4.5 stars.

Full disclosure; I'm still crying as I write this so I'm just going to have to hope for the best when it comes to typos and general coherency.
First up, what drew me to this book was the mindblowingly beautiful cover - I mean do you see that?? Gorgeous. When I downloaded the ARC yesterday I ran to show my Mum and gush about the cover to her. I am ridiculously relieved that I enjoyed it so much because that means I can buy a physical copy in November and then I'll be able to look at it in my hands whenever I want. This is very good.
Anyway, I should probably move on to the actual book content now.
I have to say, I found the opening of this book kind of jarring to read. It was switching through Julie's memories with Sam and I became quite confused as I did not really know what was going on. This did not last long as I adjusted to the writing and I had no problems later in the book when Julie cycled through her memories.
To be honest, this is not generally a book I would pick up. I tend to like happy books, and while I have read books I know will be sad and I have enjoyed them, it is not something I really look for when deciding what to read. But honestly I am starting to think I need to reevaluate my wariness towards sad books. You've Reached Sam is a book primarily about grief, and there is something really wonderful about reading a book about grief and being able to see the protagonist healing from that grief. Julie's whole life is turned around when her boyfriend, Sam, dies and suddenly the future she had been planning goes up in smoke. Watching Julie come to terms with Sam's death was difficult, but also, by the end of the story, really kind of uplifting. And Sam. Sam. Oh my god. I just wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and give him some hot chocolate. He is one of the sweetest characters ever, which only made the book that much more heartbreaking to read.
I also loved the friendships in this book and I would very gladly read another book about Mika or Oliver or Yuki or Jay or Tristan or really just anyone. And there was something about the writing that made it so easy for me to vividly imagine all of the characters and the settings more so than normal. Plus, I really liked the whole magical realism aspect with the phone calls between Sam and Julie and wow that voicemail at the end completely wrecked me. I am going to be reeling from this book for days.
Even if you don't generally go for sad books, please read You've Reached Sam - this recommendation coming from someone who doesn't generally read sad books because she knows she'll cry her eyes out. It was worth it.

"You've Reached Sam" is a sweet, emotional story about Julie, a girl whose boyfriend with whom she'd made plans for the future with just died, and her dealings with the grief she's left with afterward. On a particularly hard night, she calls him, and he answers. They create routine phone calls and Julie continues to distance herself from others without realizing it. Throughout the book she slowly eases back into real life and gets thrown a lot of realistic curveballs, while never really letting Sam go.

I enjoyed the storyline, but I wish we got to find out how everything worked. The ending offered some resolution emotionally, but left me wanting a little more explanation. Throughout the book we are left to just trust Sam in that phone calls might be affected by telling others or other outside events. I liked that there were scenes from before Sam's death to give us a better sense of their relationship and who he was, and the character development was good with Julie and many of the other characters. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute, fluffy, emotional roller-coaster ride through and through. when I read the blurb i knew i was going to cry right then and there and I did with snot and all. Annnnd then I requested the ARC right away and got it! so thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for that.
Now about the book I am still crying for these characters, the grief written in this book is so genuine that my heart breaks for them. This book is written exceptionally well where you fell the character's emotions in you while you read this book.

This book portrays Julie and Sam this is their story, be ready for an emotional roller-coaster ride because that is what it is. Julie and Sam are only 17 y/o but it seems like they have their future all mapped out, where to go for college, what future will they acquire etc, (I wish I was like them, had it all mapped out but nope I'm not and that is is diff story {coming back}) They decide to go to Japan for a vacation but Sam dies, Julies goes through that denial phase where she tries to forget that Sam even existed but none works out, fortunately Fate had other plans on how they should re-unite Julie gets a call and hears Sam's voice over the time they both talk and share memories but Julie is scared what if the world knows the truth. But each day the phone connection gets weaker and weaker.
As I told you the grief in this book is written exceptionally well, losing someone can actually numb your feelings or heighten them to a point that you completely become a different person living in denial which can have serious issues in your life.
Will Julie be able to move on from Sam? Does she have the will-power to do so?? read and find out!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not a religious person, but Holy Mother of God. Jesus f*cking Christ. This book...it hurt in all the best possible ways. I realized quickly that it was a big mistake to read it in public, as I was already choking back tears during chapter one.

You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao is unlike any other contemporary romance I’ve read before. It’s new, it’s original, it’s absolutely devastating. Thao utilizes and weaponizes emotion so effectively that even now, as I write this, I’m still crying. It’s wonderful.

