Category: YA

2.5 star, YA

Review: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

In this exhilarating novel, two friends–often in love, but never lovers–come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.

This was another one I read for my bookclub, and was on someone else’s suggestion. Needless to say, it was not my favourite, though I believe it was for a couple of reasons. The premise is certainly interesting though, and ultimately I still had no trouble finishing the book.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow revolves around two main protagonists, Sam and Sadie, who have a long history together even from when they were kids. They were both obsessed with video games and end up going to school together and making excellent games. They have their share of qualms and squabbles too, and the story is about their individual journeys through life as they navigate success, failures, disabilities, and hard relationships.

Ultimately I just couldn’t like any character in this book, particularly the two main leads. The way they act is just completely toxic, and even if that is a part of the book, it just left a particularly bad taste in my mouth the entire time. And there’s a lot of it. A lot. The maturity was almost non-existent (though possibly explainable), but this did not really help. It is not necessary to like or love every character in a book, but it’s just easier to follow a book when you have someone you’re rooting for or at least appreciate. I just didn’t really get that from this book, so honestly it wasn’t the most fun from that perspectives.

The plot was interesting at times, and there are times where there are unique executions of the plot, which I appreciated. However, overall the story did not feel coherent enough, and the characters didn’t seem to grow even as they started making their second, third, or fourth games together. The same problems always came back up, and never dealt with it better. The “relationships” also had me frustrated, as I felt like it could really have been explored differently, yet eventually it just felt like it fell back into the same old tropes. This may again just be a personal preference, but I was really expecting more from this in terms of the relationship as well.

I would say I enjoyed the last…20–25% of the book, when I feel like there was finally some character development and some tense moments that weren’t just dealt with badly. So there was a redeeming feature for me for sure. However, if you perhaps relate to some of the characters more, that may also help the rest of the plot. There were also some awkward time skips throughout, flashbacks and flashforwards that came out of nowhere that I felt were more disorienting than helpful. The premise of making video games and actually going through the whole process of selling and designing what the public wants is super interesting though, so if you’re interested in that, I would still recommend this book. I just wouldn’t hold my breath about the other aspects.

Overall Recommendations

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is about two lifelong friends who grow up and eventually make successful video games together. Games are fickle creatures though, and the public can love one and hate another. Relationships strain as they try to navigate their career and successes and the diverging paths in life. The video game-making element is super interesting, and there is a decent amount of exploration into this topic if you are interested in it! However, I’d warn against reading it for anything much beyond that.

2.5 star, YA

ARC Review: The Boy You Always Wanted by Michelle Quach

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Francine always has a plan. Ollie wants no part of it.

Francine loves her grandfather, but their time together is running out. He has one final wish: to see a male heir carry on the family traditions. Francine knows his ideas are outdated, but she would do anything for him. Her solution? Ask Ollie Tran, a family friend (and former crush, not that it matters), to pretend to be ceremonially adopted and act like the grandson A Gūng never had.

Ollie generally avoids the odd, too blunt (and fine, sort of cute) Francine, whose intensity makes him uncomfortable. So when she asks him to help deceive her dying grandpa, Ollie’s not down. He doesn’t get why anyone would go to such lengths, even for family. Especially with a backwards (and sexist, Ollie keeps stressing) scheme like this.

Francine, however, is determined to make it happen, and soon Ollie finds himself more invested in her plan—and in her—than he ever thought possible. But as the tangled lies and feelings pile up, Francine must discover what exactly she needs for herself—and from Ollie. Because sometimes the boy you always wanted isn’t what you expected.

Overall Recommendation:

With deep insight into family responsibilities in an Asian household, The Boy You Always Wanted poses the question of love for our family members while struggling with cultural viewpoints that are outdated in today’s society. I find this read was particularly impacting because I 100% relate to the premise, however, for those who aren’t Asian or their families are not like this, the story can still be fun with the cultural elements an insight into the workings of the Asian diaspora.

**The Boy You Always Wanted comes out August 1, 2023**

Thank you Edelweiss and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review

When it comes to Asian representation in YA, you know I’m there. The premise of The Boy You Always Wanted hit close to home for myself and the author, and perhaps many of us who know what it feels like to be a girl in a culture where it’s seen as secondary.

Francine’s grandpa is dying but to deal with the grief of impending loss, she wants to make him feel at peace with what he’s leaving behind. I really loved this aspect of the story. I felt seen in this book, navigating Asian experiences in a modern world. While I understand people may come into this book with expectations of sexism resolved and people standing up for themselves, it’s not always quite so simple.

