I'm glad that we're seeing more and more YA novels published that deal with heavy emotional topics in nuanced ways. I think the fact that Julie as a character was given so much room to make mistakes and hurt others through her actions (though of course she repents for them later) was a refreshing allowance for a character struggling through grief. I really cared for Julie even when she was pushing those who cared about her away - it made her feel more realistic. The side characters were great additions to the story, but they always felt on the periphery of Julie and Sam's story, and I think that reflects how Julie feels cut off from the real world.

The author has an excellent eye for evoking emotion in readers in a way that feels earned and genuine. Books that rely on a fantastical device can often feel gimmicky, but that was never the case for this book. The author also is really creative in the way that flashbacks are incorporated into the story. For example, there is a really great chapter towards the beginning showcasing moments from Julie and Sam's relationship that was one of the closest things to a film montage that I've ever seen in literature.

This was a really excellent debut novel, and I'm glad to see more nuanced considerations of teenage relationships in YA literature.

I had a very hard time starting, even finishing, this book, and it’s not because it’s bad. Far from it, in fact. You’ve Reached Sam is the epitome of an emotional rollercoaster. I was sobbing when I started it, I was sobbing in the middle, and I was sobbing at the end. I can’t tell you how many tissues I went through but trust it was a substantial amount.

This book very clearly states it’s about loss and moving on, so I’m not really sure what else I should’ve expected. It’s heavy from the very beginning- we aren’t eased into Julie’s loss, it’s front and center immediately, and you can feel it. While it’s a very serious story, there are still parts that make you laugh and smile. As the reader, you try to move on with Julie.

I really admired the characters. They’re young, and they read like that, too. When you think of traumatic stories for young readers, The Fault in Our Stars comes to mind readily for me. And while TFiOS has its merits, one thing that always distanced me from that story was how mature and unrelatable the characters felt. I understand trauma can make you grow up faster but it definitely felt like an adult trying to write teenagers. On the other hand You’ve Reached Sam actually feels like real teenagers. They’re impulsive, they’re unsure, and most of all they’re lost.

My main issue with this book is the plot. Julie calls Sam a week after his death and he picks up. It makes for an interesting story, but there are more questions and no answers. How is this able to happen? Where is Sam? I would’ve loved to see answers to something, something that explains how they got this second chance, but there’s nothing, even though it’s alluded to multiple times that Sam could explain the situation, he just doesn’t. I understand Thao probably wanted to keep this as a contemporary book, but it’s already got some kind of supernatural / sci-fi threads purely because Sam does answer the phone. I don’t think it would’ve been bad to expand on that.

Aside from that, Julie wrestles with sharing this newfound connection as she sees how those closest to her are also struggling with Sam’s death, and how she needs to move on but can’t seem to let Sam go. It’s very simple, but very repetitive when these three things are just bouncing around every 50 pages, back and forth. Sometimes it felt like Julie was moving on, but then something would happen and she’d be back at having Sam again. Because of the constant ping ponging, it feels rushed when they finally do get to say their good-byes.

The plot isn’t as deep as I feel it could’ve been, and it was hard for me personally to find motivation to read this because of how emotional it made me, but that’s exactly why it’s so worth reading. People always ask themselves what would they say or do if they could tell a loved one goodbye, and this book explores one possibility.

I will say, I really expected some turn; like Julie was really writing this in the future as some kind of homage to Sam, or maybe the chapters from “before” were her writing sample for college applications. I feel like we could’ve really seen how Julie moved on if, by the end, it was revealed she was the one telling the story. She says she wants to write about her and Sam’s story, so maybe she writes that when she calls him, he answers, and she works through a process of letting go by writing- that could explain how Sam answers the phone in the first place, if Julie were just writing a “what if” in an attempt to move on herself. Thao really could’ve expanded a lot with his own story, but maybe it’s a good thing he didn’t. Keeping it simple keeps it appealing, especially when the emotions might be a turn off after so long.

I loved it, purely for the fact that despite being about loss, there’s so much love in these pages.

After hearing all the rave about this book, I wanted to read it. I loved the writing style but I wasn’t a fan of the ending. It wasn’t for me. Even after saying the ending wasn’t for me, the writing in this book was amazing!!

