Rachel Reviews: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a book which is very much of my time, set in the days where the world of gaming was beginning to blossom into the powerhouse of entertainment that it is today.

I remember it well from my Commodore 64 and a game called "The Quest" where you had to type instructions in to navigate a mythical world pretty much conjured in your own mind by reading a description on the screen, to my first Game Boy, where Mario was just a small speck in a tiny square of pixellated grey squares.

I can remember how excited I was when playing something interactive, even something as rudimentary as "The Quest". I only ever wanted to rate as something better than a fool but alas, it was not meant to be.

Zevin captures the excitement of this era of game innovation and uses this emerging world as the backdrop for the tale of two game developers, Sam and Sadie who meet when Sam is in hospital as a child, receiving treatment for an injury which he received in a car accident. He has withdrawn into himself and when Sadie encounters him on a visit to see her sick sister at the same hospital, they discover a shared enjoyment and passion for gaming which links them beyond this episode of their lives.

However, it is not all smooth-running for the friends and a misunderstanding causes a rift between them that lasts years until a chance meeting reunites them. The story starts at this point, and then Zevin takes us into the past as well as showing how their story develops from this reunion onwards. Their love of games is the unifier that keeps them close throughout and Zevin is keen to show a relationship based on love rather than a romance and you do get a sense of two people who together make a whole. But it is the shared passion for games rather than each other that cements them. Throughout the story, Sadie and Sam are supported by the presence of Marx who is Sam's roommate at university and becomes a facilitator to Sam and Sadie's ambitions in the games' world.

Before I tell you my thoughts on the book can we just take some time to applaud the artwork on this cover? I love the inclusion of Hokusai's The Great Wave. It is iconic in so many ways but to juxtapose the multicoloured font over the top, like the lettering that appears when it is "Game Over" makes this cover so distinctive. I love it and I think that it was this that made me want to buy it as I knew none of the hype nor had I read the author before. It is pretty cool and needs a mention, I think.

This picture also provides a link to the Vocal Book Club. To discover more in depth debate about the book from other Vocal contributors, check out the Book Club post below and read comments made that declare how others felt about their reading of the book:

I liked this book. I liked the story that Zevin chooses to present and the way that Sam and Sadie fit together like two pieces of a jigsaw. To say that I liked the characters would be too effusive as both Sam and Sadie cause discord in their friendship; but Zevin allows you into their thoughts and processes and so, you feel like you know them and their motives to a degree, even if you do not share their viewpoint. If I'm honest, I found both Sam and Sadie a little annoying although not maddeningly so but I was glad for Marx as he is the spigot around which they both turn as the story develops. The inclusion of Marx as a pivotal character helps to provide warmth in the way that he is steady and comfortable with the person he is and acts as a contrast to the others.

This is a book about people and living with everything that life throws at you but it is also a declaration of love from Zevin for games. You can sense throughout that this is a world in which she has indulged and that she has an appreciation for it as you would an old familiar friend.

Rachel Rating: 4/5 stars

Parts of this review were previously published on Reedsy Discovery where I provide reviews for books both newly and already published:

Thanks for stopping by. If you have read the book, please let me know your thoughts on your reading of it or add them to the Book Club post above. And, of course, if you've read this review, please do leave a comment as I love to interact with my readers.