Julie and Sam's story took me a while to work through. It is not that it is poorly written, but it is raw in places as the tale deals in grief and the patterns of loss within a teenager's life - a teen that is struggling to cope after her boyfriend's death. At the opening of the story, Sam is already gone. Julie has alienated herself from family and friends, successfully managing to cocoon herself away - fragile, unstable and in denial. This aspect is exacerbated when she begins conversing with Sam through her cell phone connection which somehow pierces the veil of death in a Twilight Zone-esque twist. The author makes this element of magical realism tragically believable as the reader slogs through Julie's reentry into elements of life as a high school senior. Do I think an editor could have perhaps done a better job at whittling some of this section of the story down? Yes. However, from a psychosocial standpoint, in her grief, Julie is highly self-involved. This is not an atypical characteristic of someone in this situation, even if they are not teens. Loss is absorbing. The story becomes easier to read as more characters spark her awareness of life outside of Sam's death. The point where the character finally lets go seems rushed as the story focuses to such a degree on the earlier stages of her emerging - although credit is given to the scenes with Mika and James for adding the element of connective sharing (an important stage of moving on) into her repertoire of wallowing among her admittedly sweet and romantic memories. I am not sure I trust myself when I say that I disliked the ending. I am on the fence, If Sam's character had maintained the mystery of the situation - instead of the sappy finale declaration that seemed to strip the worth out of Julie's own journey; if the story had made the elements of Julie's healing a stronger focus - those things she had to look forward to, the elements of rediscovered community/friendship. These elements seemed weaker to me - in some cases implausible - as they were things that happened to her, not things she actively pursued. A reader would perhaps have been more certain of Julie's road to recovery instead of being on the fence with the author's take on the ending. This story had great potential - it is unique and something that everyone who has lost someone would fantasize about. The reader actually wants to root for Julie, you want to make sure she pushes through this journey. However, some editor somewhere failed this author - the story fizzled and sparked, dragged on in places and ultimately, with that ending, fell flat. For me, it was a rough diamond that with a bit of polishing could have been brilliant

YOU'VE REACHED SAM is a beautiful portrait of grief, learning how to move on, and the hesitance to think that the big bad thing has happened. It is very sad and made me think about my relationships around me, and also just what my legacy could be.

You’ve Reached Sam is something I grabbed without knowing much about, but it’s by far one of the most beautifully written books I’ve read. Dustin Thao strings together some of the ugliest sides of grief as Julie deals with the death of her boyfriend. The characters are built in such a way that they feel real, which makes the ache of emotions coming from all of them hit even harder. It’s a heart-wrenching story but 100% worth the read.

You know when you feel like you need a good cry, so you pick up a book that you think will help get the job done? This is what I wanted for You’ve Reached Sam. But alas, I didn’t cry. I didn’t even come close. Not because what was being said wasn’t emotional, but because Julie was so unlikeable to me that I couldn’t really feel sympathetic toward her. Sure, her boyfriend dies, and I’m sure that’s traumatizing, but she treats every single other person in her life like actual garbage that I’m not sure why anyone stayed being friends with her or why Sam wanted to date her in the first place. If anything, I wanted this story to be more about Sam’s best friend, Oliver, or Julie’s bookstore friend Tristan, because they seemed much more compelling to me.

It’s very possible that this just wasn’t quite the story I needed in my life right now, because I see through other reviews that *a ton* of people liked it, so you really should give it a shot if you think the story is up your alley, but I think I needed a little more history on Julie and Sam to get caught up in their love story. It’s not for me, but that doesn’t mean you won’t love it.

3 STARS

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I knew right off the bat that this book wasn't going to be for me, and it was because of the writing. There are so many short sentences, one right after the other, that ruin the flow of the story. I kept on pointing out sentences that could have easily been connected instead for a better train of thought, cause the way it was written didn't sound natural. I wanted to connect with the characters and the story, but this type of writing style always makes it difficult. Sometimes I can look past it depending on the plot, but I couldn't with this because nothing really happens in this book. It's pretty atmospheric, and the writing is important. So if the writing fails to connect with someone, they're not going to enjoy the experience.

It felt disjointed to me, and I didn't really feel any emotions. There were some good scenes, but I didn't cry like so many other people have. I found it fairly boring, and was left wanting more. The premise of being able to talk to someone you've lost is an interesting one, and can definitely be done well, but I don't think this book went into enough detail to achieve that. The world existed in a sort of bubble. Julie's parents weren't really around, it all took place in one town and never felt bigger than that town, and the sole focus was Julie's relationship with Sam. Which is fine, but it meant that there wasn't much else in the book to latch onto. None of the characters stood out to me as being well-developed, although I did like Oliver.