<i> You've Reached Sam </i> is a story about a girl, Julie, who is given a second chance to say goodbye to her boyfriend, Sam, who has unexpectedly passed away. The paranormal part of the book is what got to me. I think the whole message of loving, losing, and grieving was a really important message to share, but it could have been a stronger message if the book played out a different way. I feel like because of the fantasy realism associated with the characters, I wasn't able to truly get engrossed in their story which deterred me from getting really invested. Maybe that is just me, but *shrugs*

On a positive note, the cover art is stunning.

⭐⭐⭐⭐++
Teens Sam and Julie have their future all planned, they are going attend college, Julie want to be an author, Sam a musician, they plan to spend the summer in Japan visiting Sam’s grandparents. But that doesn’t happen because Sam dies.
Julie is so heartbroken and tries to erase their memories but it a total wreck. As she is packing up every memory she has of Sam ~ I start screaming at her ~”NO don’t throw away memories!”

She decides perhaps she needs to hear Sam’s voice so calls his number on her phone (she did delete it as in her sorrow to remove memories but does remember his number. When he answers ~ “you’ve reached Sam”, she thinks it is his voice mail but Sam is talking to her!

Awww I knew this was going to be emotion and I also know I am not the target audience for this novel but I LOVE this! I am still wiping tears from my eyes!
Most of all ~ who knew I was going to totally ‘tear up’ with the “Space Ninjas” story of the ‘baguette’!!!

Grief is a powerful emotion and we all deal with it differently. Julie and Sam’s story is Awesome!

As a high school guidance counselor, I loved to read Teen/YA stories, always fun to mention a book I read that my students might like. Then I got discouraged as most of my reads seemed to be formula driven: Sex, drugs, suicide, bulling, and of course a lot of foul language.

Aww Dustin Theo you brought back such hope to me!! Thank You!!!!!!!
I am so ready to read another “ Dustin Theo’ story!
I hope this is as much a hit with everyone who reads this as it is to me!!!

Want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for professional review purposes only.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for November 2, 2021

Thank you net galley for this arc.
I had heard great reviews of this book and started reading it with high hopes.
However I found it difficult to connect to the characters and ultimately decided not to finish it.

You’ve Reached Sam touches on one of your worst fears: the love of your life dying. But what would you do if you called his phone just to hear his voicemail one more time, and he answered?
This book is a love story with a beautiful magical realism aspect. The stunning cover of this book drew me in immediately. Then I read the synopsis and knew I just had to read it.
The story hooked me from the beginning. I already loved Sam as soon as I read the prologue. And I loved the side characters just as much! They had so much personality and were just as lovable as Sam.
The only problem I had with this book is that I didn’t care for the main character, Julie. I didn’t connect with her at all. I didn’t hate her, but I definitely didn’t love her. She was exceedingly self centered. At the beginning of the book I figured it might just be her grief causing her to only think of herself, but as the book went on she barely improved. We can all get wrapped up in our own grief and forget others are grieving too, but the fact that she never got better at caring about others really bothered me. She only did things for others when she knew she should, not because she cared. Her personality is ultimately what made this a four star read instead of a five star.
Other than that, I had no complaints about the book. The writing was beautiful! The way Thao transitions scenes during the chapters set before Sam’s death were so seamless. Those chapters really made me feel like I was there with them.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys heartbreaking, character driven reads.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: Death, Grief

You’ve Reached Sam is a book that was sold to me as one that rips your heart to pieces. This isn’t a set-up to say it didn’t do that for me — it did, to an extent, although perhaps less so than I was expecting.

The story follows Julie, whose boyfriend Sam has just died. Heartbroken, Julie doesn’t attend the funeral and throws out all of Sam’s things. But then, having listened to an old voicemail he left, she calls his phone, and he answers.

I’m writing this review at least a month after having read the book and, in all honesty, I don’t remember a whole lot about it. Yes, I enjoyed reading it. Yes, it got to me, mainly in the last quarter. But. It didn’t stick. I can’t recall a fair amount of the book, I had to look up character names. For all that I liked it, I wasn’t amazed by it.

That being said, it’s one I would still recommend picking up. It’s an exploration of grief, but the kind of grief that’s a little uglier, less acceptable. Julie doesn’t go to Sam’s funeral, she throws out his things, she variously misses him and hates him. I love the kind of contemporaries that are on the heavier side of things, and this is that.

I also liked that Julie isn’t always very… likeable I suppose is the best word. She’s selfish at times, she gets called out by her friends. Part of that is her grieving, but also. No one’s perfectly likeable and selfless all of the time and this book did a great job of showing that.

