Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - Mañana, y mañana, y mañana

Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Mañana, y mañana, y mañana by Gabrielle Zevin

311 reviews

moon_dude's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.25

Pick a free day to read this because you won’t want to put it down. And maybe read it with a friend so you can process it!

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lovelyoutliers's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

I had not expected to be so gripped by a story of friends building video games, but the tech context is just a backdrop for brilliant writing that pulls you in. This book is really about love and friendship, of identity, of play, and of beautiful words.

Turns out games are about so much more than games. The best person in the book, Marx, summarised it as:
“What is a game?" Marx said. "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."

I was not expecting the twists and turns in the plot, but more than that, I was not expecting to be so invested in the relationships between Sadie Green, Sam Maser, and Marx, even though you end up being frustrated with Sadie and Sam's arrogance, and self-centeredness, you still want them to find their way.

“The way to turn an ex-lover into a friend is to never stop loving them, to know that when one phase of a relationship ends it can transform into something else. It is to acknowledge that love is both a constant and a variable at the same time.”

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rhollister's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring 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

4.0

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schorlett's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful sad 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

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adaora_ble's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was fantastic! It was so real and the characters were complex and interesting. You could feel how each issue or insecurity led to the next, how the games they created really was just a reflection of themselves, how friendships can change you for better or for worse and how terrifying it is to be vulnerable even with the people you're closest with.

It did such a good job of fleshing out every character it touched whilst still focusing on the MCs. Even though they were frustrating and complex and unable to hold necessary emotional conversations with each other, I still loved every single character through deep and unabiding love for each other to dispassionate hate to everything inbetween.

Marx really is the better half of Sam and Sadie, the glue that holds everything together, probably the best character from an objective standpoint and certainly the most emotionally healthy of the main trio. However, in choosing my favourite character it has to be Sam, digging into his psyche and all his neurosis and hang ups and things he just cannot say even though he truly wants to I feel so bad for him and simultaneously so mad at him and yet you get his deep fear.

Up until the moment I finished it I thought of this book as contemporary fiction, or as my high school librarian would call it 'That's Life', but when I was tagging/shelving it on StoryGraphs I was suddenly struck with the realisation that it could very well be classed as a sci-fi. Like a low stakes (and less fucked up) Black Mirror; it speculates on the effects/consequences of technology on individuals and society, even if it's something as basic as a 90s video game and not Ready Player One, it speaks to our own world and the problems we face as a society.

I can't recommend this book enough, I was fighting tears on the train at the end and even though the first part (of ten parts) was fairly slow it soon sucked me in and got me invested in even the most brief character.

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avadore's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

I found this book so frustrating, I just wanted sam and Sadie to talk, like actually talk, to each other!!! I can't believe such a strong creative partnership could be marred by so many misunderstandings! Also so brutal and violent in a couple of places, really stomach churning and upsetting. The more reflective parts saved it for me, especially the couple of lines about aging right at the end.

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