Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin | Book Review

tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow book cover

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is a delicious, slow-burn, emotional, complex story of friendship and love. Nerds rejoice at this poignant novel of two friends and creative partners, set atop the video game design industry in the early 2000’s.

My Rating for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Genre: Fiction; Length 401 pages

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I absolutely loved this book so much, it’s hard to even find the words to describe it. I would give Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow 6 stars if I could! It took me on a journey.

This book taught me that the slow-burn friends-to-lovers romance trope is my favorite. But this isn’t a typical romance.

There is so much depth, emotional complexity, love, sadness, and passion between all the characters. Romantic love is the tip of the iceberg. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow explores parental, sibling, coworker, and friend relationships.

I found the backdrop of the video game design to be super interesting. The amount of detail Zevin goes into it just amazing. The “reflection in the blood”, for example, and the technical details on designing these games made me feel like I was really learning a lot about what goes into creating a game.

Synopsis

Sam Masur and Sadie Green go way back – their childhood friendship first bloomed in a hospital, under deceptive circumstances. But their bond was real. When they reconnect in college, the will-they-won’t-they begins. Over the next thirty years, they become creative partners, wildly successful game designers, and forge a bond far deeper than romantic love.

Their relationship spans childhood, college, friendship, other lovers, exes, death, birth, pain, and joy. Their success catapults them from college struggles and aspirations to fame, power, and tragedy.

“It is a love story, but not one you have read before.”
Cover Copy. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin, Penguin Random House, 2023

My take on Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Spoiler Alert!!!

Some of my book clubbers may disagree, but in the end of the day, I think this book was a love story. An atypical love story passed off as friendship, but still a type of love. However, I wouldn’t call this a romance novel. It’s refreshing to see the concept explored in an unconventional way, with all the depth and nuance of friend-love, unrequited love, and perhaps asexuality.

Sam definitely loved Sadie, though they never become a couple. The way he describes it is:

Why was it so hard for him to say he loved her even when she said it to him? He knew he loved her. People who felt far less for each other said “love” all the time, and it didn’t mean a thing. And maybe that was the point. He more than loved Sadie Green. There needed to be another word for it.”

-Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Their connection ebbed and flowed over the years when they got in explosive fights and didn’t talk for years. But I think their feelings for each other never changed.

Sam proved he “more than loved” Sadie when he created the pioneer game. The chapter that’s told entirely in the video game world was heart wrenching! It switched settings so abruptly that I was worried the book would end like that! To me, the fact that he created this whole game just to get closer to her in a time she didn’t want to see him in real life was the ultimate expression of love.

Gut-wrenchingly Real

For everything I loved in the book, it was just so hard to read the office shooting chapters. The event was totally gut-wrenching, scary, and realistic. I cried multiple times.

The way Marx handled the whole situation. The happenstance that Sam was out of the office that day, though he was the actual target. The depression that Sadie feels afterwards and her inability to work was so real. I was amazed at the way Sam showed up for her. Zevin’s ability to write these scenes and the aftermath was so impressive.

Other than the way the author’s skill in drawing out emotion, I enjoyed learning more about the video game industry. There was so much technical detail in the prose that seemed well-researched and kept me interested.

The novel gave insight into the world of video game design and the misogyny in that industry in the early 2000s. Maybe it’s our modern-day Lessons in Chemistry for women in STEM?

Critique of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

I thought this book was perfect, but some people in my book club weren’t huge fans, for a few reasons:

Too Weird

Yeah, this book in not straight-forward at all. If you’re looking for a simple plot, chronological story, with clear heroes and villains, and a predictable romance, this is not it.

Dov was a Dick

Totally. Dov was a bad man. I definitely hated him and I hated that Sadie maintained a friendship with him even after they broke up. Some found it disappointing that Sadie and Dov’s relationship had a positive spin on it, especially since the author is a woman. Maybe this is another way Zevin chose to demonstrate nuanced relationships.

Sadie and Sam as Protagonists

Some didn’t like Sadie and Sam as main characters. Sadie was seen as entitled and annoying, while Sam could be seen as out of touch and cold. Actually, Marx was everyone’s favorite character in my book club! He was a sweetie.

Still, I think Zevin purposefully made the two main characters less likeable. (and it works)

Conclusion

This is the best book I’ve read in a long time. Definitely pick it up! I especially recommend to nerdy people who love raw emotions, video games, and friends-to-lovers stories.

Please please please leave me more recommendations like Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow in the comments!

I really want to do a recipe for this book. Maybe a pizza, in tribute to Dong and Bong’s New York Style House of Pizza!