I think the one thing I would say though, is that it perhaps didn’t feel like Julie had got to the point where she could let Sam go, at the end. The character development in that respect was slow anyway, but then it felt like she was suddenly able to, out of the blue. Of course, this is a book I read seven months early, so it’s entirely possible that gets evened out.

So, in the end, I would definitely suggest you read this book, come November. I’m willing to all but guarantee that you’ll enjoy it.

A gorgeous heartbreaking book. I was intrigued by Julie's grief and healing process. Though I felt we could've gone deeper into the plot at times

This book broke my heart, but it did so in such a gorgeous way. I was swept up in Julie's grief from the very first page, and definitely found myself welling up a few times towards the end of the story. The relationships between the characters are complex, rich and real, the prose is absolutely stunning, and it is a vivid, at times painful, but overall wonderful portrayal of grief.

"You've Reached Sam" is a YA contemporary debut by author Dustin Thao that explores the expressions of grief so profoundly and beautifully.
This story follows Julie after the loss of her boyfriend and best friend, Sam. After his tragic loss, Julie begins to detach herself from every facet of her life until she is given one more chance to say good bye.
This novel explored grief from multiple avenues and perspectives and I loved that Thao showed how grief impacted others in Sam's life. Sam was such an impactful character even if readers were not to get to know him first-hand, but more so through recounts of his life from the perspectives of different characters.
Thao's writing is so beautiful and descriptive throughout the entire length of the novel and this book absolutely had my heart hurting!
This novel was a beautiful exploration of grief and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will continue to read more works put out by this author.

W O W

I never knew I could enjoy breaking my own heart so much and yet!!!! This book is a love letter to connections, especially those that help shape the way we live and see ourselves. Missing someone dear to your heart, not being capable of letting go, keeping things close to the vest for fear of hurting others or having them hurt you... it's all done so beautifully in YOU'VE REACHED SAM. A perfect read for anyone looking to remind themselves that excellent writing means conveying emotion in palpable ways. I simply adored it.

I'm not going to go on and on with this review, it can be summed up with a few short effective words.

Beautiful prose, beautiful deliverance, beautifully emotionally brutal.

Well worth a read, I would recommend without hesitation.

Did I just cry until morning over a book? The answer is YES. Holy grail! This book is deeply beautiful with hidden messages every chapters. The characters I follow through, specially Sam, is a perfection. I don't know why Dustin Thao wants to hurt but he just did. You've Reached Sam tackles problems on moving on and acceptance. The love and honesty it shows just grab my heart. I love how the story imagine being able to talk to the love of your life who passed away, and gave messages that cannot be communicated anymore. God! This book is my favorite.

*Bo Burnham voice* I just thought to myself, "Oh this is gonna be sad". And it was. I'm a genius.

To be honest, though, it was just alright. I thought this was going to be a massive heartbreaker and resonate with me in some way, but overall I was disappointed at how basic it was. There isn't much more to the plot than the synopsis - girl talks to her dead boyfriend over the phone and misses him. What the synopsis doesn't mention are the one-dimensional mean side characters who constantly blame said girl for her boyfriend's death, and the way said girl neglects every single relationship in her life as she mourns her loss, which makes her generally irritating. The fact that Julie is so self-absorbed that she consistently stands up her friends, ignores her family, basically bails on her date and doesn't seem to care about anyone but the voice on the other line makes it hard to sympathize with her.

Furthermore, there is no explanation for this supernatural connection, and zero consequences for her sharing it with other people, nor is there an explanation of why it had a time limit and what exactly broke the connection in the end. Neither of them had moved on, was the afterlife following their school calendar?

This had a lot of potential and unfortunately just didn't hit the mark for me.

***Thank You NetGalley for the Arc***

This is one of my favorite books of this year and it hasn't even released yet. I love the cover, but I loved more of what was inside that. It has been a while since I read a young adult that deals with grief/death/loss in such a profound way. The concept is so creative and almost seems inspired by the actual "wind phone booth" from Japan. Where you can send messages to the deceased.

Julie broke my heart in this book. I know many won't like her as much, but before judging her character so harshly and using the excuse that grief is different for everyone(which it is), you have to understand that it was more than that. Yes, we will see her deal with Sam's death, but we see her become a new person. Someone she was struggling to be. There was a reason behind her decisions, even if they frustrated me sometimes. There is a point in the story you will realize why Julie is portrayed the way she is. It is refreshing in a sense.

