Reviews tagging Domestic abuse

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

36 reviews

emfass's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Body horror, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Injury/injury detail, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Car accident, Medical content, Suicide, Grief, Homophobia, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Hate crime, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Abortion

maidinnah's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

It's hard to summarize how much I loved this expansive, intricately-written novel. Stellar beyond imagination, Tomorrow is about more than a duo of video game creatives who strike gold -- it's a multi-layered story about a relationship built on shared passions, containing universes within universes to immerse yourself into. Zevin deftly weaves between realities, virtual or otherwise, to show how life can be relentless in its imperfections, but, like video games, can offer infinite opportunities for reconciliation, revival, and reinvention. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Ableism, and Suicide

Minor: Abortion, Mental illness, Drug use, and Panic attacks/disorders

manonh90's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book so much! Great characters, cozy feelings mixed with heavy topics, and a nice insight into the gaming industry. It's full of symbolism and details too,

Spoiler

the chapters in the part were Sam and Sadie drift apart being separated in parts a and b was -brilliant-, for example

. Great read, would highly recommend! Do mind the trigger warnings though. 
The design of the book itself was nice too: beautiful cover, and the book lies open beautifully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Vomit, and Violence

schnooglefaceduthie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Vomit

Minor: Homophobia

ashmont27's review

emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

I loved being in this world and spending time with these characters. I will say, based on the way this book was talked about online, I wasn't expecting it to be so dark at times. 

I really enjoyed most of this book, but it at times felt disjointed to me and I also found it to get a little repetitive and sometimes overdone to the point i got annoyed. Maybe I'm being particularly critical because of my high expectations, idk. But, I would love to play Ichigo! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Suicide

jenmcreads's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

I was conflicted throughout reading this book, but ultimately I did enjoy it. I would advise checking trigger warnings on this book as I think the way it is written can hit pretty hard on trigger points. What I loved in this book was the exploration of the value we place on romantic versus platonic relationships, given the central relationship in the book is platonic. The story was emotional, and well-paced given its sweeping timeline. I did not love the handling of mental health in all cases, but that is to a degree a matter of personal preference. I would definitely recommend this book, however would caution to read when you feel fairly stable in your own mental health. (Specific minor spoilers hidden with spoiler tag)

Spoiler

I was honestly particularly upset by the use of a background character's suicide to propel the plot of main characters who did not even know her. That felt emotionally manipulative and exploitive to me and it was a part of the book I struggled to move past. Similarly, I felt the treatment of abortion was quite glib and did not add much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Car accident, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment

nomes27's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Murder

apiora215's review

challenging emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/injury detail, and Sexual content

hahibbard's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Very slow start, and the characters mostly just made me sad. They’re supposed to be friends, but they cut each other no slack and don’t communicate at all. The way the story was written was also overly convoluted and confusing at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Domestic abuse, and Suicide

owenwilsonbaby's review

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

"Maybe it was the willingness to play that hinted at a tender, eternally newborn part in all humans. Maybe it was the willingness to play that kept one from despair."

A book that had so many lines I wanted to include here that I actually found it pretty hard to choose. Zevin has crafted such a wonderful piece of art. There are so many layers to this that I think I need to reread it almost immediately. The entire last third made me want to ugly cry. Every scene of this book was on the surface about moving its tightly-wound plot onward, yet simultaneously managed to further an extraordinary portrait of play, art, ethics, performance, love and sex, disability and illness, relationships and family. Zevin's ideas about these varied topics are finely painted, always finding room for levity, lightness, nuance and exploration. At the same time, the scenes that lean more heavily into these themes never feel like they lack depth. If anything, the lightness of touch here in everything from narrative voice to plotting to recurrent images and motifs felt carefully considered. I learned so much about the gaming world and its history which I have never really interacted with before. And yet most of all I feel the novel's important insights boiled down to how humans relate to and care for another. That despite everything, in the end, love can be very simple. The conversation with Dong Hyun near the ending of the book where he incredulously looks at Sam and says "Are you kidding? [...] Everything is funny now." Insane. I wanted to sob.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Ableism, Racism, Terminal illness, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Drug use, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Classism, Mass/school shootings, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/injury detail, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Xenophobia