This was a beautiful story about grief and love and it definitely made me cry and question everything. I would recommend it to others.

Heart wrenching and oh so cute! Definitely not on of my usual reads but it was good! Thank you netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book - I initially requested it because the cover is gorgeous and one of the comp titles is a favorite movie of mine - but it ended up being a great read and wonderful depiction of grief and attempting to move on while your entire world collapses around you. Looking forward to more from Dustin Thao.

To start off I really want to say how much I love the cover for this book which is absolutely gorgeous! Now for the review:

You've Reached Sam is a YA contemporary romance book that explores grief and what it means to rebuild yourself when you lose someone precious to you in an unexpected and tragic way. The book begins with the main character Julie grieving over loosing Sam, her boyfriend. However, no grief is ever the same for everyone and Julie grieves differently from those her around. Julie refuses to attend any ceremony honouring Sam, misses his funeral and even throws away everything that reminds of her Sam only to realize she cant forget him. Desperate to her his voice Julie call's Sam's phone hoping to reach his voicemail and hear his voice once again. Except the unexpected thing happens...Sam picks up.

When Julie asks Sam how this is possible and how could he answer her call when's he's dead, he simply replies that he picked up because she called him.

With this miraculous gift, Julie feels that she has reunited with Sam, but what does this reunion truly mean for Julie and Sam?

I am someone who rarely ever picks up a contemporary romance book, however You've Reached Sam was different. For me, it was the description on the back of the book that really compelled me to read this book. I mean a story about a girl who looses her boyfriend but is somehow reunited with him through a phone, what isn't intriguing about this premise? I also liked how the author structured the book going back and forth between the past of when Sam was alive to the present where he's dead. It helped to establish Julie's and Sam's relationship and reiterates a valuable lesson that life doesn't always go the way we want it to. This book is perfect for those who love contemporary romance with a twist.

4.5/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I felt so connected to this book. It moved me a lot and absolutely made me cry. Grief is a funny thing, it's different for every person. I think it's easy to get lost in grief and forget about the world around you. I think this book did a great job at bringing forth that exact issue. I also really like the extra magical aspect of this book. I think it also brings forward more emotions if you've lost somebody and you remember the last thing you said to them or what you wish you would've said. Like I said this book really tore into my emotions and I sobbed a lot, it just really hit close to home. I would absolutely recommend this book, but also with the warning that it does deal with grief and loss.

The line that stuck the most with me is this: “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 wish someone had said that to me years ago when my sister died. I never thought life would go on, but it did and that’s what Julie, the protagonist of the story, learns after her boyfriend Sam dies. Her journey is one of pain, of learning to let go. This was a unique way of telling the story of letting go and taking the next step after loss. I’m most impressed that it is a male author, telling the story of Julie’s pain. Highly recommend this one!

Beautiful and sweet book exploring death and grief. I was drawn in by the knock-out premise and gorgeous cover, and I stayed for the gripping writing and the bits that made me cry.

OMG I was sobbing by the end of this book. Julie can't get over the death of her boyfriend and first love. So she tries to call his phone to hear his voice. And he answers. They walk through memories as Sam helps her begin to move on with her life. Amazing story. So glad I took the time to read this story.

Thanks to Netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review

This book follows a story about 17-year-old Julie who planned a perfect life with her boyfriend, Sam is washed away after an accident, Julie had to deal with the grief and pain of her boyfriend, so she went to his house to listen to his voicemail and she magically received a call from Sam, giving her the opportunity to talk to him one last time. I loved the beautiful writing and how he managed to create realistic characters.

Reading this book broke me so much and I went through an emotional journey throughout this book. I loved Justin's writing about how Julie dealt with her grief made me stare at the wall for a long time, and how he put flashbacks of their relationships that made me sad because of how they are able to relive their memories together. I loved Julie's character development toward the end of the book, even though I loved her since the beginning especially when you are recently dealing with the loss of your loved one, everyone deals with it differently.

trigger warnings: death, grief, divorced parents, racism, car crash

Where do I begin….This was just, overall, such a tragically beautiful book and I went through all the stages of grief while reading this.

The pain that you experience through reading is just so so raw. Witnessing the pain that Julie feels and seeing her navigate through such a consuming and violate grief while talking to Sam while also having to come to terms with the fact that he’s dead was so emotional. From the first chapter, the author does an amazing job at pulling you into the story and grounding you in the setting, emotions, and characters. It’s a wonderful portrayal of grief and all that comes with it.

My only complaint about this was that it did get a bit repetitive at times. The whole point of the story is the phone calls, but some scenes — although emotional — felt a bit stale after reading so many other chapters like it. I think the story was so focused on the grieving process particular to Julie and seeing her come to terms with it that the plot got a bit lost along the way.

This was definitely a great debut and I loved the themes and how they were woven in and shown so well through the phone calls and Julie as a person. It was such a raw and encompassing book.

4.5/5 stars! I loved this book so much and I cried multiple times! This tackles the themes of grief so well and it was such an interesting take on grief, allowing our main character to not only remember what she had lost but also take those vital steps to move forward with her life. The character work was done so well and their relationship felt so believeable to me that I can really imagine this couple existing. It had a real theme of hope throughout and that Julie would be okay at the end.

I thoroughly enjoying this heartbreaking read and even though I read it months ago, it has stuck with me. I’m really excited for anything else Dustin Thao comes out with!

You've reached sam is a brilliant debut for Dustin Thao!

Such an emotional journey that really carries you through the book.