For the author and myself and any of you who knows what it feels like to be seen as less than in this way, the resolution isn’t something that may be present in the lifetime of those we love. I appreciated how Michelle asked that question throughout: how do we reconcile our deep love for our family members with the sexist and outdated views they carry in this modern society? I see it in myself sometimes as the granddaughter next to my younger brother. I see it in my mother’s family, to have 5 kids just so grandpa can ensure there is a son born into the line. I see it in my father’s family, where I’m treated slightly better as my father’s daughter than my cousin as my aunt’s daughter. How do I balance the love I have for my grandparents and the love I know they have for me even though certain comments don’t sit well? There’s no easy answer, and for that I appreciate it wasn’t just brushed aside so easily with a fix-all solution. Sometimes, there really is none. We can only hope to do better by teaching the next generation better.

That being said, while I loved the cultural aspects and deeper thought behind the story, everything else was not as great. I couldn’t get behind Ollie’s extremely dislikable character. He was awful to Francine, up front and in his thoughts since we get his POV. His redemption wasn’t enough, especially with how rushed the romance felt on his part. He wasn’t a terrible person as he did do his best to play the male heir part for Francine’s grandpa, but he just wasn’t very mature. I liked Francine well enough, even all the “quirks” that bugged Ollie and the others. I just don’t feel their romance worked as he didn’t respect her enough for so long. It was like the excuse boys pick on girls because they like them, not because they’re simply bullies.

The pacing was also a little slow with not much build. The climax wasn’t as crazy as I anticipated but at the same time was oddly predictable once the “twist” from left field was made known to us. I will reiterate that this story isn’t just for Chinese Americans or Chinese Vietnamese (which holds a dear spot in my heart). There’s lots that can be learned from such an intimate look at filial duties and family dynamic here, however, what propels you to finish it may be stronger if there is more of a personal connection like there is with me.

5 star, YA

Review: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Achilles, “the best of all the Greeks,” son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods’ wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.

I really didn’t want to cry, and I almost didn’t. But on the very last page I broke, which I think is appropriate in its own way. I had a couple friends recommend this to me as one of their favourite books, and I think I can see why. If you enjoy mythology like I do, I think this one especially hits hard.

The Song of Achilles is a retelling of the story of Achilles, as told through the eyes of Patroclus. It is a coming-of-age story combined with the classic myths of Achilles and the Fall of Troy. If you’re a mythology buff, you will also recognize many other characters. The story goes through Patroclus’s unfortunate upbringing up to his exile and training and finally their participation in the war against Troy. Of course, the gods are always meddling and placing their own cryptic prophecies ever guiding the paths of heroes and mortals alike. Just who and what will be sacrificed as each tries to reach their dreams?

Nothing should really come as a surprise in this book, as it doesn’t deviate too far from classical mythology in terms of the plot. I am not an expert in mythology but I know that the general plots were followed. However, there was so much more packed into this book. It literally starts from the very beginning with the birth of Patroclus, and it really takes us through the journey of his childhood, teenage-hood all the way up to his adulthood. We really get to see into his thoughts and the story really builds on his whole journey and his feelings all the way through.

The characters were very well crafted. Of course there is a baseline expectation for all the different mythological characters but Miller really executed them well. Odysseus was wily, Peleus was kind, and King Priam was also his meek self. The story almost felt real, even though the myth is literally a tale as old as time. I couldn’t help but be wrapped up in the emotional story, even as I knew what was coming.

The use of foreshadowing was excellent in this book. It really played on all my expectations of the book and augmented the emotional anguish I felt for what was coming. I had to pause every couple of pages at some point just to catch my breath because of how intense the feelings come through in this book. If you’re into that kind of storytelling, where the emotions really reign supreme, this one is definitely for you. The way all the plot devices were used to enhance the story were excellent, and the way the story completely revolves around Patroclus’s perspective really adds to that. We really only understand the world as through his eyes, and there is something about the deep connection that you form with the main protagonist that really strengthens the emotional bond that you form with him from minute one.

I can’t sing enough praises about this book, though I can see how it might be a bit more convoluted if you aren’t familiar with the characters and how they might act. But to me, I had a great time watching a good myth come to life, told in such an emotional manner that I had never experienced before and had not expected from this myth. I really felt for all the extremely tough decisions that had to be made, and how the gods and other higher men were always unfairly influencing his life, and just the general inevitable (Greek) tragedy unfolding before my eyes that brought me to tears. What a great cathartic read!

Overall Recommendations

The Song of Achilles is a heartbreaking tale of the Greek myth, and follows the life of Patroclus, Achilles’ ever-present companion. As usual, the story is subject to the wiles of different divinities, and the two must navigate the ancient political agendas and all their familial expectations. The foreshadowing was excellent and the emotional rollercoaster was truly something of a marvel. The fidelity to the original myth was also excellent, and something I look for. Overall a very very excellent read.