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A review by iced_mochas
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
I listened to this one on audio. So foreign was the language of gaming to me that I thought I’d started some sort of fantasy / magic realism book at first! Yet, quickly enough, the reader is comfortably immersed into the world of Sam and Zadie, the gaming masters and protagonists of this book. The phases of their lives are carried through each of the games they produce.
Sam Mazer is eloquently described as “that f**ked up romantic kid” in the latter half of the book, which sums him up nicely. He is the broken hero of this story (physically and figuratively) whose Jewish/Korean ancestry reflects the author’s own. The story explores an unfulfilled love between friends as their life experiences take them in several different directions. There are some really animated characters, well-voiced by the narrator Jennifer Kim (only one segment is voiced by Julian Cihi). The characters include actor-turned-business-manager Marx, as well as the Israeli teacher Dov Mizrah, an exploitative faculty member from M.I.T.
Despite being quite an odious character, I did feel Dov was entrenched throughout the novel. His background remained unchallenged and may serve the normalisation of the settler colony. For a book published in 2022 and a story that is so rich with references from recent political history, it was uncomfortable to have the occupation go completely unmentioned.
[Minor spoiler alert] The most memorable moments that kept me engrossed were the social twists and turns of immigrant life in America. Sam’s mother Anna who witnesses a death by suicide. In another instance, a life-changing mass shooting. Yes, sometimes this novel did read like Heartbreak High and I got a little bored by the “will they, won’t they” question. That said, this book did not feel as long as it actually is (14 hours). I’d recommend for a not-too-complex escape to another world.
Sam Mazer is eloquently described as “that f**ked up romantic kid” in the latter half of the book, which sums him up nicely. He is the broken hero of this story (physically and figuratively) whose Jewish/Korean ancestry reflects the author’s own. The story explores an unfulfilled love between friends as their life experiences take them in several different directions. There are some really animated characters, well-voiced by the narrator Jennifer Kim (only one segment is voiced by Julian Cihi). The characters include actor-turned-business-manager Marx, as well as the Israeli teacher Dov Mizrah, an exploitative faculty member from M.I.T.
Despite being quite an odious character, I did feel Dov was entrenched throughout the novel. His background remained unchallenged and may serve the normalisation of the settler colony. For a book published in 2022 and a story that is so rich with references from recent political history, it was uncomfortable to have the occupation go completely unmentioned.
[Minor spoiler alert] The most memorable moments that kept me engrossed were the social twists and turns of immigrant life in America. Sam’s mother Anna who witnesses a death by suicide. In another instance, a life-changing mass shooting. Yes, sometimes this novel did read like Heartbreak High and I got a little bored by the “will they, won’t they” question. That said, this book did not feel as long as it actually is (14 hours). I’d recommend for a not-too-complex escape to another world.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual violence