I already know, even before start reading this book, that it would probably be far away from my reading style (I like my novels cute and happy) but I still wanted to check it out because it promised to be similar to Your Name, my favorite movie of life.

From the beginning, we see a broken Julie who doesn't know how to feel about losing Sam and still carry a little guilt for his death. There isn't a big mystery around this and that's something positive to me as there isn't that big moment of revelation that tries to make the reader burst into tears.

As the story goes we are trying to understand these feelings of Julie that end up being very conflicting and divergent, she ends up being a protagonist who can irritate many people, but who acts according to her age and the moment she is going through.

I liked the author's writing, it's light and fluid even though the story itself doesn't have such a fast pace. If I have anything to complain about here, it's the giant chapters that hindered me a little in keeping a steady reading.

The secondary characters add a lot to the story and often end up being more interesting than the protagonist herself, sometimes I even wish we could see more interactions with them than so many moments with Sam both past and present.

Despite that, the construction and development of the story pleased me a lot and I'm sure if I had been a fan of this style of reading, I would have loved this book.

You've Reached Sam brings us a story about grief and the process of moving forward in a lighter way that can still move you.

(The last ten pages are a solid four stars but the rest of the book is three)

Julie and Sam have been dating for three years in high school. They are finishing their senior year and planning a future together but after a spat, Sam gets in a car accident and dies.

That’s the beginning.

The rest of the book is about how Julie reacts to the death and the troubles she has letting go. There are a variety of other young adult books that explore this same subject (If I Stay, Before I Fall, etc).

The thing that stands out in this book from the others is that, desperate to hear Sam’s voice, she calls his phone and, lo and behold, he answers.

The book goes back and forth between present day conversations with Sam and a random blend of incidents/dreams of the two that transitioned so quickly I often had to reread a couple of pages to figure out what was happening.

You can probably guess how everything develops in the book. It’s kind of the 7 stages of grief for high schoolers.

And, again, the last ten pages are some good tear jerkers.

Not up to the level of If I Stay but pretty good for a debut novel.

#netgalley #youvereachedsam

Major tearjerker alert! This book should come with an box of Kleenex.

I knew this wouldn’t be an easy read, with the strong themes of grieving, love, and loss throughout.

You've Reached Sam explores in depth the loss of a loved one, something I think we can all relate to, but never want to have to experience first hand.

The book opens on a series of dreams from Julie's perspective as she looks back on precious moments shared with Sam, the first of which is when we meet her and Sam, the two of them students who spark a romance over a long conversation at Sam’s coffee shop. She remembers the time he left her his number at her bookshop in a hand folded cherry blossom and moments together at their special spot by the lake.

Julie then cycles through the various stages of grief in an accurate portrayal, including denial, avoidance, regret, blame, isolation, and then throwing out every reminder of Sam. What's deeply saddening is that no matter how much she gets rid of, she's still surrounded by him, by the constant memory triggers that bring back moments they've shared together. They had all of these plans for the future, and reminders of them are everywhere, which makes this all the more heartbreaking.

The first time Julie calls Sam after losing him, and he miraculously picks up, I had goosebumps. I thought of those I've lost, the times I've called just to hear their voicemail, and thought to myself, what if they picked up one last time? What if I had a second chance to say goodbye?

Julie gets this opportunity through heartfelt phone calls with Sam after his passing, and it's so painfully tragic to feel her fall for him all over again, knowing that their reconnection will be short-lived. At the same time, these calls help Julie to process her grief and begin to move on.

Although the story is told from Julie's perspective throughout, the reader also experiences the grief from Sam's best friend Oliver, his cousin Mika, and brother James, with each character coping with the loss in their own way.

This is a beautiful debut from author Dustin Theo. The writing is so authentic and realistic that the characters almost felt real, and the emotions experienced whilst reading were most definitely real. I felt my heart fluttering in my chest throughout, tears welling in the corners of my eyes with each turn of the page. The stunning way that Theo writes about Julie and Sam's romance is palpable.

