Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Overall, I would say that I liked this book. But honestly it was hard to read. Not because I am not in the gaming community but because the characters were so unbearable at times and I wanted to throw my phone across the room in frustration. It felt like a rewatch of love, Rosie if Rosie and alex were truly just best friends and also created video games together. Some moments were beautiful and tragic, others were boring and droning. Would I recommend this book? Yes. But would I reread? Probably not.

Content Warnings

graciffer's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

I wish I could read this book again for the first time. Absolutely spectacular.

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danimcthomas's review against another edition

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emotional 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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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.”

Content Warnings

crowlaplumme's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense 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

3.5

There are parts of this book that I really liked and other parts where I was lost and confused about how I felt about the book. Up until halfway through the book, I thought it was going to be a solid 5 star rating but sadly, the second half didn't land the finish for me.

[SPOILERS]

I REALLY wanted Sam to be the asexual and aromantic icon. Sadly that didn't end up being the case. Once Sadie had begun dating Marx, Sam's character turned into one of bitter jelousy and of the mindset that people belonged to one another. It was a bummer because I was rooting for Sam through his entire story arc, especially when he began experiencing phantom pains and depression. When Sam mentioned how he didn't care for sex during that brief rendez-vous with Lola, I was estatic, thinking that he was ace. I love a good platonic relationship between a man and woman, and Sam and Sadie's was just that; until it wasn't.

Sadie was an interesting character, her paranoia felt very real. Her depression after getting an abortion and losing Marx felt genuine. However, Sam pulled himself together for the sake of their company, while Sadie had a harder time. At some points, despite wanting to be empathetic to what Sadie was going through-- especially pregnant, it was hard to see her absence in the company and what it meant for other characters (characters, we begun to care for, like the other workers of Unfair Games, who couldn't continue to work on the DLC). Whether it meant delaying the DLC or cancelling it altogether, Sadie's inaction affected others at Unfair Games who had undergone the same trauma of losing Marx (sure, not in the capacity of losing a lover, but as a co-worker and friend. Not to mention, some of them were in the building when the confrontation went down.)

I'm certain I'm not alone when I say that Marx was the best character in the book. My eyes were glued to the page when we got that solo chapter from Marx's perspective. His romance with Sadie felt natural, there was a romantic interest initially, but then they became friends. It made their relationship solid. Unlike, Sam's 180 to desperately wanting Sadie's romantic affection. The best part about Marx is understanding that despite his death, the memory of him was able to pull Sam out of his stupor ("What would Marx do?"). His memory being immortalized by Sadie and Sam in their games, was a lovely detail to the positivity that he brought-- I just wished we got more of him alone and getting to have some time with understanding who he was without Sadie, Sam, and Zoey.

However, I felt as if that last portion of the book, with Emily and Dr. Daedalus was where it all really fell apart for me. Sadie consistantly made selfish choices that she blamed on Sam, inferring parts of his character. For example, she believed that Sam tricked her into getting back with Dov in order to get the Ulysses game engine for Ichigo. She made the decision to get back with him, but she goes about the story saying that she had no agency in the matter. I liked Sadie as the professor, who understands her shortcomings, and uses it as a positive experience to get others to grow. As opposed to making the game, with her name on it and blaming its poor sales on Sam's "sabotage."

A reoccuring theme about the relationship between Sam and Sadie is that Sam is the one constantly reaching out to Sadie and it is not reciprocated. Sam noticed she was depressed and stayed with her until she got out of bed. Sam was the one who had to pull himself together for Unfair Games. Sam was the one to reach out to her as Daedalus. However, when Sam needed a friend after his surgery, Sadie was nowhere to be found. Again, while Sam did not lose Marx as a lover, he lost an incredibly important friend, but Sadie did not feel that she could confide in him. Sam, who felt incredible guilt that the attackers wanted HIM and not Marx, yet Marx took the bullet for him.

(Also, the two men who stormed the building were unhappy that Mapletown allowed for same-sex marriage. A concept that Sadie recommended to Sam, for their friends Ant and Simon. However, Marx's death was the fault and action of the two men, alone. However, under Sadie's flawed logic to claim that it was Sam's fault, "They were after you," than, to an extent, she can be responsible, too. This is a part of Sadie's character that really bothers me.)

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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.

Content Warnings

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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