That you to the Publisher and NetGalley for the early copy. This book was everything I hoped for and more. After book one, I was waiting patiently for book 2 & it delivered. The author writes such great relationships and moments and I cannot wait to read more from him.

I love these books, they're so sweet and heartwarming and I could not put it down. Definitely one to read.

4.5 stars

You've Found Oliver is a follow-up to You've Reached Sam, but this time we get to follow Oliver, Sam's best friend, while he navigates college, the aftermath of his first relationship, his lingering grief over Sam, and life without Julie, his only friend, while she studies abroad. Oliver's story felt so relatable and real with such raw emotions. Learning to go through life without someone you love deeply is hard, and I think Dustin Thao really encapsulates the reality of those emotions. Oliver perseveres, and I loved seeing that for him. Ben and Oliver are so great, and I honestly wouldn't mind getting to see more of them.

I loved and sobbed at You've Reached Sam and was immediately drawn to wanting to read You've Found Oliver. This book pulled at my heart strings and emotions all over again in the best way possible. It's a bit slow at points but overall it was a great pace. It has a twist at the end that is sort of HEA but will tug at you and have you shedding some tears.

I would recommend reading You've Reached Sam prior as this is a companion book and the emotional attachments and understanding the characters a bit more from the start does add to this story.

Dustin Thao you did it again! Be proud of this work and I can't wait to add it to my shelf.

This book was good!

I was one of those who fell in love with the premise in You've Reached Sam, the first in this series, but felt disappointed in the execution. But I always felt it was too bad, that there could be more in this story. Maybe that's why I was excited to get this companion book. Moreover, I did remember Oliver from the first book and was curious to see how his happy ending would be, and also glad for him to get the chance of one.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

I've gotta say it's been a while since I last read a book this fast. The story made me wonder how things would happen. To my luck I didn't remember much of the summary, so I was even guessing what the problem would be to keep Oliver and Ben apart. And it was exciting the way the supernatural gets introduced. It gave me the chills.

Oliver was a great character and Ben was very cute too so it was easy to cheer for the couple. But I wish we could have learned better about Ben. Even Oliver's situation isn't all that clear, and the focus was almost exclusively on how Oliver is grieving Sam, refusing to live in the present.

If anyone has watched The Lake House or the original Il Mare, the first half may seem predictable, but don't worry, the plot differentiates itself later on. However, at the same time, it was when I felt disappointed. Not in that I wanted it to be just like those two movies, but that the consequences could have been better explored. I wasn't reading it to be amazed, I just wanted a sweet love story, but it was promising, and I not only wanted more and better but I knew it could have been delivered.

In any case, it's still very cute. I was in love with the book and these two. It's too bad it's over and I'm not sure we can get a third in the series. Even if it's not possible, please, write more books.

Kudos to author Dustin Thao. I was expecting another M/M romance, but what I got went much deeper as Oliver discovered the world and himself. It is such a nice change of pace, and so insightful, that I recommend You've Found Oliver to everyone.
Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

If You’ve Reached Sam shattered my heart, You’ve Found Oliver somehow pieced it back together then broke it all over again in the best way. This sequel follows Oliver, who’s still grieving his best friend Sam a year after his death. Unable to stop texting Sam’s old number, Oliver is stunned when a stranger named Ben finally answers. Ben, an astronomy student in Seattle, has unknowingly been reading Oliver’s most vulnerable messages for months. What starts as an unexpected connection blossoms into something beautiful until Oliver uncovers a secret that could pull them apart. Tender, heartfelt, and just as devastatingly romantic as its predecessor, I loved this one even more than the first.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was everything I needed after You’ve Reached Sam. It hurt in the most delicious way and I couldn’t be happier about it. I knocked it down a star because some moments felt forced and a little slow, but it was all worth it in the end. Of course, Oliver and Sam get their HEA (but with a twist I didn’t see coming).

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

A companion novel to You've Reached Sam, You've Found Oliver follows Sam's best friend, Oliver, a year after his death, when an accidental phone call to Sam's number is answered by someone else.

