’Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow’ is Gabrielle Zevin’s fifth book, released in July 2022 and rising to fame within the reading community. The New York Times bestseller was named the 2022 best book by Amazon, won the GoodRead’s choice award in the Fiction category, and is speculated to land a film adaptation in the near future.
With these achievements, it’s no wonder that it went viral on TikTok’s book community, but is it really worth the read? Does it live up to the hype?
Story Summary
The book follows Sadie Green and Sam Masur from their childhood meeting to the creation of their own video game company. Despite being set in the tech development world, it is not difficult for someone with little knowledge of that to follow. Zevin describes the terminology enough so you can understand what the characters are doing, without boring you in the process.
The Pro’s and Con’s
Sam and Sadie are achingly relatable characters, who experience raw emotions, making them feel like real people telling you their story. Zevin has mastered the act of connecting readers to her characters and of making them feel genuine.
However, though well developed, the characters are unlikable at times. Sam and Sadie are supposedly close friends who love each other unconditionally. Yet, it is like they can’t stand one another at the best of times. This makes the book difficult to get through at times, as it leaves you incredibly frustrated with the characters.
Despite this issue, Zevin really makes you feel for Sam and Sadie. Her writing is so emotive that there is little choice but to emphasise with their problems.
Sadly, the book dragged towards the end. No spoilers, but the shocking plot point came too early, leaving the rest of the book a struggle to get through. This is especially evident in the final part of the book, which is written in a completely different style from everything that came before. The complete switch of setting in the final part, however, works in the context of the plot. It may be a bit of a shock to first time readers, but the pay off is worth it.
My main complaint is the lack of depth Zevin gave any character that wasn’t Sam or Sadie. They feel underdeveloped, with their motivations for helping the main characters going unrevealed and their presence in general being ignored in favour of of the two leads. This is especially disappointing when my favorite character got so little attention, leaving me wanting more and feeling a little bit more negative about the book overall.
This book utilizes the miscommunication trope to no end, which can be infuriating. The amount of times I wanted to scream at the characters to just talk to each other is ridiculous. So, if you’re put off by this trope, maybe this book is not the one for you.
Is is worth reading?
Overall, I think this book deserves a 4 star rating. Despite the issues I had with it, it had an incredibly unique feel to it. It felt like nothing I had ever read before and has stuck with me for months since I first read it in August. The story sticks with you. It is worth the read, and I am excited to see the screen adaptation that may happen.