I think the concept is great. How many of us wouldn’t desire to live vicariously through Julie; to have that moment when we are able to, once again, speak to someone we loved but lost through death?

But the execution didn’t work for me. I found this book to be terribly boring, with long, drawn out chapters and very little depth. I truly expected this to be a gut wrenching read, as the synopsis, itself, made me tear up. I feel I enjoyed reading that emotional synopsis more than the actual story.

I am truly grateful I was given the opportunity to read this e-galley. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021, so my disappointment is enormous.

5/5 Stars

I came here to get my heart broken, and I was not disappointed.

This book is an absolutely fantastic debut from Dustin Thao and the emotional journey the book takes you on is one I thoroughly needed and hope to experience again.

The main thing I loved about this book was the characters. The story picks up right after Sam's death, while Julie, his girlfriend, is grieving. While Julie isn’t the most likable character, that made her feel so much more real to me.. Julie's journey with her grief is incredible to watch. The other characters are equally amazing, my personal favorites being Yuki, Julie’s friend, and Mika, Sam’s cousin. They each got their own development and I always got excited when they appeared. I also loved reading about Sam. Throughout the novel, we learn so much about he and Julie’s past, which made her grief and his death that much more heartbreaking.

This book will stick with me for a long time and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a beautiful read that will have you crying, laughing, and crying again.

This love story was SO beautiful and heartbreaking and healing all at once! It was everything and more than I expected of it. A masterpiece for sure a debut out of the water! Wow pulls the emotions right out of you with great weaving storytelling in alternating chapters of before and after. Stunning novel 💜

This book was heartfelt and emotional. I did find myself pushing to get through it but I'm glad I did. The story overall left me with a little bit of a hangover and lots of things to think about.

This is about teenage girl dealing with guilt, grief, and loss. She's struggling with how her ways of dealing with her grief keep not fitting in with her friends and classmates who are grieving the same person, but not all quite the same loss.

I kept thinking it was going to, at some point, explain how they were able to talk on the phone. The question was raised repeatedly, but Sam doesn't know and Julie never learns how or why it worked. I wish it hadn't felt like maybe the answer would appear, and I hope that anyone planning to read it can have a better experience from knowing not to wait for that reveal which never comes. Setting aside my longing for a literal answer, the way the connection manifested felt like it paralleled (and perhaps reinforced) the shape of Julie’s grief. That resonance was important and worked well in the story. It's very focused on her and her focus on Sam for much of the book, gradually showing more of her other connections and relationships as she's able to start thinking about people other than him and about things other than her loss. The change comes slowly enough to feel real and makes for a thoughtfully done and very poignant portrayal of grief.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞.” 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫. “𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩. 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐨.”

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♾/5
YA book no spice
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❗️RELEASES NOVEMBER 9, PREORDER UR BOOK NOW!!

“They say if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it all” -quoted by someone on good reads.

And I agree thats my review have a nice day.

Just kiddinggg.

This book broke me.

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Thank you NetGalley for sending this arc for an honest review.

Content Warnings: Grief, death of a loved one, sudden death, depression, bullying

In the assumption that this is @thedustinthao first book. I have absolutely lost words to describe the good foot he placed in the media of literature. And here I am praising a guy author. That’s how good the book was. The female perspective was written so well you wouldn’t believe it.

It’s so difficult for me rn to form words without crying. It’s so difficult for me to make a joke and say my tears came out of my bum. Because this book hurt. To anyone whose ever watched the anime movie “ride your wave” consider it the same just triple the heart break.

Sometimes as humans we make promises for tomorrow never knowing what tomorrow holds.

And sometimes we say things we regret, never admitting forever doesn’t exist.

Go tell someone how much you love them. And if it’s someone you’ve always wanted to do, do it now. Because there is such things as too late.
•

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc. The cover is gorgeous. I am not the targeted audience for this book. I would recommend this book to high school juniors and seniors. Sam and Julie have their whole lives planned out but when Sam dies how will Julie move on? I read this book after reading another book about death and grief and unfortunately this one fell a little short for me. I wasn’t able to really feel any emotions from this like i thought I would. I did enjoy Julie’s character though and her love of books and writing.

