If you think you need a good cry, this is the book that you are looking for.
Rating 4.5/5
Julie had her life planned with her boyfriend Sam until he died in an accident, everything that they planned is coming down. Julie decides skip Sam´s funeral, throw away all his things and she tries to forget everything about him. In her yearbook she found a last message Sam wrote to her before he dies. So, Julie calls Sam one last time to hear his voice, but what she does not expect is to Sam answer the phone. A temporary connection, they have another chance to said goodbye to each other. Keep the calls with Sam as a secret won´t be easy especially when Sam´s family is in pain.
To start I want to say this is the saddest book I have read this year. At the biggening we can see how Julie is trying to deal with pain and uncertainty about what the future without Sam will be but at the same time we see how she is decided to forget everything about him. But when she starts to call to Sam, she is decided that his dead is just a bad dream and he will come back soon, and start Julie codependence to Sam’s call, what is follow by depression. The author with his words makes you feel like the situation is really happening to you and that made me sad for a few days. He choice right words for describe how loss feels and how depression is.
About the characters, Julie loves with all her heart Sam, but she is struggling with his lost and mourning in her own way, but other characters judge her about how wrong her way to feel pain and sadness was, when it is important that every person deal with their emotions in their own way, and neither is good or wrong, and sometimes that bother me.
It was easy and fast to read. I think the only think that I don’t like was I felt the last chapter a little to fast and one think didn´t make sense to me, but I really love this book.

Julie and Sam seem to be the perfect couple until Sam unexpectedly dies in a car accident. Julie falls into depression, ignoring her friends and family, and wondering how she’ll ever move on. One night she decides to call Sam’s phone in the hopes this is all a bad dream and she is surprised at who answers.

This book starts out so sad that I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy it but it turns out to be a very sweet story about growth. This book moves back and forth in time, almost as dream sequences, and you get to see Sam and Julie’s relationship and how she is dealing with the aftermath of his death. I think this would be a good book for anyone who enjoys romance or is a fan of Gayle Forman or Sarah Dessen. It deals with a lot of depression, grief, and death so may be better for mature readers.

Dustin Thao’s debut novel is a very good one. It’s a story of heartbreak, heartache and healing. Losing a loved one happens to us all. If you ask most people what they would wish for when mentioning their passed loved ones I’m sure they’d say the ability to speak to or see them one more time. At least, that’s what I’d say.

Julie gets that opportunity when she calls her boyfriend’s cellphone number and he picks up the call. Her boyfriend, Sam, passed away in a tragic car accident days earlier. Sam tells her they have this limited connection to speak until Julie can accept his death and say goodbye.

The novel centers around this plot line as well as the affect Sam’s death has on his friends and family. Often heartwarming, I never thought the plot dragged. My only complaint was that I wished the supporting characters are a little bit more fleshed out. I feel like their were things going on in their lives that were implied but would have been better to be explicitly explored over the course of the novel.

I’d very much like to see this adapted to a movie. I definitely recommend this one.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy.

I'm sorry it took me so long to write about You've Reached Sam, I just wasn't mentally prepared to talk about it.

So, here we go.

*wipes tears*

You've Reached Sam is a book about grief, loss, love, and moving on, and honestly, it broke me. From time to time, I had to make pauses of 30-40 minutes just to stop crying and continue reading (Yeah, it was that sad).

Dustin Thao's writing is so mesmerizing and yet so simple, every sentence felt so real and full of emotions. If someone else wrote this book, I wouldn't love it as much, that's for sure. (Prologue killed me and if you decide to read it you'll see why)

I loved all characters, they were written so well. Julie was a little irritating at the beginning of the book but I guess we all have our way of dealing with loss and grieving. I admired her for her strength, honestly. If I were her I would fall apart and abandon everything in my life, even graduating and uni. So yeah, she was an incredible character, and I loved how she dealt with her pain and grew as a person.

Sam was so sweet and nice, a ray of sunshine. I knew he would die but I was just so sad about it, he deserved to be a famous musician and enjoy his life. But that's the life I guess, we can't get everything we want.

I also loved Mika (Sam's cousin) and Oliver (Sam's friend) very much. I would like to have them as friends.

I enjoyed reading You've Reached Sam and I'd love to see it adapted to a movie someday in the future (I want to listen to Sam singing so badly).

