A review by jkneebone
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
reflective
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
4.0
What a wonderful read. I honestly don’t have a lot to say about it because I’m still mulling it all over, and I expect I will be for some time.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow follows the decades-long friendship of Sadie Green and Sam Masur. The two first meet in LA as preteens while Sam is in the hospital, and bond over their love of video games before a falling out. Eight-ish years later, they are reunited as college students in Boston. Sam challenges Sadie to spend the summer building a game with him. She accepts, and the rest is history.
With great care, Zevin takes us through the contours of Sam and Sadie’s relationship - both personal and professional - for the next twenty years. Their game is a success at just the right historical moment, and they - along with Sam’s college roommate Marx - end up running a successful video game company in their early 20s. There are successes and failures, and many rocky moments, but through it all Sadie and Sam continue to orbit around each other.
I thought this was a masterful depiction of a long-term friendship combined with a working relationship. Although I was occasionally frustrated with the characters, I always understood where they were coming from. The situation that Sam and Sadie find themselves in - quick success, with their professional lives irrevocably entwined due to decisions they made almost as teenagers - was rife with interesting moments, and Zevin explored it with ease. I’m not a huge video game person, but I learned a lot reading this, and I loved the glimpse into video game culture especially in the early 2000s - as one of the characters says in the book, they wouldn’t have been able to do what they did any earlier or later.
In addition, I loved what Zevin did with Marx. His death absolutely gutted me - I wasn’t expecting it, and I (like Sam and Sadie to some extent, I imagine) had taken him for granted as a source of levity and a go-between for S&S. I thought it was interesting, and heartbreaking, how they each handled his loss, and how they could or could not see that the other was also hurting. I’m not sure if it was Zevin’s intent, but to me it says something about the relationship between Sadie and Sam - that they needed Marx in order to maintain an equilibrium of sorts. I know the book is about S&S, but given the title and the role Marx played in their lives and business, I think there is something to be said for the fact that without Marx, their friendship would have (permanently) crumbled much sooner. Although I think the story ends in a good place, I’d be curious to know how Sam and Sadie’s future collaboration goes without Marx there as a go-between.
Overall, I highly recommend this book. There aren’t enough stories out there that center friendship in this way, in my opinion. Mind the warnings, but if you’ve been thinking about picking this one up, I say go for it.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow follows the decades-long friendship of Sadie Green and Sam Masur. The two first meet in LA as preteens while Sam is in the hospital, and bond over their love of video games before a falling out. Eight-ish years later, they are reunited as college students in Boston. Sam challenges Sadie to spend the summer building a game with him. She accepts, and the rest is history.
With great care, Zevin takes us through the contours of Sam and Sadie’s relationship - both personal and professional - for the next twenty years. Their game is a success at just the right historical moment, and they - along with Sam’s college roommate Marx - end up running a successful video game company in their early 20s. There are successes and failures, and many rocky moments, but through it all Sadie and Sam continue to orbit around each other.
I thought this was a masterful depiction of a long-term friendship combined with a working relationship. Although I was occasionally frustrated with the characters, I always understood where they were coming from. The situation that Sam and Sadie find themselves in - quick success, with their professional lives irrevocably entwined due to decisions they made almost as teenagers - was rife with interesting moments, and Zevin explored it with ease. I’m not a huge video game person, but I learned a lot reading this, and I loved the glimpse into video game culture especially in the early 2000s - as one of the characters says in the book, they wouldn’t have been able to do what they did any earlier or later.
Overall, I highly recommend this book. There aren’t enough stories out there that center friendship in this way, in my opinion. Mind the warnings, but if you’ve been thinking about picking this one up, I say go for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Blood, and Pregnancy
Minor: Domestic abuse
Additional CW (not an option above): amputation