Reviews tagging Homophobia

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

148 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Cancer, Death of parent, Medical content, Death, Hate crime, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Car accident

Moderate: Toxic friendship

Minor: Homophobia

ksheaffs's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Mass/school shootings, and Homophobia

Minor: Abortion

samarakroeger's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Grief, Suicide, Ableism, Terminal illness, Hate crime, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Cancer, and Injury/injury detail

Moderate: Abortion, Medical content, Homophobia, and Classism

davidamarion's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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: Gun violence

Moderate: Homophobia

andievillegas's review against another edition

challenging relaxing 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Homophobia, and Mass/school shootings

ckincade's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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: Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Toxic friendship, Injury/injury detail, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Grief, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Violence, Infidelity, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual content, Cancer, Blood, Homophobia, and Car accident

Minor: Abortion, Ableism, Drug abuse, and Cultural appropriation

Spoiler

depiction of a mass shooting

jillgoober's review against another edition

adventurous 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 chose this book to start 2023 because of all of the good things I was hearing about it. All of those good reviews were correct. This was a beautiful, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes funny story about a years-long friendship.

This story is certainly more character-driven than plot-driven, so if that's not your thing, you may not love this book as much as I did. I found the two main characters, Sadie and Sam, incredibly intriguing. They are both deeply flawed and, in my opinion, highly relatable (especially Sadie, in my own case). Sadie is stubborn, a perfectionist, and profoundly insecure. These traits both help and hurt her when both creating video games and maintaining her friendship with Sam. Sam, on the other hand, is more self-centered, a little oblivious, and also profoundly insecure. There are times when he just can't comprehend why another person (read: Sadie) may be acting a certain way. Despite their similar interests, Sadie and Sam's personalities often clash, creating issues for their friendship throughout the novel.

Despite not being a huge video game person, I still enjoyed the points in this book where gaming was discussed in depth. If you are similar to me in this way, you would probably still enjoy this book and if you ARE a gamer, you will probably enjoy it all the more.

My favorite little tidbits of this book were when literature, Shakespeare, or theatre were mentioned (of course). I loved the concept that, in order to make a good video game with a good story, you needed to have some literary background. I also really want to play Sadie's game Master of the Revels, especially the expansion version involving Macbeth. I am truly pissed that it's not a real game!!

Without giving away spoilers, this book is often sad, dark, and heartbreaking. I definitely teared up a few times. However, I think the vast majority of the reading (and gaming) community would appreciate this novel. Highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Injury/injury detail, Gun violence, and Homophobia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

Minor: Terminal illness and Abortion

ajhowe2's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Body horror, Racism, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

lemonflower's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Injury/injury detail, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Grief, Cursing, Death of parent, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Murder, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Miscarriage, Cancer, Misogyny, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, Blood, Cultural appropriation, and Racism

martapsalvado's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow has an interesting premise and I really liked Zevin's writing. 
Loved some chapters but some of them didn't work for me (especially the second to last). I don't know much about gaming, but, for my surprise, I liked reading about the process of making a game, in addition to other themes that are greatly explored in this book like friendship and the development of the characters for 20+ years.
Overall a good immersive read, though, for me, it could be a little more fast paced. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death, Homophobia, Vomit, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Physical abuse, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Moderate: Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Racism, Cancer, Misogyny, Medical content, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, and Sexual violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Cultural appropriation, and Abortion