By: Gabrielle Zevin
Recommend
TLDR: Gamers and bookworms unite! If you happen to love video games and reading – this book is for you. It’ll hit you with all the 90’s and early 00’s gaming nostalgia with a lot of really fun symbolism woven in. It lagged at certain points for me, but never enough to make me put it away without finishing.
I selected this book because of the focus on a friendship between the main characters as opposed to a romantic relationship – which felt new for me (at least based on what I’ve read recently). Oddly, the relationship between the two main characters left me thinking a lot about Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng, in that this friendship isn’t always an easy one and it’s often most complicated by things left unsaid between Sadie and Sam.
Nevertheless, following their journey from childhood friends to business partners (in their mid-to-late-30’s by the time the book wraps up) was an enjoyable experience overall. Zevin weaves in flashbacks where possible to add greater context to how Sadie and Sam each operate, which wasn’t always a seamless experience for me, but I can understand/respect the intention. You’ll also get tidbits about important friends and family members. The little bits of late 90’s and early 00’s nostalgia were reminders of the fun parts of my own childhood. Though I’ve never considered myself a true gamer, I can recall playing a number of the games referenced as experiences or inspiration for Sam & Sadie.
I also love that the title and cover art are symbolic to the story; I was confused by them when selecting the book, but I love when things pan out this way. Otherwise, this gets a “Recommend” because I wouldn’t consider it a page-turner through-and-through. There were lulls, but again – it never lagged enough that I wanted to quit before finishing.
Gabrielle Zevin has also authored several other novels and YA novels. TBD on whether I add any of them to the reading list. Up next: The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, which has unofficially been on the reading list for years thanks to one of my favorite High School English teachers.