Julie as a main character also wasn't that engaging. She's not a very good person, and characters don't have to be perfect, but they should be interesting, and I just wasn't that interested in her. She also doesn't do much. It felt like she was a pinball bouncing between one sad scene to another with no real substance.

All in all, it felt like too quick of a story to really have an emotional impact on me. It was a quick read, though.

While this truly had potential to be a major hit, it was dampened by the main character of the story. Julie was extremely unlikeable due to mostly her behaviour, actions, and ultimately her overall personality. I understand that the character may be in the grieving process but she illustrated that her selfishness and rudeness was still present prior to everything occurring (shown in flashbacks), so it was ultimately not grief making her lash out at others but her absolute poor personality. The main character deterred my sense of emotional connection with the characters and essentially the love story between the characters in the book. This truly made this sentimental book unenjoyable and disappointing to read. With that being said, Dustin Thao did a good job with the writing and pacing, and I can't wait to see what other titles he will release in the future.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC via Netgalley for an honest review.

I did not finish this book. I was bored and did not feel connected to the characters at all. The writing was not bad, the story just did not connect with me. I didn't feel compelled to move on as I didn't see how there was any future for this couple that they were focusing on.

Dnf at 40%. Julie is just so annoying and I just couldn’t care about her and the storyline, even though the writing was not bad. I totally would give another shot in his next book

Me reading the synopsis: You’ve Reached Sam is going to take my heart and crumble it into utter dust, with a sad mess left behind.

I’m sorry to say that I’m in the minority and while this was at times emotionally punching, Thao’s debut novel ended up being a disappointment. I loved the exploration of the how one handles grief and moves on after a loved one is taken away suddenly, along with all the things one might say if they ever got a second chance to say goodbye. However, the fleeting flashbacks, awkward transitions between them, and the choppy writing style just didn’t work for me.

2.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to pick up this eARC through their Read Now program! This one had been on my list of anticipated releases so I snapped it up as soon as I saw it.

I did not enjoy this book as much as I was expecting to. I actually got on Goodreads to read some of the other reviews and was relieved to find that I wasn't alone! For starters (and this was my own assumption based off the description and cover), I thought we were getting two Asian American protagonists in this book. Julie was white (I guess, since it isn't really stated) and Sam was Japanese; since Julie is the POV character we don't really get much insight into his life and family or culture. It also felt like the author might have wanted Julie to be Asian and their editor said no? Pure speculation on my end, but pretty much every character besides Julie is Asian and Thao himself is Vietnamese American, so she felt really out of place. Setting Julie's race aside, the fact that Sam feels like a minor character in his own story leads to my main critique.

For a book that I thought would make me want to cry, it was pretty hard to feel connected to the characters. I liked some of the side characters, and there were powerful moments here and there. Overall, Julie and Sam's relationship didn't feel very fleshed out, and I while I kept expecting to feel moved by the story, I just wasn't. Given that there's little plot and the book is mainly character-driven, this really impacted my overall rating. The writing was beautiful, and you might find yourself more invested in this one than I was! But I really wish the inside of the book had lived up to its gorgeous cover.

A haunting read about loss, grief and healing. I liked that the portrayal of grief was raw and realistic and didn't look the same for every character. Prepare to shed a few tears!

You've Reached Sam was a deeply emotional book and it absolutely shattered my heart but I also loved it so much. It was in many ways very healing as well.

It felt like as the reader, we also went along on a journey with our main character as she struggles with loss and grief. It definitely is not an easy book to read, you really have to be in a good place to read it. I do however think it is an important read and I love that the author didn't shy away from touching on hard topics like loss and grief.

It was a devastatingly beautiful book and I want to see more like it!

Thoughts and Themes: I kept starting this one and putting it down because of all the hype around it on booktok. I was also kind of worried that this one would make me cry and was waiting to get it on audiobook. I’m glad that I waited for this one on audio because I think it adds a whole other layer to the story.

Throughout this book something that I was always wondering was if all of this was in Julie’s head. I was wondering if any of this was really happening or if it was a dream, even after Julie shares with Mika about Sam, I still wondered if it was real.

The ending of this story just shattered my heart but I can’t tell you all about that or else it would ruin this whole story. It just closed really nicely and just was like a warm hug after putting you through the heartbreak of this whole book.