On the precipice of graduation, Julie and Sam can’t wait to go away to college, get an apartment, and live the rest of their lives together. But Sam dies in a tragic accident, leaving Julie behind to cope with her grief and guilt–they had a disagreement before he died. Julie skips the funeral, school, and throws away every memento, and then, in a moment of anguish, calls his cell phone number. Sam ANSWERS.

The universe either magically gives Julie and Sam a way to say goodbye and find the closure they need… OR she is delusional in her grief and created the world she needs to live in to get through. It’s never explained, but it doesn’t matter; I believed that JULIE thought she was connecting, and it was what she needed to move on.

On the surface, Julie comes across as selfish, but the truth is, she’s just a young girl who lost her first love and boyfriend of three years. The path of grieving is different for everyone, and that has to be respected. There are friends (and sadly, teachers!) who don’t seem to understand this.

Something about the characters and their relationship didn’t quite resonate with me. It might be due to the distance;l we only see Sam through Julie’s eyes. Their intimacy is assumed but never really divulged. The epilogue is short sweet and frankly, unnecessary: a young adult novel should end with a sense of a new beginning, even if there is closure around a plot point or character’s development.

Oh my gosh!!!! THIS BOOK WAS SO SAD! I HAD NO IDEA HOW SOUL CRUSHING THIS BOOK WOULD BE! I'm writing up a longer version on my blog but holy shoot! This was devastating yet incredible at the same time!

You've Reached Sam is one of those novels that stick with you for a long time. I read the book in February, and I still think about it to this day. This is a character-driven story that's beautifully written and will definitely make you cry. The book also does an excellent portrayal of grief. Although the book was slightly repetitive, it did not take away from my enjoyment at all and I still absolutely love it. 5 stars.

MY HEART!!!!!! Oh my gooodddd I am still dying and reeling from this book. I cried MULTIPLE TIMES OK!!! Just fantastic and amazing. The cover is also stunning but the STORY! The story TT_TT

i really, really loved the premise of this novel, to the point where each time i caught a glimpse of the cover, just that simple act was enough to put me in my feels. then, when i started the novel, i could practically hear the orchestral swells in the prologue, with julie's opening montage of memories.

but as the book progressed, i realized - with increasing certainty - that this was not the book for me. it crushes me to admit this.

as other reviewers have said, i do not wish to condemn or judge julie's pain or grieving process (or the pain and grief of any person, for that matter).

however, that does not mean that i enjoyed this novel or liked julie. to be frank, i found her narration insufferably self-centred. i did not understand why other characters, sam included, continually provided julie with unreciprocated generosity and magnanimity. each of her relationships felt incredibly one-sided – with sam (and others) giving and giving, and julie taking and taking and taking. at one point, julie says that the only way she is able to understand another person's pain is because “[m]aybe it’s the empathy from being a writer”. what???

this is not to say that julie does not deserve support: rather, i wish the relationships in you've reached sam had been depicted with more reciprocity. i wish julie had demonstrated more accountability to the people she very clearly neglected or hurt.

because julie's relationship with sam felt so one-sided, sam was - in my eyes - reduced to a one-dimensional, manic-pixie sort of character who exists to please and comfort julie. at best, this felt like poor characterization; at worst, this replicated, for me, the sort of non-reciprocal emotional labour that BIPOC folks frequently provide to white people. (i'm not saying this was the book's intent, just the feelings evoked in me personally.)

i was also surprised and disappointed to realize that this was not, in fact, an ownvoices story about an asian protagonist. yes, the author is a person of colour, and the book features asian side characters (always awesome!). but our narrator julie is not asian - she's white, and that took me by surprise because she appears asian-coded on the cover. i guess i shouldn't have presumed, but i'm also going to be honest: i was disappointed! :(

unfortunately, all of these factors made it very difficult to feel the emotions and poignance i was so hoping this book would evoke.

i want to end on a positive note, though! i liked the chapters that reminisced about "before" - i could easily picture the transitions between different sam-and-julie memories as a montage in a k-drama or j-drama. i also appreciated that, at the very end, we hear from sam (the manic pixie speaks!) about his experience and emotions - if only this had happened more throughout the entire book, i don't think my reading experience would have been as much of a let-down.


thank you netgalley and st. martin's press / wednesday books for providing me with this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

You've Reached Sam was supposed to be a quick read, but it took me so long to finish it because there were times when I found the protagonist, Julie, to be... a little too much. We get it. You're grieving. You get to take your time to process everything. But there were so many moments when it felt like she didn't want to process her emotions. I found it to be unhealthy (But then again, who am I to judge her? The girl lost the love of her life.) and a tad bit frustrating at times. What I liked most about it, as expected, were the last few chapters as I believe they wrapped up the story quite nicely. Acceptance, and wanting to actually move on from a sad experience are, of course, 2 of the most important steps to fully recover, and I'm glad Julie, after taking her sweet time, learned how much she needed to let Sam go to be able to move forward.

All in all, this is an impressive debut. I didn't love it as much as I thought I would, but I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from the author.

Back to finally leave a review. This book will make you hug your loved ones closer tonight. It'll make you want to call and record their voices and hold on to them.

Reading the synopsis, you know this'll be an emotional book and did I cry whilst reading? Yes.

There's something special about the way Julie and Sam's story is written. It jumps between then and now. Many stories have the jump but the special bit is all in the before. Each section of before is made up of many memories and the transition between them... I love it. Each memory blends with another and sometimes, I didn't even realise it was a transition. It was all so smooth.

I would recommend that you read the book just for the transitions.