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I was instantly drawn in within the first chapter, especially coming from my previous read this was a refreshing reset. I liked how Gabrielle's writing flowed however I found Sadie's character to be insufferable, Marx's character to be too perfect and Sam's character to be the silent tortured genius reminiscent of 'A Little Life'. 
You know it's a good book when you can relate to all three of the characters however it felt like Sadie's character was constantly getting worse and she dragged the book for me. Many of the issues and miscommunication between her and Sam could have easily been resolved with a good talk

which we sort of got at the end of the book but that should've came earlier, not after they've matured

. 
I liked how each chapter talked about a different concept whether it's a game or not.

The NPC chapter did break me as I liked Marx

but I found it so baffling that Marx would

be with Sadie in the end

.
I have no sympathy for Dov, infact I loathe the 'slightly self-aware but mainly arrogance' characteristic he has. Honestly have no idea why Sadie was

driven to be in contact with him even towards the end and has somehow forgiven how he's treated her

.
As for Sam,

I hated how Sadie continuously blamed him for her emotions and didn't take accountability, nor did she show sympathy (which understandable she was also going through depression, but that doesn't give her an excuse to treat him like a punching bag) when Sam walked all the way over to her apartment to check on her whilst he was dealing with immense pain. It was torturous seeing Sam endure the loss of mobility on his own.

"What is a game? 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".

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

just_one_more_chapter_ok's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book which I both read and listened to. 
Both Sam and Sadie made choices in what they revealed, or didn't reveal, that strongly impacted how they saw and felt about each other. 
More than once I wanted to yell at the book that they needed to talk and not assume things about each other. Just share, but then I guess you wouldn't have conflict so you wouldn't have a book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Abortion

annaforthebooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-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

It’s really stories about lifelong friendships that make me an emotional wreck.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Abortion

dionnesims's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

there were parts of this book that I devoured - particularly the middle - and parts that made me wonder if I wanted to finish it (the beginning). in the end, I'm glad I did. but I found my curiosity surrounding the characters to be stronger than any actual development that happened...a win is a win though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

hanloc's review against another edition

emotional informative 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

I appreciated the experimental and reflective structure of the different parts of the book.

The referential layers in the pioneer part; the NPC part, the A/B structure of both sides.

The fictional elements are very well woven into the contemporary world, I believe there really is an unfair games with developers Sam and Sadie. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, and Car accident

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Eating disorder and Abortion

rdt's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Car accident

jkwel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

Sadie Green and Sam Masur. A beautiful relationship between two people. This book will be challenging me for a long time post read to evaluate my relationships with people and recognize how important these people are and can be in my life. Emotional story, beautifully written, this will stick with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

froozy94's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Antisemitism and Abortion

rnbhargava's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Triggers are either actively in there or suggested somewhere throughout the book. I honestly might have missed some but I really enjoyed this book and its depiction of the years shown and how Zevin’s characters lived through those times.

aseppa's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

Even the acknowledgements made me cry 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism