Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and Tomorrow

By Gabrielle Zevin

Do I not enjoy video games or was this really just a bad book?

The Ugly Truth:

Quickly filed it away into my “Never Read Again” folder.

Before anyone comes at me, please know that my book club gave me a good verbal assassination already, throwing every barb and blade possible to try and help me see the gloriousness of this book. I just… couldn’t.

As mentioned above, and similar to everyone leaving reviews, our book club was swayed by the powers-that-be (thank you, Oprah and Reese) to pick up this long-winded saga of… nothing.

At first, I thought the reason I did not enjoy the novel was because I am not a gamer. I have no passion for that world and, frankly, no understanding of what goes into building a video game even if it is explained to me a multitude of times. My experience with games starts and ends with Wii’s infamous Guitar Hero.

That being said, I believe that my discontent with the story stems more from the characters than anything else. Many of us like to refer to Sam and Sadie as complex and misunderstood characters when the reality is much, much simpler. Sam was a socially awkward narcissist who blamed others for any failure in his life and Sadie was a lonely, decently smart girl with even smarter friends who craved male validation more than the latest cast of Too Hot to Handle. The story follows their lives starting at the cusp of their teenage years through the hardships of their twenties and ending around the time they have found “success.” The narrative tries to portray the idea of growth when, in fact, neither main character shows any by the end of the novel. In fact, it almost seems like they are right back to where they started, alone and insufferable, so much so that they have to turn to one another or risk having no one.

The book is marketed as one that celebrates the trials and triumphs of life and friendship, but there is no joy in these pages. Sam is a jerk who does not know how to be a good friend and Sadie is a moody brat who I would enjoy speaking with for all of thirty seconds. They both think they are better than any form of higher spirit and create a friendship based on competition, jealousy and, honestly, hatred.

Beyond the actual characters, interspersed throughout the novel are long proses commenting on today’s society and the problems within it. While I felt that ~some~ points raised were interesting, it felt like a layer that just was not needed. We already had enough turmoil going on in the pages, let's not relate it back to our own lives as well, please.

Overall, Marx was the only redeemable thing about this book, and I think Zevin knew that, and even recognized that the character just did not fit in the world she created, so took the only way out with his plotline.