It’s Complicated: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie or TV show with characters that frustrate you but somehow keep you coming back for more? That was Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin for me. This follows a decades-long friendship turned creative partnership between Sam and Sadie as they develop video games and ultimately create the video game company beyond their wildest dreams.

Stories like this do remind me that I’m such a character-driven reader. If the plot is weak, I can deal as long as the characters are interesting and well-developed. The plot can be a slice of life story where nothing happens, but as long as the people drive the story, I’m there. And if the story spans several years—or even decades—allowing you to see these characters grow and change in hopes of achieving their greatest dreams? Sign me up! So naturally, I was intrigued by this work of fiction that I keep hearing so much about when it was published sometime in 2022. But I didn’t read it until about a year later when the hype was down, and I could dig into it without all that buzz.

Even several years later I still think about this book. Not because I loved the characters, was moved by the writing or thought the plot was particularly mind blowing. No, this story still sticks with me because of how much Sam and Sadie frustrated, annoyed, and upset me! From the moment I picked it up to when I put it down for good, these two were the bane of my existence. Granted, I’ve read stories with far more unlikeable and flawed characters than this, which is The Point (Yolk by Mary Choi and Yellowface by R.F. Kuang come to mind). But Tomorrow X3 is supposed to have you rooting for these underdog characters as they go against the odds to build this gaming company first conceptualized out of their dorm room at Harvard (think Facebook origins). They’re supposed to be friends, but as the story spans from their childhood to adulthood, I had trouble believing that they even liked each other.

But let me tell you, I could not put this book down. As much as these main—and even side—characters frustrated me, I was enthralled with this story. I am not a gamer. The closest I came to being one was when I played The Sims avidly as a teen. Now, every once in a while,  I reminisce and think I want to start playing again, but then I think about the time, money, and ware on my laptop and change my mind. So even with this limited experience in gaming, I was thoroughly invested in Sam and Sadie’s love for gaming that stemmed from childhood and how this love went into creating their first game after reconnecting in college. There was a lot of time spent on the creation of their game, Ichigo, and that really was one of the more fascinating aspects of the story. As the story goes on and more games are created, you don’t get the same attention and detailed explanations like that of the first game. But you do get the drama as they become increasingly successful and work to maintain their creative integrity.

What got me so worked up over Sam and Sadie was seeing little to no growth throughout the course of the story. There was no self-examination, and they remained so stubborn and set in their ways. They were aware of how their actions impacted one another and even those around them, yet they did nothing to change. Their issues were exacerbated by their lack of communication.

Even still, I was eager to see what would happen to them. I enjoyed the way the story was constructed by talking about the past, sharing glimpses of the future, and then bringing you back into the present. There were many time jumps and multiple points of view that weren’t clearly stated, so sometimes the plot felt scattered and in other instances really went off the rails.

The ending left me unsatisfied. It was open-ended, but not in a favorable way. More of a wait-that’s-it-are-you-kidding-me way. Shortly after finishing this, I read a review that described the author as a literary gamer, and it made so much sense to me. The writing felt so pretentious, from precocious Sam and Sadie in childhood to the creative “genius” they both became in adulthood. At times the dialogue, mannerisms, and personalities became too grandiose for its own good; you just needed to roll your eyes and keep moving along.

For Sam and Sadie, their journey was muddled with disappointments, failures, and many mistakes. As a reader, I really hoped for that redemption in the end that made it all worth it. But I finished the book not really caring about what happened to them or what they accomplished.

All that to say, I gave it 4/5 stars three years ago. Despite all my grievances, it was such a memorable read that I still think about to this day. Like I said, it’s complicated.