shelfreflectionofficial's reviews
826 reviews

The Ferryman is a mixture of Inception, The Matrix, Total Recall, and Passengers (the one with Chris Pratt and J-Law). It is a long book with layers. Every time you think you know what’s going on, you peel back another layer. 

I think I might have preferred a bit shorter tale, but I’m not sure it would have been possible with the complexity of the story. And I stayed pretty invested in the story to know what was going on! 

Plus I read a pretty good chunk of it on an airplane in which I was very uncomfortable and nauseous so part of me was becoming disengaged as I was nearing the end which I don’t believe is a fault of the book as much as my circumstances. 

It’s a thought-provoking, dystopian-type, sci-fi thriller that bends reality and takes you for a ride.

There are a few themes throughout the book: People ruining the earth. The selfishness of humans when faced with devastation. The love of a parent for a child and child loss. The politics of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots.’ The idea that meaning comes from a designer. 

The formatting of the book are chapters from Proctor Bennett’s POV (first person) and Thea’s POV (third person). 

I’ll give you some plot points, comments, and then I’ll have a SPOILER section so make sure to scroll past that if you don’t want to spoil the surprises. Then I’ll end with my ultimate recommendation.

Proctor Bennett lives on the island of Prospera.

“Prospera exists in splendid isolation, hidden from the world.” (Guarded by an electromagnetic Veil to shield them from the outside world.) 

Prospera is the island for the Prosperan residents (the well-off). The nearby island, the Annex, “is home to the support staff— men and women of lesser biological and social endowments who nevertheless are, in my experience, wholly pleasant to be around.”

The third island is called the Nursery. It’s an enigma. No one knows what goes on there exactly except that it is essential to “the regenerative process that serves as the foundation for our way of life.”

People live as long as they want basically. No one truly knows anyone’s age. But once someone’s monitor percentage falls below a certain number or a person decides they’ve lived long enough and wish to retire, they take a ride on the Ferry. The Ferry takes them to the Nursery where they will be ‘reborn’— as a teenager— to live a whole new life on Prospera again. 

Proctor’s occupation is Ferryman. He helps people go through the ‘retirement’ process and escorts them to the Ferry and the start of their ‘new life.’ 

Everything is just ideal. 

Except Proctor’s given mother, cuts out her monitor, goes out to sea clutching an anchor, and her body is never found. And then years later Proctor’s estranged given father has decided to retire. Proctor is his Ferryman. 

Right before his father is to board, he starts to run away, other guards take him down and he utters these shocking words- “There were things about your mother, son, things you didn’t know… The world is not the world. You’re not you. It’s all Oranios.”

This is the catalyst that sends Proctor on an existential journey as he questions his very existence, the inter-workings of Prospera, and what is beyond the sea. But to question the status quo is not an acceptable behavior and he finds himself at odds with the city’s leadership, sent on the Ferry against his will. 

Caeli, teenager and “a master of shrugging,” has also entered his life in a mysterious way and he can’t find out anything about her. If he can figure out who she is, he may just find the key to everything. 

Meanwhile, we are privy to the life of Thea, resident of Prospera but cohorts with a resistance movement on the Annex. She crosses paths with Proctor, not so accidentally, and together they embark on a mission much larger and deeper than either of them ever imagined. 

By the time you peel back the deepest layer, you will be 78% finished with the book, but still over an hour and a half of reading left. 

I liked Proctor’s relationship to Jason Kim and wish there would have been more of it. 

I don’t like books with a lot of swearing anway, but the swearing seems out of place for the setting of this book. 

I looked up if this was going to become a movie (it’s not… yet) but instead stumbled across an article in which Cronin listed the influences he had for writing this book. They weren’t the ones I listed already… haha. They were: Planet of the Apes, The Tempest, Never Let Me Go, Lost (definitely), and 2001: A Space Odyssey. So if you can imagine a book with all of those combined and it intrigues you, you should read this book.

One thing worth pondering further is the significance of ‘the ferryman’ job. Cronin could have written Proctor to have had any occupation on Prospera, but he was a ferryman, escorting people to their ‘rebirth.’ And I wonder what underlying significance this has after finishing the book and seeing Cronin’s role in the last 10% of the book. He is still escorting people to the next part of their ‘life,’ isn’t he?

