You've Reached Sam was one of my most anticipated reads for the year. I went into this book looking for a heart-wrecking & emotional read. I was prepared to be sad. Unfortunately, You've Reached Sam did not make me feel anything. I really think this is more about me and the book not fitting my personal tastes. So, before I go ahead, I should mention that I do not believe I was the right audience for this book.

That being said, my gripe with this book was that the characters did not resonate with me. The writing fell too flat at points that the emotions the author tried to convey fell flat. Dustin Thao's writing was okay but for a book tackling grief, I had expected more. Even Julie's relationship with the secondary characters did not seem to have much substance. I did love Julie's moment with Oliver, and with Mika. But then the characters would end up fading out of the scene which made it hard for me to get invested in their relationships.

I did like the way our main character, Julie, was written. Grief touches people in different ways. You cannot blame a person for wanting to step out of the world and cling to the person they loved. You've Reached Sam shows how unhealthy this can be, and how this attachment hurts our own lives.

Although this book was not for me, I would recommend it to others who enjoy magic realism books and movies like Your Name. I believe this is an important book that needs to be shared.

I don't think I got what I needed from this book. I believe that the potential was there and the synopsis set my expectations really high, however...

they felt short? this book was a bit forgettable. There's a quote that goes, "No tears in the author, no tears in the reader".

I wonder if Dustin cried while reading this, cause I sure didn't.

While I’ve technically finished a few other books from the Made series first, I’ve been reading this ARC (thanks, NetGalley) for quite a while now. It’s the book I’ve picked up when I just needed a break from other books for a moment in the hopes that it would eventually pick up enough to make me want to focus all of my attention on it. Unfortunately… that didn’t quite happen here. But before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you what it’s about. And even before that, look at that beautiful cover art.

What if you could talk to someone you loved after they died? No, really. You could call them whenever you wanted. Hear their voice. Have new conversations. And say goodbye, on your terms. After Julie’s boyfriend Sam dies in a car accident, she calls his phone one day just because she misses him. What she doesn’t expect is for him to actually answer.

If you haven’t noticed by now, I gravitate toward books about people dealing with grief and loss. Grief is a different process for everyone and comes in so many different packages. For Julie, grief came in the form of putting her life on pause, essentially. She withdrew from everything and didn’t interact with anyone from Sam’s family or from school or even her own family. So when she gets the chance to talk to Sam again whenever she wants, it’s expected that she wraps herself up in that experience.

Now, like I said, I gravitate toward these types of books. I hoped that I would be able to love Julie and cry my eyes out. I really wanted to. But it just never came. I couldn’t help but find her to be annoying. Anyone who ever wanted to help her, she pushed away. She was so wrapped up in her own grief, she pushed away everyone else who was also grieving. She didn’t realize that other people had lost Sam, too. Like his mom and dad, his cousin, his brother, his friends. She didn’t even bother to say a word to them that entire time. I don’t want to say that she was obligated to do so but...I mean it would’ve been nice.

One of my biggest issues was pacing. It felt very slow to me and maybe that was intentional to mirror how slow the grieving process is, especially of a partner. But it just wasn’t done in a way that kept my attention captured. Despite this, there were some great lines in there about grief that really spoke to me. One of my favorite quotes comes toward the end, when Julie is learning about letting go, for the final time:

“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 think I was on the train when I read this and reading it made me feel like I was in a coming-of-age indie movie. While I don’t know if I would read it again, I can’t deny that there were some parts that really hurt the heart. 3 out of 5 stars from me.

Interested in reading this book? Mark your calendars for November 2, 2021!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me an E-ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I was a bit sad when I finished. But I was even more saddened by the fact that I wasn't able to connect with the mc more. I didn't feel that shattering emotion that everyone else seems to have felt while reading You've Reached Sam and Julie's lack of development is part of the reason.

But also - I feel the need to point out how people call Julie "annoying" or "unlikeable" when she was just grieving in her own way. All symptoms of grief are valid, not just the ones you can relate too/see in the media. Many thoughts about that.

It has taken me a few days since finishing You've Reached Sam to prepare my thoughts and feelings in order to share. This is definitely one of "those" books that will grip your heart and not let go even after finished. And every single moment is absolutely worth it..

You've Reached Sam follows Julie, a teen suddenly faced with the pain and guilt of the sudden loss of her boyfriend, Sam. This book follows the pain, the grief, the guilt and regrets that come along with losing a loved one. Julie is not sure how she's going to survive without Sam until one day out of desperation she calls his phone and the most miraculous thing happens...Sam somehow answers. She suddenly has the chance we all long for after a sudden death, a second chance at saying goodbye. It feels unreal and like a dream come true, but what will hanging on cost her?

Heartbreaking and hauntingly beautiful Dustin Thao has managed to weave a brilliantly written tear jerker that leaves you feeling so many things all at once, while also posing interesting questions about life, death, and how to move on in a way that the reader is not completely aware of the questions until after the story ends, ensuring that this story will stay with readers and demands a second, third, tenth reading.

For fans of If I Stay and similar contemporary real life YA situations. For every one who has ever lost anyone, wished for a second chance, wondered what if...You've Reached Sam will fill a part of yourself you may not even have known was missing.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Dustin Thao for providing me with an advance ecopy for me to fall in love with, cry my eyes out, and share my honest unfiltered opinions to all of you. Thank you, Dustin Thao for writing the book we didn't realize we needed.

The premise of this book was so appealing, but the slow pacing and light tone left me wanting more. I was ambivalent about Julie, Sam, and their relationship dynamic. This will doubtlessly appeal to a certain bracket of YA heartbreak-seeking readers, but it wasn't a hit with me.

This book was pretty good! I found it super easy to read and also enjoyable. I think the book does a good job of using the phone calls between Julie and Sam to show a representation of going through grief.
Considering the topic this is definitely a sad book but I didn’t find it too heavy.
Reviewed at, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3924255558?book_show_action=false

The story follows Julie, who is your typical teenage girl. Nice boyfriend, plans to attend college, friends, and getting ready for the next phase in her life. That is until her boyfriend dies and her whole world flips upside down. She tries to move on in her own way, which was harshly judged, but she isn’t able to shake her grief. Deep in her nostalgia she decides to call Sam and much to her surprise he answers! They are allotted a temporary chance to communicate with each other but then don’t know when their channel to each other will be cut off. This actually makes things harder for Julie, who now seems to revolve her thoughts and life around when she will get to talk to him next and passes on chance after chance to engage with people who are still alive and present in her life. One thing is certain....if she tells anyone about her little secret of being able to talk to Sam still, she may have to face saying goodbye to him...forever. She seeks to be understood, which never seems to go right. She grapples with the decision to risk it all and tell his loved ones that she still has a connection with him or keep him all to herself.

This story was okay. It lacked a lot of depth and wasn’t very engaging. I feel like the plot dragged and it could have been a lot shorter. After reading the synopsis, I was hoping this would tug on my heart strings and be an emotional journey, but I was left feeling disappointed. There were some beautiful passages and the premise was interesting, but overall it just left a lot to be desired.

Thank you to NetGalley & Wednesday Books for the ARC!

This was beautifully written and so full of emotions. Getting a second chance to talk to someone and say goodbye. I couldn't stop myself and finished this book in one go, stayed up all night to finish it and was in tears by the end of it. Worth it though.

Will write a full review on my blog, thank you for the chance to read this. Honestly loved it.

You've reached Sam is a comtemporary YA novel about a love and loss. The story focuses on Jullie, who has recently loss her boyfriend, Sam. In her grief, she doesn't want to face reality that Sam is actually is gone. For those who have ever loss someone precious to them, you can most likely relate to Julie as she has one last chance to speak to Sam one last time. I don't read to many stories focused on death and grief in YA, but I really think that Dustin Thao did a wonderful job writing about something that hits so close to home for many readers.
I really enjoyed the flashbback of Julie and Sam that are peppered throughout the novel, from their first meeting, first date, first kiss and so on. It might seem on the slow side for some, but I think the pacing is just right.

