Reviews tagging Mental illness

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

90 reviews

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.

---

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

itsmaryssae's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion

flashandoutbreak's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Car accident, Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, and Blood

Minor: Abortion and Self harm

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

---

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

itsrhii's review against another edition

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Racism and Sexism

hcop's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Injury/injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Cursing, Lesbophobia, Blood, Cancer, Murder, Car accident, Eating disorder, Racism, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Ableism, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion and Vomit

wenwanzhao's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

5.0

As a novel, TATAT is extremely well crafted, the writing is impeccable, it’s inventive, the prose is both enjoyable and admirable. There is no true objectivity in art, but I’d say most would agree that it’s a solid 5-star book. 

On a more personal level, while I enjoyed TATAT, it hasn’t become one of my all time favourites. I suppose it is just not the one for me. 

The most important thing I have to say about this book is:
It’s about The Secret Third Thing. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Car accident, Drug use, Blood, Animal death, Abortion, Death of parent, Suicide, Death, Mental illness, Grief, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

amdonn8's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

I simply adored reading this book. The setting was specific, yet expansive. The relationships between these flawed but lovable characters felt frustratingly authentic. I’m not a gamer, but you don’t have to be to enjoy and feel the nostalgia. 
I don’t think the idea of using video games to escape a flawed reality is new, but it is used here to great effect. 
There was some really beautiful writing as well, with literary and artistic references galore. I enjoyed how “cultured” the characters were, and that they weren’t just stereotypical gamer or tech bros. The author really highlighted the artistic competence of video game design, which I appreciated.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Homophobia, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Car accident, and Mental illness

Minor: Abortion

electraheart05's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Homophobia, Gun violence, Grief, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Sexism, Antisemitism, Racism, Mental illness, Car accident, and Cancer

bookdyer_y's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.25

I’m tossing up between 3.5 & 4 stars but since I did tear up I decided to be generous. When reading very popular and hyped books it can be quite difficult to enjoy read & enjoy beyond the binary of lived up to/did not live up to the hype; however in this case I feel I was successful. I did enjoy this book and found myself very enamored with the lives of Sadie & Sam and surrounding characters more namely Marx (who I feel got the short end of the deal since it was marketed as a book about 2 friends when I felt it should be three). All of the gaming elements went over my head in saying that it does make me want to buy animal crossing lol (another hobby I do not have time for). My question about this book is are we meant to this Sam & Sadie are good/tolerable people? Because I don’t think they are. I found the long standing back and forth / grudge holding only to return back to each other to be quite irritating. It’s like when you’re friend keeps getting back with a shitty ex.  I found their relationship to be so incredibly moving in their early days, I nearly cried during the “I love you. terribly” scene before he goes into surgery. As an extension of that my further question would be: should you still do something just because you’re good at it if it seems to bring you zero joy? Do you think they got addicted to the lifestyle their success afforded them? Did they enjoy the off and on nature of their relationship?. In the end when Sadie moved on to teaching it was almost like a relief. It is a good contentious story but it doesn’t really make sense, for two analytical people to keep themselves stuck in an endless loop. But I guess that’s a game right? As they always say go back to the save point. My last qualm is the Dov/Sadie relationship. I know the nature of this relationship is somewhat addressed and used to drive conflict in the book but I duno, I had the ick about it from the start. The same relationship could have carried out in a setting where it wasn’t teacher/student. All of that being said, the characterization of everyone was really great. They were quite clear in my mind. I’d love to see this book as a movie. Despite my question & criticisms, I did feel very moved at times and found the story very captivating. I think I’d read another of Zevin’s book if I came across one at the library or it was again the big thing to read on the internet but I don’t think I’ll actively be reaching for the backlog. After, writing this review I think I’m going to change my rating down the 3.25. I’ve had to much to say for it to be close to perfect. Also, the cover is absolutely horrific. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Abortion, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, and Medical trauma