3.75, rounded up. I loved every bit of this except the fact that they talk on the phone after his death. I just can’t see students taking that seriously during book talks. However, I loved their love story and didn’t want it to end.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

You've Reached Sam is about young love, grieving, loss, a second chance goodbye, and learning to move forward. The story is from Julie's POV of the loss of her boyfriend and her process of grieving. Through her grieving, she decides to move on by throwing out all of Sam's things and her last thing to do was to give him a call not expecting him to answer of course but he does!

Dustin's debut novel is very well written and structured well. His flashbacks of Julie's time with Sam are beautiful and that is where he is at his best writing.

All the characters are a bit one-dimensional and Julie (main character) doesn't seem to have much character growth. For example, she notices some relationships with the important people in her life she should work on since she has neglected them, ghosted them, or being selfish for her own reasons. It seems hard to not judge Julie because everyone grieves in their own way but to repetitively acknowledge your own mistakes/shortcomings over and over again gets annoying hence her lack of character growth. Julie is an aspiring writer and for someone who is an amazing writer (according to Sam), she is terrible at communicating to the people that matter.

Out of all the characters I really enjoyed Mika and Sam the most. Mika for her insights on the Asian customs/culture on honoring and keeping your promises to people especially those who have passed and she's insightful for Julie. Sam for being so sweet and being patience with Julie in the first place.

There are some aspects to the story where it seems a bit of filler or doesn't seem to have any significance being in the story (aka Student Asian Club). Toward the end of the story is where my heart did ache for the loss of Sam. I didn't cry as anticipated and I'm actually a bit bummed about it. I was walking into this ready to have my heart ripped out however, it didn't hit its mark. I still think this book is very good for a debut novel and I strongly feel this is just the beginning for Dustin Thao. I look forward to seeing his next work and would recommend reading this book.

I'm going to be honest--I really wanted to love this book. I was excited to read something a little different from my norm and looked forward to a good cry. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards for me in this read. I found the main character to be extremely annoying; all of her decisions were extremely selfish and even if we allow some wiggle room considering the circumstances, I still don't like her or connect to her at all. In fact, I felt that way about all of the characters. In addition, I felt the ending was a bit rushed and wasn't really buying Sam's confession at the end. From what I know of his character, he would have said what he said to make Julie feel better...not because he actually meant it. There were a lot of possibilities for this book, and I'm most disappointed that it didn't really make me feel very much at all. I felt a bit of true emotion towards the end of the story as I finally pitied Julie and the loss of the one she loved most, but then it was ruined by the hasty ending as I mentioned above. I am giving this book a 2.5/5 star rating because even though I didn't care for it I did find it a slightly compelling read.

I'm normally a mystery/thriller reader, but I have a soft spot for YA romance. This book is on the heavier side, rather than light romance, due to death. However, this story is wonderful and definitely is a book any fan of YA needs to read.

Beautifully written story of love, loss, and second chances. This novel will break your heart and move you to tears. Character driven and evenly paced.

Thank you Dustin Thao and NetGalley for letting so many people read this one.
First of all, the cover its beautiful, nice work. I was happy to read a book that talks about the representantion of asian america.
For me was a good book right from the description. I read that one really fast and I think its because of the chapters (before/after). But that just happen after the chapter 3 because the beginning was a little bit confuse for me.
I wish I could read the book in Sam's vision, because in the most time of the story I felt more curious about his life than Julie. That probably happen because i didn't like her, i get it, she's deep in her grief and a lot of times its just about that. I really would like to know more about her, about her before everything happen. Make me feel that all her life was about Sam.
3,0! Its a cute book, Dustin Thao made a great job talking about such a hard topic with a lof of respect and heart breaking!

I was so, so excited for this title both because of the pitch (IF I STAY meets YOUR NAME) and because of the Asian American representation! I read the pages with bated breath because I was scared that I wouldn't like it, and... I think it wasn't the book I hoped it would be.

The prose in this story was lyrical and there was such sense of place! I really felt the small townness and rain and bone-deep dreariness of it all.

The first chapters with the montage scenes was confusing and a little disorienting. That immediately made it hard to get into the story. I understand that it kind of built this atmosphere that was mystical and magical and shrouded in fog (like Washington state), but I don't think it was done in a way that was quite necessary. It tried to imitate how a movie montage would look, but I feel like with written scenes, it just didn't seem as mystical or nostalgic. It just caused a lot of confusion and detracted from me trying to orient myself in the story.