A character says ‘That’ll Work!’ in Chapter 9, and I was shocked to know that they were aware of the awesome YouTube channel by that very name…

I like this quote:

And I guess that’s a good summary of the book. Stuff happens. 

It was heart-wrenching to read of Proctor and Elise’s relationship with their daughter. 

As a mother of four littles, I know the ups and downs and I know the intensity of a love that you never knew you were capable of having until you stare your child in the face. 

A discussion of Prospera’s life philosophy:

The regenerative process is chilling to think about as it pertains to reality because it really feels like much of the world would prefer this. 

Prosperans can’t have children because of the whole process. But they can choose when they would like to obtain a ward— a 16 year-old— to parent. 

But the commitment is low. If the ward is disfigured or disabled in any way, they can return them to the nursery to ‘try again.’ Or if the ward is too much for them and they change their mind.

In today’s sexual revolution the idea of consequence-free sex is considered a human right. Pregnancy and child-bearing and child-rearing are treated like burdens and disadvantages to women. It’s sad. I fear if we were to ever get the technology to replicate Prospera’s regenerative system, the culture would be totally on-board for that. Because humans are selfish and they want what they want when they want it, how they want it, without any negative consequences or results. 

Perhaps this scenario can shock people into recognizing how close their own life philosophy gets to this heartbreaking fictional one. 

We are not designed for a ‘perfect life’ without pain or sacrifice. Child-bearing is a gift. Sacrifice is love. Children are a blessing. I just can’t imagine life without children in the world. We need them. They spur us to love, to sacrifice, to teach. 

If you don’t believe me that Prospera is not too far off from our reality, read this:

Culture’s message to be your best self and to remove any obstacles to being your authentic self and living your dreams is today’s message. Feel free to be alarmed by this. 

SPOILER SECTION

…

….

…..

Okay let’s talk about the deepest layer. 

The truth is this: 

In the ‘real world’ the planet is becoming uninhabitable. Proctor Bennett and his wife Elise have discovered an exoplanet far far away that seems to be able to harbor life. 

But the journey will take them 230 years. 230 years of cryo-sleep. Humans (supposedly) can’t healthily survive that much time in cryo-sleep because we will run out of dreams, or rather, run out of source material for dreams. And our dreams would become our nightmares played on repeat for hundreds of years. People would wake up with all sorts of mental problems, paranoia, etc. 

The solution? 

Consciousness integration.

The designer: Elise, Proctor’s wife. 

Prospera was the designed world they could continue to build off of in their dreams. The regenerative process part of the design accounts for people’s consciousness figuring out what was going on in reality and being ‘put back into’ the dream so they wouldn’t remember.

The other problems…

Everything would have been fine except Proctor and Elise lost their four-year-old little girl to a drowning accident right before the ship’s rushed departure from Earth. Elise, the mind everyone would be leashed to for a couple hundred years, was emotionally broken and Proctor didn’t have time to account for it. They were forced to hope for the best, hope that what her mind generated for everyone to live in wasn’t chaos. 

Which became a world without children. 

Added to that, a police state, which was not in the original design. How did this happen? Well a few of the leadership team for this mission woke up from cryo-sleep on time only to discover Caelus was covered in ice- seemingly unlivable. Instead of solving the problem, they opted to go back into the dream and not wake anyone else up. They would rather live in a happy dream they knew wasn’t real than deal with reality that was potentially devastating. 

Proctor awakens on the ship after layers of discovery only to realize the only way to save the people on the ship from an eternal cryo-sleep to their death requires him to go back into the dream. 

See… complex right! I was pretty surprised when I peeled back that last layer. I thought just realizing the truth was going to be the end of it, but Cronin took it one step further— he had to go back into the false reality.

I think it’s really interesting that they recognized what gave someone purpose, which is essential to a fulfilling and happy life, is understood only through the lens of a Designer. 

 The character did not go so far to say he had proven the existence of God, but I think this is a compelling train of thought. If there is no Designer, then where do we derive meaning and purpose? Are we even capable of knowing what is meaningful? An arbitrary existence, a randomness to life— where is the purpose? It would definitely feel empty. 

I think a Designer makes sense to us because we understand in the deepest parts of us that there must be something more out there, a Creator with a purpose and a plan. It’s not wishful thinking… it just makes sense.

 

One of the political aspects to the story is that this mission needed funding. So 15% of the ship’s population were investors— the wealthy. In the dream, they became the Prosperans. The rest of the population became the support staff living on the Annex. 