The main characters, Julie and Sam, were fleshed out and captivating, and the story was deliciously heartbreaking. Every phone call between Julie and Sam, who had died in a car crash a week before chapter one, felt like a knife had been stabbed into my chest, ruthlessly twisting as to inflict maximum amounts of pain.

And don’t get me started on the imagery. The book is brought to life by images of cherry blossom petals and fields of barley, the sounds of soft rock music and quiet laughter echoing in childhood bedrooms. It’s breathtaking.

You’ve Reached Sam is a story about love and loss and grief and acceptance. It’s romantic, but terribly morose, an unfortunate ending to a beautiful first love.

If you want to hear more book reviews by me, check out my YouTube channel, Lipstick & Literature!

It’s been two months since I finished You’ve Reached Sam, and it’s a book that has stayed with me since. I think about this book almost every other day. You’ve Reached Sam is a story that confronts grief in its most intense and most painful and yet, though I was a sobbing, snotty mess by the end of the book, its tender and genuine portrayal of love in its most pure form was also unexpectedly healing.

You’ve Reached Sam follows Julie, a white teen who endures the unthinkable: her love of her life, Sam, a Japanese-American teen, dies unexpectedly and suddenly in a car accident. Heartbroken, Julie struggles to accept his death and her grief. But when she calls his voicemail one day, just to hear his voice one more time, the unthinkable happens again: he picks up. Now connected to Sam in mysterious ways, she is able to talk to him, confide in him like she used to. However, the connection is temporary, and Julie will have to find a way to move on and say goodbye.

One of my greatest and most intense fears is losing someone that I love. You’ve Reached Sam is that fear in book form. For this reason, You’ve Reached Sam reads very personally to me; I felt, through the storytelling and the emotions conveyed by Julie, that this book genuinely understood that fear and confronts it unflinchingly, unafraid to show the unfiltered grief and devastation that follows. The story also depicts the moments of happiness and joy that Sam and Julie shared, making the story all the more painful and heart-aching. (Thanks, Dustin.) It portrays the insurmountable task of moving on from a love so great and so pure that you know, deep in your bones, that you will never find something close to it ever again. If given the chance to speak to someone you love and who you could, in reality, ever speak to again, would you take that chance? (Personally, I would, without hesitation.)

Unsurprisingly, You’ve Reached Sam is a poignant and heartbreaking portrayal and exploration of the throes of grief. It is not a how-to or a rulebook of how to overcome grief. Grief in this book isn’t like the arbitrary and flawed five-stages of grief model that follows a methodological lock-step way. Grief in You’ve Reached Sam is messy; it is cruel and unforgiving and painful. Julie, the protagonist of this story, is not a protagonist that people who enjoy neat and ‘logical’ characters will like. I enjoyed You’ve Reached Sam because Julie was the opposite of that; she was a character whose grieving I related to – pain upon pain upon pain, in constant flux, a refusal to let go or to face grief. Because the truth is, grieving is confusing and painful and desperate and non-linear. I liked that You’ve Reached Sam depicts this fraught process, even if it is uncomfortable and frustrating.
In tandem to its portrayal of grief, You’ve Reached Sam is about how we find a way to move on. At the beginning of the book – and after Julie makes a connection with Sam – moving on feels impossible. How can you move on from the person who love, when he is gone but isn’t really quite gone yet? What You’ve Reached Sam and the story slowly shows is that the impossible task of moving on is ultimately possible – it is taking things day by day, finding your feet, and sharing the burden of grief with others. I liked that the story shows how grief makes everything feel tenuous and shaky, and how it can also affect the relationships that we have with others – for good or bad. I really loved how the story explored this; that connections are never really broken, that fractured connections can be made anew and made stronger.

You’ve Reached Sam has been notably compared to one of Dustin and I’s favourite movies in the world, Your Name (Kimi no na Wa). Though the stories are very different thematically, they do share some elements. Most distinctly, both You’ve Reached Sam and Your Name have fantastical elements; the magical connection that Julie and Sam have is similar to that we see in Your Name. I think a beautiful part of this book is that there really isn’t an explanation as to how Julie and Sam are connected; it’s not about the how, but about the why. The impossible connection blurs fantasy and real, underpinning their close and intense bond and therefore offers a great device that explores the complexities of grief and letting go.

Emotional, evocative, and a vulnerable portrayal of grief and moving on, You’ve Reached Sam will leave its mark upon hearts and tearducts everywhere. I loved this book; I felt its tenderness, its pain, and its daring hope. Do yourself a favour and pre-order this book – and maybe also buy yourself some tissues and a pillow to hug for the aftermath as well.