You've Found Oliver is a relatively light read with a lot of heart and not enough pages for me. I loved You've Reached Sam, and while You've Found Oliver wasn't so much of a bawl-your-brains-out tearjerker, I did find Oliver, and his newfound love interest, Ben, astonishingly endearing. Their story moves at a relatively quick pace, and the wibbly wobbly stuff going on is a pretty good reason for that, but I honestly could've done with another solid 50 pages of development between the two of them. There were some scenes I wanted to be fully in, rather than just hear about, and I think fleshing out the on screen moments a bit more would have really elevated this book for me.

It can be read without reading You've Reached Sam, but my emotional attachment to the characters from my time with You've Reached Sam went a long way, I think, in helping me along in this book. I think fans of Dustin Thao will love this sweet, emotional journey with Oliver.

I will not be giving anything away in this review but I do want to say that this is a beautifully written story. I definitely shed a few tears while reading (a rare occurrence). Dustin Thao did not disappoint and I look forward to reading more from him.

This sequel was adorable & made up for the let down that You've Reached Sam was for me.

This time it is Oliver who gets to experience a little magic. He is now a freshman at college in his spring semester struggling to find where he belongs and still grappling with his grief of losing his best friend a year prior.

When he "meets" Ben after texting and accidently calling Sam's old phone number, it's like fate that Oliver may have finally found, not only a friend with tons in common with, but maybe something more.

As Ben and Oliver get closer, they struggle with how the magic that brought them together may not be enough to keep them together in time.

My only complaint would be that while I loved the set up for how Oliver and Ben met, I did not think the magical realism element needed to be included? I think their sweet meet cute through Sam's number could have been enough.

I enjoyed thay we got to see glimpses of Julie again too. She seems much happier and sure of herself a year later and it was nice to get to check in a bit with her after the end of You've Reached Sam.

Overall, a quick and sweet read! Thank you NetGalley for the eARC and the opportunity to read this one early!

Ugh I was wanting to like this book more than I actually ended up liking it! I read When Haru Was Here earlier this year and loved it! I finished it in like a day because I couldn’t put it down I think I just didn’t connect with the characters in this story. So much of this book felt surface level to me in a way I wasn’t expecting. If you’re looking for a not as Sad Dustin book with a twist, this is deffo a good book for you! (Just not my fave)

This is a spoiler-free review of an ARC I received on NetGalley. Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley for the chance to read my first ARC!

I had to DNF this book at about 5o%. From the very beginning, the very stilted writing made it difficult to get through, as it felt the narrator was telling us everything the way someone would recount their grocery list. This happened. Then that happened. Then I said this. Then he did that. And so on. As for the characters, we see little depth emotionally. Oliver falls for this total stranger incredibly fast, and we as readers are given no reason to understand this infatuation. The time distortion element came out of nowhere and completely threw me for a loop. I tried to read through it, but eventually I admitted that this book was just not for me. Judging by the majority reaction, I think I am simply not the target audience for this author, as most readers so far have loved this book, as well as its in-universe companion. Sadly, I was not able to find the same joy in it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dustin Thao for this ARC of “You’ve Found Oliver.”

A beautiful, cosmic connection of a book. I read this in one sitting as I could not put the book down.

As someone who was a philosophy minor in my undergrad, this really resonated with me on a lot of my studies I’ve done, as well as touched upon my heart. I was rooting for Oliver and Ben the whole book, and I hope in their new timeline — things work out for them.

Another beautiful novel from Thao.

I enjoyed this one more than the first one (<i>You've Reached Sam</i>) but it still feels like it's falling short of its potential.

The plot is better here. The alternate timelines are easier to understand and don't confuse the story too much. I love the ruminations on how time functions and how we experience it. But the characters feel young for this topic.

Much like the first book, everyone reads very age-appropriate in their dialogue and actions. It bothered me less here because the story felt more cohesive. I do wish Oliver had some more friends to round out his world a bit.