But apparently Proctor designed this this way. His intention was to use the investors to get them there, but they didn’t get to stay. They kept them in cryo-sleep and only woke up the others. 

Proctor’s justification:

Proctor ultimately decides to stay on the ship, leave the colony behind and take the investors back to Earth (I think?). He says this, then:

And I don’t know how I feel about this. I think it’s pretty unethical to use the investors’ money, bring them to a colony they think they get to be part of, and then not allow them to be because you believe it’s your job to make them better people in the way you believe they need. They get no choice in the matter. 

It also implies that people with money have no values, principles, or morals. It can be true, but these days it’s pretty popular to hate people with money and assume things about anyone in a certain tax bracket. We have to stop making sweeping statements even if they make us friends. 

As for the colonists, I guess I understand that it would be best if the dream was a life they wanted to leave. Because would we, as people, rather live an amazing lie or an unpredictable or painful truth? Our relentless pursuit and demand of pleasure and happiness would seem to suggest, if given the opportunity, a lot of us would choose the lie. 

The colonists’ experience in the dream state galvanized them to step up into a tough job of colonizing a new planet but with a sense of pursuing justice and equality for their new settlement. Do you think it would work in the long-term? 

So yeah, the ending definitely made me ponder and I haven’t decided if I like it completely. I tend to prefer happy endings so I’m glad that everyone didn’t all die and that a colony was actually possible, but the part where Proctor goes back on the ship with the investors gives me pause. Of course, I do feel for the idea of Proctor and Elise being in a world where their daughter is alive, but again, should we trade reality for self-serving lie? 

An interviewer posed this question (“live in a world of happy misperception or the cold, hard real?”) to Cronin and he answered: “Oh, give me an analog world. I’d be happier in it I think. Actually, no, I’m quite sure I would. I’ve reached a point in life where capitalism is interested only in my ability to buy pharmaceuticals and financial products, so I’m just going to lean in.”

I think it’s tongue-in-cheek(?) but decipher this quote how you would. I think it surprises me a little and then a little not. 

…..

….

…

If you’re willing to put in the time commitment for such a long book, I think I would recommend this one. As I stated at the beginning of the review it’s a mixture of Inception, The Matrix, Total Recall, and Passengers, so there is some mystery and a questioning of reality that makes for an interesting plot. 

It keeps you engaged wondering what is real and what is not. 

I think this would make a good movie, but it’s not in the works yet. It’s just written in a way where you can really visualize the ‘reveal’ moments. 

Cronin said in an interview that the emotion he wanted readers to feel while reading this book was ‘awe.’ I suppose there were moments where I felt that. The kind of awe I felt after watching Inception where your mind is being blown and the thought of what is real and what is not is causing your brain to short-circuit. That kind of awe. 

Not the ‘look at that majestic beautiful thing, I’m going to worship it’ kind of awe. 

In conclusion: The Ferryman is a fun, mind-bending ride!

**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

“Speak of dragons, and I’ll tell you of warriors who walked their flames. Speak of shadows, and I’ll tell you of heroes who brought the dawn. Speak of pain, and I’ll tell you of the Time who stole it away.”

This is part of a series but can easily be read as a stand-alone.

I really enjoyed this story and plan to go back and read the other books in the series! Hayley’s writing is really compelling and beautiful.

Like this quote: “what is hate but razor shards of shattered love?”

Her world-building is great and the time travel parts connect well.

Hayley is an indie author and I had never heard of her before so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the story intrigued me and I’m glad to have discovered her!


This fantasy novel tells the tale of a girl with special healing powers who discovers she is the key to saving her people from the fear and darkness that covers their world from The Dead King.

In this world, their ‘god-like’ character is Odriel— “a spirit-guide.” He’s the good spirit.

Then we have his brother Idriel. He’s the bad spirit. He has been half-resurrected by a couple powerful magi who all stand to benefit from him taking over Odriel’s realm.

“Ten years ago, Valente Conrad, a human gifted with Idriel’s necromancy, and Ivanora, a magus blessed with Idriel’s unfathomable yanaa, raised Idriel from the dead using the body of an ancient soul-eater from Carceroc forest.”


Our main character, Emara, with the help of a talking cat, discovers her healing ability is more powerful than she thought. She is actually a Time Heir. Part of the trio of Odriel’s Heirs. The other two are the Dragon Heir and the Shadow Heir.