You've Reached Sam had me captivated from the very first page and held my attention right until the end. I read the entire book in one sitting. This is a breathtaking story that did not disappoint.

READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO CRY!
I knew going into this book it was gonna be sad, but there were moments in this book that had my heart shattering. But it all wraps up very beautifully at the end. I will be reading this authors work in the future!

From the second Id seen the summary of this book I absolutely knew I had to request it ! I was really surprised as I found myself reading chapter after chapter that I wasn’t enjoying it at all. It had all the components I liked such as character death & romance however I still couldn’t bring myself to truly enjoy the book. It didn’t take long for me to realize that it was the authors writing style that didn’t fit well with me. I truly believe that many others will love this book however it just wasn’t for me. I might give this authors future books a chance though !

I really struggled with the writing style on this one. It’s very possible to do a compelling story with minimal external conflict, focused all on a character’s emotional journey, but this one just didn’t work for me. It felt like a lot of “telling” voice and the phone calls from Sam felt more stilted than heartwrenching.

I unfortunately did not like this book! Even though I really like books with the death vibes, I struggled to finish this one. Will look forward to Thao’s new books — but did not like this book.

Julie had everything planned out for her future. Her boyfriend Sam was in it. She was going to move out of her small town with him, go to college, even go to Japan in the summer. But in the blink of an eye, Sam dies. It’s unexpected, changing everything in Julie’s life, and changes her, too. She isn’t sure what her place is anymore, her heart split straight down the middle. Skipping his funeral, she tries to repress everything about him, including the way he passed. All she wants is for things to be the way they were before. And in that desperation, wanting to hear his voice, she calls his phone to listen to his voicemail. But then, he picks up the phone.

All of a sudden, Julie’s given a somewhat second chance to make things different and say goodbye properly. Even though it’s short-lived, hearing his voice reels her back in time, falling for him all over again ten-fold. She keeps their secret calls to herself, but in doing so, she sees the hurt Sam’s family is going through after his death. He can’t let go until she finally says goodbye, and she’s afraid of losing him forever. But Julie has to ask herself at what cost can she keep holding on, and when is it actually time to let him go.

Overall, my heart broke and mended whilst reading You’ve Reached Sam. I felt Julie’s pain, her range of emotions flickering between stages of grief that she didn’t understand. It echoed many insecurties in my life – and surely will others – amplifying the fears of losing loved ones or going through it previously. Dustin wrote the book with such grace, carefully building a connection between life and death that was utterly beautiful. I loved that it had a diverse cast, hugely unique storyline, and flawed characters that had major development over the course of the book. I would recommend this to anyone that loves YA Romance and Contemporary realism-type books. It has my heart. Huge four stars!

My emotions are amess after finishing this book. It broke my heart.

Julie and Sam! They are just amazing characters. Watching Julie deal with such heartbreak and loss in her young life is heartbreaking, I wasn't prepared for the emotion throughout. Each page made me shed a tear.

This was a sweet book but it didn't pack the emotional punch I expected about a girl trying to reconcile herself with the death of her boyfriend. It wasn't bad but it could have been much more.

When I first read the title of the book and saw the cover, I was instantly soaked into the idea of this story.
I really liked the writing style and it's easy to read. It was interesting to see the story of Julie getting unfolded like that and it wasn't ultimately just about her which made it even more sad because you realize how much other people are affected by death too. Everyone copes different with death and so do the people in this book.
Overall a really bittersweet story.

What I didn't like as much, were some of the transitioning scenes happening. I got a little confused sometimes. Overall I understood what was going on, but not right away. Sometimes I had to re-read a couple of sentences to get what was going on but maybe that was just me and my foreign brain.

But I'm very excited to buy the book after release to actually put it on my shelf, because this is were it belongs!

