Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

An ode to video games and the creation of art, this book tells the story of two childhood friends with a complicated personal relationship and an epic creative collaboration. Sam and Sadie meet as youngsters under fraught circumstances and forge a bond over video games. Years later as young adults, they cross paths again and feel a magnetic, unstoppable pull to create games together. Their strengths compliment each other, but their unrelenting passion (/stubbornness) to actualize their vision often puts them at intense creative odds. But through the turbulence of their lives, they always come back to the game.

Firstly, thank you to Alyssa for sending me a copy of this book! After seeing it on so many TBRs and reading positive reviews, I was eager to see what the hype was about. Sadly for me, this book was just okay. Many aspects of reading this book – tangibles and intangibles – made the narrative feel unbelievable to me. And when the narrative is unbelievable, I can't immerse myself in it. I feel like a reader reading rather than an emotionally invested third party. The traumas the characters experience don't feel real. Most of the characters are unlikeable, and the only character that is likable is faultless, and therefore completely unbelievable. The “love” between characters doesn't feel real, or developed enough. The author experiments with different narrative styles, but never sticks to one, which feels indecisive and fractured.

I enjoyed some of the video game metaphors for life, appreciated the literary references, and found the reading experience to be easy and at least somewhat pleasant. I can see how this book might resonate more for those with a passion for video games, but I didn't find it particularly special.