Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

But it is worth noting that to be good at something is not quite the same as loving it.

This book perplexes me. It started off with a slow pace but I was engaged. I enjoyed the book but I wasn't sure where it was heading. However, I felt my reading speed was equivalent to a story with twice as many pages. I also wondered if the story was going to be a slightly less entertaining retelling of Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid but for video games.

I never considered stopping but it was as if I was treading in quicksand with the progress I made, and then something changed.

Either the character stories coalesced, the story became more enjoyable to me, or I was able to read for longer in a single session. Whatever happened it flipped my thoughts about the book around and I understand why this book was a Goodreads 2022 winner and has such a high rating.

The knowledge and experience we have - it isn't necessarily helpful, in a way.

I like video games. I haven't played as much as I did when I was younger but I recall a certain joy and nostalgia with the games that shaped my youth. The book has a heavy focus on video games, but not blatant on references like Ready Player One. Rather the story is a homage to the evolution of games, the struggles of an artist and realizing that you will have failures in your life.

Considering my many concerns about credit, it turns out that no one remembers who's responsible for anything.

Video games are a heavy focus in the beginning but then the story shifts to the characters, their friendships and complications. The relationships are complex. The characters hide their traumas and unintended slights cause a crack to appear that causes people to drift apart. Nothing is straightforward and nothing is easily repairable.

I liked how the video game development mirrored the narrative (eg: the development of Both Sides showing a compare and contrast with Sam and Sadie). I was reminded of how Fonda Lee wrote the characters in the Jade Wars and how the most unlikeable or insignificant character could have an emotional impact. What Gabrielle Zevin did for Sam, Sadie and Marx is stunning.

The way to turn an ex-lover into a friend is to never stop loving them, to know that when one phase of a relationship ends it can transform into something else. It is to acknowledge that love is both a constant and a variable at the same time.

The story is about friendships over the course of their lives, through the highs and lows. I was frustrated by the actions of Sam and Sadie in one chapter and then deeply moved in the next. Zevin did a wonderful job on developing these characters and maturing them over the course of the book and I was a little sad to see the book end when it did.

At it's best moments, this book does a really great job of being both about games and evoking the if-then logic of games and game decision points. It also has interesting stuff about game engines (how they shape and constrain creation) and collaboration (the Jobs+Woz dynamic of a salesperson and a designer). It also feels like it was written for late Gen-X or early Millenials - references to Donkey Kong, Oregon Trail, Everquest, etc.

I think I would've liked it more if it were shorter...I liked the first half much better than the second, and some of that is because the latter half ends up pulling in mass shootings and 9-11 in a way that didn't feel like it connected with the core of the novel.

I should add that I listened to this, and I do think reading it would provide even more of that if-then logic. It's hard to pay close attention to structure (the book does some interesting stuff with chapter titles and branching logics at one point that doesn't translate as well in an audiobook).

This is a beautifully told story about love and friendship, and how those two terms can both describe a single relationship. Love, work, and love of work are central themes.

The story focuses on Sam and Sadie, who meet as kids, by accident. They are a couple of brilliant introverts with a common interest in video games. Years later, they run into each other again, by chance, and it is Sam who is determined to stay in touch, with the specific hope of making games with Sadie. Eventually, they do just that, and by this time, there are other people in both of their lives, especially Marx, Sam’s college roommate, foil, and protector. Marx is an extroverted thespian into Shakespeare who coaxes Sam into bonding with him.

Sam has known trauma and adversity, is awkward socially, and is also self-conscious about a physical disability. Sadie must navigate the challenges of being the only woman in a room of gamers and struggles to be taken seriously in her career. She is also preyed upon by an important college professor.

After Sadie and Sam take a semester off school to produce a game that is ready for prime time, they launch their own company, called Unfair Games. Marx becomes their producer, a role for which he is perfectly suited.

Though Sadie and Sam are extremely close, their pasts and their insecurities will inform how they perceive each other over time. Misunderstandings, missed opportunities, along with their different perspectives make for a very unusual and rocky love story. And, through it all, Marx has an ever changing relationship with each one of them. He is the calm, happy one, providing support to them and keeping the company running.

The story of Sadie and Sam involves a tragic turn, to which they each react very much according to their characters. And author Gabrielle Zevin cleverly relates the games they play to the journey and choices make in real life.

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Netgalley for this amazing experience.

"Every person you knew, every person you loved, even, did not have to consume you for the time to have been worthwhile."

As much as I liked [b:The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry|18293427|The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry|Gabrielle Zevin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1404582137l/18293427.SX50.jpg|25694131], I was more cautious approaching this ARC. While I enjoy video gaming a lot (like, a lot, a lot), I wasn't sure how the experience of making video games would translate to a fiction book. I wanted my side hustle of a hobby to be represented well in books for other non-gamers to read and understand, and I was afraid there'd be an over-emphasis on all the negative aspects of the video game industry to sell books.

I was pleasantly surprised to actually really enjoy this book. Sam and Sadie, childhood friends, together with Sam's friend Marx, get together in college and make a game called Ichigo. It's a hit, and the book centers around these three turning their hit into a profitable gaming company while also navigating the pitfalls inherent in doing business with your friends. There's high points and incredibly low points, there's intense character development, and there's both happy and sad tears along the way.

My only hangups were that I thought the book overstayed its welcome a bit. I greatly enjoyed the buildup in the beginning to being a successful gaming company, and even allow that (seriously, don't click this spoiler if you plan to read this book) Marx's death was poignant, sad, and handled well, but I sort of checked out 2/3rds of the way through when we go through Sam's MMO stalker phase and Sadie finding him out. I thought that was unpleasant and desperate, and it felt a little out of character. The ending was sweet, though, and I thought it wrapped things up nicely, that part aside. I also despised Dov as a character, even understanding his role as a caricature of many things wrong with the gaming industry.

All that said, I enjoyed the journey this book took me on, and I'm glad I gave this book a chance. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.