usually i love these kind of shapeless grief-driven books but this was just okay. i was expecting more based on the synopsis and the characters felt kinda one-dimensional which is why this didn't work. the last chapter and epilogue did make me cry though because of how "and so i be kind to everything i see and in everything i see i see him" it was

The writing is beautiful!
This book is quite honestly a hit or miss. There were some parts within it where I thought to myself about how I wish it was different. But my opinion was that I liked it. I gave it 5 stars because, despite the times where Julie did not pique my interest, I enjoyed getting to learn more about her. I enjoyed the plot, but the book was not as sad as I thought. Overall I recommend this book to anyone interested in it; I thought it was a good read. Can we also talk about how beautiful the cover is!!

This book is the epitome of heartbreak, mental health, and a want to never let go. I wanted a sad read but this book rips your heart out, drives over it and makes you go get your heart back. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Julie has lost her boyfriend Sam to a car accident, for which she feels she's partially to blame. Right as she's trying to get rid of all of their memories together, her phone suddenly connects to Sam. They'll be able to talk for some time he can't inform how long, so it's her chance to actually say goodbye to him. However, the more they talk, the less she feels ready for it.

It's a beautiful story about grieving and trying to move on. And it really made me cry at some points that weren't the ending. The journey was so beautiful, when it was the end of the book, I just felt fulfilled. It's a quick book, I haven't been able to read much and yet I think I finished this in two or three days. Though emotional, it won't feel too much. At the same time, I'm not sure it is recommended to those not ready to deal with heavy themes like the death of a beloved one, or if it could be exactly what the person needs.

I can't say I was in love with Julie, the main character. We get to enjoy the beginning of their romance even before we know he'll die (though it's obvious from the title, the cover, the summary... lol), but that beginning was weak, in my opinion. I'm really not sure the two had that much chemistry. Luckily, one, the book doesn't waste much time on that, and two, romance is not the point. While Julie's love for Sam and vice-versa felt shallow from what we read, her grief made me wonder if the book itself wasn't some therapy for the writer. I have no information to know, but it all read very real, it felt personal enough. This is not a story that used death as a plot device, like it was the trend some years ago with books made just for you to cry a lot. It's focused on the steps of grieving, which sometimes are forward and others, backward.

In all, yes, it could have been better, there could have been more interesting events. But the writing, the feeling of development were already beautiful enough. I think this is the kind of YA that can easily be read by all ages, even if you're not the usual fan of the read.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Ever Since I saw the cover I was drawn in, I cried reading the synopsis. How many of us have lost someone and would do anything to have another chance to talk to them.

To tell them how we feel, this book got me right in the heart. Grief is an on going thing and it was beautiful written.

i really enjoyed this read! While i typically stick to LGBTQ+ books, i was happy to step out of that box for this one. You’ve Reached Sam was emotional and beautifully written

Sam and Julie are making plans for after high school and getting out of their town, together. When one fateful night leaves Julie alone, trying to make it, and wondering what she will do now. All their plans are gone and Julie wishes she could just talk to Sam again, if nothing else, to say "goodbye". When she just dials his number to just hear his voicemail message, he picks up. Have you ever thought about what you would say to a loved one after they have died and you never got to say goodbye? This book hit lots of spots for me as I have lost so many loved ones suddenly and wish we could talk at least one more time to let them know how much they meant to me and how much I love them. I will be recommending to school librarians to add to our shelves. Thanks to Dustin Thao, St. Martin's Press (Wednesdays Books), and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This novel was absolutely stunning from beggining to end! I could not put this down. It was a struggle waiting to get home to read this! Thats how good it was.

I think the concept is great. How many of us wouldn’t desire to live vicariously through Julie; to have that moment when we are able to, once again, speak to someone we loved but lost through death?

But the execution didn’t work for me. I found this book to be terribly boring, with long, drawn out chapters and very little depth. I truly expected this to be a gut wrenching read, as the synopsis, itself, made me tear up. I feel I enjoyed reading that emotional synopsis more than the actual story.

I am truly grateful I was given the opportunity to read this e-galley. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021, so my disappointment is enormous.

5/5 Stars

I came here to get my heart broken, and I was not disappointed.

This book is an absolutely fantastic debut from Dustin Thao and the emotional journey the book takes you on is one I thoroughly needed and hope to experience again.

The main thing I loved about this book was the characters. The story picks up right after Sam's death, while Julie, his girlfriend, is grieving. While Julie isn’t the most likable character, that made her feel so much more real to me.. Julie's journey with her grief is incredible to watch. The other characters are equally amazing, my personal favorites being Yuki, Julie’s friend, and Mika, Sam’s cousin. They each got their own development and I always got excited when they appeared. I also loved reading about Sam. Throughout the novel, we learn so much about he and Julie’s past, which made her grief and his death that much more heartbreaking.

This book will stick with me for a long time and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a beautiful read that will have you crying, laughing, and crying again.

This love story was SO beautiful and heartbreaking and healing all at once! It was everything and more than I expected of it. A masterpiece for sure a debut out of the water! Wow pulls the emotions right out of you with great weaving storytelling in alternating chapters of before and after. Stunning novel 💜

This book was heartfelt and emotional. I did find myself pushing to get through it but I'm glad I did. The story overall left me with a little bit of a hangover and lots of things to think about.

