Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: our honest review. The video game novel everyone recommended — does it live up to the hype?
• You love literary character-driven fiction
• You're interested in creative partnership and what makes collaboration work
• You don't need a tight thriller plot to stay engaged
• You want a book that will make you feel things for a long time after you finish
• You need plot momentum to stay engaged
• You have no interest in creative industries or art-making
• You're looking for a breezy read — this is substantial fiction
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a novel about video game design the way The Social Network is a movie about coding — the subject is the surface, not the substance. Zevin is writing about creative ambition, the way two people can build something together that neither could build alone, and what happens when the partnership breaks under the weight of their individual needs.
Sam and Sadie are among the most fully realised characters in recent American fiction. Their friendship — across thirty years, through success and tragedy and near-destruction — is the entire book. Everything else is context.
You do not need to know anything about video games to love this novel. The gaming context is specific enough to feel authentic but Zevin explains what you need to know, and more importantly, the games are always in service of the characters — they tell you something true about how Sam and Sadie see the world.
One of the best novels of 2022, and one of the best of the decade so far. The second half is among the most emotionally affecting fiction written in English in recent years. Read it.
Score: 9.1/10. Essential. Don't wait for it to come to you.