“‘Fire was borrowed from the dragon, invisibility from the shadow, and healing from time.’”

The Shadow and Dragon Heirs approach Emara, requesting she help them in their plan to kill The Dead King before he is fully resurrected (think Voldemort) and kills more of their people.

“All those years running. Surviving. Trying to fight back against the monsters that had taken her mother, her home, her people. Searching for a why hidden in the horror. And here it was— offered from the palm of an assassin of a half-remembered myth.”

But the plan devolves quickly and Emara finds herself a century in the past charged with finding another magus (singular form of magi) to help her hone her powers so she can come back to the present and fix what has gone terribly wrong!

“I know as long as yanaa flows through my veins, Odriel is with me, and I will be his hands to light the dark, protect the helpless, and heal the wounded.”


I really liked the variety of characters. It looks like book one tells the story of the Dragon Heir and book two is the story of the Shadow Heir.

It’s possible reading this one provides some unintentional spoilers to those books since it occurs last, but I think with the fantasy genre, it’s still worth reading, even if out of order because you it just creates a fuller picture of the world and the people in it.

I would definitely recommend this series and this author! I think this is a great series for both adults and young adults. It’s a clean book, which is another big plus!



Pronunciation Guide:
(the author provided me a list of words and how to pronounce them so I included a few of the most used words here if you’re interested!)

Austerden: aw-ster-den
Aza: ay-za
Bellaphia: bell-ah-fee-ah
Carceroc: car-sir-rock
Chipo: chee-po
Emara: em-ah-rah
Idriel: eye-dree-uhl
Ivanora: eye-vah-nora
Makeo: mah-kay-o
Odriel: oh-dree-uhl
Okarria: oh-car-ree-ah
Rastgol: rast-goal
Yanaa: yah-nah


[Content Advisory: no f- or s-words; no sexual content]

**Received a digital copy from the author in exchange for an honest review**

“There would be ‘collateral damage’ along the way and young Lachlan Kite would somehow have to get used to it.”

Judas 62 is the sequel to Box 88.

Another spy novel with Lachlan Kite at center stage.

In brief: it’s a story of revenge. The past— Kite’s exfiltration of a valuable scientist from Russia— meets the present— a mission to frame a Russian FSB officer who has put out a bounty on Kite’s head for the past grievances.


At just over 500 pages, this is a long read. It’s also complex/hard-to-follow because of the larger cast of characters, dual timelines, political nuances, and UK cultural references. As with Box 88, you will want to read this one in larger chunks or you will feel lost.

Note: There is a character index at the beginning of the book, but I found it burdensome to go back and forth while reading a digital version of the book so I had to rely on context clues and memory as to who was who and who was good or bad.

At least with this one, compared to Box 88, the timelines don’t change back and forth as often. The ‘past’ portion is told in a large chunk and describes the mission to exfiltrate a scientist from Russia. It is sandwiched on either side by the present day situation where Kite’s on Russia’s radar and in order to protect his family has to engage the enemy in an effort to trap and frame him and eliminate him from the equation.


This isn’t a mystery novel where you aren’t sure who the bad guy is. The reason you want to finish this book is to see if justice is served, if the mission succeeds.

To that effect, I wanted to and was interested in finishing the book.

However, it felt like it took some effort to get through it all. I’m not sure if I’ll continue this series because of the swearing, the widespread lust and sexual content, the length (including a lot of information or parts that seemed unnecessary), the confusion. I’ve yet to read one yet, but I think if I’m in the mood for a spy novel again I’ll probably read one of Daniel Silva’s books instead.


More Plot Details

The setting of this story is two-fold.

The past story- 1993- takes place in Russia.

The present story- 2020- takes place in Dubai.


1993: Lachlan fills in for an injured agent to pose as a teacher in Voronezh, Russia. This is his cover to connect with Yuri Aranov, a scientist with biochemical knowledge the US does not want getting into the wrong hands— a mission of defense rather than offense. The goal is to get Yuri out of the country.

But young Lockie is still sowing his wild oats and puts the mission in jeopardy. Add to that, his girlfriend, Martha, shows up and puts herself and the success of the mission in more danger.

Can Lockie get the asset out without anyone getting hurt?


2020: Box 88, the clandestine ‘non-government’ organization Lockie works for, discovers Lockie’s cover name from the 1993 mission has just been added to Russia’s hit list— the JUDAS list.