This is about teenage girl dealing with guilt, grief, and loss. She's struggling with how her ways of dealing with her grief keep not fitting in with her friends and classmates who are grieving the same person, but not all quite the same loss.

I kept thinking it was going to, at some point, explain how they were able to talk on the phone. The question was raised repeatedly, but Sam doesn't know and Julie never learns how or why it worked. I wish it hadn't felt like maybe the answer would appear, and I hope that anyone planning to read it can have a better experience from knowing not to wait for that reveal which never comes. Setting aside my longing for a literal answer, the way the connection manifested felt like it paralleled (and perhaps reinforced) the shape of Julie’s grief. That resonance was important and worked well in the story. It's very focused on her and her focus on Sam for much of the book, gradually showing more of her other connections and relationships as she's able to start thinking about people other than him and about things other than her loss. The change comes slowly enough to feel real and makes for a thoughtfully done and very poignant portrayal of grief.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞.” 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫. “𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩. 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐨.”

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♾/5
YA book no spice
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❗️RELEASES NOVEMBER 9, PREORDER UR BOOK NOW!!

“They say if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it all” -quoted by someone on good reads.

And I agree thats my review have a nice day.

Just kiddinggg.

This book broke me.

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Thank you NetGalley for sending this arc for an honest review.

Content Warnings: Grief, death of a loved one, sudden death, depression, bullying

In the assumption that this is @thedustinthao first book. I have absolutely lost words to describe the good foot he placed in the media of literature. And here I am praising a guy author. That’s how good the book was. The female perspective was written so well you wouldn’t believe it.

It’s so difficult for me rn to form words without crying. It’s so difficult for me to make a joke and say my tears came out of my bum. Because this book hurt. To anyone whose ever watched the anime movie “ride your wave” consider it the same just triple the heart break.

Sometimes as humans we make promises for tomorrow never knowing what tomorrow holds.

And sometimes we say things we regret, never admitting forever doesn’t exist.

Go tell someone how much you love them. And if it’s someone you’ve always wanted to do, do it now. Because there is such things as too late.
•

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc. The cover is gorgeous. I am not the targeted audience for this book. I would recommend this book to high school juniors and seniors. Sam and Julie have their whole lives planned out but when Sam dies how will Julie move on? I read this book after reading another book about death and grief and unfortunately this one fell a little short for me. I wasn’t able to really feel any emotions from this like i thought I would. I did enjoy Julie’s character though and her love of books and writing.

Reviews
Goodreads Oct. 13, 2021
Storygraph Oct. 13, 2021

This books just did not do it for me. It is defiantly just more about a characters journey, within them selves, rather than a strong plot. And usually I’m really into stories like this, but the pacing of it just felt super awkward.

The main character just got on my nerves and I just couldn’t get myself to care about her story. The other characters just felt like side pieces.

The way the story is set up is really beautiful and I felt like there was a lot of potential, but it ended up being lackluster. And I did think the writing style was really unique and that was for sure a big reason why I kept reading. The writing and the setting just cold not make up for my lack of interest in the characters or anything going in their lives.

I was able to finish and care just enough to get through it but it was nothing special to me.

I really wanted to love this one after seeing an awesome webinar by the author, Dustin Thao, who seems like a genuinely great person, I wish him all the best of success, but this book just wasn't for me. It definitely will appeal to a younger demographic of YA readers (some of the YA returning to true YA supporters will enjoy this title), but the plot is fairly slow and weak, and what could have been done in 100 pages or less is stretched out to over 200 with no plot points. There is no explanation for the magic behind the phone calls, and the epilogue feels more like the author's note at the end of fanfiction than anything of actual substance. Overall, I think this book could have been great if given another edit, but not one I'll be recommending to our readers.

This is one of the most heartbreaking stories to read and took me so long to read because it was deeply sad. Julie’s story shows the depth of grief and the toll it can have on each person in different ways.

This was beautifully written and I think opens up a lot of discussion around grief and it’s complexity.

Stunned by how much I was affected by this book. So many feels, emotions, thoughts, and heartaches. It's a powerful story of grief, love, and loss, and I was completely swept away by how it captivated me from start to finish. It's a book with a big impact, and I can't wait for it to hit the rest of the world.

This book broke me.

You've Reached Sam is a fantastic debut. It is an emotional journey, that will having you crying, laughing, then crying again. And again. I cried a lot.

One thing I loved was the characters. The story begins after Sam's death, and our protagonist, his girlfriend Julie, is grieving. She isn't the most likable character in these early chapters, and that made me love the book even more. Grief is messy. It's painful and can turn you into someone you don't recognize. And I love that Dustin Thao did not shy away from this. Julie's journey is incredible, and the use of some magical aspects only enhances it. The other characters are equally well-rounded, and each has their own development. I especially loved Sam as a character. We learn more and more about him and Julie's past as the story goes on, which just adds to the pain you feel over his death.

And this book is painful. In the best possible way. I cried over 9 times in only 300 pages. Towards the end, I couldn't even keep try of exactly how many times I cried because it was just a constant stream of tears.

This book will be one that will stick with me forever, and I would recommend it to anyone whose looking for an emotional and beautiful read.