Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Demain, et demain, et demain

The concept/premise was great but I feel that Zevin didn’t pull through with the execution. Felt like it was trying to juggle so many parts or elements that it resulted in way less ‘signal’ than there is ‘noise.’ I think it would’ve benefitted with some more structural edits/different editorial decisions. Often there were parts where the prose felt quite flat or bloated, and while I appreciate the attempts at social commentary it often felt shoehorned and could’ve been integrated into the narrative better. (Same with the homages and descriptions of video games). Second half felt weaker, and while I did find Sam to be interesting I generally find that the characters were not very compelling. I think that this story may have worked better as a TV series/film

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blairsatellite's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

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

1.0

Content Warnings

dramagirl2003's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

i am kind of speechless
sam and sadie are basically the dream team, and marx is such a good facilitator. the author's choice of time era was perfect, and she obviously wrote from somewhat of a personal experience

p11:

And yet, he knew himself and he knew he was the type of person that never called anyone, unless he was absolutely certain the advance would be welcomed.

ha! me

p39: i bet

dov is her bf

p40: WHAT
p41: ha, she's right, she totally is like the solution player
p43: girlie this doesn't seem healthy, go get real friends
p66: huh? the MCs are born in '74? they're old
p82: they're not speaking again? seriously
p209: that is a twist! to be fair if this is the reason they stop speaking I can understand that
p265: purely based on the fact that one of the sections is called marriages,

i predict that marx and zoe will be one of them

p267: you what
p283: don't tell me

marx and sadie are the ones that get married

p331:

bet she's pregnant

p335:

are we sure marx is ok? like ARE WE DAMN SURE

p338: before I read any further let's have another prediction based this section title...if it's called the npc because

MARX DIES OR SMTH AND SADIE SPENDS HER WHOLE LIFE ON MAPLEWORLD INTERACTING WITH AN NPC THEY BASE ON MARX

I AM GOING TO SOB HYSTERICALLY
p340: I'M SCARED
p344: no! i'm gonna cry for poor charlotte and adam cause i bet they won't get to make their game now and they really needed this ☹️
p351: sam! that is an unnecessary insult bro
p356: NOT ANT
P360: OH THANK THE LORD
p361: OH HE FREAKING BETTER NOT!!

DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE THAT CHILD WITHOUT A FATHER!!

p363:

JUST HOLD ON MARX, COME ON!!!

p365: AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 😭😭😭😭😭
@esthersanderson! GIRL! DID YOU BUY ME THIS BOOK JUST TO PUT ME THROUGH ALL THIS EMOTIONAL TRAUMA???
p368: how am i supposed to move on in this book knowing that

marx is dead??

p404: oh my goshhhh, it's the "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech
p446: ok this a slightly immature reason not to speak, but she's grieving so we'll forgive her

Content Warnings

eskinner97's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

This book is definitely out of my traditional comfort zone. This book was chosen as the book of the month to read for my local library’s book club. When it was chosen, I honestly was disappointed. I found myself already dreading to read the book. With my first impressions of the book driving my decision, I concluded that I would not read the book. Then, things changed, and I was put into a position where I was required to read the book, even though I had no interest in it. After reading this book, I believe even more in the saying that one should not judge a book by its cover. With that being said, let’s dive into my review.

I want to begin this review by discussing the cover and the title. I do believe that the cover and title of this book played a huge part in my reluctance to want to read it. Not only was I put off by these at the beginning, but I also found the overall description of the book to be dry and unappealing. The cover, while I understand the reasoning behind its graphics, I am not a fan, even after reading the book. I feel as if there is just so much going on and find it to be distracting. Concerning the title, I was originally very put off by the choice. However, as I reached the end of the book, I began to understand the choice, and surprisingly gained an appreciation for it. I will not reveal any spoilers, but I will say that the reason behind the title was a revelation to me and brought tears to my eyes as I made the discovery.

Now that I have gotten my first impressions off my chest, I want to discuss more of the storyline and the writing. Regarding the storyline, I found that once I got over my reluctance to begin the book and started reading, I began to enjoy the story. I started to enjoy not only the story but found things in each character that I could relate to, appreciate, and understand. If it were for the storyline only, my rating of this book would be higher. I honestly would have probably considered rating it a five if I could be blind to the issues that I found throughout the novel as I read. Due to my original thoughts of the novel, I find myself being embarrassed about the fact, that the storyline in my mind was well done. But this wouldn’t be an honest review if I withheld this, would it? Honestly, I found that throughout the story I experienced so many emotions, and found myself immersed in the story, and wanting it to continue. I found myself falling in love with it and saw my overall thoughts and rating improve.

But, as you can see, my rating was influenced by more than the storyline. My rating, as all ratings should be, is based on the storyline as well as how the author delivered the story. While I like the storyline, I was not a fan of how the author wrote, and how some of the messages were delivered. For example, how it followed multiple perspectives, I feel was a distraction to the reader. Instead of giving perspectives their own chapters, their own light, in other words, the perspectives were intertwined with one another inside chapters, inside paragraphs, etc. I felt that with the power that the story could have had, I think if the perspectives were given their own room to grow and develop, it would have been less of a distraction and more of an aid to the novel as a whole.

The other thing that bothered me about the writing may just be a personal preference. Call me old-fashioned if you need to, but I thought that the language, drug use, and sex throughout were unnecessary and hindered the novel. These were the reasons that caused me to rate the novel lower. Again, this could just be a personal preference, but I had very strong opinions about how prevalent these were throughout the story.

For more reviews and discussions, listen to my podcast The Honest Book Reviewers with Nate and Emma.

https://open.spotify.com/show/3H3ugH4xlzvjMXuUo1Lyvh?si=ewdzfkUnSVKyDmAvHMHIPQ

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