“JUDAS was a list of Russian intelligence officers, military personnel and scientists living in the West who had been targeted for reprisal assassinations by Moscow.”

[Judas was the list name, his alias was 62nd on the list, hence the title. Kudos on the title correlation with the first book.]

Why, after so many years, is the name now of interest? Is he, Martha, or his family in danger of Russian assassins like so many other names on the list who have recently been killed?

The primary Russian officer Lockie went up against in 1993 is currently in Dubai. Box 88 cooks up a plan to find out more information about what Russia does and doesn’t know about Lockie, the mission, and the organization. The mission doubles as a way to frame the Russian officer as revenge for some of the fallout of the 1993 mission.

Is their inside man into Russia trustworthy enough to help them accomplish such a tall task in a foreign country without being exposed? The plan involves a dangerous weapon and many things could go wrong.


COVID Inclusion

Cumming set part of this story in 2020 during the pandemic. If talk of temperature-taking, mask-wearing, social-distancing, limited-capacity restaurants, etc is a trigger for you— you might not want to read this one.

I’m not sure if I liked that or not. So far I’ve appreciated new books that ignore that part of life and keep settings free of that nonsense.

However, in some ways, I can see how including the Covid aspect was essential or relative to the story. For example, in a highly monitored city with CCTV cameras everywhere, face masks provided an inconspicuous/normal way for the agents to blend in undetected.

Also, it was a little bit interesting to think about how other countries handled Covid— at least if what was written here was true.

For example:

“in the height of the crisis in Bur Dubai and Deira, trucks had driven past every fifteen minutes ordering citizens by megaphone— in Arabic, English, and Filipino— to remain indoors.”

Apparently there was an app called the C19 DXB Covid app which was created in conjunction with the Dubai Health Authority in an effort to provide up-to-date information on statistics, symptoms, and support and stop ‘misinformation.’

One question though: it was written several times that temperatures were taken in order to enter certain establishments and I would just like to ponder how this was able to work properly when it was also reportedly really super duper hot there? My husband was in line for a restaurant in Iowa when it was hot and it caused his forehead to be too hot and showed as an elevated temperature preventing him from being able to go inside. He was not sick. How could they get accurate readings in Dubai??


Comments

In the first book I was hoping to understand Lockie’s relationship triangle with Martha and Isobel more in the sequel. We get a little bit more information on Martha, but not really anything further on Isobel other than she and Lockie are estranged because of the events of book one.

It feels like a TV series where they make a character go travel somewhere because the actor is busy on another project and they have to figure out how to work around it.

Except this is a book not a movie and there are no character restraints.

So even though Cumming tells me that Lockie loves Isobel and his daughter and wants to reconcile, everything else in the book makes me feel like Lockie is still in love with Martha and is a bit of a womanizer.

The book sure makes it seem impossible for men to be faithful or able to reign in their lust.

“For Kite to think back to the man he had been in the summer of 1993 was to remember a different person: richer in feelings, hungry for experience and obsessed by the possibilities and complications of sex.”


There is enough talk of cricket in this book that I had to do some Google searching on how that is played. One of the characters scored 100 runs in cricket and I’m trying to figure out what that looks like. Lucky for me I have a friend from England that I’m going to go get all my more specific hypothetical questions answered!


I had to chuckle at this relatable tidbit: “a recycling bucket marked ‘supposedly saving the planet.’”
And this one: “He placed the card in the slot to activate the lights.” This was at his hotel. I have stayed at a hotel where the lights were activated in this manner. I am embarrassed to say how long it took us to figure that out. Nate Bargatze’s bit on the mystery of hotel lights really speaks to me.


Dubai is an intriguing setting to me. I’m not sure if I’ll ever go there but it seems like such an economic anomaly in that area of the world that I’m very curious about it. A ‘luxurious city’ is a strange thing for me to picture what that looks like and how it functions. But if it’s as hot as the characters say that it was, I’m not sure how enjoyable it would be there.



There was some bold political commentary thrown in this book that I’m not sure what to make of:

“‘Whole country go crazy, psychotic. Two cults. One the Trump cult, the other the cult of the self-righteous. You want to know the trouble with America? Bad schools… Bad schools and now brainwashing through media…’”

“‘… America is land of guns, land of fear, land of hate. Trump pulled back the scab and now we see the wound. We see how stupid they are, how angry…..’ ‘I think perhaps we hear too much about all that… Social media tends to amplify the noise, know what I mean?’”