It took me a while to fully commit to reading this book because I knew it would be rough emotionally. However, I finally made time for it today, and I wasn’t disappointed. Grief is always a difficult topic to broach, but Dustin Thao’s storytelling is gentle while not turning away from hard truths.

This was such a bittersweet story, but it felt like I was on the journey with Julie as she came to terms with losing Sam. I think stories like this are important because they give us something to hold onto when we face similar situations in reality.

This was a fantastic debut, and I'm looking forward to Thao's future work.

Unfortunately I DNFed this one. I could not get into the writing and I had a very hard time connecting with Julie and becoming invested in her story with Sam. I think the premise was very fascinating and I expected a very emotionally charged story, but it did not quite live up to it.

*this review, variations of it, and other content surrounding the book will be uploaded to my blog, Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads, Tiktok, and on Amazon on October 22nd.*

Characters: 4.5 out of 5 stars!
Writing: 5 out of 5 stars!
Vibes: 5 out of 5 stars!
Plot: 3.5 out of 5 stars!
Enjoyment: 5 out of 5 stars!
OVERALL: 4.75 out of 5 stars!

The biggest plottwist would’ve been if I didn’t cry, but I guess the truth is predictable sometimes. On Twitter I decided to do a crying tracker as a joke…and then proceeded to start crying on page two of this book. I had a full on mental breakdown only 4% into this book and, well, to be completely honest: there were rarely moments I didn’t cry from there on.

Let’s just say the crying and mental breakdown tracker became impossible, because I just couldn’t keep track anymore.

I think we can just stop the review here. I’ve made my point.

Okay no, there’s actually a lot more to say. Like this: You’ve reached Sam basically has…no plot. That might sound weird but literally not much happens in this story, and I personally was very okay with that!

I could understand why people might not like the book because of that, but I thought it was perfect. It really took the focus to the emotional journey which was stronger because of this and also…vaguer. Which is a good thing, but I’ll explain that in a bit.

You’ve reached Sam is a story about grief. It uses a magical element (Sam picking up the phone) to take us on a journey of grief and…wow. It’s a raw and honest portrayal and I honestly don’t know how to describe it. It’s something you have to read the book for to realize what I mean.

Now, I mentioned that the plot makes everything vaguer, but the thing is: the characters do, too. I’ve heard some people say they couldn’t feel connected to the characters and though I don’t know if it was intentional, I don’t think that’s exactly the point.

Sam and Julie could be literally anyone. If you’ve lost someone and are grieving, you could be Julie. You could learn with her, see yourself in her and find exactly what you needed through her. Not because she’s a character you love for her personality, but because she’s vague and therefore could indeed be…anyone.

That’s what makes it so highly relatable and dear to someone’s heart.

Oh and did I mention that the ending of this book absolutely ruined me?

But I think this book’s best quality lays in how it can mean anything to anyone. This is one of those stories that can be interpret in so many ways. I feel like many people could find what they need in this book, even if that differs for every person.

And I think that’s the most beautiful thing ever.

So that’s my interpretation of You’ve reached Sam! It’s an amazing and emotional journey with the best portrayal of grief I’ve ever read about. This book will without a doubt have an immense impact on readers, and I can only recommend reading this book to see everything for yourself! But be aware: tissues might be very, very much needed!

I found myself thinking “If only..” as I read this book. I knew when I requested it that it would be challenging to read, and I was right. I was frustrated that everyone tried to hurry Julie along, and not let her grieve in her own way. I loved the characters. I loved the premise of the story. I wanted everyone who lost a loved one to have the same chance. If only …

I enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would, to be honest. There's not a lot that happens and it's a little slow, but I really felt for Julie and enjoyed the emotional ride it took me on for what it was. People who like faster paced or more plotty books probably won't enjoy this as much, but if you're in it for the vibes (especially if those are sad vibes) then you'll probably like this a lot.

