Review of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

​Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is a novel about two video game makers, Sam and Sadie, as they navigate life through the creation of multiple video games. Sam had gotten into a car wreck where his mother died and his leg was terribly injured. Sadie’s sister was receiving treatment for cancer when Sadie meets Sam when they were kids. They play and get along until Sam finds out she is using him for community service. They distance themselves for years until college in Boston where they randomly find each other and Sam encourages Sadie to make a game, Ichigo, with him. They work together, with the aid of Marx, Sam’s roommate, and create a game which sells millions of copies. They continue to make games together through tumultuous times: Sadie’s abusive boyfriend and professor, Sam’s amputation surgery, badly reviewed games, Sadie and Marx’s relationship, and finally a gunman who fatally shoots Marx. Sadie and Sam split ways after Marx dies and, to win back Sadie, Sam creates a game only for her. By then, she has a child and is a professor herself. At the end, there’s hope that they’ll continue to make games together.
 
Zevin makes interesting choices in form and structure. For example, one chapter splits the narrative between Sadie and Sam, paralleling the story of their game Both Sides. She also has another chapter written from the perspective of Marx as an NPC in a game after he is shot. And a third chapter which tells the storyline of an in-game interaction between Sam and Sadie. The characters feel lived in and their motives are complicated and powerful. It threads in pop-culture references, historical events, and feels like a unique take on what game designers go through. I was a little annoyed at some of the explanations of games or their lingo, where, for example, Super Mario Bros. is described too in-depth. It reads as if it were written for an older generation where they don’t know basic aspects of video games. There was another moment where the events of 9/11 are discussed, which I think was meant to ground the reader in the time, but to me, it felt as if it were only added in to try and prove the novel’s own relevance. Additionally, some of the situations felt too easy, with payoffs happening quickly after problems arise. However, I generally enjoyed the way Sadie and Sam’s relationship is mulled over and it worked well within its universe.
 
Final Rating: 3.5/5