Additionally, I think a lot of the book hinged upon whether or not Sam and Julie's romance was believable. And I... just didn't really FEEL anything for them. It's so hard to make a reader fall in love with a character who is already dead when the story starts, and I felt that with Sam. I really wanted to root for them and their romance, but I couldn't quite understand why they were together (and for so long!) in the first place.

Dustin Thao writes grief really well. In a way that made you feel the weight of it when you read the book. But I think Julie is so deep in her grief, and perpetually in her grief, it was hard to figure out who she was outside of it, which made it feel like she wasn't a fully fleshed out character, even though she's the protagonist of this story.

Julie and Sam are young, in love, and ready to graduate so they can start their lives after high school. Their future is so close they can almost taste it, but Sam dies leaving Julie to struggle through her grief alone. Not doing such a good job of letting him go, Julie calls Sam and to her utter amazement, he picks up the phone. What unfolds is a heart-wrenching look at grief, the ones left behind, and how "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans". I had thought I picked up a romance. Yet, there was so much more to this story. The biggest take-away is that sometimes we get so caught up in our own grief that we don't see the other people who are affected by the loss of a loved one. It's been a long time since a book made me cry. You've Reached Sam grabbed on to my heart and the tears just flowed. I loved this book. From the beautiful cover, the gorgeous prose, and the beautiful beautiful story. I cannot recommend this book enough. Thank you from the bottom of my heart NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC. It is without a doubt one of the best books I've read in 2021.

Wow. I really have no words for this book. So heart wrenching and heart breaking. This book ruined me in the best way possible. Cannot recommend this enough.

"Why were we given this second chance? Just to say good-bye?"

My heart feels like it's been scattered like a thousand cherry blossom petals in the wind. You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao is one of the best books I have read in a while. The story follows Julie as she grapples with her life now that her boyfriend Sam has died. She is ready to get rid of everything relating to Sam to lessen the pain she feels. She calls Sam's phone to hear his voice one last time, but he picks up.

"Maybe we can just enjoy this chance for what it is. For as long as we have it."

I loved the cast of characters in this book, and I am glad they had each other. I loved seeing Sam's relationship with his younger brother James was heartwarming to read about, and I am grateful we got to see that. I also loved how the story flipped back and forth, showing us memories and then bringing us to the present day. It flowed with the storyline and gave the characters more depth.

I loved seeing that Julie had supportive people around her (Mika, Jay, Rachel, Yuki, Oliver, Tristan, Mr. Lee, and Julie's mom) even when she didn't handle things the best. If you are a writer, then Mr. Lee and Julie's mom might be your favorite. The advice they were able to provide and give Julie was so important. Especially with so much going on in Julie's life, it's okay to hear that your writing can be whatever you want it to be.

"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."

That quote right there is so important. Julie struggled with how to handle certain things when it came to Sam, and that's understandable. Changing your mind happens, and I am so glad we got to see that growth in Julie. When you lose someone, it is never an easy thing, and it impacts us. Anger, regret, grief, hopelessness, and so many more emotions can occur. Learning and balancing how to keep them in your memory while also moving past any guilt or pain you had takes time.

One thing I absolutely loved in this book was how it handled college. It was nice to see a character being okay to go to a smaller college or somewhere local, and not an ivy league one. That is not something you read a lot of in Young Adult literature, but it should be. Where you go to college is not the end of the world, and all that matters is if it fits with your life during that time and if you are happy with it.

I wish the Epilogue was slightly longer and covered more of the characters, but still a hard-hitting ending to an emotional book. 100% recommend people read it because it has so much more than meets the eye within the story. This book has it all, from great life lessons to it being a tear-jerker.

This book was beautifully written and hit so many emotions 😭. It broke me.

"It's okay to wish for those things, and even imagine him here with you. Because those moments inside our heads are just as real as anything else."

