Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow audiobook vs book: which should you choose?
One part of this book is built out of chat logs, letter-spaced display type and mock newspaper headers.
Short answer: for the Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow audiobook vs book choice, we say either works (53% confidence, close call). The audiobook is read by Jennifer Kim, with Julian Cihi on Part VII, and runs 13 hrs 52 mins. It won an AudioFile Earphones Award and the book is long, but the timeline reaches backwards and forwards, so neither format clearly wins. Part IX’s chat logs and display type are in the printed book, though no source says the plot is lost in audio.
Either works
An award-winning narration of a long book points to audio, while a timeline that reaches backwards and forwards through ten parts points to print.
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Confidence 53%, which puts it in the close call band. Bands run from close call at 50 to 64, through leaning at 65 to 79 and clear at 80 to 94, up to clear cut at 95 and above.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Gabrielle Zevin
- Genre
- Literary fiction
- Published
- 2022
- Length
- 416 pages
- On audio
- 13 hrs 52 mins
- On screen
- Feature film dated for November 2027
On this page
Why we reached this verdict
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions. They are based on research into what most people find easier to follow in each format, not on whether the book is any good.
Listening: award-winning or praised narration (6), long book (3), 9 points. Reading: jumping timelines (8), 8 points. The points split 53% listening to 47% reading, which is too close to favour either format, so the verdict is either works at 53% confidence (close call).
The recording at a glance
- Narrated by
- Jennifer Kim reads almost the entire novel. Julian Cihi reads Part VII, 'The NPC', only
- Length
- 13 hrs 52 mins on most retailers, or about 9 hours 15 minutes at one and a half times speed. Penguin Random House states 13 hours 53
- Publisher
- Random House Audio, 5 July 2022. Penguin Audio in the UK from 14 July 2022
- What audio adds
- The narrator changes at Part VII, so the recording marks that section with a voice change print does not have
- What you miss
- The chat transcript blocks, avatar handles, letter-spaced display type and mock newspaper headers in Part IX, and the staggered layout in Part VII
What this book actually is
The book has ten numbered and titled parts, set as Roman numerals, spanning about thirty years from two children meeting in a hospital games room to their adult careers designing video games. It is third person, close on one character at a time, mainly the two friends, with a third character also followed. It does not run strictly in order: the narration reaches backwards and forwards inside scenes, and perspective shifts are not signposted by chapter headings, so the reader identifies them from context.
Two parts break the pattern, and they are not the same part. Part VII, 'The NPC', is written in the second person, mostly in present tense, addressing a character while he is in a medically induced coma. Part IX, 'Pioneers', is the game-world section, third person and past tense, and it interrupts its own prose with material set out as game interface. The publisher's own reading guide identifies three places where the novel changes its form to copy the structure of the games.
The case for reading it
Part IX is the strongest argument for print. The section is built out of chat transcript blocks headed PIONEERCHAT, with avatar handles as speaker labels. EMILYBMARXX and DAEDALUS84 are visual jokes that depend entirely on spelling and capitals. There are mock in-world newspaper headers in full capitals, letter-spaced display type reading W E D D I N G, and system notification lines such as 'Emily has left Friendship' set apart from the prose. Part VII adds staggered, interleaved text during one sequence that splices a line of Emily Dickinson with a repeated word, where the broken-up layout is itself the point.
The numbered parts also help you find your way around. A reader can see the Roman numeral, turn back and find where a perspective or a jump in time happened, which matters more than usual in a book whose shifts carry no headings at all.
The case for listening to it
The case for audio is narrower but real. Jennifer Kim reads almost the whole novel. Having one narrator across a thirty-year span helps you keep track of who is who, which the unlabelled perspective shifts otherwise leave you to work out yourself. The production also makes one real change: Julian Cihi reads Part VII, and only that part. A reviewer who tracks audiobook production called the switch one of the most surprising they had encountered, and described the reading as a poignant and heartfelt performance. In print, that part is marked by a change of grammatical person. In the audiobook, it is marked by a change of narrator.
The audiobook in detail
Random House Audio released it on 5 July 2022, with Penguin Audio following in the UK on 14 July. It runs 13 hours 52 minutes on most retailers and 13 hours 53 on the publisher's own page, which is about 9 hours 15 minutes at one and a half times speed. Jennifer Kim reads almost all of it; Julian Cihi reads Part VII and nothing else, so the split between the two narrators is uneven. It is not a full cast and it is not dramatised. How Part IX is handled in the recording is not addressed by any published review, so whether the chat blocks and the handles get any distinct treatment is not something anyone has confirmed.
Who should ignore this verdict
Lean towards listening if you have already read it and want the Cihi performance, or if you find unlabelled perspective shifts easier to follow on audio than in print. Anyone who plays the kind of games the book is about will also follow the Pioneers material on audio because the conventions are already familiar.
Lean towards print if you want Part IX as designed: chat transcript blocks headed PIONEERCHAT, avatar handles, letter-spaced display type and mock newspaper headers. No published review addresses how the recording handles them.
Lean towards print too if you like to turn back to a Roman numeral to find where a perspective or a jump in time happened, since the shifts carry no headings.
Read differently from most people? The app, coming soon, will let you switch off any of the thirteen checks. Get notified →
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Fourth Wing
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Start hereHow we decide
The thirteen questions behind every verdict on this site.
Questions people ask
Who narrates the Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow audiobook?
Jennifer Kim reads almost the entire novel. Julian Cihi reads Part VII, 'The NPC', and only that part. It is a two-narrator recording with a deliberately uneven split, not a full cast and not dramatised.
How long is the Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow audiobook?
13 hours 52 minutes on most retailers, and 13 hours 53 on Penguin Random House's own page. That is about 9 hours 15 minutes at one and a half times speed.
Why does the narrator change part way through?
Part VII, 'The NPC', is written in the second person and set during a character's coma, and Julian Cihi reads that section on his own. The change of voice marks a break that the printed book marks by changing grammatical person instead.
Should I read or listen to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow?
Either works, on our checks (53% confidence, close call). An award-winning narration of a long book is set against a timeline that reaches backwards and forwards through ten parts.
What is the Pioneers section?
It is Part IX, roughly twenty-eight pages set inside a game world, told in third person past tense. Its distinguishing feature is typographic: the prose is interrupted by chat transcript blocks, avatar handles, mock newspaper headers, letter-spaced display type and in-game system lines. It is a different part of the book from the second-person section.
Do you agree with this verdict?
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How this verdict was reached
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions, set in advance and applied identically to every title. They are based on research into what readers and listeners generally find easier to follow in each format, not on personal preference, and they are published in full so you can check the reasoning yourself. Verdicts are never paid for, sponsored or influenced by affiliate partners.
- The criteria: read the thirteen questions in full.
- What we checked for this book: publisher and retailer run times, the narrator split, the publisher's own reading guide, and direct inspection of the parts where the typography changes.
- Verdict last reviewed: 23 October 2026. Editions and narrators change, so verdicts are rechecked annually.
- Prefer different criteria? The app, coming soon, will let you change which of the thirteen questions matter to you.
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