If this was Dustin's debut novel, I can imagine how phenomenal his next works will be! Can't wait to read them and reread this one when it comes out in November!

You've Reached Sam - 5🌟

* Thank you @netgalley and publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review *

Julie blames herself for Sam’s death, throws away his belongings, skips his funeral and attempts to move on. When things get too much, Julie rings Sam’s phone one more time to hear his voicemail but he picks up!

There’s no doubt the writing was lovely and the subject matter heartbreaking, but I struggled to connect to the MC Julie. I didn’t particularly like her which made it more difficult to care. I did like Sam a lot though so that helped.

This wasn’t a quick read for me, I found myself picking it up and putting it down a few times. I liked it but I didn’t love it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Julie and Sam had fallen in love and were going through typical high school relationship woes when he passed away. Julie and the others in the town blamed her for his death because he was supposed to be meeting her at the train station. This is a story of her grief and communication with Sam after his death.

While I wanted to love this book so much based on the description, I struggled to connect to the story line. I loved the relationship they built, even after his death. I understood the turmoil she was going through as she processed it all. It just fell flat when I needed to comprehend them having phone conversations when he had passed, and the fact that only certain people’s phone calls/texts were coming into her phone while others were being sent to somewhere else.

This is a beautiful story about grief and love and letting go. Within the first 20% or so of the book, I had already shed a few tears. It has a wonderful cast of characters, and you truly can’t help but feel for the MC, Julie, suffering the loss of her boyfriend, Sam.

Letting go is so incredibly hard. And when you lose someone, who hasn’t tried calling their phone one more time? To be able to hear their voice, their laugh, their advice—all of it just one more time. Julie was granted that...and so was Sam.

The story follows Julie’s plethora of emotions—from anger all the way through to acceptance. It’s beautifully written and, while slow-moving, full of so much emotion, that is not at all a negative aspect (especially since it’s so character-focused).

This is perfect for fans of Contemporary and coming-of-age stories. The ending felt just a little rushed, but I think that was purposeful—because that’s exactly how Julie felt.

Biggest tip? Have some tissues handy when you read this one.
♥♥ ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ♥♥

What a unique story idea. I was intrigued just by reading the description...how could Sam still talk on the phone? Was he a ghost? A spirit? Did he not really die in the first place? Once the story started, I couldn’t put it down because I had to know how that was possible. Wondering if I would want to only have a phone connection with the man I love. Then I wondered how Julie would ever be able to move on. Then being skeptical of how all of that was possible. What a beautiful teenage love story.

Julie's first love, Sam, dies on his way to pick her up. She's grieving and calls his cell phone...and he picks up. Their connection is fragile, but he talks her through mourning and how to continue living. I found the premise full of potential, but I didn't ever really like Julie as a character. This wasn't a quick read for me, and I wanted to like it more than I did.

Talk about a tear jerker. I only thing I didn’t like about it this book was I felt the main character learned new lessons on the surface, but I was hoping to have more in depth lessons. Overall pulls ar your heart strings.

It took me a long time to finish reading it, You've reached Sam, is a beautiful and sad book that accompanies Julie through the most painful stages of mourning the loss of her first love.
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It's a story that breaks hearts and does not repair them in any way. Each scene is beautifully described and the sensations they convey are so pure that I was crying for a large part of the book, wishing they were both well and the end left me with a pleasant feeling but it is sad, it is a sad and beautiful book.
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The magic element that they could both continue talking through their phones seemed like a very good thing to me but maybe it left me waiting for something else.
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Thanks to St. Martin Press and Netgalley for give me this Beautiful book to read in exchange of my honest review

This was a poignant story about grief, love, friendship, change, holding on, and letting go. I'm glad I got a chance to go along on Julie and Sam's journey, and I'll definitely recommend the book to teens and lovers of YA stories.

You've Reached Sam was easily one of my most anticipated releases this year. That being said, I was disappointed to find it pretty mediocre. The side characters were two dimensional, and the plot didn’t evoke as much emotion as I expected.

~★~ What is this book about? ~★~

Julie is left heartbroken when her boyfriend, Sam, tragically dies. She threw out his things and missed his funeral to try and forget, but desperate to hear his voice one more time, she calls him just to listen to his voicemail. And Sam picks up the phone. Julie believes this is her last chance at goodbye, but Sam’s time is limited.