Thank you to Wednesday Books (St. Martins Press) and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review posted on Goodreads on 6-18-21

I received a free e-ARC from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF 21%

This is a book I thought I would love, but sadly just didn't work for me. I a lot of it was to do with the writing, and the way Julie and Sam's relationship was portrayed.
I felt like there was a lot of telling, rather than showing, which causes an immediate disconnect for me. And the memories from Julie and Sam's shared past didn't actually make me believe that they were even in love, so I wasn't invested in their story.
I think You've Reached Sam had a lot of potential, and will definitely appeal to the right reader. Unfortunately, that is just not me in this case.

This was such a heartbreaking book. I cried myself to sleep while reading. The writing is so beautiful and profound. I simply look forward for this author to break my heart more in the future with their future releases.

So, judging by that gorgeous cover and wonderful synopsis, I expected heartbreak, lots of tears and ugly crying, and unspeakable pain, especially since I also just lost two people very dear to me.
However, this didn't make me feel much of anything really, and I'm kind of disappointed.

I feel like I would have liked this more had the main characters been a little older and not high schoolers. I feel like they all handled their grief really poorly and I just couldn't relate to any of their decisions at all.

all i can say is wow so many tears. SO many. I can't stop crying.

This is such a tear jerking book in the worst and best of ways. The gut punch hits you early on and there's not even much you can do besides grab some tissues and settle in for the tears. Grief, loss and learning to live after both of those things are key elements of this book.

When do we decide to move on? what's a healthy time and way to do so? If we had the possibility to keep holding on would we take it?

I was so excited when I received this arc, and am so happy to see that it lived up to my expectations.

Though I feel the execution of the story could have used a bit of work, I wasn't disappointed with the direction it took. I also love Thao's writing and style, and I would definitely pick up some of his other books in the future.

I love emotional books that make me FEEL, and this did just that.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc!!

A beautifully written YA debut. I really enjoyed this story and how emotional it was. Dustin Thao is definitely an author to watch now!

You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao is a young adult contemporary novel that shares the story of Julie, a high school senior, and her boyfriend Sam. The sad part of the story is that soon after reading the first chapters the reader realizes that Sam has died and Julie is left to cope with his death. Denial, anger, sadness --- all emotions that Julie experiences but then a surprising twist occurs when Julie is able to connect with Sam via her phone.

The story is an interesting concept -- what would life be like if we were all able to hang on to our dead loved ones with some kind of frequency after their death. Would it be healthy to continue those relationships or is it better to allow grief to occur and work through the stages?

The book was an interesting read and one that would appeal to younger audiences for sure but I found some of the plot a little slow probably because it centered mainly around Julie and her life. I enjoyed it but was not as engaged with it as some other readers have indicated .

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a free copy for my honest review of this novel.

Just to make it clear. I wanted to cry. I wanted to cry my eyes out and be moved by a tale of grief, and since this was advertised as the new Your Name, one of my favourite films, this seemed perfect for me. But I think the problem lies with me.

I don’t think I’m a fan of melodramatic stories. I hated A Little Life, the book that makes everyone sad, and I don’t love the sad animes like Clannad or Anohana, because they try way too hard to make the audience cry. However, You’ve Reached Sam does a fantastic job at portraying grief and how it effects people differently, so I can’t say it’s a bad book. It’s not. It just didn’t resonate with me.

I think the main issue for me was that Sam was way too perfect. I know we’re seeing the novel through Julie’s eyes so she’s going to project an idealised version of him, but Sam didn’t feel like a real person because he felt too “manic pixie dream boy”.

Also, the rest of the characters were a bit bland. It was hard to connect at times because nothing happens much of the time. It took about 80% for the story to “get” anywhere, and by that point I was ready for the story to finish.

And that epilogue was way too short.

It didn’t work for me, but I’m emotionally constipated. The writing is good, so I would recommend giving it a chance.

As someone who doesn’t typically like contemporary or romance, this was like finding a diamond in the rough. I loved this book, and I would definitely buy a copy and read it all over again!

One of the best YA books I’ve read in a long time. Julie blames herself for her boyfriend’s accidental death and tries to cope by getting rid of everything that reminds her of him. Her grief is pretty raw, and she puts herself into some pretty risky situations. Then she discovers that she can call his cell phone – and he answers. Sam helps her (and some other friends) work through their grief and survivor’s guilt. The book is labeled for ages 12-18 but I think 12 is a little young for this. (Netgalley review)