The biggest aspect I struggled with was how everyone acted, either moving on too fast, too slow, or just generally being really cruel and unaccommodating for the sole purpose of moving Julie along or giving her a rougher time post Sam. The mean girls side characters just kind of feel there to check off a trope box and call it a day. But hey, teenagers are dicks sometimes, so there's that.

This book…WOW. The story follows Julie as she deals with the aftermath of her boyfriend’s (Sam) death. While Julie is coping with his death, she calls him once more on his phone…and he picks up🥺

The story follows Julie as she continues to connect with Sam on the phone and sharing glimpses into their love story before he died. The core of the story is truly about grief and trying to move on. You could see all of the characters coping in different ways with Sam’s death (Mika, Oliver, his family etc.) and absolutely feel their pain throughout the story.

“letting go isn’t about forgetting. it’s balancing moving forward with life, and looking back from time to time, remembering the people in it” 🌸

I highly recommend this book to anyone! Thanks a bunch NetGallery for the electronic ARC, it was such a treat to read this beautiful story 💖

'You've reached Sam' was a huge surprise for me, I started it without any expectations and to be honest (shame for me) I requested it only for the gorgeous cover.
I was expecting something really sad that wouldn't have captured my attention and I'm so glad I was wrong.

It was indeed sad, heartbreaking and made my cry several times but I'm glad it did.
It's beautifully written and a very fluent read, I was able to finish it in a few days.

The thing I liked the most were the brilliant characters and how every single one had something that characterised them, even without much appearances because the main focus was on Julie, the protagonist.

I liked being in Julie's mind and to impersonate in her, to see how she reacts and how she tries to elaborate the death of her boyfriend. It think the fantasy twist was a very good way to explicit what everyone goes through when they loose someone dear.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

You've Reached Sam is a heartwrenching contemporary about grief, acceptance, and learning how to move on after the death of a loved one. Julie thought she had the next few years her life planned out with her boyfriend Sam, but when Sam suddenly dies in a car crash, her life upends. In a desperate attempt to listen to his voice onec last time, she dials his number expecting to hear his voicemail, but miraculously, Sam picks up. Now connected through a series of phone calls, Julie and Sam are both given one last chance to say goodbye and say the things they never got to.

This book broke my heart with it's simplistic yet hard-hitting prose and premise. The flashback scenes of when Sam was alive made me cry so much because of how much he and Julie loved each other, especially in contrast to how they interacted right before Sam's death. The book is written in Julie;s pov and that makes it all the more heartbreaking as we see her try to process her grief. Her unwillingness to let go of both Sam and the life they'd planned together was something I'm sure many readers who've lost a loved one can relate to.

Sam is also a wonderfully complex character and his struggles with his family in the context of him being Asian-American were something I could relate to. He wants to pursue a career in music, but his family isn't sure if that's the most financially stable choice. His brother also feels like Sam is betraying him for planning to move to the city with Julie once he graduates and the bond between the brothers was fraying before Sam's death.

The side characters are all amazing, and great examples of rep. The casual racism the characters of color face from their classmates sadly felt realistic and reminded me of some of my own experiences while in high school.

The book was definitely a bit slow and I feel like the character growth for Julie fell a little flat, but overall it was an enjoyable book. It's a strong debut with wonderful Asian rep, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

Almost 50% into this and I DNF'd it. As far as YA books go, it was not terrible. Writing was decent and the main character was the only character that was really well fleshed out.

Julie and Sam started dating dating in high school and Sam dies tragically in a car crash before they graduate. Julie is somehow able to communicate with Sam, via phone, after his death. They use this magical ability to help Julie through her grieving process as they talk almost exclusively about their past relationship.

I just could not finish this. I feel that a lot of YA fans that appreciate this type of sadness in a book would absolutely love this. I wouldn't give it over 1 star of I didn't believe that.

3 not-for-me-and-couldn't-finish stars

Thank you Netgalley for gifting me with an ARC in exchange for my honest reviews.