Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is an intricate literary fiction novel by Gabrielle Zevin that centers on old friends Sadie Green and Sam Masur and Marx Wantanabe, Sam’s college roommate. Sadie, Sam, and Marx create a gaming company together and face the complexities of love, relationships, and evolving life in this poignant, long story. I personally enjoyed the level of depth Sadie Green and Sam Masur contained. The author was able to weave the characters’ compelling backgrounds into their experiences and worldviews. I also liked that each main and side character had flaws, giving the characters a more human feel.
On the other hand, however, certain characters had flaws that I could not relate to and seemed very random. For instance, the author illustrates Marx as a perfect all-round person who is intelligent and good at understanding people. The only emphasized flaw the author points out is that Marx is consistently in new relationships and never settles, but even the author glorifies the flaw, and the other characters see this as a positive trait. I also believe that the multiple romantic subplots overtook the actual plot regarding the gaming company. I think the story would have been reduced in half if the author focused on the gaming company instead of writing about the main and side characters’ questionable relationships. I greatly disliked the romance between Sadie and her professor, Dov, as I felt as if the book and the characters downplayed the abuse and torture Dov inflicted on Sadie. I was even more frustrated when Sadie continued to keep in touch with Dov many years later. I think the author could have written a complete breakup between Sadie and Dov. As the story progressed, I could not relate to and support the other characters. Towards the last third of the book, I struggled to continue reading because Sadie and Sam did not mature emotionally, as they fought most of the time, and there was constant miscommunication. Sadie and Sam could have avoided their miscommunication if they developed character growth and were vulnerable to each other.
Despite the unnecessary relationship drama, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow certainly covered many aspects of the characters’ lives from childhood to adulthood, giving a complete picture of their perspectives. At the same time, I felt the story did not need some aspects, especially the romantic subplots. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance and extremely long books. I would caution people who like gaming from reading the book as the emotional content in the story relates to love rather than gaming.