I loved this book. Julie is a great main character and it's a beautiful portrayal of grief and loss. Powerful themes and beautiful writing.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

“And I wish I knew what to say to make things better, or at least tell you how to go through this, Julie. But the truth is, no one experiences grief the same way, and we all come out of it differently.”

For the first time in a long while I’ve had to fully decompress from a book before writing a review. The truth is, I don’t think I’ll ever fully decompress from this. It left a handprint on my heart. Books that can make you feel are so special, but books that leave you feeling profoundly different are a whole new ball game. You’ve Reached Sam had both affects on me. It’s a book I’m not likely to forget anytime soon. Grief is strange and will manifest in so many different ways after you lose a person, but the grief immediately following that loss is one of the toughest I’ve ever dealt with. It was the same for Julie and Dustin crafts this so beautifully that you feel her pain, devastation, and grief too.

Julie throughout the entire book is juggling two hats: how to deal with the grief of losing someone you love and how to feel if you had a second chance to say goodbye. There were parts of this book I envied Julie for that ability. The ability to call Sam and he picks up, just like he always said he would. I had a similar experience to the regret Julie felt over Sam’s death. I lost my grandpa my freshman year of college. He called me the morning of his passing but I’d been so sick I slept right through the call. Just like Julie, I called him, except he never picked up. The way Dustin describes the regret and torment Julie is putting herself through because she feels responsible and people tel her she’s the reason Sam is dead, is a similar guilt to what I felt. It’s a hard emotion to describe and it’s done so beautifully that it’s hard not to cry or grieve with Julie as she tried to grapple with her regret.

Everything about this book is emotional. But, it’s a beautiful way to explore grief and how holding on to someone who’s passed can hold you from living your own life. It also explores the subtle weight of letting go when you stop living for the person who’s gone and you live for yourself. It still feels like I can’t put into words how much I fell in love with this book and all of its characters. Her support system was so beautiful. I loved that even through each of their own grief they were there for one another. They were all struggling in their own ways and had each other’s backs. I loved that. I loved the way this book was able to convey so many different emotions you go through in grief and how you can come out on the other side. I also love that while you may have lost that person physically, they will always be in your heart was a major theme. It was just so well done.

I wish my brain was functioning and I was able to flawlessly write a review that was powerful, but the true power is in this book and you should absolutely read it when it comes out.

*ARC provided courtesy of the publisher*
This book hurt my heart in the best way. I really felt Julie’s grief and her desperation to get through to Sam after he’s gone. I think it was a really beautiful expression of grief, loss and love. I think it could have explored the other relationships in the book as well but I really enjoyed it.

This is an the most beautifully written book I've read recently. Everything about this book was just so emotional and the writing was so lyrical and the whole book had a wonderfully subtle tinge of magic throughout. I wish I had had this book when I was going through a loss years ago, and hope it finds its way into the hands of teens who need it because it was so comforting in the end even though at times it was heartbreaking.

*Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book*
Ohmygoodness! This book just ripped out my heart, chewed it up and spit it back out! The story was so heart wrenching. Poignant. This tragic tale of the main character, Julie, trying to cope with the loss of her boyfriend, Sam, left me ugly crying and despondent. I knew what I was getting into from the description and it didn't hesitate as the very first pages jumped right into Julie going through the motions of trying to cope with the death of her Sam. That being said, it was easy to 'remove' myself from the sadness through the majority of the book, to be objective and take the stance of an outsider looking in. I found Julie's character to be somewhat underdeveloped. I feel like I had a firm grasp on Sam's character, as well as many of the other characters in the book. I just felt that other than the sorrow and anguish that Julie was going through due to Sam's death, I didn't really get to 'know' her as a person. She was defined solely by her mourning of her boyfriend and I didn't get an accurate feeling of who she was 'before'. However, I completely fell in love with Sam's character. I felt like I knew him, his personality, his appearance, his background, etc. I just think there could have been more elaboration as to who Julie was outside of her sorrow. I enjoyed how Thao told the story. While at first I found the jumping from memory to memory to be haphazard and slightly confusing, once I adapted to it I like how it helped the story unfold. Those are my main criticisms. Otherwise, this beautifully sad story had me all up in my feels! It reached down deep to places that don't typically see the light of day and brought them to the surface. I felt emotions on such a deep level. While I say that this story was heart wrenching, ripped out my heart, chewed it up and spit it out, I mean that in the very best of ways. I have not had a good, cathartic cry like this in a long time.

This book is a work of art, there's no other way to describe it. The end was beautiful and yet so heartbreaking to read, it left me speechless, sobbing in the middle of the night and longing for more, longing for a love like theirs. Julie and Sam are soulmates.

I will not give details about the book and the characters because I think the synopsis tells you exactly what you need to know before you jump into it, the rest is the rest. If you liked the premise, go head and add it to your tbr and I assure you that you'll not regret it.

I just loved this.