This book wrecked me. Like, full-on, ugly-crying, clutching-the-tissues-in-my-hand wrecked. I loved this book so much.
Julie was so real and so so human and her grief was so raw and relatable, it took everything in me not to cry every time I picked it up. I have lost close family members and can say that the grief in this book is so raw and real it made me feel like I was right back in those first few days after they died. The numbness, the anger, the regret, they were all there and so perfectly done. The calls she has with Sam, it all brought back so many painful memories which for me just added more power to the story telling.
I loved it so, so much, this was an incredibly emotional and beautiful.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was taken away by the emotional draw to this book. It was well written and I loved the theme about speaking to the one you loved again. What would you do if you had another chance?

I love the way Thao handles the issues of grief in a way that feels real. Sometimes books that tackle difficult topics feel a little melodramatic or emotionally manipulative, but You've Reached Sam is an exploration of loss that feels genuine. It has the same vibes as Kimi no Na Wa/Your Name and PS I Love You. I really enjoyed the way the story unfolded and loved the supporting cast.

Two things that didn't work for me: I was more invested in the story than in Julie as a character, and I wish the story as a whole had more depth and the cast had been more developed. It was over too quickly, and it seemed like we were just scraping the surface of an amazing story. If it'd been developed a bit more, it would've been even more spectacular.

From chapter one, You've Reached Sam had plucked out my heart strings and played them like a violin. There's so much love, grief and relatable raw emotion poured onto these pages, blended together with seamless talent. Pacing, character development, writing style and world building were great. I was engaged and invested throughout the entire story. My heart cried, sang and melted. 4.5 stars (would have been 5 but my reason is a spoiler), and a new author to keep an eye out for. Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy. This is my honest and heartfelt review.

This was a really beautiful, heavy, hard hitting read. The pacing and character development were engaging and kept me interested in the book the entire time.

Emotional read, be prepared with tissues when reading!! Heartbreakingly sweet and riveting. I normally don't read romance but this YA novel was a good start into the genre in my opinion. The love story felt well balanced- there were also other themes to go along. The way grief was written was so powerful. As much as it does hurt to read it as high points, such as seeing Julie find ways to cope that are healthy. The character development was wonderful!!

Overall, this is an sad romance that fans of the genre will love!!

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC copy of You've Called Sam!

This was a beautiful, powerful, heartwrenching tale. It pulled me along with the characters ever step, their highs, their lows. So powerful. So glad I picked it up.

4/5 stars

Julie has been waiting for the day she can finally go to college and get out of the town she currently lives her. Along with her boyfriend, Sam, she's made a lot of plans for her life after she graduates high school. But Sam dies. Trying to cope with his death and figure out what to do with her life without him, Julie calls him just to hear his voicemail. Instead, he picks up, leaving Julie will all kinds of questions and painful emotions. They get another chance to say goodbye, but Julie's not sure that she can handle losing this last connection to him.

This book hurt. I fully expected it to hurt, but it was such an emotional read. We get to see Julie in the present, struggling with Sam's death, as well as flashbacks to her memories with him. Those flashbacks were my favorite parts! I actually liked the side characters more than Julie; they really added to the story. The conflict of Sam trying to help Julie move on and her increasing desire not to lose him was heart-breaking. I had a few issues with Julie, though I'll cut her some slack because she was grieving. I also felt like some parts of this book were a little redundant. But the ending was sad, beautiful, and heart-breaking all at the same time, though I wished it was slightly longer.

This was the sad love story I was hoping it would be! YA fans looking for a tragic yet beautiful romance would probably enjoy this!

Content: it was pretty clean, though there was a skinny-dipping scene (nothing graphic); grief and loss of a loved one are the main themes of this book

YOU'VE REACHED SAM is a stunning debut that grips you from the beginning. The story begins with Julie's attempt to move on. She missed Sam's funeral and keeps to herself. She calls Sam, not expecting anything, except he somehow picks up and says he'll continue to pick up her calls until they're ready to say goodbye. It is beautifully written, smartly weaving in flashbacks and sweeping dreams to convey the depth of Julie's grief and desire to hold on to Sam, even when the rest of the world moves on. Protip: Have a box of tissues on hand. You will need it.