~★~

It wasn’t long before I knew this book wouldn’t live up to my expectations. The first chapter was compelling with a flashback to how Julie met Sam, but from there her character grew a bit irritating. She would treat her friends pretty terribly due to the loss of her boyfriend, not realizing that they, too (Sam’s best friend and cousin) were missing him just as much, if not more. Regardless, her frustrations were understandable due to the circumstances. Sam was likeable, but I don’t think there was much depth to his character. A few memories paired with Julie’s phonecalls weren’t enough for me to feel attached to him.

In my opinion, Thao’s writing was just okay; it needed more substance to make up for what the characters lacked. Don’t get me wrong, there were certain moments that made me emotional, but to be honest, reading this synopsis led me to believe I’d ball my eyes out like many other reviewers said they had. It’s unfortunate, but You’ve Reached Sam was one big “meh” for me.

Dustin Thao's writing style is a unique experience to read. We have all had a dream where someone we know dies, and we call their cellphone hoping they will answer, and they do. This story is just that. Julie, in her senior year, loses her boyfriend, Sam. While dealing with the struggling of the loss and pushing her friends and family away, Julie calls Sams's cellphone, and to her surprise, he answers. The story goes through flashbacks that Julie has before Sam's death and deals with overcoming the overwhelming amount of grief of losing your high school boyfriend. Throughout the book, Julie calls Sam, and he helps her navigate life without him. Even after death, he is still carrying her. I really wanted to feel more emotions during the read; however, it fell just short. Some of the stories repeat themselves a lot, and it took a while for me to finish the book; I had to keep putting it down—a great story for someone in high school dealing with loss.

Thank you to netgally and St. Martin Press Wednesday Books for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Julie and Sam are in their last year of high school. They have plans for the future, to leave their small town and build their lives, together. But that was before Sam dies in a car accident and Julie is left to figure out what happens next. In her grief, Julie dials Sam’s number desperate to hear his voice, but instead of ringing through, Sam picks up. They are reconnected. You’ve Reached Sam is a beautifully constructed YA that undertakes the process of dealing with loss.
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Chapters move between before the accident, in montages of memories, and after, and
one of the things I loved most about this book is how you are visibly taken through the different stages of Julie processing her trauma. Originally, she distances herself from all of her friends and family, closing herself off from the world, everything seems overwhelming. Sometimes words and phrases could feel repetitive, but it also worked because that is how working through emotions can be. As time moves on, she learns to talk through her grief by connecting with those who are also feeling the same pain and embracing her memories. In balancing the future she desires, with the reality she has, Julie learns that life doesn’t always work out the way you plan. Instead, you should appreciate everything and everyone you have, and live in the moment.

Yes, I cried. It was the broken promises that got me. Dustin Thao has a simple, clear writing style that makes every sentence pack a punch. His character development adds to this, including a diverse set of characters, each personality contributes to the story in individual ways, and Sam is such a loveable character, it makes the pain stronger. This is another character lead, rather than plot-based, story, but this doesn’t drag out the book. This book is worth the read, just have tissues at the ready!

How do you move forward when everything you love in on the line?

Seventeen-year-old Julie has her future all planned out--move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city, spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes. Desperate to hear his voice one more time, Julie calls Sam's cellphone just to listen to his voicemail. And Sam picks up the phone.

What would you do if you had a second chance at goodbye?

I received a copy of this from the publisher Wednesday Books, and Netgalley in turn for an honest review.

I remember seeing Dustin talkin about this book ages go on Twitter, and I knew straight away it was something I would love to read. So when it came available on Netgalley I jumped at the chance of requesting it, and was very happy to be approved.

You’ve Reached Sam is a lovely story about grief, losing someone you love, and coming to terms with moving on.

It’s something we’ve all wanted isn’t it, one last phonecall or conversation with someone we’ve loved and lost. That’s what made this book sound so interesting. I know I would jump at the chance to talk to my Grandma again, and yet it was something similar to Julie that helped me come to terms with her death quite a while later. No I didn’t talk to her on the phone, but Julie has dreams which she doesn’t realise are actually her way of making sense of things. I had a dream like that and without sounding all cliche about it, I honestly woke up and felt so much lighter.

If you love sad stories with uplifting ends then this is one for you, it had me cry a few times, and smile a lot. We watch through their lives before Sam died, and Julie’s life after. The grief is real, we see her struggle to even talk to other people, let alone be around others much. But we see a beautiful love story in the background, their day trips, the things they do to see the other one smile.