Overall I found this book to be a remakrably beautiful.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

You've Reached Sam is a story about love, loss, and what it means to say goodbye.

CW: Racism, grief, death of a boyfriend, car accident

This book gave me all the feels. My best friend lost her boyfriend our senior year of high school and the feelings Julie experienced took me back to my discussions with my friend. Especially feeling like others blamed you for what happened, when the ones that really matter, like family, never did.

You've Reached Sam made me cry, it made me think about what would happen if I lost my partner. I loved the concept of Sam being able to contact Julie because they're still connected on their phones. I love that this book discussed how healing takes time and sometimes you really need the chance to say goodbye.

I enjoyed watching the past unfold so that we could understand Julie and Sam's relationship. I also appreciated how Dustin Thao discussed how Sam's death affected everyone around him, not just Julie.

If you're ready to be have all the feels, read this book.

We follow Julie in her senior year as she grapples with the loss of her boyfriend. The prologue was beautifully written detailing how she met Sam and his importance in her young life. Julie tries to forget about Sam at first, seemingly throwing away everything and everyone who became a part of her through Sam. We follow her as she tries to understand how to deal with her grief and the reminders of him in her life.

I thought this was well written and an engaging story. I think it details an important lesson Julie is learning through her grief that life can go on and everything will be ok. I did think the ending was a little rushed and some aspects might have been too ‘happy’ for me. Nobody gets this many chances with the people they lost. Julie can learn, and the readers through her, that she may have to find her own closure without Sam handing it to her. I’d be interested in that story as a truthful recount of people who have lost their beloved so young.

This was exactly the bittersweet, painful, healing novel I needed. We almost all go through grief right now and this book helped me face mine. Julie wasn't always a character I could relate to, but I know that everyone faces death and grief differently, so it didn't bother me too much and didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book. Please be careful: this book will make you cry, and I suggest being in the right mood for it before reading it.

This story will break your heart and then put it back together, piece by piece. Great characters and spin on the question we all ask ourselves when dealing with loss: what would you say if you got to speak to that person one more time?

I’m not much of a contemporary fiction reader, but I decided to request for an ARC of this novel because the plot sounded interesting and there was an amount of hype going around for it. However, for me, this story just missed on everything I was looking forward for.

The plot felt a little slow at times, and I felt like most of it never moved forward enough, with too much of a focus on characters and not enough on the world and how they interacted with it. The number of flashbacks used, while understandable considering this book was about Julie dealing with the passing of Sam, just felt like a drag, and brought down the level of excitement to the story.

The characters on the other hand, felt a lot more vivid and drawn out, and were the only thing that got me through. Julie and her grief were excellently written, and the prose at times felt heart wrenching, drawing me in, but ultimately failing to capture me due to the slow movement of the plot.

Overall, this wasn’t an awful book, I just don’t think it was one for me and I definitely would recommend for any contemporary fans out there!

*I received a free e-book through Netgalley, this in no way influenced my review*

This book was simply beautiful.
I don’t have many words to talk about this book without spoiling things for other readers, but I just can say that any person who already has had to deal with grief in their life, should pick up this book.

I, personally, never had a close relative die on me before and certainly not in the situation in this book.
Our main character gets a second chance to talk to Sam by calling him on their phone.

You’ve Reached Sam is a story about moving on, letting go, but also being allowed to look back from time to time.

Reading You’ve Reached Sam was like being in a fever dream. I started it and I got sucked in. Nothing else in my life was in focus. It did not allow me to live my daily life until I finished reading it. And I wasn’t the same after finishing it.

the concept
We generally talk about the plot in book reviews. But for this book, I want to talk about the concept.

Julie, in a weak moment of grief, calls Sam’s phone number and he picks up. Immediately, we’re lulled into the conversation that Julie has with (dead? ghost?) Sam while being drenched in rain outdoors.