“‘A president with three wives and a penchant for porn actresses can be proclaimed by his supporters as a man of God. That same president can accuse his opponent’s son of corruption while his own children enrich themselves in full view of the American people.’”

“‘Think of America. In all those places information is a problem. it’s not just a question of who controls it. It’s already out of control. It’s a question of whether people are smart enough to realise that they’re being manipulated. Film clips. News stories. Rumours. What looks like the truth and what looks like a lie?’”

As you can see, some interesting thoughts here. This wasn’t anything significant to the plot of the book, it was just side conversations between characters to fill pages, but it makes one wonder the author’s intent in putting them in there. Especially considering he is British.

I suppose during 2020, that would have realistically been a common topic of conversation around the world.


Learning Corner

More words and phrases that I learned while reading!

salubrious: healthy, beneficial

After Eight: a chocolate/mint Nestle candy bar (that I will never be trying)

Operation PAPERCLIP: a historical and secret operation after WWII in which the US relocated German scientists and engineers who had been under Nazi employment

be to the manor born: born of wealth/privilege

Factor-30: what Brits call sunscreen?

zebra crossing: crosswalk (I definitely had to reread this section because I was pretty sure there wouldn’t be zebra crossings like we have deer crossings…)


Recommendation

If you are just really into spy novels and language doesn’t bother you, then you’ll probably enjoy Cumming’s books. You can tell he does a lot of research and wants his books to be realistic.

If you’re a little pickier about your spy novels, I would perhaps suggest trying Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series (which I haven’t personally read yet but have heard good things about).

For another exfiltration from Russia read The Eighth Sister.

For a scientist exfiltration from Nazi Berlin read An Affair of Spies.

Both of those I enjoyed more than this one.

Cumming’s stories have potential, but when it comes to the books in their entirety, they just fall a little short (and long) with what I am looking to read.

Plus the main character— Lachlan Kite— is just not really a character I feel invested in. Even if it’s not realistic, I prefer my spy heroes to be a little more mature and moral.

I think if this was a PG-13 movie, I would have enjoyed it a lot more than reading it as a book.

I am also not super well-versed when it comes to spy novels so perhaps my evaluation isn’t as full as it could be. That’s for you to decide.


[Content Advisory: 73 f- and 40 s-words; lots of talk of sex but no graphic scenes described; one short paragraph describing a disturbing video of assault and rape]

**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

‘Not By Blood’ is a debut psychological thriller from Chris Narozny, a ghostwriter who has coauthored four New York Times bestsellers with James Patterson. 

This book definitely had the mystery and suspense, the twists and turns and a satisfying ending, but the language turned me off a bit. I guess considering several of the characters are criminals and drug addicts it makes sense for their characters, but it’s just something I personally don’t care for. 

The basic premise of the book is this: 

Tina Evans, paramedic, gets a distress call from her drug addict brother, Bill. Not an uncommon occurrence. But when she shows up at his place he is not there. Instead there is a body, dead by gunshot and Bill’s sketchbook that he never goes anywhere without. 

Fiercely protective of her brother Tina decides to get to the bottom of it and find her brother before bringing the police in. 

Then she gets an anonymous text message that says ‘Shhh…’ Is she being watched?

Things get worse when that very same night she gets a call that her wealthy developer/architect husband, Tom, has been in a bad car accident—when he’s supposed to be home watching their son— and is in a coma. 

Tina’s world is turned upside down as she is torn between finding her brother, being there for her husband and son, and realizing some of the people closest to her have been telling lies. Plus the past comes back to haunt her as she discovers she must visit her father in prison. 

Who can she trust?

For the most part I enjoyed the book. There were parts of it I figured out early on, but I still thought Narozny did a good job of weaving the story and clues together. 

It was a really fast read at only 277 pages so it’s a low-commitment book. 

One thing I thought Narozny could have done a better job with was his descriptions. The action and suspense begins immediately— which I like— but I realized halfway through the book that I didn’t feel like I could picture the characters very well. I still am not sure what Tina looks like. 

The book is more plot-driven than character-driven but it still seems weird that I can’t envision who I’m reading about. 

