[mild spoilers ahead, beware if you're very sensitive to that]
Not to be rude but I am genuinely shocked this book is as popular as it is. In short, I thought it was a little boring and often made me cringe in the first half or so, but I kept reading hoping it would get better, which it did! It had some merit, the characters got more realistic (or at the very least, relatable to me) and I thought I had decided to finish it after all. Then, I will not spoil it too much, but a character died that I really liked, in a way that I *really* did not like, in terms of writing nor story, and so I will not be finishing this novel (albeit I was relatively close to the end by this point). I've heard many good things about this book, so clearly it's something personal to me, or maybe the genre is just meant for further out of my demographic than I thought it was. To me, it felt like a knockoff of a John Green and/or Hank Green novel, both authors I thoroughly enjoy reading. I'm not sure what I didn't like about it other than generally "the tone/writing style," so I'm not sure how to articulate whether you should read it or not. Just know it's not for everyone I suppose, and if sudden character deaths make you angry then I would not read this. ( )

3.5 stars ( )

“What touched him the most was the sound of Sadie’s voice, untouched and clarion, speaking to him through a game, across time and space…. Sadie was speaking to Sam. After a long silence, he could hear her voice again, and he determined that what he felt was hope” (337).

This is an archaic story—a hero’s journey through worlds both known and unknown—encoded with a perfectly ‘90s-retro vibe. This is a story about the duality of a game in all its seriousness and playfulness; it’s about life as a game and the birth of an idea into a narrative and then into a game, something anyone can participate in, winning or restarting.

There are two main players in this story—Sadie and Sam, the sometimes collaborators, sometimes best friends, sometimes frenemies. Regardless of their status, though, they are unequivocally connected (always have been) so much so that “[Sadie] almost seemed to be an extension of [Sam], and he, of her” (120). In the cold, grey months of their late-college years, these childhood gamers reconnect in order to collaborate on creating the perfect game—Sam wanting to escape into worlds he builds and controls and Sadie wanting to prove her worth as an elite programmer and artist. Through a series of circumstances, including their authentic chemistry as creators, their relationships with friends and mentors in Cambridge, and the fortuitous time and place of the turn of the century, Sam and Sadie beat the odds, building an overnight success. But their newfound fame, past traumas and insecurities, and complicated working-personal relationships cause a perfect storm, leading to a decades-long odyssey of obstacles and possibility.

This book about gaming and relationships and storytelling is such a worthwhile read, causing a maelstrom of emotions, most especially the slight sting of nostalgia. And it’s that perfectly unique moment in time—right on the cusp of a technological explosion but still in the nascent gaming era—where we get to watch two tragic characters respond to the passing of time; the longing for absent people; and the contrast between an escapist, fantasy world and the reality of a sometimes dark, broken world. In the end, this is a story that you’ll want to restart again and again. ( )

Games People Play

Two young gamers, Sadie and Sam, begin a friendship passing the time during a hospital stay. The friendship develops into a creative relationship and a gaming company.
Along the way the relationship she became strained as the friends begin to play mind games with each other.
I enjoyed the writing, it was a fast read.
The story had insights into relationships, grief, disability as well as the creative process.
Unfortunately I am not a gamer, so the endless description of games bored me. ( )

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is a story of friendship and video games. Initially, the story had a slow start, and it took long enough to get to the point. I am myself a video game lover, and it was fascinating to read the technical details of developing a video game. Apart from that, the story focuses on love and friendship. I chose the book as a part of the #52booksin52weeks challenge.

Somewhere, I felt myself dragging myself along with the story. The characters were also not interesting. Although I have heard so much about the book, maybe it was not for me. I would give the book 3 stars. ( )