Reviews
Goodreads Oct. 13, 2021
Storygraph Oct. 13, 2021

This books just did not do it for me. It is defiantly just more about a characters journey, within them selves, rather than a strong plot. And usually I’m really into stories like this, but the pacing of it just felt super awkward.

The main character just got on my nerves and I just couldn’t get myself to care about her story. The other characters just felt like side pieces.

The way the story is set up is really beautiful and I felt like there was a lot of potential, but it ended up being lackluster. And I did think the writing style was really unique and that was for sure a big reason why I kept reading. The writing and the setting just cold not make up for my lack of interest in the characters or anything going in their lives.

I was able to finish and care just enough to get through it but it was nothing special to me.

I really wanted to love this one after seeing an awesome webinar by the author, Dustin Thao, who seems like a genuinely great person, I wish him all the best of success, but this book just wasn't for me. It definitely will appeal to a younger demographic of YA readers (some of the YA returning to true YA supporters will enjoy this title), but the plot is fairly slow and weak, and what could have been done in 100 pages or less is stretched out to over 200 with no plot points. There is no explanation for the magic behind the phone calls, and the epilogue feels more like the author's note at the end of fanfiction than anything of actual substance. Overall, I think this book could have been great if given another edit, but not one I'll be recommending to our readers.

This is one of the most heartbreaking stories to read and took me so long to read because it was deeply sad. Julie’s story shows the depth of grief and the toll it can have on each person in different ways.

This was beautifully written and I think opens up a lot of discussion around grief and it’s complexity.

Stunned by how much I was affected by this book. So many feels, emotions, thoughts, and heartaches. It's a powerful story of grief, love, and loss, and I was completely swept away by how it captivated me from start to finish. It's a book with a big impact, and I can't wait for it to hit the rest of the world.

This book broke me.

You've Reached Sam is a fantastic debut. It is an emotional journey, that will having you crying, laughing, then crying again. And again. I cried a lot.

One thing I loved was the characters. The story begins after Sam's death, and our protagonist, his girlfriend Julie, is grieving. She isn't the most likable character in these early chapters, and that made me love the book even more. Grief is messy. It's painful and can turn you into someone you don't recognize. And I love that Dustin Thao did not shy away from this. Julie's journey is incredible, and the use of some magical aspects only enhances it. The other characters are equally well-rounded, and each has their own development. I especially loved Sam as a character. We learn more and more about him and Julie's past as the story goes on, which just adds to the pain you feel over his death.

And this book is painful. In the best possible way. I cried over 9 times in only 300 pages. Towards the end, I couldn't even keep try of exactly how many times I cried because it was just a constant stream of tears.

This book will be one that will stick with me forever, and I would recommend it to anyone whose looking for an emotional and beautiful read.

I loved this book!! This book made me cry, as it walks us thru how someone handles dealing with the loss of a loved one. It shows you how people can get so wrapped up in their own grief they forget about those around them and what they are going thru.

Julie has life after high school all mapped out, but those big plans are all over when her boyfriend, Sam, dies after a car accident. Heartbroken Julie calls his phone, just to hear his voice one more time, but instead of getting his voicemail, Sam picks up. They continue to have regular phone calls, but Julie can’t tell anyone without risking losing the connection. So when she sees his friends and family struggling in their own grief, she is torn between giving them the opportunity to connect with Sam as well and risking never being able to talk to him again.

Wow, what a book. It’s taken me a while to gather my thoughts on this book, because it gave me all the feels. This is such a power story about love, loss, and the impact grief can have. This is definitely a tough read, and I recommend making sure you are in the right headspace when you read it. When you are ready for it, it is so beautiful and heartbreaking.

Thank you yo NetGalley, and Wednesday books for the advanced copy.