Maybe that’s partly why I didn’t feel connected to the characters much and didn’t find them likeable. Tina definitely experienced some trauma in her life, but it was hard to see where she was resilient to her past and where she was still influenced in a negative way. 

Last comment: I like the book cover image and the title. That helped with the intrigue and had made me interested in reading it. 

Recommendation

If you can get past the language, this is a decent psychological thriller read that won’t take up too much of your time. 

This book didn’t blow me away, but I may be interested in reading his next book just for the plot creation. But if it’s full of seedy characters like this one, I may not. 

**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

“This is what time travel is. It’s looking at a person, and seeing them in the present and the past, concurrently. And that mode of transport only worked with those one had known a significant time.”


I’m not sure if I was excited to read this book— I think I was more curious. For some reason I was thinking it would be more sci-fi-ish like Ready Player One since it had to do with video game creation. It is definitely plain old fiction.

I didn’t hate it but it didn’t do much for me. It felt too slow-paced and a bit ‘extra.’ Zevin shoved every major or controversial topic possible into this book instead of just focusing on one or two.

The characters were meant to be flawed but it felt like their flaws overshadowed their strengths and did more to define and drive them. This made them somewhat unlikable and their growth was harder to detect.


The primary story line follows three friends over many years and places (Boston to LA to Tokyo) as they play video games together and then create them. The two main characters— Sam and Sadie— have a volatile friendship— cyclical love/hate relationship. The third character— Marx— acts as the neutralizer and stabilizer. We know personally how messy and complicated relationships are. But we also know that relationships are a mess worth making. It takes a lot for Sam and Sadie to become convinced of that, and there’s part of me that wonders if they ever got there in an altruistic way or not.

For example: Sadie has a perpetual chip on her shoulder and fluctuates between insecurity with her abilities, standing up for herself in work but not in her personal life. Sam is overly ambitious which blinds him to others’ needs and feelings. Marx is thoughtful and managerial but sexually promiscuous and you’re not really sure what he actually cares about.

I didn’t really like how Marx became a ‘glorified’ ‘saint-ed’ character by the end.

The secondary story line (at least in my opinion) was the relationship of the characters to the worlds they create. Gaming as a way of escaping the difficulties of life. Virtual worlds that help them grieve and deal with the brokenness of the real world. The ability to be different people with different skills. The opportunity to ‘start over’ or ‘re-do’ things until they get them right. As one of their games is titled ‘Our Infinite Lives’ or as the book is aptly titled- tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. We can live again better.

“He wanted to be Ichigo… He wanted to die a million deaths like Ichigo, and no matter what damage was inflicted on his body during the day, he’d wake up tomorrow, new and whole. He wanted Ichigo’s life, a lifetime of endless, immaculate tomorrows, free of mistakes and the evidence of having lived.”



But unfortunately, the worlds they create are not real. The characters do not exist. They must still live from day to day.

“In the end, all we can ever know is the game that was played, and in the only world that we know.”

As I said before, there is a hodge-podge of topics crammed into the lives of three people. Over the course of the book they experience/discuss: disability, depression, appropriation, racism, sexism, abortion, amputation, physical abuse, gay marriage and sexuality, death, friendship, grief, murder, gun violence, suicide, and probably something else I missed.

The characters are variations of Jewish, Korean, and Japanese and much of the race and appropriation revolve around these cultures.

I think the concoction of topics takes away from the readers’ relationship to the characters because it feels like each new issue is just another buzzword.

I think it would have been more effective to focus on friendship, forgiveness, and Sam’s disability in relationship to the virtual games. Maybe, too, the loss of a friend, but the more you add in the less important everything seems.



I thought it was interesting how they recognized their desire for an ‘other-world’ where everything is as it should be. People are whole. The earth is beautiful and free of violence (well… their games weren’t void of this) and hatred. They were searching for meaning, legacy, and an escape from a broken world.

I think I have the answer for them. The current death rate is 100%. There is no second chance or infinite life. But there is an afterlife. And it can be the perfection they seek. I think they are looking for the ultimate ‘save point.’ And that is Heaven. It’s real. And for all who trust in Jesus, it is what comes next. And it will be better than an video game world that can be created.

Zevin touches on the realities and results of sin (in not so specific terms). We can all relate to so many of the hardships and heartaches the characters face. We know that yearning for something more, something bigger, something outside of this earth. That is because God put eternity into our hearts. We know in our core, that this world is not our home. Maybe this book can be a catalyst for readers to acknowledge that desire and to seek real answers for it. Not in video games. But in the Bible and the person of Jesus who is in the business of redemption, forgiveness, and restoration.



