Okay I really wanted to walk away from this thinking it was overhyped but it absolutely was not. Gosh it was so amazing. I'm blown away by Zevin's character building and writing. Every word captivated me. Sam and Sadie's long term relationship is complex and beautiful. I hated and loved both of them both as individuals and together at different points of the book. Zevin captures the mundane as well as the extravagant so well. 
When I started it, I knew nothing of this book, other than that everyone is obsessed with it. It surprised me how devastating it was. I'm not going to lie, I was a bit turned off by the reasoning behind the actions of the climax, for a lack of a better word in an effort to not spoil. However, that did not break the book, because Zevin's writing is just that good. I actually cannot speak enough about how amazing her prose is. Everything from sequence to structure to language felt so intentional and contributed to the world Zevin created. I know nothing about gaming, but Zevin took me into the world and community of gamers, I so desperately wished I could play Mapletown. I also loved the side characters, the professor/bf/mentor was horrible, but I loved him. Marx was perfect in all his complexities and extremely relatable. And everyone else who influenced the lives and experiences of Sam and Sadie contributed to the community Zevin created in her pages. A must must must read. Top 10 of 2022, easily.