★★★★☆
Named by Goodreads and Amazon as one of the best books of 2022, Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is the story of a lifelong connection between game designers Sadie Green and Sam Masur.
The pair meet in a hospital when Sadie, 11, is visiting her sister Alice who has cancer. Twelve-year-old Sam is a patient in the hospital who hasn’t spoken to anyone in the months since his arrival after a tragic accident that killed his mother. Sam breaks his silence with Sadie as the two share a controller while playing video games in the children’s ward.
Their friendship suffers a blow and the two don’t speak for years until Sadie and Sam run into each other in Boston while attending different colleges. Again, their love of gaming brings them together as they decide to collaborate on their first game which quickly reaches blockbuster status, catapulting them into fame.
Sophie’s professor, Dov Mizrah, and Marx, Sam and Sadie’s mutual friend, play pivotal roles in the story.
I didn’t expect to like a book about the gaming industry, but I did. The literary fiction novel was creative, different, and captivating. I appreciated its organic references to gender fluidity, its exploration of the sexism Sadie faced, and the challenges Marx and Sam faced because of their mixed races.
And, as a child of the 80s who played video games with my Dad and brother, I loved the references to Super Mario Brothers and the Oregon Trail.
Although this book features flawless writing, a unique plot, and memorable characters, it falls short of being a book I would say I loved. My issue with it is how it glorifies the concept of a love-hate relationship between a man and a woman in the name of friendship. While I believed that Sam and Sadie loved each other, I struggled to see their connection as a deep friendship.
As someone who believes that men and women can be friends without becoming romantically involved, I was excited to see a book that revolved around this concept. I was hoping for a true friendship that was less fraught with misunderstandings, jealousy, and resentment. Having said that, I do think it is a book I could reread and understand differently at another time in my life.