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

This book was so beautifully written. The story plays out like an actual life, full of its raging beauty and sharp ugliness. I read it at the recommendation of John Green, and I can see why he enjoyed it. It has a bit of his poetic flair, and the characters have their unique quirks like his do. The characters are richly complex, and somehow lovable despite their very apparent flaws.

I wonder how I will feel about the ending after I’ve had more time to think about it. It felt like it lacked some of the finality I was hoping for in terms of Sadie and Sam’s relationship. I also felt like Sam and Sadie’s fights became a little too repetitive, but of course, c’est la vie.

I always love stories of characters encountering grief, loss, and depression in its most potent form and still figuring out how to manage to continue on. I think those kinds of triumphs are so important to read about in an age where poor mental health feels like a largely universal experience.

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sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

This was a rollercoaster of emotions but in a good way. I really enjoyed the reading experience.

The characters were frustrating but in a relatable way, though I wish Sadie had tried to communicate more but I can understand her reluctance to seeing as Sam was often closed off. In saying this, I didn’t feel like this negatively impacted the reading experience as they were still well-rounded and real characters, and their actions and attitudes reflected their experiences.

The storyline was emotional and made you feel for these characters in a multitude of different ways, often despite how you may have felt about their recent actions.

I enjoyed the writing style and the pacing of the book was good. I liked how it didn’t dwell on the games and creation of games, but the impact these games and experiences had on the characters instead.

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chichisode's review

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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.

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owenwilsonbaby's review

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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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laurenkimoto's review

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dark emotional 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

I love this book. New top tier book. The writing is *chefs kiss* it flows so smoothly and gently pulls the story where it needs to go. I love the characters; Sam, Sadie, and Marx are the found family I want. I know next to nothing about video games and computers but that didn’t matter. This book was about video games but more so it was about stories and love and the people in our lives.

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corncake's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Goodness…I absolutely loved this book! The story and the characters are so emotionally complex that I found myself lost in every word - refusing to stop reading. I wanted to play the games the characters built in this novel, and I’m honestly upset that I can’t, but what craft that this author has to make me want to play a video game that isn’t even real. This book is as memorable as it is heart-wrenching, and it might not be for everyone, but good gravy did I love it! I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves to game.

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kelsylee's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

I listened to the audiobook version of this and it was a challenge to finish it. The main narrator just felt a little too robotic. I really struggled with the first 3/4 of this book, I enjoyed the story but I thought Sam was so unlikable, however; the chapter about

Spoiler

Marx dying

was beautiful, it was my favorite part of the whole book. I was really enjoying the last quarter of the book up until

Spoiler

Sam and Sadie’s reconnection, Sam’s grandfather dying was the most unnecessary plot point, they easily could have worked things out differently

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robin_reads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-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

I don’t know how to rate this book--in the best way possible. It was not at all what I expected it to be. The nostalgia is real even though I was born in the 90s and missed a good chunk of the classics growing up and never cared to play them when I was older.
If you hate the miscommunication/misunderstood trope, this is not the book for you.
This book is honest about how fragile human connections are and how easily you can be misunderstood or how easy it is to offend people even if you had the best of intentions in what you were doing or saying.
It shows how complicated life is but also how easy it could’ve been.
It you loved video games growing up and you were born In The 80s or 90s, I think you’ll like this.
Don’t read the last 20-30 pages in public. Crying on the bus over a book is not a recommendable look

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