The book reminded me somewhat of The Phonebox at the Edge of The World by Laura Imai Messina, which is another amazing story about talking to loved ones after their passing. Definitely give it a go.

Thanks again to the publisher Wednesday Books, and Negalley for my advanced ebook.

As soon as I heard about this book online I just knew I had to read it. I'm not the biggest fan of those stories that seem tailored to bring you to tears on purpose, but I have to confess this one was really well conducted. To me, it's a book about grieving, which justifies the slow rhythm of the story, as we are presented to the characters and their experiences step by step, with the memories and flashbacks making the narrative even richer.

One of the best parts are the secondary characters. While it was hard for me to get attached to the main character and her decisions, all the others were very well developed and written. From Sam to characters only appearing for one scene, they gave the plot motivation and movement.

At the end, it's a sweet, calm book, in which time seems not to even pass, not relying on sad scenes to attract and hold the reader. There are, of course, tears to be shed, but we're presented to this couple and everyone around them in such a well-put way that it seems like a hug.

You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao is a contemporary YA, though with a supernatural twist. Julie is shortly before high school graduation when Sam, her boyfriend, dies in a car accident. The story follows her as she navigates her grief, and rebuilds her life after this massive upheaval. But this isn’t made easier by her being able to call Sam on her phone. Somehow, they are able to have conversations across the boundaries between life and death, and Julie gets a chance to say goodbye all over again. This is heart-wrenching – though not as emotional as I was expecting it to be. But it’s still a very solid read, even if I personally didn’t fall in love with it.

This book is beautifully written. The flashbacks were done in such a nice way (it felt like a movie!) and I'm amazed by Dustin Thao's artistic prose. Where I felt the book was lacking was almost made up for with the writing.

Then there's Julie. Her grief was overwhelming and I can't imagine how much pain she must have been in. However, she just felt so unlikeable at the beginning and it was incredibly difficult to root for an MC who kept making such frustrating decisions. I think maybe the way I felt about her impacted my ability to connect with Sam and the plot.

However, I really did grow to love some of the side characters. Firstly, I love anything bookstore-related, so everything about sweet Mr. Lee made me very happy. Mika was also super cool. Who doesn't want a friend that can easily take out your enemies? I also really enjoyed reading about Oliver and how his friendship with Julie developed.

The other thing: it's so easy for books to make me cry. Like, so easy. But many people (who don't normally cry from books) sobbed... and I didn't shed a single tear. Hm.

In summary, this book was beautiful but just not for me.

**I posted a short IG review in my saved highlight, but I will be posting my full review on Goodreads, tiktok, my blog, and twitter, closer to the release date (Nov. 2, 2021)*

“But the truth is, no one experiences grief the same way, and we all come out of it differently.”

4 stars

This heartbreaking contemporary was designed to hurt me, but I say this with love. We follow a girl who's boyfriend Sam has just died in a tragic accident. The story follows them throughout the timeline of their relationship, as Julie discovers she may have one last chance to hold onto him - through their phones. Honestly, I wasn’t a huge fan of our main character Julie at first at first. I know everyone grieves differently, but her impulse to distance herself from memories of them together is just so different from mine, I had to remind myself not to take offense. (I’m one of those people who cling to memories and memorabilia of people in order to remember/feel close to them.) Spoiler: A small part of me died when she threw out the stuff Sam had given her.

I loved Sam so much. He's the sweetest and most caring boyfriend, and I clung to their phone calls together. There were so many touching scenes in this book that shredded my emotions. Sam’s yearbook note was a knife to the heart, and there's an important song in the book that I actually listened to during a specific scene. It crushed my soul a bit.

I also really like how the flashbacks aren’t written in past tense, but the author writes them like we’re actually reliving those moments. This style was much more engaging than just “they did this” and “then they did that”. We get to see Julie struggle between her old life with Sam and the life that keep propelling her forward into a life without him.

No spoilers, but the end of Ch. 16 had me weeping. I felt Julie's pain so much in that moment. There’s a line near the end of the book that I’m pretty sure was designed just to hurt me specifically. This book ripped my heart out but it was really good. If you like sad but still a fun book, I would recommend picking this up November 2!

Trigger Warnings: death of loved one, grief