Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Reviews tagging Ableism

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

33 reviews

woolgatherer's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

3.5

I‘m definitely in the minority here when I say that the book was okay, at best. I wanted to like this book more than I actually did, especially because it was about video games. Honestly, it was probably because it was about video games that I was driven to finish this book. Besides this, though, I felt that the book really started to fall apart at the seams around the halfway mark, and barely held together by the end of the book.

While there is a plot of sorts, it read to me as though Zevin wanted her book to be character-driven. I think she was fairly successful on this front, but it was not without fault. I was really looking forward to her dive into a very complicated friendship mired with platonic love and frustration. I thought the first portion of the book did an excellent job with this, so, it was a bit of a disappointment that what could have been a rich exploration of such friendships ended up being an unrequited love kind of situation. It felt like a lazy choice to me. I was also frustrated with how Sam and Sadie’s relationships with other characters played out, which, frankly, felt very much so like how one would interact with NPCs. It was especially the case with Marx (who was too perfect for comfort), whose role in the book later on came off as an insensitive (and, frankly, manipulative) plot device to push Sadie’s story further.

I also think another thing working against Zevin was that she was too ambitious with the second half of the novel. There was too much she wanted to explore beyond characters and their relationships with one another that she kept introducing. Notably (to me), she wanted to tackle various sociopolitical issues as well. I would have rather she tackled one or two issues rather than several surface-level discussions that left a lot to be desired.

I think it’s still worth checking out this book, especially if you love video games. Also, while I had my issues with the content, I think Zevin is a rather good writer, and I thought the way she experimented with the structure of the book was quite fascinating.

Content Warnings

deetabz's review

Go to review page

challenging dark 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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

amanda_reads13's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

Content Warnings

literarylion's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I really really liked this.

Pros:

Creative storytelling, well-paced; I haven't devoured a book like this for a long time
Incredible character development -- even minor characters are nuanced and three-dimensional
Innovative plot and setting -- a perspective we don't often see

Cons:

There was some pretty blatant borrowing from A Little Life, but I love that book, so!

Content Warnings

cindy_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

isleoflinds's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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

2.5

I went into this book with mixed expectations. I tried reading it when it was first released, but couldn't get into it. When it started getting a lot of attention, I heard a negative review for it that made it sound really interesting, so I took another shot. As an ace person who is pretty steeped in nerd culture, I was really excited for a story sold as "two friends who were often in love -- but never lovers." To that end, I was not disappointed. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow delivered all the gaming nostalgia and a heart-tugging story about a different kind of love. However, there were elements of the book - especially the second half - that were tedious and, at least to me, undercut a lot of the first half seemed to build up to.

I thought that the characters - Sadie and Sam - were really well-rounded and flawed, but believable people. I was disappointed in the development of the character Marx, who felt most often like a plot device despite also appearing to be almost as significant as Sam and Sadie. Many of the tropes included about halfway through also felt unnecessary and I think a lot of the tension between Sadie and Sam could have happened without employing them. In general, I think Sadie's story was marred by too many gender-related difficulties. I know that being a woman in tech (now, but especially in the 90s) was difficult, but the bulk of the harm she experienced wasn't even related to her work, and I just wish we could have seen her face other issues.

The structure of the book was incredibly compelling - it is built around the vague idea that each "part" is its own game. Especially in the first half of the book, I could really feel the themes aligning with the structure of the book in an intriguing way. The story took a lot of turns in the second half that were just not for me (

Spoiler

miscommunication trope, two accidental pregnancy tropes for the same character, dead baby daddy, and just a general waste of what could have been a really enlightening use of the NPC chapter concept.

) and I do think it affected my reading. The execution of Part IV was by far my favorite use of the novel's video game structure, however, and made the closeout of the story more satisfying.

Overall, I think that Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow had great bones for a story, I just wish it had been a little shorter and/or that it had spent more time considering the significance of Marx. In a story about the complex ways that people can love one another, Marx was central to this, and making <spoilers>the NPC</spoilers> seemed more of an afterthought to be profound rather.

My final very small complaint is the little statement at the end about <spoilers>"this generation thinking their whole personality is their trauma." I am a millennial, so perhaps this very Gen X sentiment just isn't for me, but in 2022, the inclusion of this bit feels quite purposeful. It was said and largely abandoned, squeezed in at the end and unexplored. Why say something that significant and then end the book with "oh I guess maybe our trauma made us who we are too... or maybe not!" Trauma use colloquially often refers to 'the difficult things I have experienced in my life that give me perspective on the world and how I interact with it.' Perhaps this is nuanced, but it just felt quite dismissive and not necessary.</spoilers>

Content Warnings

chichisode's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

if a little life was less trauma porn and more of just "life happens to us and sometimes life means shit", also video games and just games in general. but we keep going. fucking cried when the reasoning behind the title was revealed on page. strong read for escapists— yes, even when you're not a gamer.

Content Warnings