Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Demain, et demain, et demain by Gabrielle Zevin

37 reviews

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

bbmaan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

esme_may'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Drug use

riverrliam's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

This book took me forever to get through. Most of the time I was bored or annoyed with the characters. There is a lot of violence and abuse that doesn’t seem to have a true purpose. The book felt like it was trying to be progressive given that it takes place in the early 1990s, but then had one of the main female characters in love and obsessed with a creepy, older, abusive, pos man. Not for me. 🤷🏽‍♀️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

curlykristenk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense 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

This book made me feel SO MANY FEELINGS. Some happy, some sad, some furious, some distraught. But that’s what makes a good book. The writing was incredible, thoughtful and thought provoking. Just amazingly creative and clever. 
Yes there were plenty of toxic elements to the many relationships in this but navigating those is also a part of life. They were authentically human and both Sam and Sadie made mistakes. I don’t like that she still meets up with dov in the end but just goes to show the long lasting effects that (TW) grooming and manipulation can have on a person. This overall was a realistic, messy, heart wrenching, heart warming story about human connection and love. What else is there? 
The NPC has my heart. 

This review was written and book was read prior to learning about xenophobic author.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Confinement, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror, Cancer, and Blood

lightthebeam's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

3.75

This book is divided into parts, and if you think of it as the sum of those into a whole - I think readers will enjoy it more. The book doesn’t pick one time to stay in throughout, there are jumps foreword and back and the beginning features heavy foreshadowing (honestly it kinda just states the what’s to come in some parts) and doesn’t make the reader work hard in guessing how things may develop. There is a slight identity crisis in writing style and what the book is accomplishing but again if you think of it in parts, it makes more sense and is less confusing. 
I did not like the sudden narrator switch, it’s something I tend to not like at all in books but I do think it worked to further the story and of course it provided a unique perspective but I found it jarring and awkward. 
The characters in this book will piss you off, and while parts of it are so beautiful overall it does leave you feeling sad. Maybe that’s just me. It’s meant to leave off hopeful but it feels sorrowful instead. 
I thought the middle of this book was the most beautiful - everything before the pioneer game chapters. I devoured the beginning of this book, but at the end it wasn’t as captivating and I felt like I was reading in circles, the character progression had stagnated but honestly they were just in a stagnant place which I understand. Overall I did really enjoy this book, there were just parts of the writing style I found to be a hinderance to the actual story, it felt like there was a slight identity crisis but it did make for a unique and thought provoking read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

megrob's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

narbine's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abortion, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

iconicavocado's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Book 📖: 5/5 stars

Audiobook 🎙️: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Audio was a 3 but the unexpected secondary narrative gives it a 4 for creativity.)

This isn't a love story in the way of traditional love stories.

This isn't a miscommunication trope in the way that is traditional tropes.

It's a love story, at it's core about friendship. It's a story about two people fundamentally shaped by the obstacles and challenges in their life which they in turn accidentally build similar obstacles in each other's lives. Where the only way they can show their love and connection is through their love of video games. 

As I read this book I kept having this feeling that it is like a palindrome - a word, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards (ex: "racecar" or 12:21). The characters, themes, stories... they volley back and forth in this circular pattern that simultaneously holds this melancholy and hope. It's a book of neverending comradry and loneliness.  It is both endearing and depressing. It's frustrating and completely relatable. The writing is even weaved in a way that reveals layers of the past, present, and future interchangeably. 

Marx was my favorite character. I saw so much of myself in him. However Sadie and Sam are the main characters. They are flawed characters to a T. The antiheroes to themselves and each other. As much as they'd frustrate me, I fell in love with them too. 

This book at its peaks was captivating. And maybe at it's worst: overplaying is own quirkiness. But those moments are few. This is ambitious, labor of love. I admire this author swinging for the fences on something as abstract and creative as this. I love video games, and I appreciate the palpable feeling of mutual love for the medium as seen in this book. It is truly unique in the way of love stories and will be memorable to me even after this post reading haze. 

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Edited March 2023*

Lastly, there are allegations about this book. I didn't learn of them until shortly after I started reading. I tried to not allow these allegations to affect my experience of the book because this is a matter of author vs their medium. 

 
I'll speak of the book and book alone: (1) Crediting work - If you know you were inspired by someone's work, what is the harm in crediting them? Especially if you mention their husband's name in the book itself.  Just seemed lazy and a misstep considering this book tackles the unfair discredit of women in male dominated spaces like the gaming world. Brenda Romero, for her board game "Train", should have received an acknowledgement. (2) Pro-Religious Undertones* - allegations have been made about Zevin and this book. I honestly can't speak about the author herself but the book did not promote a religious agenda at first glance, but upon further investigation I can see how it could be interpreted that way*. In the beginning there is a game based on the Holocaust, a character who is from Israel, and the main characters (Sam and Sadie) who have Jewish backgrounds. There is a brief mention of Sadie reading about "the founding of Israel" which I previously overlooked.* She doesn't go into what she read but it is mentioned.* After that Jewish related things are barely brought up and are most definitely never in a way to steers the plot. It's mainly used as character history/origin, with the exception of the "founding of Israel" being used to impress a boyfriend.*  

It's up to you how you want to proceed with the author based on accusations. I suggest doing your own research.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Sexism

Moderate: Death, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

gloriaannwilson's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.25

A story about the friendship of Sam and Sadie who meet as children in a hospital.  Sam, a patient, has been involved in a terrible car accident and has stopped speaking. Sadie, a visitor while he sister recieves treatment for childhood leukemia. The two bond over video games which will become the focus of their early and mid-lives.
This story draws you in. I found myself a bit bored in a spot or two but these passed quickly.  Tomorrow,  And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, was mostly a pleasure to read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder