DNF at 50% - by no means a bad book, was fine for the part I read, but was right as I fell into an awful slump and I haven't been able to continue with it unfortunately! Will try again in future

I really liked the You've Reached Sam. I didn't really care for Julie though. I felt she could be a little rude but maybe that's just me. Although, I feel like she wasn't treated with enough compassion from the adults in her life. It definitely pulled at my heart string though. I would most likely reread this book.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the ARC in return for my honest opinion.

This book evoked so many mixed feelings in me when I started reading it, and then made me bawl my eyes out for 3+ hours straight when I was about to finish it. I'm not lying that is exactly the dynamics of this book. The book primarily talks about Grief and memories, and both are such things that do funny things to you and they are something not all people experience the same way.

While mostly all the characters in living in the grief of Sam dying (not a spoiler... it's like how the book starts okay. So keep your tissues ready. ) but we get to see Juile's side the most. She's not reading to let Sam go, and can't still process losing him. One of the things I wrote while noting down notes on Storygraph was this - "How she is questioning how others perceive her coz as much as we lie, perception affects us. And for her, the coping mechanism she is using is quite different from those others. She is lost, trying to forget and remember at same time so there is that. - My thoughts "

And because I want to make other people feel the pain of this book here you go with a quote from the book:
I grab his arm. “Take me with you,” I say.
He smiles at me . “We can go together next summer. After graduation.”
“Promise?”
“Don’t worry, we can travel every summer for the rest of our lives, okay? You and me.”
Yep I guess this one was one of the instances that completely broke me.

The first half or so of the book did feel a little bit flat to me. Mainly because I was wrapping my head around the magical realism aspect of this book while constantly assuring me this isn't the reality. But it hits you hard you know. But coming back to the book, I was more engaged in how the story was unfolding and I couldn't point a particular direction it was going in. While I completely understand Julie's actions - the fact that she was distancing herself so much from other people in her life became kind of frustrating at one moment. But it's something she cannot be blamed for and hence I continued on with the story (blame the mediator in me).

Did Julie's POV made me feel sad? Immensely. But it was when more of other character's POV was introduced in the book that was properly hooked. I felt terrible for Sam and there were a couple of theories and scenarios that I pictured about him in my head. I wanted to give Oliver a hug and warm blankets... you'll know why when you read it. Sam's brother? At the end when the certain thing happened... I had been already crying but it made me cry harder.
The book very beautifully and realistically captures what goes through someone when the die - a blame game starts with you in the center. Too many maybe's come - Maybe if I did this, this would happen and on and on . With it comes the uncertainty about whether the person who went away hated you or not. And it's the most terrible feeling ever.

While my heart ached for everyone, it was Mika and Sam's brother that I felt for the most. They knew Sam the longest, after his parents, and they considered Julie a part of their family as much as Sam... so it was naturally even more heartbreaking for them when they couldn't contact Julie. For me, I believe that the whole plot of magical realism was to show how grief and "holding" on to something you cannot reach forever distances you further from the reality. I still don't understand how Julie was able to remain in contact with Sam, but at the end of the day I am absolutely glad I read this book (even if it gave me a bad headache... )

(no... I was absolutely didn't tear up or switch to badass songs while writing this review. /nsrs)

I was provided with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review via netgalley

You’ve Reached Sam was a poignant, heartbreaking story about love, growing up, moving on, and finding yourself again. ⁣
⁣
Sam dies a few months before high school graduation, and his girlfriend Julie is reeling from the sudden loss. But when she discovers an otherworldly connection to Sam, she realizes she hasn’t lost Sam - yet. What ensues is a story about what it means to say goodbye when everything - and everyone- you love is on the line. ⁣
⁣
The writing and pacing of this story felt a little clunky here and there, and was definitely a little messy, but I think it worked for the way the story was being told. We jump between the past, and Julie’s memories, to the present, which can get a little jarring. Overall, I think this is a heartfelt debut that most people would enjoy.

You've Reached Sam is a story about death of a loved one and grieve. Julie and Sam have everything planned out, moving together and attending university, but suddenly he died in an accident. Julie dealt with the death of her boyfriend, Sam, and suddenly one day, Sam picked up her phone call and that's when she knew she have second chance to reconnect with her death boyfriend. I must say Sam is kind of cut board character, maybe because we only see him from Julie's lens. Julie is the interesting one between the two, although she's a bit bland too, but at least how she cope with grief was so real and raw. This book got 2.8/5, rounded to 3 stars.

Absolutely heartbreaking yet beautiful.
I knew this book would make me sad but I didn't expect to be so emotional about it. The perception of grief was wonderful and I really fell in love with these characters. I'm definitely purchasing a physical copy asap.

Unraveling eleven through me straight back into the action. It was almost a year since I read the first book in the series, but there was more than enough context clues for me to get thrown back into the story with little to no confusion.

The pacing was a bit off at times and in some ways it felt like the story was moving backwards during this book. However, it there was still enough going on to hold my interest.

Overall, I did enjoy Unraveling Eleven and I look forward to read the final book in the trilogy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A story of regrets, loss, and moving on. We don't get second chances, but when we do what do we do? I cried from this book as it tackles grief and how it affects our protagonists lives. Julie isn't the perfect protagonist that we often see. She's hurting and doing everything to quicken the hurting phase by trying to get rid of all reminders of her boyfriend, Sam. The story takes a while until everything starts rolling, and the story focuses more on Julie's life now as she tries to navigate life without Sam.

A journey of healing and leaning on those around us to get through the rough times as we all handle grief through different means.

You’ve Reached Sam is a moving story about grief and loss, an examination of what it means to say goodbye to the person you love most; it’s about letting go & holding on, the impossible balance of these two things, and how we stay connected to the people we love even after they’re gone.

Julie, the protagonist, is grieving. She lost her boyfriend, Sam, in a car accident—one she blames herself for, at least in part—and all she wants is to forget about all the things that connect them. But then, in a moment of desperation, she calls Sam—and he picks up. It’s clear from the start that this impossible connection between them would only ever be temporary, but the more time Julie spends talking with Sam on the phone, the more she wants it to be like this forever. At the same time, she’s very much aware of life going on: graduation is looming on the horizon, and all the plans she and Sam made before are no longer possible. But how will she be able to move on, when all she wants is to keep Sam in her life, in whatever way there is?

I truly love the concept of You’ve Reached Sam. Books about loss and grief are so important to me, and I think they can be a powerful source of comfort for those who have experienced loss themselves. I think the way the story jumps back and forth between the present and the past is very true to the process of grieving: you see the person you lost everywhere, memories of them blooming like flowers in spring, and it’s this heartbreaking combination, both painful and joyful, because you don’t want to forget them, but remembering them hurts.

I enjoyed Julie’s character development in You’ve Reached Sam a lot, too. Grieving can be a lonely, isolating thing—especially if feelings of guilt are involved, which they often are, when you lose someone you love. Julie isn’t particularly “likeable” in the beginning of the book, the reason being mainly that she’s so focused on her own tragedy that she doesn’t realise that the people around her—Sam’s family, his cousin, his best friends—are grieving, too. As the story progresses, Julie finds herself in this strange position: one step in the past, with Sam on the phone; one step in the present, a world in which he can never exist in the same way he did before. Through all this, it takes Julie a long time to realise that she isn’t alone, but as the weeks go by, she makes new connections (or works on restoring old ones)—and, in this, she slowly, slowly begins to heal.

What I truly appreciated about You’ve Reached Sam is the idea that letting go of someone doesn’t have to mean that you’ll forget about them. Instead, it’s about finding a balance; living life and staying in the present, on the one hand, while also looking back & honouring the memories of the people you loved, from time to time.

All that said, I sadly didn’t love You’ve Reached Sam as much as I hoped I would. It didn’t have the emotional impact on me I thought it would have, which I feel is due mainly to the fact that most of the characters—aside from Julie—don’t feel very fleshed out. And that goes especially for Sam: he’s present for almost the entire book, through the phone calls on one hand & through Julie‘s flashbacks of their time together on the other, and still I never really got the feeling of knowing him. That made grieving for him very hard. It also bothered me that the theme of connection—which was the main theme of the story—was only focused on Sam and Julie. There were two moments in which he was able to reach out to people other than Julie, but even then, there was the impression that these conversations weren’t as necessary or profound to him, which just feels very strange to me. He clearly loved his family and his best friend, but the only thing that really mattered, throughout the entire book, was his connection with Julie. I just don’t feel like that’s realistic, and I wish his other relationships would’ve been explored a bit more thoroughly. Mika, Sam’s cousin, and Oliver, Sam’s best friend, were the only characters that felt even close to as complex as Julie in their emotions, their sadness and helplessness surrounding Sam’s death.

Overall, I think people who’ve experienced loss themselves will find comfort in You’ve Reached Sam and the message it conveyed: that letting go of someone doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to keep and cherish the memories you have of them, as long as you don’t forget to live your own life as well. Sadly, I didn’t connect as deeply with any of the characters as I hoped I would, but I still appreciate this book for its honest portrayal of grief, and I’m thankful for the opportunity of reading it!

You've Reached Sam hit hard in the feels, let me tell you. Especially if you're like me and you're scared of losing your loved one (boyfriend, girlfriend, your partner, whoever you care about) so when I saw this book was about a teenage girl whose boyfriend died suddenly. She feels guilty for how things went and some people believe it's all her fault. And somehow, when she calls his number, Sam picks up. She can hear him, talk to him as she tries to deal with her grief, and eventually make peace with what happened to move on.

I'm not the biggest fan of magical realism, it's why I didn't connect completely with the story and couldn't help but not believe what was going on and trying to find a realistic scenario to what was going on. However, that's just my personal genre preference but other than that this was a really good read and I'm glad I got to it!

<i>(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

I love this book. It's beautiful and sad and yet hopeful at the end. Julie isn't the most likeable character, but she's realistic. Grief is often ugly, and it makes people ugly sometimes. I love how real the story is. Her and Sam's last phone call is heartbreaking and made me teary. Great story for anyone who wishes they had a second chance to say goodbye.

A beautifully devastating story that truly captures grief and love and what it is like to love as a teenager. 4 stars. I loved the characters and the writing and will definitely be picking up more by this author.

Primeira decepção do ano concluída com sucesso!

Não sei exatamente porque essa história foi contada. É legal a ideia de que ela liga pro namorado que morreu e ele atende, mas só isso não torna a história interessante por si só. É um atrativo maneiro para começar a ler (ou escutar, no meu caso), mas depois disso absolutamente nada de interessante acontece!

A protagonista é uma chata (até mesmo antes do luto) e não apresenta evolução satisfatória nenhuma durante a história. Os capítulos gigantes também não ajudam e durante muitos momentos eu fiquei entediado e com muita vontade de abandonar na hora, o que salvou foi a fluidez da história e alguns personagens secundários que me pareceram legais. No início o próprio Sam era legal, mas sequer houve um desenvolvimento legal para que eu pudesse me relacionar com o luto da protagonista. Uma pena não ter funcionado para mim.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I do wish that I learned more about Sam before he passed and we were given the story from his friends and family's POV. You truly feel Julie's pain through Dustin's writing. It was gut wrenching and made me connect to the book easier. The supporting characters were great and I liked how they supported Julie along the way. However, I don't think we as the reader were given a great idea of who Julie was outside of her relationship with Sam.

This book made me SOB. Absolutely recommended for anyone who loves a good cry -- the characters were developed and easy to emotionally connect with.

I just couldn't finish this book no matter how many times I have tried to read this book. It's just excruciatingly slow for me and it felt like a chore reading. Believe me when I said I tried to read every night just to finish this but eventually gave up halfway through the book because it wasn't going anywhere and its so boring for me. Thank you so much to the publisher for granting me an arc of this book!

“Sam is never coming back, but somehow I keep on waiting for him.”

Book Details:
-Fiction / Magical Realism
-Explores grief

Writing
This novel is a very poetic way to explore grief. The main character walks us through many of her memories with Sam, and the way these are interwoven with the present is beautifully done. At times I did get a bit confused when we jumped into a new memory, but overall it was a great story.

Portrayal of Grief
I really appreciate the thoughtful way grief is portrayed. And that everyone is shown grieving differently (e.g., going to a funeral and honoring someones memory, needing space from ceremonies, etc). It felt clear that the author has an understanding of grief.

Overall
I would highly recommend this book if you want a unique twist on a novel that explores the grieving process

Julie has her whole future planned out. Her and her boyfriend Sam know what they are going to do once they graduate college. They have all these plans, but when he suddenly dies that all changes. Julie is now struggling with his death. One day, she calls his phone just to hear his voicemail when he picked up the phone. Now, Julie has been given a second chance to say goodbye and she is determined to hold onto it.

Picking this up, I really was expecting to cry and be absolutely heartbroken. Now, that didn't happen to me, but I also haven't dealt with grief in this way which I think could be a factor into that. But, there was something here that really didn't allow me to feel emotionally connected to the story like I was certain I would.

While it didn't leave me heartbroken, I do feel like this was a good look into grief and moving on after losing a loved one. I think Thao did an excellent job of showing just how messy it can be for some people and how others don't always grieve in the same way which could lead to arguments and that belief that people aren't grieving correctly or just aren't as upset as some think they should be.

I really loved Julie's arc. It was such a beautiful showing of how to hold on to people after they've gone, but still being able to move on and enjoy life. She struggled getting there. She was messy, but she was grieving. Struggling with a lose that she didn't know how to deal with which was only made harder by the fact that she was still getting the chance to talk to him.

The overall plot did lag a little bit as it started to get a little repetitive. Not only that, but I think the plot really gets buried under Julie's own personal growth. So much of the story is focused on Julie and her growth that the side characters don't really get their chance to shine, which with how she was grieving I do understand, but on the other hand, it would have been nice to see them shine a little bit more and add something else for me to focus on and allow this story to really take shape.

You've Reached Sam is a good debut. The writing style is beautiful and created beautiful imagery. I think this could be a book people fall in love with and I'm eager to see what else Thao writes.

When I first saw You’ve Reached Sam it was being pitched for fans of Your Name. I saw that movie with my boyfriend a while back and it such an emotional, but beautiful story. With that recommendation and the synopsis I knew I had to read this book. You’ve Reached Sam was a book I couldn’t put down once I started. This book was definitely an emotional roller coaster.

Our main character Julie loses the love of her life Sam in a tragic accident. They had their whole future planned out and then it’s just all gone. She shuts herself off from the world, doesn’t go to his funeral, throws out his stuff and hopes by doing this that the pain will go away. When things get bad she decides to call him one last time to hear his voice on his voicemail. She never expects him to pick up. Afraid of losing him again if she tells anyone about these phone calls she keeps it to herself.

When Julie talks to Sam their conversations bring Julie to different places and has her do different things. There were many emotional moments that definitely had me in tears. I can’t imagine losing the love of my life and hope to never experience it. Especially not in such a tragic way. The moments between them are beautiful, but also sad.

You’ve Reached Sam didn’t get a full five stars from me, because there were a certain things that just didn’t work for me. While I loved the whole journey of Sam talking to Julie the ending of the book seemed to go a bit fast for me. Julie shuts herself off from the world and also the others who loved Sam. Some of this gets resolved before the end of the book, but I felt this was also kind of rushed through. I know the story is more Julie and Sam, but I think in the matter of losing someone and grieving that I needed to see more of the people in her life.

All in all You’ve Reached Sam is a story about love, grief, moving on, and learning how to do that. It’s not something that just goes away and we all do this in our own way. This story definitely tugged on my heartstrings.

I'm torn with this one. It had some really incredibly touching and resonant writing that hit the emotions so perfectly, but I always felt a little disconnected. I actually like books where the main character is unlikable or detached, but sometimes you need that connection to feel the full impact of something. Julie was almost too unlikable for too long. It made it hard to keep cutting her slack and giving her excuses, but at the same time I was drawn to how unlikable she was.

Perhaps the most unforgivable thing she does is miss the funeral. I still haven't decided if I hold that against her or not, but I can't stop imagining the way it impacted his family and somehow I can't excuse her in that instance.

This won't be a hit with every reader because of Julie, but I think teens should give it a shot. It's deeply emotional and gripping.