★★★☆☆ 2.5/5

i feel like the cover, the summary, and the pure grief and pain you’re expecting is more heart-wrenching than the actual book itself. i was worked up to tears in anticipation before even starting, but the actual content of the book just didn’t get to me as much as i thought it would. introducing sam and his relationship with julie in flashbacks after his death throughout the book is an interesting choice, but for some reason it just didn’t work for me. i couldn’t really feel the chemistry between julie and sam.

the narrator is kind of bland, the writing chunky and repetitive at times. the first 80% of the book is literally julie just going “but how is this possible, sam? how can i speak to you?” and “we can’t tell anyone because it will break our connection” over and over and OVER AND OVER until she finally knocks it off and things are actually interesting in the last 20%. i really finally felt drawn in at the end. maybe i shed a couple of tears. maybe. between the ending and the fantastic characters, this book was really worth it to me in the end.

(arc provided by netgallery and Wednesday Books. all thoughts and opinions are my own)

Wow. okay this book is something new i decided to try to branch out, and it did not disappoint. let me get into all the reasons i loved this book and why you should read it.

First and foremost it is beautifully written, the words blew me away. Getting to know Sam and Julie and everything they mean to each other and everything he will always mean to her was just so beautiful. There were a lot of moments where I teared up. It really takes you into the mind and someone who is grieving, I think we all dont grasp what its like till we have to go through it ourselves and especially at a young age, this story really genuinely grasps that and more.

but it also brings up the most important question, if you were given the chance to talk to someone you lost would you? Would you be able to let go when it came time?

Julie really struggled with it all but she also shared her connection with other people even though it weakened her connection and gave her less time with him. I think that was the most beautiful thing of it all.

i want to thank netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity read this arc.

I can count on one hand the books that have ever actually made me cry. Not just tear up, but actually cry and this book is one of them. Not only that! But I accidentally thought about it in the car with my family later in the day and started to cry again which was embarrassing but also a testament to how much I loved this book.

You know going into this book that it's going to be at least a little painful, and it definitely is, but it's also so unflinchingly hopeful. This is more than a story about a girl reconnecting with her late boyfriend, it's a story of grief. Of finding purpose in life when everything we wanted is suddenly shattered. On holding on and letting go, on what it really means to move on.

My reading experience for this book reminded me of reading "Heartless" by Marissa Meyer. Throughout both stories, you have this... unsettled feeling because you know where the story has to be heading but as you keep reading, you can't help hoping - even just a little bit - that it will turn out differently. It creates such a memorable, bittersweet reading experience and so far, these two books are the only ones to make me feel that way.

With that being said, the one thing I could see hindering people's enjoyment of this story is the character of Julie. We meet her while she's drowning in her own grief, and because of this, I found it rather hard to connect with her at first. I spent the first part of this book extremely irritated by her actions and treatment of others. But, I'm also have to admit that it was partially this frustrating because I felt called out. Similarly to Julie, my grief tends to present itself as shutting out the rest of the world. So, in a way, I found her character cathartic to read about because there were times her journey hit just a little too close to home in the exact way I needed.

If none of this convinces you, I hope you read this for Sam alone. He was one of my favorite characters I've ever read about and I can't wait for the rest of the world to meet him. I left this reading experience feeling a little raw, a little broke, but hopeful too and I couldn't have asked for more.

If anyone was ever looking for a book that broke their heart...this is the one. You've Reached Sam is by far the most magical and heartbreaking book I've read in a long time. An easy 5 stars for the relate-able and emotional building story telling that Dustin Thao provides. Hard to believe this is his debut novel.

This was a poignant read about grief.

Julie and her boyfriend Sam have plans for forever after high school. But when the unthinkable happens and Sam dies, Julie is forced to face a reality without him. Seeking to purge him from her life, Julie calls Sam's phone one last time to hear his voicemail. And, he picks up the phone.

Overall, this was a novel full of heart. How the cast of characters navigates a world without Sam is often heartbreaking, as are the montages that would not be out of place in the opening of Up. The story is unique and feels authentic. I never doubted that Sam and Julie were a couple, as their phone calls really reflected it. Oliver, Mika, Jay, Rachel, Tristan, Mr. Lee, and actually present parents made a great secondary cast!

My only complaint is that I would've liked a little more resolution in the end, but all in all, this was a heartrending, beautiful read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books (St. Martin's Press) for this eARC! I really appreciated the opportunity to read this novel!

Wow! This was such a heartbreakingly beautiful book. It was easy to feel all the emotions that Julie felt and experienced after losing Sam, especially after she found a way to connect with him and still talk with him over the phone.

Another great part of this book was all of the side characters. They all had very distinct personalities and added to the story in their own unique way.

Just be sure to have some tissues with you while you read this book since not only did I tear up quite a few times, there were a few ugly cries in there as well. I love a book that makes you feel something, and this book did just that. This is easily one of my favorite books that I have read so far this year, and I'm pretty sure it’s going to be in my top favorite reads for 2021!