We all experience grief in different ways. After reading the synopsis, I was curious to see how this book would make me view things through a teenager's eyes, while suspending my reality. And maybe break me emotionally, because sometimes I need to be put through the wringer.

You've Reached Sam is all about Julie's journey in how she deals with the death of her boyfriend, Sam. The author takes the approach of telling her story in the present and throwing in the past so we can connect with the two characters and see how their relationship grew over the 3 years they were together. But the uniqueness lies in that while Julie may have lost her boyfriend at 17, she can still talk to Sam by calling him. This is the part where you have to suspend some belief, but it's also a way that touched me and made me follow along with Julie and how she did or did not deal with her loss of this special person in her life.

This is truly a YA book that was unique and I liked the premise of it. I did have a few issues where the calls were concerned and the way Julie treated those around her that just wanted to care for her. I was disappointed in a few actions that Julie took where Sam and his death were concerned, but again, we all deal with grief differently, so I'm glad the author took the time to show ways that aren't always so perfect and pretty. Even if Julie frustrated me, I could still understand her. Maybe not connect with her, but I could still follow her on her path.

Overall, I didn't feel emotionally attached to the characters and their story like I wished, but the story still flowed well for what it was. I liked that it was different and included kids from all backgrounds. I think had I been able to connect with the characters that I would have been more emotionally wrecked and therefore could've rated this higher. Still would be a book I would recommend to a teen. 3.5 stars

I went into this book expecting to feel like my heart got ripped out of my chest and I'll admit I did cry for a few minutes during the end but overall I felt underwhelmed. I liked how the book explored grief and shows the different ways in how people cope but that's honestly all. It's not that this book was bad but it's not very memorable.

For a debut book, I would say that the plot was good but the novel just started to feel very repetitive after the 40% mark. I felt very detached from Julie and I didn't really care about Sam. I don't know I guess that the writing was just too simple for my taste.

Overall I wouldn't say that I didn't like this book but it's not something I'll remember reading at the end of the month. Would I recommend it? Yes if you're looking for a simple book that could potentially make you cry then give it a try!

Julie is grieving for her boyfriend, Sam. So she calls his phone number. And amazingly, he answers.

This is really tough to read, and it tore my heart. It goes deep into grief and saying goodbye. It's beautifully written and very powerful and emotional. It feels older to me than a YA book, despite the main characters being in high school. I read it in a single sitting, and I don't know the last time I cried so hard.

This is a short review because there's not much more I can say. I recommend you choose the moment when you want to read this carefully.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

TW: debilitating grief, car crash

4.5 stars rounded up

*Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an e-ARC of this book*

Well, it's safe to say I am currently a sobbing mess. I just finished this book about 5 minutes ago and have to say I was really moved by this story. This story follows Julie, a high school senior, who is trying to learn how to navigate the world after her boyfriend of three years, Sam, dies tragically. In one of her more desperate moments, she tries calling Sam on the phone, and surprise, surprise, he answers! Throughout the story, Julie learns how to cope with his death, and tries to find a way to say goodbye to Sam. I was worried it would feel hard to connect with Sam since he's dead before the book even begins, but Dustin Thao does an amazing job of giving you enough of the past and present to connect you to Julie and Sam's love story. It was heartbreaking, raw, and real, and the exact book you should pick up if you are looking for a good cry. It's not an action-packed or fast-paced book by any means, but it's real life and I really enjoyed it.

You’ve Reached Sam is the story of a teenage girl who’s boyfriend but she discovers a way to be connected to him still, through calls to his cell phone.

I loved the premise of this book but really struggled with the fact that Sam couldn’t answer any questions other than what it looks like where he is “one giant field”. I suspended my disbelief but just wanted more from Sam’s side of things.

It’s a good YA book and one I wish could be true…who would you like to remain connected with through phone calls?

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

You’ve Reached Sam focuses on difficult topics such as loss and grief. I have to say the concept of this book was very unique and I enjoyed the story overall. I found myself hooked and I wanted to keep reading to see what the conclusion would be. I liked the book but it fell flat for me at times. Still would recommend.