My biggest complaint is that the romantic storyline elicits almost no emotions. <spoiler>There could have been a really interesting and impactful storyline about how Ben helps Oliver move on from his feelings for Sam. We could've seen the interplay of grieving a young love while moving forward with your life and I'm mad we didn't get that.</spoiler> Oliver tells us how he feels about Ben instead of us seeing it happen. Even in the moments where we're seeing things, the narrative gets in the way. It was hard to connect with either of them.

I'm glad I read it (and even happier that it's a short book) but I can't see myself recommending this.

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley, Dutton Books for Young Readers, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

The first book in this series, You've Reached Sam, has been on my TBR forever, so getting this ARC gave me an excuse to finally read it. And I'm really glad I did!

In the first book, high school senior Sam dies, and through some unexplained phenomenon, his girlfriend Julie is still able to talk to him over the phone. Julie must learn how to say goodbye and grieve Sam before their connection is lost.

In You've Found Oliver, we learn more about Sam's best friend in the year after Sam's death. Oliver and Julie have become best friends. But he secretly still sends one-sided texts to Sam's phone as a way to process his grief. One day, he accidently dials Sam's number and a boy named Ben picks up. As they get to know each other, weird things start to happen and they realise they are living 6 months apart. As Oliver's time in the past and present blur, he needs to decide which timeline he belongs in and what he's willing to risk to stay by Ben's side.

I love that while there's a throughline of Sam's phone being the magical element in both books, the author doesn't rely on the same catalyst for the story. Oliver, unlike Julia, never gets a proper goodbye with Sam. But grief is different for everyone, and what Oliver needed was to find love with someone else in order to process losing Sam.

Moving on after losing someone is hard and messy and not a straight line. Dustin Thao understands this and conveys it beautifully. Be ready with the tissues, because it hits all the feels.

I received this ARC from publisher @penguinteen. The opinions are my own.

You've Found Oliver will be released on September 30, 2025

I will preface this by saying I have not read You've Reached Sam. Without knowing anything about the first book I had no issues following the characters and story.

It has been one year since Oliver's best friend Sam died in a tragic accident. He as since become best friends with Sam's girlfriend and also cannot seem to let go of Sam. He continue to text heartfelt message to him never expecting a response, until one day he accidentally calls the number an someone who isn't Sam picks up.

This is how Oliver meets Ben, an astronomy student in Seattle. The two soon meet in person and have instant chemistry, but something seems off to Oliver.

This is such a bitter sweet story of dealing with grief and trying to move on. There's a very interesting magical/supernatural twist to Ben and Oliver's love story. It's really lovely seeing Oliver slowly start to move on and find happiness elsewhere, even though the universe seems to want to screw everything up.

While some of the happenings seem quite unlikely, since magic is involved I can't fault them too much. Both Ben and Oliver are extremely likable characters and I found myself rooting so hard for them. Even when Oliver is making all kinds of bad decisions you still can't help but want things to work out for him.

This a really hopefully story with great character development. Even if you haven't read the first one this one was well worth it!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute and easy read! Although I wasn't the biggest fan of You've Reached Sam, I was excited for You've Found Oliver as I adore multimedia/texting stories, and different timelines/speculative twists. I will say I liked it way more than the original book, and I loved how Dustin Thao showed them being in different timelines! However, and this is just a me thing, I was way more drawn into the text conversations - so I found myself skipping scenes that fully fleshed out our main character, like his scenes with his family or with Julie, all because I LOVED seeing the texts and speculative elements.

So while this wasn't a perfect book for me, I did find it extremely fun and interesting to read!

This was a very cute story of finding love through your grief! Quick and Easy read!
+ MM Romance
+ Time Travel

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group for this e-ARC of You've Found Oliver. I liked You've Reached Sam, and I thought it was a wonderful book to have taken the YA space by storm. I mean, look at these covers? Insanely gorgeous. I love the concept of Dustin Thao's novels, this mystical realism, and more gut wrenching than sweet, but in a good way. I think the concept of grief and exploring it was great, but I think there was an element missing. I think grief is highly personal, but I just don't think that there was a real, tangible connection that I could have to the grief, which ultimately diminished the emotionality that Thao was really getting at, and has always tried to get at with his books. Overall, I did enjoy this, despite it not really hitting its mark in the grand scheme of things.