"It's tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It's the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing, you could win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever."

If there's one thing that's my guilty pleasure, it's book titles based off of Shakespeare play—bonus points if its the iconic Macbeth soliloquy like this beautiful book.

Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow is one of those rare literary fiction pieces that derails your ability to think and feel beyond the current story. I read this book in a little over two days, and I'm still reeling from characters' actions, consequences of unforeseen circumstances, and the pain that comes with life. How did this nostalgic gamer story told from multiple POVs come to expel all of my deepest insecurities, feelings, and questions? Y'all, I've got zero freaking clue.

"You are a gaming person, which is to say you are the kind of person who believes that 'game over' is a construction. The game is only over if you stop playing. There is always one more life. Even the most brutal death isn't final. You could have taken poison, fallen into a vat of acid, been decapitated, been shot a hundred times, and still, if you clicked restart, you could begin it all over again. Next time, you would get it right. Next time, you might even win.

Spanning thirty years, Tomorrow & follows the relationship between two unlikely childhood friends, and how this fated relationship ends up spurring one of the most successful video game (fictional) companies in the 90s/ early 2000s. Sadie and Sam are the heart of this story, but characters like Marx, Ant, and even Dov also carry significant weight and emotional depth to the story. I think the importance of all of the characters is one of the strengths within this book. Without the realism of those characters, I don't know if Sadie and Sam could stand as the leads because many of their flaws and mistakes are propelled deeper due to the complexity of this entire plot and each relationship. You're going to dislike Sam at certain points and then Sadie at others; you'll want to smack their heads sometimes at the same time. Be open to the dichotomy of these characters, and you'll be rewarded with deeper feelings and understandings. I simply think it's a beautiful element to this book. Basically, Gabrielle is a mastermind at building deep-rooted complications amongst the characters, and I couldn't help but enjoy every POV from each character because it felt necessary to the story.

"Time was mathematically explicable; it was the heart—the part of the brain represented by the heart—that was the mystery."

At its heart, Tomorrow & is a story about trauma and love, but more importantly the love and hope it takes to overcome that trauma. This book is unforgiving with its pain at times, and I really want to stress this point because I did not realize how graphic and triggering this book would be. That doesn't make it bad by ANY means, but I was caught off guard.

When Sam goes into detail about witnessing the woman in New York commit suicide as a child or when Sadie details her abusive relationship with Dov, it's really hard to read because it feels extremely real. Maybe it's because I read mostly speculative fiction, so I'm desensitized to most fantastical trauma, but I was left thinking about these moments infinitely longer than the actual scene itself, than any fantasy I'd read recently. Don't even get me started on Marx's death and the workplace shooting. Tears overrode my vision, and I furiously tried to blink them back into my eyes because it was too much for me.

 Tomorrow & really leans itself into recent topics within our political and social environments, so it's hard not to see our own time period reflected within this story. All of these events were intense, but they were not done gratuitously. Just be prepared to cry.

"The thing I find profoundly hopeful when I'm feeling despair is to imagine people playing, to believe that no matter how bad the world gets, there will always be players."

Lastly, as a recent graduate of college I do feel as if this book was meant to find me at this point in my life. Sadie goes through a lot of problems with understanding her wants for her career, especially when failure comes to her doorstep and refuses to leave for some time. It felt very personal to my own journey, and I wanted to give her the biggest hug because I don't think books or media talk enough about the trials and tribulations that come with employment—even when you're in the industry or you desire. It just makes me happy to see a deeper exploration on a topic that's only recently become a greater talking point.

"Why wouldn't you tell someone you loved them? Once you loved someone, you repeated it until they were tired of hearing it. You said it until it ceased to have meaning."

8/26/22: BRB I’m gonna go hug myself and cry. Something people have not mentioned when reviewing this book is just how emotionally draining it is. Obviously, I adored it, but I feel this weight in my heart.