Tomorow and tomorrow and tommorrow WITH spoilers

[Tracy]

Like I said in my mid-book review, I didn't hate it. However, I do hate video games. So much. Especially the role-playing multi-player kind the kids in this book were making. (GO PLAY OUTSIDE!) I skipped so many sections of this book that described the plots, engines, etc. of the games. And I had trouble liking Sadie (but I love that name). As soon as I'd start liking her or sympathizing with her, she'd turn into a bitch again. I don't understand why Sam liked her so much and let her crap all over him. I liked Sam - he was sweet and I sympathized with him. I liked Marx and was sad he died, but I didn't like the way his dying was written. Though I realize it was probably meant to be a tribute to video games, like Zork or something text-based where the creator is putting you in the game (or dying, in Marx's case). "You are in a forest. To your west you see a small white house at the base of a hill. What do you do?" I liked that the Asian-Americans explored their culture, heritage, art, through video games even though I didn't like reading about the games themselves - the inspiration for the art or story coming from their culture was an interesting element. The Dov/Sadie relationship was weird once he got into S&M. That seemed pointless.

I would try another book by this author as long as there are no video games.

[Debby]

I agree with this. I was interested in some of the characters and wanting to see what was going to happen to them. But I hate video games and there was a lot of what seemed like name dropping. Game dropping? Just a list of games for no reason.

There were a lot of things about the Dov/Sadie thing that seemed pointless to me. But maybe that's because I didn't like him at all from the beginning because he was so creepy.

Someone in the "non spoilers" thread mentioned that it seemed like it could have ended at multiple times and I would agree with that, for sure.

[Tracy]

regarding the name dropping, I wondered if those were real games and designers or made up for the book. but I wasn't interested enough to actually look them up.

didn't hate it, but it's not on the Keep pile.

[Tracy]

Chris wrote: "I'm not a gamer, but live with one :) I enjoyed this book, but not enough to put a sticker on it. Won't be re-reading.

I've discovered about myself, that I really enjoy fantasy...something that ta..."

I agree with most of this. I love that our book club gets me reading things I'd never normally pick up. Even if I end up not finishing, at least I tried. Some of the fantasy books we've read in the last couple years I ended up really liking, and I never would have guessed I would.

I hated how Marx died and agree I would have liked to see his character more developed. Sadie was so hard to like, and Sam got frustrating at times. The one really likable character was kind of an extra and we didn't get to know him very well.

I skipped over the Pioneer Game. That was one of the things I found most annoying about the book, when they tried to put us in the games. I skipped all of those, and was especially annoyed at the pioneer one - that was so long! I did just fine because it was referenced and described later in the book, I got the gist of it without actually having to read it.

[[deleted user]]

I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was brilliant. I never have been into video games. But I loved the glimpse into the world and I walked away with some empathy for gamers and how it is a route for escape from the world, illness, etc.

I loved all the characters. I appreciate complicated characters, unlikable characters. Really love them. I loved the Sadie and Sam relationship. I loved that they didn’t become romantic partners and that their relationship was more, not less because they never got romantic. I appreciated their ups and downs. I think they were in part because of the challenges Sadie faced as a woman in the male dominated gaming world and Sam’s obtuseness of that. They both loved each other and shit on each other.

I loved Marx’ death. How it happened, how he died. The gunshot and aftermath seemed spot on. A friend of mine was shot in the torso by a Trumper a few months ago. I followed his progress on FB and the description seemed so spot on. My friend survived but barely. I didn’t think he would. So that part of the book resonated with me.

I loved the way his death was written and I felt it was perfecty done considering the story. And so creative.

I loved how Sadie and Sam end up meeting in a game he developed specifically for her. I loved the hopefulness at the end.

For me this book really beautifully tackled grief, loss, friendship, the imperfect ways we deal with all three, especially grief, and how we balance facing it and taken times to escape it. I loved the juxtaposition of how Sadie and Sam dealt with grief—both imperfectly, although Sam does a better job, but because he’s gone through it already.

This was a 5 star read for me!

[[deleted user]]

And apologies if I came off too exuberant. I just loved this book and was surprised it was a 5 star read for me! Really touched me in many different ways.

[Tracy]

One of my favorite things about this book club is when we are split over liking a book or not - especially if I don't like it then some of you do.

I really didn't like much about this book, so it was really interesting to see what other people got out of it. I hate it when people say a book is bad rather than they didn't like it - books are so subjective! I feel like our conversations are so good, even when we don't all feel the same way about a book. Thanks so much to all of you for sharing!

What other books have we disagreed on - The Honey Bus for sure, and maybe one of the Patchet books? Those are the most fun discussions!