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A review by incipientdreamer
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5 stars
I have been dreading writing this review because I am still so confused about this book, I honestly don't know how I feel about it, or more precisely, I don't know if there is a single feeling to describe it.
I liked Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow's idea. Following two friends on their journey of making video games. Zevin perfectly nails what it's like to have childhood friends, and sometimes how difficult it can be to stand the sight of them because you know each other too well. The first half of the book flew by for me, and I was pretty much hooked on their different video game ideas. Tomorrow pretty much sold on the idea of nostalgia for the 80s and 90s, which I feel like Gen X will really adore. I know I shelved this as contemporary fic rather than historical fic, and it's mainly because the book sounds so modern to me. Video games, computers and the internet are all things that seem like stuff that happened very recently. Or maybe it's because the stuff that happened/was novel during one's lifetime will always feel contemporary. I still remember the feeling of buying a new game on a CD from the store and the excitement my sister and I would feel in playing it for the first time on our ancient computer.
The two main characters, that the entire book revolves around, however, are not at all likeable. Which makes this a hard book to sometimes read. I usually don't mind reading about despicable characters, but the annoyance I would feel when they would pull dumb shit would make me want to pull my hair out. I did find Sadie to be more palatable than Sam. Though I feel like a lot of their fights could have been avoided if they'd tried to have honest conversations with each other and try to emphasise what the other was going through. To nobody's surprise, Marx ended up being the only person I liked, and we all know how that turned out.
I also didn't like the omniscient narrator style of storytelling that this employed. It made me feel very distant and didn't leave much depth to the character's actions as we were informed of every single feeling/motivation/action that all the characters were going through. For me, omniscient narration only seems to work for a particular type of story, and this didn't seem like it.
I did like the circular nature of the plot. Books where the story is shaped in a circular way and where the endings reflect the beginning is something I enjoy a lot, and Zevin pretty much nailed that aspect. There's a lot I loved about this book, I understand why it ended up being as big as it was last year. And unlike most trendy, best-of-the-year books, I feel like Tomorrow actually deserves to be up there. It is a unique story, I loved how Zevin dealt with character relationships so deeply, and the themes and tropes she employed didn't seem over the top or annoying which are usually a staple of this genre or for famous books.
Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Would I recommend it to other readers? Definitely. Was this book perfect? No, far from it. So why the 3 ish stars? I honestly don't know. Writing this review, it feels like there was more stuff I liked that I didn't like but when I sat down to rate it, 3 stars just seemed appropriate. Like I said this was a weird book to rate and review.
I have been dreading writing this review because I am still so confused about this book, I honestly don't know how I feel about it, or more precisely, I don't know if there is a single feeling to describe it.
I liked Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow's idea. Following two friends on their journey of making video games. Zevin perfectly nails what it's like to have childhood friends, and sometimes how difficult it can be to stand the sight of them because you know each other too well. The first half of the book flew by for me, and I was pretty much hooked on their different video game ideas. Tomorrow pretty much sold on the idea of nostalgia for the 80s and 90s, which I feel like Gen X will really adore. I know I shelved this as contemporary fic rather than historical fic, and it's mainly because the book sounds so modern to me. Video games, computers and the internet are all things that seem like stuff that happened very recently. Or maybe it's because the stuff that happened/was novel during one's lifetime will always feel contemporary. I still remember the feeling of buying a new game on a CD from the store and the excitement my sister and I would feel in playing it for the first time on our ancient computer.
The two main characters, that the entire book revolves around, however, are not at all likeable. Which makes this a hard book to sometimes read. I usually don't mind reading about despicable characters, but the annoyance I would feel when they would pull dumb shit would make me want to pull my hair out. I did find Sadie to be more palatable than Sam. Though I feel like a lot of their fights could have been avoided if they'd tried to have honest conversations with each other and try to emphasise what the other was going through. To nobody's surprise, Marx ended up being the only person I liked, and we all know how that turned out.
I also didn't like the omniscient narrator style of storytelling that this employed. It made me feel very distant and didn't leave much depth to the character's actions as we were informed of every single feeling/motivation/action that all the characters were going through. For me, omniscient narration only seems to work for a particular type of story, and this didn't seem like it.
I did like the circular nature of the plot. Books where the story is shaped in a circular way and where the endings reflect the beginning is something I enjoy a lot, and Zevin pretty much nailed that aspect. There's a lot I loved about this book, I understand why it ended up being as big as it was last year. And unlike most trendy, best-of-the-year books, I feel like Tomorrow actually deserves to be up there. It is a unique story, I loved how Zevin dealt with character relationships so deeply, and the themes and tropes she employed didn't seem over the top or annoying which are usually a staple of this genre or for famous books.
Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Would I recommend it to other readers? Definitely. Was this book perfect? No, far from it. So why the 3 ish stars? I honestly don't know. Writing this review, it feels like there was more stuff I liked that I didn't like but when I sat down to rate it, 3 stars just seemed appropriate. Like I said this was a weird book to rate and review.