The book combines grief with magical realism to put across points that would look too harsh when told in plain words. While also totally stamping our hearts.

Using the concept of talking to Sam through her phone, Dustin Thao shows how it disconnects her from talking to other loved ones. The book portrays grief in its raw form, holding nothing back. It also shows how holding onto someone can be harmful.

Yes, it made me feel a LOT and I did cry at the end. Even while crying, I appreciated the way this message was shown instead of told like in other books that I’ve read.

I picked up this book wanting to cry and it delivered. The entire book is about grief but the feelings build up until the end where one paragraph broke me. It was done really well.

the writing
The book is written so well that the writing was almost non-existent. I did not notice the writing or the words themselves, I was just in the scene directly. It’s rare for a book to become a conduit to the story for me.

The writing in You’ve Reached Sam is very visual. The descriptions are so vivid, even when we are in dreams or memories. It really felt like I was experiencing everything with Julie.

Multiple times, I felt like the book is written keeping visual content in mind such as TV shows or movies. The plot and the imagery felt like that. It would make a great adaptation.

the characters
The book is completely character-driven. We go deep into Julie’s feelings, dreams, and fears. And we see her grow through the pain.

Sam didn’t feel real, and neither did his relationship with Julie. The character and the relationship were too perfect. When I mentioned this after finishing the book, Eleennae said that it is probably because Julie’s grief magnified it. And that makes a lot of sense.

Because we’re reading the book from Julie’s perspective after Sam has passed away, we see Sam and their relationship through rose-tinted glasses. It is hard to bring up bad points about someone after they’re dead. So that heavily contributed to Sam’s character, which was interesting and done very well.

The supporting characters held their own even though they were shown considerably lesser. Julie’s mother and friends were shown enough for us to connect to them as well. Especially Sam’s cousin Mika.

one tiny complaint
In the grand scheme of things, this is VERY small. It’s a tiny plot hole but it still annoyed me because it so clearly didn’t make sense.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD: A bunch of senior kids decide to start a club two months before graduation. That timeline doesn’t make sense?? And they wanted to make use of the snack budget that the school provides for clubs but they didn’t host any events and actually use the budget?? The plot didn’t serve any real purpose too. END OF SPOILERS.

overall
While it is a book that will break your heart, it is much more than that. It is an honest and raw portrayal of grief that is written very well through magical realism elements.

If you’re looking for a book that will make you forget about your life and will make you feel, pick You’ve Reached Sam.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-arc

I usually separate my reviews into plot and character, but the plot and characters are intertwined here as the plot is about the main character, Julie, overcoming the grief of her boyfriend passing and still talking to him on the phone.

I definitely teared up at times reading this, as by premise alone it's pretty emotional. I wish I felt more connected to Julie and Sam while reading, but their characters alone didn't particularly draw me to the story.

I think the point of this story is how our lives are made up of more than just one person, and that their are lots of important relationships in our (or at least Julie's life) and while I thought there was a lot of potential in all of the relationships Julie had with the characters beyond Sam, I felt we only got to a surface level in all of them. I would've preferred this novel if we'd delved into a few characters intensely instead a lot of characters briefly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

"You won't just leave again?" "I promise, Julie. I'll stay as long as I can."

You've Reached Sam was a story of grief and growth. I wasn't expecting to come out of this crying, but those last two chapters hit me really hard. Over the course of the story, I fell in love with both Julie and Sam. These are two characters that I'm sure will stick with me for a very long time. Their dreams for each other felt so natural and I found myself dreaming alongside them.

I'll definitely be rereading this book once it is published if only to relive the beautiful imagery throughout the story. All in all it was an amazing book and I'm excited to see what others think.

Thoroughly immersive and moving, You’ve Reached Sam will connect with a wide variety of YA readers. Emotional and heart-breaking, the narrative is still quick paced enough to engage even reluctant readers. Perfect for fans of emotional, character-driven stories. Highly recommended.