Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts. Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

What is a game? submitted by LatitudeB on August 9, 2022, 10:51pm Shaun Manning already said this, but he’s right; this book is the Ready Player One for people who didn’t like Ready Player One. (And gosh, did I hate Ready Player One). This is a complicated story of a friendship between two characters, whose lives interwin in hopeless and hopeful ways, and also about video games as a medium and as an art form.

What is a game? It’s tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. It’s the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption.

It’s about video games and coding and computer science and math but it’s also about grief and growing up and how your life changes and friendship and romance and misunderstandings. And it’s always interesting to read. Five stars.

Flawless submitted by bookasaurusray on August 24, 2022, 10:47am I always love her books - excellent characters and the plot really moves well. I loved following the relationships throughout the story, and the SF-esque plot was enjoyable to read.

Great Story submitted by carrienemo on June 9, 2023, 10:46am A great story of friendship, love, and relationships all intertwined with the art and love of video games. Highly recommend!

Excellent submitted by leah karr on June 10, 2023, 11:25am I am a 41 year old non-gamer but mom to a teenager who enjoys videogames. I loved this book and complicated relationship over decades of the main characters and the games they create.

Could not put this down - truly beautiful submitted by TeacherN on June 25, 2023, 12:42pm This is not an especially exciting book, but I could not put this down. I loved the story, the friendships, and the collaboration between characters. I also loved the way each character brought their own strengths to the projects, and even how extended family had influence. Truly beautiful!

Loved this book submitted by haslamc on June 29, 2023, 10:39am I grew up reading Gabrielle Zevin, my favorite book was Elsewhere as a young adult- and I still love it today. So I was thrilled to read her new book, and it did not disappoint. I have read it twice so far, give it a try!

Pretty good! submitted by tingzhaowb on June 30, 2023, 3:36pm It's not something that I would usually reach for, but it was definitely a page turner. I finished it in one sitting, which says something about the quality of the writing. I honestly didn't expect that this book would be so different from the usual booktok books.

Good story, but probably would be more meaningful to a gamer submitted by 21621031390949 on July 9, 2023, 12:44am A very good story, well-written and engaging, with interesting characters I grew to care about. I'm not a video gamer, however, so this was not a thrilling setting for me. A bit of an unsatisfying ending.

Devastating submitted by cherylo on July 10, 2023, 10:18pm From serendipity comes a story of a great partnership, full of heartbreaking detail, loss, refutations and acceptances, and most of all the work of trying to meet expectations. From friends to frenemies and back again, the pendulum swings through building their first game, building a business, building a life, and rebuilding them again and again. At times it was really hard to stick with as there are abuses and self destructive tendencies visited upon multiple characters. But through all of it, they keep building and rebuilding worlds, game and virtual and irl. Very much recommended for videogamers, builders of games, and related creatives especially.

Something for everyone submitted by anushagupta on July 14, 2023, 2:40pm Beautiful story that spans a generation. The themes of disability, blurring lines between platonic and romantic love, and death are beautiful. Not just for game enthusiasts!

Beautiful story submitted by Q' on July 16, 2023, 4:15pm Loved it

Great submitted by manz on July 24, 2023, 1:32pm What a fantastic book! I usually don't read popular adult fiction, but I gave this one a whirl after enjoying AJ FIKRY, and this was even better. A fast and compelling read. And you do not need to know or understand video games to enjoy this one.

Super Good submitted by joshwoodward on July 24, 2023, 3:02pm Really engrossing book from the front, great characters, and amazing references to classic video games.

So much promise submitted by kath on July 25, 2023, 4:33pm A great beginning and characters. Women in tech and programming. This books has all the right stuff , but . . . . . . . just does not pull it all together by allowing romance to get in the way. Or is that really what happens to careers and relationships? By mid-near ending it was a slog to finish.

Wish I Could Read Again, Again, and Again submitted by CaitlinWilliams on July 26, 2023, 8:07am If I would’ve stopped reading this book after the NPC chapter, I would’ve sworn it was going to be one of my favorite books of all time. Unfortunately, the ending fell a bit flat for me as not much monumental happens after that point. But hey, maybe that’s more realistic as not much monumental would’ve have happened at all without our beloved NPC.

loved this book submitted by fairytale on August 8, 2023, 12:39am I really enjoyed this book! The characters were dynamic, the story had twists and turns, and I appreciated that it had a friendship at the heart of the book.

Amazing read, start to finish submitted by tcramer318 on August 10, 2023, 2:21am I read this book while staying up for an overnight shift, and I absolutely could not put it down. The characters are all beautifully created, complex and flawed, and I appreciate how the plot is driven by the relationships between Sam, Sadie, and all of the others. I'm not usually much for books about video games or gaming culture, but this one feels like it actually touches on important issues within the industry as well as just being alive in the 90s and 00s. What else can I say without spoiling the novel? Just that I'd be so keen to play any of the games they developed within the story.

Prolonged Friendship submitted by dmmatheny on August 16, 2023, 8:59am This book speaks incredibly to the beauty and challenges of friendships that span decades. It is an ode to love (not always in a romantic sense) that changes as the people you love change. It is really a reflection on human life and change wihtin a story about creativity and video games. TW: violence, death of loved ones, disability