Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Often in love, never lovers. This line perfectly describes Sam and Sadie in Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. After missing out on their teenage years together, the two childhood friends reconnect in a subway station in New York. As if the idea was there all along, Sam instantly recognizes that he wants to build a game with Sadie.

“She almost seemed to be an extension of him, and he, of her. There is love here, she thought. In the end, she decided, with some amount of disappointment, that none of them were involved romantically”Chapter 6, page 120

With nothing to lose and everything to gain as young game programmers, they instantly fall back in sync and do all that they can to build Ichigo. As you follow their journey in building what they don’t know would be a best-selling game, you revisit their past, understanding how this unlikely friendship began and why they fell apart for so long.

Sam is a tough character to dislike. Whether it’s due to empathy for his injury or his exuberant passion for both game design and Sadie, you can’t help but see from his POV as you read through the book. Is he a perfect character? No. In fact, there are many moments where his pettiness, lack of emotional intelligence, and over-possessiveness will really irk you. But Sam never quite crosses the threshold of becoming unlikable. He’s flawed but who isn’t? Although there are many moments you wish you could steer him in the right direction, he somehow always finds his way back onto your good side.

Sadie on the other hand starts in your good graces and slips further and further out of it as the story continues. Yes, her character faces quite a few injustices throughout the book. Between her unfortunately relationship with Dov and the overall game community refusing to see her value and input in Ichigo, Sadie’s experience is that of women as a whole. But between her inability to see situations for what they are and the unforgivable treatment towards Sam, Sadie’s selfish behaviours make her terribly difficult to love.

“There were so many people who could be your lover, but, if she was honest with herself, there were relatively few people who could move you creatively.”Part V: chapter 1, page 217

Besides two very flawed (but interesting) characters, there are so many amazing elements in this book. Sadie’s experiences as a woman in the game industry. Sam’s inability to develop real feelings for women. Both of their family trauma. The exploration of how sometimes being partners in creation can form a deeper relationship than even love. All of these aspects (and more) made this book and incredibly enjoyable read for me.

I never thought I’d be mixing the worlds of gaming and literature but Zevin KO’d this one. GG.

✏️ Favourite Quotes

“There is a time for any fledgling artist where one’s taste exceeds one’s abilities. The only way to get through this period is to make things anyway.”

“this is what time travel is. It’s looking at a person, and seeing them in the present and the past, concurrently. And that mode of transport onyl worked with those one had known a significant time.”

“The way to turn an ex-lover into a friend is to never stop loving them, to know that when one phase of a relationship ends it can transform into something else. It is to acknowledge that love is both a constant and a variable at the same time.”