Now this was not what I thought it would be… I did not like the book, but despite all the things that drove me mad, there were still some aspects I enjoyed. So, prepare for a rant.

„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.“

Blurb

First of all, parts of the book were simply boring and the story just drifted along. To me it felt like a mix between “A Little Life” and “Daisy Jones and the Six,” only nowhere near as strong or memorable. I absolutely did not care for the protagonists. Hardly any emotion came through and, even worse, they often acted like complete idiots. Their behavior was not comprehensible, at least for me. I actually cared much more about Marx, Zoe, or even Dong & Bong.

There is also a short scene (no spoiler) where Sam reflects on how well he and Sadie know each other. He then lists a whole series of things he “knows” about her. But in reality, he is just observing and presuming. Something about that passage really bothered me. Maybe it was trying too hard, maybe it was pretentious. I hesitate to use that word because I feel people who throw it around often sound pretentious themselves… but I honestly do not know.

And what was that “Pioneers” chapter supposed to be? I found it strange, and honestly a little pushy on Sam’s part. Maybe that is just me, or maybe I really did not get it.

And yet, despite all this, the gaming and music references were beautiful, amazing, and perfectly in tune with my generation. I also liked the last 30 percent of the book, where the plot finally picked up and more actually happened. And of course, Gabrielle Zevin can write. The atmosphere, descriptions, and comparisons were often really strong.

So in the end, this was a mixed bag for me, which is why it only lands as a 3-star read.

PS: I truly hope you enjoy it more than I did, and that you can explain to me what I missed or if I was simply not the target audience.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️