The last 100 pages or so were just magical. They really got my tears rolling. It was beautiful and Sam, as a character was just so endearing that you felt that loss too. When it releases, definitely check this one out! You won't be dissappointed.

I personally found it a bit boring and I can't really see where all the hype came from. The idea of the book is great, but development and the main character, who I didn't like one bit, not so much. I guess it wasn't for me.

One of my most anticipated b0oks of the year did not let me down. Be aware of possible content warnings for sensitive topics, but know this book is simply stunning!

So many of us would have liked a chance to say goodbye to a loved one who left us way too soon. Julie gets that chance. She was torn apart when Sam died before she could say goodbye. She phones him to hear his voicemail but he picks up! Here is her chance. A real gut wrenching story, will bring out many tears and renewed grief.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The rage I feel, having wasted two days reading this abysmal, fake-grief, pretense of a love story is so red-hot that it may consume this page before I finish writing my review.

The story idea is simple: a grieving girlfriend discovers that she can talk by cell phone to her boyfriend after he dies. If you’ve ever lost a loved one, you’ve probably thought of, dreamed of, pleaded with your god for the opportunity to share one last conversation. Why couldn’t I have gotten to read THAT story?

Instead, I had to read You’ve Reached Sam, a story whose pacing, writing, and character development are so amateurish that it may have been written by a somewhat immature ten year old with the help of his mom’s thesaurus and some garage sale Trixie Belden books. By the way, that immature ten year old wrote this dreadful book in first person even though he has no idea, apparently, how women of any age think, speak, or feel.

Also, the grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors are distracting. (Yes, I know I’m reading an uncorrected proof but it’s not like this was typeset from a hand-written copy. This isn’t the 1900s, folks. I have to assume that the author turned in a manuscript full of errors.)

The MC, Julie, is profoundly unlikable. She is grieving not because Sam died but because SHE lost HER boyfriend. Julie is whiny and self-centered and carries around such a big ole bag of “woe is me” that she doesn’t have any room in it for empathy or true grief. She’s cruel to her grieving friend, mean to her mom, and even unkind to her dead boyfriend and his entire family. She literally thinks to herself that she needs to call Sam because he’ll understand how difficult her day has been. Seriously. She calls her dead boyfriend to complain about her school day. Could she be any more shallow? No, no, she could not.

No one would believe that Sam and Julie are in love from their brief, banal conversations. Where is the pining? Where is the heart-wrenching good-bye, that conversation that makes you cry, even as you realize that Julie is going to be okay and that Sam is ready for whatever comes next? Instead, they talk in cliches like disinterested neighbors who occasionally see each other in the shampoo aisle of their local grocery store.

Let’s just ignore that we will never get a clear explanation as to why she can call (but not text) Sam. I have other questions of equal importance. Why can Sam “feel” that there are problems with his family (and what’s the point of having this in the book)? And why is Sam the only one who can help them? What is going to happen to his family when he can’t call Julie anymore to get them out of trouble?

Why does Julie run around town looking for Sam when she knows that he’s dead? Why does she have a glowing selenite crystal? Also, how many flat secondary characters -- Mika, Yuki, Taylor, James, Oliver, Jay, Rachel, Liam, Julie’s mom -- are too many to include in a story? (The answer is the endless number that the author added to this book; all of his secondary characters are as flat as Stanley himself.) What does it all mean? Why should we care?

There’s a lengthy -- and I do mean lengthy -- prologue that, I guess, is supposed to make us like Sam and Julie so much that we’re grieving for them too but it’s a hot mess of clunky writing that attempts to blend memories into something like a camera fade in a movie. Major fail. It’s hard to follow and is so deeply one-sided that all we know at the end is that Julie sure does like herself but maybe doesn’t like her boyfriend that much.

The author includes page after page, scene after scene, of Julie wandering, frequently in the rain, sometimes as darkness falls, sometimes because she has to get away from whatever cliched pressures the author decided that Julie is supposed to feel, pressures, by the way, that are so tired and overused that they’re cringy and boring, almost as cringy and boring (and manipulative) as THE voicemail. (If you read the book, you’ll know what voicemail I mean.)

Finally, I hate … nope, despise is a better word … that the author aims his intellectual snobbery at community colleges, as though attending a CC is some sort of punishment that Julie has to endure because she didn’t get accepted to the school of her choice. What a terribly disrespectful thing to do. Community college is not a punishment but reading this book certainly was.

Pass on this book, folks. There are so many others much more worthy of your time.

I received a NetGalley digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. (less)