November 2024 Top Novel: “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin

Some books feel like they land at exactly the right time in your life—and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was that book for me this November. I picked it up expecting a story about video games (which, to be fair, it is), but what I didn’t expect was how much it would sneak up on me emotionally.

Gabrielle Zevin puts together a decades-long story of friendship, ambition, and the complicated ways we connect; sometimes better through pixels and screens than we ever manage face-to-face. At the center are Sam and Sadie, childhood friends who bond over a shared love of games. But the book isn’t just about coding or creating worlds, but it’s about the people we become while chasing dreams and the costs that come with them.

What hit me hardest is how Tomorrow captures that feeling of growing up alongside someone; loving them fiercely but never quite being on the same page at the same time. It reminded me of the friends who shaped who I am, the ones who drifted away, and the ones who stayed; flawed, human, messy. Zevin doesn’t romanticize friendship; she makes it real. And that’s what makes this book hurt in the best way.

There’s also something nostalgic in how Zevin writes about games. Not just as entertainment, but as art, escape, and sometimes, survival. If you’ve ever thrown yourself into a project, a hobby, or a world that felt more real than reality, this story will be relatable.

By the end, I wasn’t ready to let Sam, Sadie, or Marx go. It’s a rare book that makes you want to revisit it and not for plot twists, but just to sit with the characters a little longer.

If you’re looking for a read that explores love (but not always romance), creativity, grief, and the beautiful, brutal process of making something that matters, then this is the one. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t scream for attention. But it lingers in your head long after you close the last page.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was my favorite read this month—and maybe one of the most quietly brilliant books I’ve read all year.