Book Review: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

I truly don't even know where to begin when it comes to talking about TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW. Because, wow. It's a novel that I initially picked up solely for the cover (because I'm a sucker for the exact design style it has). I then picked it up to read with cautious optimism given that it was getting so much praise, and had been a 2022 favorite for so many people... and it clearly worked out very well for me, given that it's left me with the temptation to simply keyboard smash and demand that others read it too.

I will, however, do my best to give this book the actual review it deserves from me. I'm fairly confident this is the first novel I've ever read from Gabrielle Zevin, but it certainly won't be my last because everything about it just really was my cup of tea: the character work, the narrative tempo, the storytelling style (including the actual writing). All of Zevin's clever authorship comes together to weave a story that had me in its grasp from the minute I started listening to the audiobook (more on the listening experience to come at the end of this review), tying together plot, characters and narrative style with an expertise that I am always awed by and quick to consume when I find it in a book.

But it's truly the characters - Sadie, Sam, and even the members of the ensemble that come and go in their lives over the year - that made TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW work for me. There's nothing I like better than to feel like the people I'm reading about could potentially exist somewhere out there in the world; it's more than likely to be the case when an author is fully able to capture most of that individual's essence by giving us a glimpse into their dreams, downfalls, joys, griefs, frustrations and flaws. These folks didn't always do or think in ways that I appreciated, but the human quality of that (we're alike in many ways, but different in others) always make things feel more real to me as a reader. Because I came to care so deeply for so many, it only makes sense that, as my journey through their lives continued, I felt it all with them when they hit those highs and lows.

If you can't tell, I clearly enjoyed TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW. I'm still tempted to keyboard smash at this point and just insist that everyone read it because it's a very good book indeed... so consider this your sign to go and acquire a copy if you haven't already.

RE: the audiobook - I wound up having an Audiobook Listening Copy of this title, narrated by Jennifer Kim & Julian Cihi, thanks to the influencer program with Libro.FM. I liked the audiobook experience a great deal, and felt like the narrators did a good job in bringing this story to life for my ears.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Pub Info: July 5, 2022 by Knopf

Source: ALC received from Libro.FM (Thank you!)