Title: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Author: Gabrielle Zevin

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Rating: ★★★★☆

Why I read it: One of the NYT Best 100 Books of the 21st Century that I said I would read this year

A friend sent me a post that suggested we (as a bookish community) should adopt “NRN: Not Right Now” for when you pick up a book that normally would check all of your boxes, but for whatever reason, you’re just not in the right headspace to enjoy it. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was, for a long time, an NRN for me.

I took possession of this copy back in January (6 months ago), as it was recommended to one of my friends by one of their friends (a friend-in-law, perhaps?). My friend could not commit to reading the book right now, and I casually mentioned that this was on my list to read for the year. They graciously allowed me to borrow it, and I was excited to get started. 

And then it sat on my bookshelf. And sat. And sat. Every time I picked it up, I just couldn’t get into it. A few pages here, a few pages there, it just wasn’t meshing with moods and other books were taking priority. This has been on my “up next” list since literally February. 

Finally, I decided that May was the month I was going to get serious and actually sit down to read it. I was on the clock, as I knew that the friend who lent it to me was coming to visit from out of state, and I wanted to be able to give it back to them. Nothing like the prospect of avoiding shipping costs to really motivate someone! With my feet to the fire, I pushed through, then on my own flight recently, I finished it, about one month after I set my sights on finishing, and 6 months after I swore I was going to read it next. 

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, is a beautifully crafted, well-imagined novel that walks you through the story of the three main characters as they navigate adulthood, their careers, and just about every challenge that can be thrown at you. It is a love story, but instead of centering on the traditional “boy meets girl,” it explores love through friendship, found family, and vulnerability. 

The book is slower in pace (if you couldn’t tell), and there are definitely parts that are emotional and, at times, sad. But, rest assured, those elements don’t take away from the beauty of the story, and how careful and particular the author broaches sensitive topics. The first half of the book builds the foundation for the second, and the second half is where I really fell in love with the story and couldn’t stop turning the pages. 

To cover some technical elements, the chapters are long, and the book itself is long. Not a bad thing for some, but for me, this was a bit of a pain point. I did enjoy how the author introduced new characters and gave a quick blurb as to why we should care about them. In a completely made up example, say a new character enters named Steve, the author would explain to the reader that Steve goes on to found the company that invests in their idea. I have never seen an author do this before, and it helped me categorize who I should care about, and who was just passing through. Also, the representation of characters was one of the best I’ve ever seen.

If you play video games and like reading at a slower pace, I’m confident you will enjoy this book. I dabble in PC gaming, and some console gaming, but never gave much thought to what goes into creating those games. This book did such a wonderful job detailing the life of a game designer and I couldn’t get enough. The behind-the-scenes look kept me interested and honestly encouraged me to game more frequently to appreciate it as the art it truly is. I just wish some of the games in the book were real so I could play them.

Notable quotes:

• Page 146, “To return to the city of one’s birth always felt like retreat.”
• Page 357, “The boredom you speak of is what most of us call happiness.”
• (I have numerous other quotes but they’re all spoilers… 🙁)

Okay, last thing I’ll mention – there is an accidental pregnancy trope. I know, I know, BUT the author does not dwell on it and you are very quickly moved onto another significant and extremely important plot point and the pregnancy fades to the background. Was the pregnancy necessary? Debatable, however I am happy that it wasn’t in my face for hundreds of pages. 

All-in-all, four stars because I think that this book was really good, it made me feel emotions, and had I read it in the winter (like maybe when I got the book), I think I would have had an easier time with it. I’m very much a mood reader, and the slow start didn’t help, but I truly did enjoy it, I promise! Some points were also deducted for the pregnancy thing and because the chapters were just too darn long, but applause to the author for being able to cover so many sensitive topics in society in such a neat, beautiful, not-so-little story.

TL;DR: Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes, definitely. Especially if they love video games.