I thought the writing was excellent - I was totally swept up in the story, and could picture the characters. I might have even teared up a little.

I really enjoyed the story and I loved that it was something a little different.

There were times I didn't love the main character -even though I get that she was grieving, I thought she was abit self centered and dramatic about it. But on the other hand - that rings true to real life.

I want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review. I am actually looking to see if this author wrote anything else that I can read..

This book truly resonated with me in such a strong, powerful way. If I could recommend this book. I would recommend it a million times, it was truly that good. Thank you so much to the publishers and netgalley for this masterpiece.

This book's cover is absolutely stunning. So beautiful. The story is ... okay. I didn't like Julie as a narrator so that did have a negative impact on an otherwise deeply emotional story. She was so wrapped up in herself and her own grief, ignoring her friends and family, and I thought there might be some resolution towards the end but she never changes, so that was disappointing. I found some of the side characters to be more compelling but they didn't have much page time and weren't that well developed, unfortunately.

I knew this book will break me into pieces. I knew it would slice my heart into tiny pieces. I knew it would hurt like hell since I read the blurb! But I eventually requested and I am still happy to read this extremely heartfelt beauty even though I’m an emotional mess right now!

This is story Julie and Sam! They are only seventeen but they seem like they figured out everything about their futures. They have bigger plans. Julie wants to be successful author as Sam wants to be great musician. They will leave the town, renting an apartment in the big city, going to Japan for holiday for meeting Sam’s grandparents. But... they cannot do any of them. Sam is gone!

Julie tries to erase their memories not to hurt anymore, throwing Sam’s belongings, rejecting to go to the funeral, rejecting to communicate with anyone, actually she rejects to say goodbye! She is not ready to leave him forever! And guess what: Sam is not ready to leave her, too!

When she hits the rock bottom, she calls Sam and he picks up the phone. Yes, she PICKS UP and it’s ABSOLUTELY SAM! But HOW IT COULD
BE POSSIBLE! How can they communicate? But they actually do.

Sam still has things to show her, presents to share and Julie slowly adjusts in life before Sam. Telling their secret phone calls to anyone can mean they can be disconnected forever! So Julie cannot risk it by sharing with Sam’s loved ones who are struggling badly like her. But what about Mika! They were best friends and she slowly drifts away. She’s in deep pain. She thinks Julie already moved on her life, forgetting Sam, making plans to leave the city. But how can Julie leave Sam? One day she has to say goodbye because their connection on the phone gets weaker at each day. Can she handle to say last goodbye!

Let me tell you something: this book tells the grief so naturally, genuinely. You hear all the characters. You emphasize with their pain. You want to hug them, spending time with them, telling them it’s gonna be okay even though it is never gonna be because pain of losing someone is lifetime suffer. Sometimes it lessens, sometimes it blasts like you put more gasoline into fire. It always hurt but in some way you learn to deal with it. You have to deal with it to move on! Even though it hurts like hell we should hold the memories we shared like life buoy like Julie did!

No more words: I’m still crying. My emotions are everywhere! I need at least one hour to gather my feelings but I’m telling you something just read this powerful beauty and meet those amazing characters! The pain you endure, the sadness you need to overcome are truly worth it!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/ Wednesday Books for sharing this excellent digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.




Quick confession: I barely read the last pages of this book because I cried so hard: my tear drops got thicker turned into a flood. I couldn’t see anything. I kept rubbing my eyes and my vision was gone. It was like driving your car at a rainy day when your wipers are not working properly!

The premise of this is definitely unique. One of the strengths of this book is how the characters are credible as young adults. Often you find books with YA protagonists that don't exactly act and think and feel like the teens that they are. This one is true to its audience.

Fans of Jandy Nelson and Jennifer E. Smith will love this.

When I saw the premise of this book, I was immediately excited. This had all the makings of a 5* read. If done right, this could be amazing. And while it didn't quite live up to its potential for me, I still consider this a solid read.
I enjoyed how the characters sounded and acted their age. This made things much more believable and, I think, eventually, relatable, especially for YA readers. You get to watch as the protagonist deals with losing the boy she loves, and the numbing pain that follows. It's subtly and quietly written. 3.5 stars.

In this book, we find Julie, a high school senior whose boyfriend Sam has just been killed in a car accident. She struggles to accept this loss. How is she supposed to move on without Sam? They had made so many plans together. In desperation, she dials his number and he picks up. HE PICKS UP. Yes, that's right. She talks to dead Sam, who understands that he is dead. A tale laced with magical realism.; you just need to accept the fact that she IS talking to Sam and grieving that loss. I found it a bit troubling how Julie was willing to put her own life on hold and talk to her dead boyfrend for hours and hours instead of moving on. Ferris Bueller was right when he said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don;t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Teens will love this book, however, and that's the target audience.

I absolutely loved this book! This book will break your heart and make it beat again! The main characters had so much depth and made the story pull your heartstrings. I will be purchasing this book.