Characters: I loved each of the characters in this book as it is hard not to. You get to know our main character, Julie throughout the book as well as some of her friends through their interactions with her. You also get to briefly know Sam through Julie’s interactions with him.

I liked how you got to see each of these characters deal with grief in their own ways. I thought it was great to see how grief shows itself differently for everyone. I also loved the way that we got to see Sam grieve the loss of his own life. I thought this was really important to the story because it allows all the other characters to mourn his life alongside him.

Writing Style: This story is told in first person through the perspective of Julia. I thought it was great to hear everything from her perspective because its like you are escaping into a world that Sam made just for Julie.

You've Reached Sam was an interesting book, full of heartbreak and grief, and though I've never actually gone through grief before (yet - thankful for my lucky stars), it certainly felt so realistic. When Sam dies, unexpectedly, without warning, all of Julie and Sam's are thrown into disarray. Now, Julie doesn't know what to do - in part, because of she knows it was her fault that Sam died. She's shocked, but she just can't accept that Sam has truly died, so one last time, she decides to call him - and he picks up. Naturally, it's a very surprising turn of events, and when everyone around her is still grieving over Sam, she's overjoyed to still be in contact with him - albeit secretly.

I liked the book, but... I don't know. It was a little too heavy for me, and not exactly super emotional for me. I did feel bad for Julie despite how clingy she had become (because she was grieving), and, I don't know, maybe I wasn't in the mood, maybe this whole type of book isn't my thing at all. I don't know. It was just so heavy, though I did love the sweet glimpses of times past.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

This one got in me in the feels from just the prologue. 😭
It starts with Julie's memories of her boyfriend Sam, who is dead, and she's grieving. You get to know Sam through her memories and stories of their 3 year relationship. It's so sad the e tore time, but there's moments of hope, growth, and moving on to ultimately learning to be happy again. Quick YA, I liked it.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book! All opinions are my own.

You've Reached Sam was presented to me as a similar story to Your Name, a film that I insanely loved. Having read this book now, I have to admit that I was disappointed with that comparison. Your Name was special in a heart–racing, heart–breaking, gut–wrenching kind of way; the connection between the two characters was developed so effortlessly that I couldn't help but cry my eyes out at the end of the movie. In You've Reached Sam, the relationship between Sam and Julie was not written in way that— well, in a way that would make me care about what happened. The story presents the possibility of speaking to a loved one who has passed away without you being able to say goodbye. The element of grief was interestingly developed, but it slammed against the immaturity of some of the characters and the conflicts they created in the plot. For a book dealing with grief, some situations felt very childish, which took me out of the story a little. Overall, the concept is interesting, but the development needed a little more editing.

I liked this, although not quite as much as I hoped I would. It conveyed a poignant message about appreciating the here and now, because we never know what's coming next. I enjoyed the device of having the main character mysteriously able to communicate with her deceased boyfriend over the phone for closure. I wished a few elements had been better developed-- there was a minor character who fell into the "mean girl" trope for no real reason. There was some dream sequences in the narrative that felt like they would work better on a screen than on a page.

For the most part, though, I liked this book and would recommend it to a teen who enjoys sensitive stories with elements of romance and the supernatural. Perhaps especially good for a younger teen or with parents concerned about mature content-- this was a very "clean" read

You've reached Sam is beautifully lyrical in its prose. I could feel the characters: their heartbreak, their love... I don't quite know what to say about this book other than get ready to *feel*. My cold heart almost couldn't take being broken up by this book.

Every day, I have at least one high school student who comes in asking me for a book that will make them cry. You’ve Reached Sam is that book. It is beautifully written and gut-wrenchingly heartbreaking. This is a multi-copy purchase for me, and I cannot wait to booktalk it.

You’ve Reached Sam broke my heart. Throughout the book we see moments where Julie and Sam fall in love, but most of the story takes place after his death.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book is how it explores grief and shows that everyone handles it differently. When Julie’s boyfriend Sam is killed in a car accident she blames her self. She cannot leave her house, not even to attend the memorials, and she doesn’t want anyone to see her because she feels they blame her as well. Sam’s friends at school are angry and they take out that anger on Julie. His cousin Mika can’t understand why Julie won’t attend the memorials and she thinks Julie has already forgotten Sam. She doesn’t realize it’s because of the pains she’s feeling. The different ways characters processed Sam’s death felt very real.

I liked seeing Julie slowly put herself back together. I thought the flashbacks to her time with Sam were well written and I liked the style the author used to deliver them. The moments were fleeting and flowed together, making it very dreamlike. The final phone call between Julie and Sam had me in tears.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.