Along the lines of the ‘escapist’ story line. I found myself pondering this outside of the spiritual realm I just mentioned. Just in terms of health, mental or physical, is it a good coping mechanism to escape into fantasy worlds? Both Sadie and Sam found it comforting in their various griefs. I understand the need and benefit of distractions every once and a while, but from what I know of gaming, it’s pretty addictive. It doesn’t seem healthy to always seek to escape from their problems instead of confronting them or working through them.

Isolation, as we see with Sadie, is not usually a beneficial choice. There is an element of community in virtual worlds but more and more studies are showing that it’s not a good replacement for face-to-face physical connection. We were made to connect with people. Experience the world together, physically, as ourselves. Empathy is often lost online and is an essential component to a healthy society.

Distractions help us grieve or deal with stress, but I think there have to be boundaries for it to be helpful and not harmful.



Another aspect of the gaming side of things is the idea of success. Sadie and Sam had differing views on what a successful game looked like:

“To oversimplify: For Sam greatness meant popular. For Sadie, art.”

I was realizing how much I don’t know about video games, especially PC games. I didn’t realize they incorporated such complex stories or that there was a way to dialogue within them. Reading this game made me have so many questions about how it works to code something that is so graphics and art-heavy. A complete video game really is a work of art.

I went on YouTube and watched a few videos of people playing popular games. I don’t think it’s a hobby I want to get into because I can see how it takes up so much of your time, but it was good to see for myself a piece of what this book was about and be able to appreciate the skill and talent and time that goes into something like that.



The Oregon Trail is a nostalgic piece of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. I definitely remember the game and remember the dysentery! I couldn’t relate to a lot of the gaming aspects, but I played Oregon Trail, and mostly Super Nintendo games like Super Mario world, Donkey Kong Country, Top Gear, and PlayStation games like 2Xtreme & Crash Bandicoot Racing.

I really like that Zevin incorporated this because Sadie and Sam are pioneers themselves. They are creating new paths to unknown worlds. They are experiencing the ups and downs of the human experience and of going somewhere new and have to figure out how to survive and allow others to follow them.



Some reviewers talked about the pretentious vocabulary in this book. In some ways I would agree with them. I have a pretty big vocabulary and there were lots of words I didn’t know. I agree that I’m not sure it helped the book at all and didn’t necessarily fit the characters’ personalities, but I enjoy learning new words so it didn’t really bother me. In fact, here are some that I looked up:

- Grokking: understanding thoroughly
- Ouroboros: a snake or dragon eating its own tail
- Bloviating: to speak pompously
- Palimpsest: something that has a new layer, aspect, or appearance that builds on its past and allows us to see or perceive parts of this past
- Turpitude: vile or depraved act
- Jejune: immature and childish



First side note: I thought it was funny that the very first line of the acknowledgements says that there are no secret highways in LA which was going to be the very first thing I googled when I shut the book. So thank you Zevin, for answering that for me, even though I wish it weren’t true.

Second side note: If you’re interested in trying out the Magic Eye stuff, here’s a link to a Magic Eye book on Amazon!

Third side note: This is the second book I’ve read recently that referenced Necco Wafers. Is this something I should have known about slash eating??



Recommendation

This is a hard one to recommend. I don’t read a lot of straight fiction so the fact that this won best fiction is probably par for the course and I’m just not used to that style of writing and story-telling.

But because of the language, drug use, sexual content, the hot-topic potpourri, the length and slow-pace, and the unlikability of the characters, this book didn’t do much for me and I’m not sure it will for you either.

However, many people do love this book. I wonder if they’re gamers and the nostalgia and game content interests them.

I think people who like ‘sagas’ that explore a decades-long span of life for characters won’t be turned off by the length or pacing.

I guess I would read some other reviews if you’re still unsure if this one is for you. Personally, I feel like there are better books out there to spend your time on.



A couple other books that somewhat fit the idea of this book that I would recommend over this one would be:

Infinite by Brian Freeman

Play Dead by Ted Dekker


[Content Advisory: a lot of swearing; a paragraph on the c-word; a lot of drug use; some sexual content; a whole host of trigger issues as discussed in the review]