You've Reached Sam

Product Information

When I read a 'sad' story, I expect to be a sobbing mess by the end of it. Which I was. A mess that is. Sobbing, well, depends on how you take the term. There were slight traces of watery liquid which may be venom or tears (we'll never know) in my eyesperes, so of course, my nose was looking like Rudolph the Reindeer. Shout out to that guy, the first thing to make me cry. Thank you. I’m in the minority here (as usual😩) so y’all will probably end up liking this more than I did! Give it a chance if you like YA and if the premise sounds interesting to you! Anyway, here’s a short review to encapsulate my rage: The characters were all great, but there wasn’t a lot of layering or development. They were pretty flat.

I would actually understand this one if the readers were given any indication that she was having a hard time in another way… other than have her just tell us that she is). i think that's what thao was trying to do here: make us feel. and that passage got me primed for my cry sesh at the end of the book, which brings me to... 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. This wasn’t anything wrong with the book itself, it just didn’t feel right to me as someone who still has trouble dealing with grief. It didn’t sit right when Julie had to apologize to everyone for not being there for them, when it’s perfectly valid to need some time to yourself to figure things out and cope.A story about a girl who somehow is kind of fine after two weeks of her boyfriend’s death and who functions pretty well in my opinion. Since that day, Julie’s life has pretty much stopped, too. The heartbreak and grief consume her. She hasn’t been able to move, much less talk to others. She couldn’t even attend Sam’s funeral. She’s a hollow shell of a 17-year-old girl. Sitting on her bed day after day. Staring at the wall. This book broke my heart. It has so many emotions and I’m still speechless because of it. It was SO GOOD. You’ve Reached Sam is a hauntingly remarkable debut. Dustin Thao gently weaves grief, regret, second chances, and the honestly beautiful moments we carry from a first love. Every tear you will shed reading this book will be worth it." —Julian Winters, award-winning author of Running With Lions

For Julie, just meeting and falling in love with Sam Obayashi was impossible. All the pieces had to fall together perfectly for it to happen. But it happened. Now I can’t wait to move on and make new memories with you. Just don’t forget the ones we made here.”A dark book, a beautiful book, Young Death, Grief, Car Accident, Racism, Violence, Sexual Harassment, Music ( The lyrics Julie wrote were so beautiful), strong character development, Toxic Friendship, Queer Representation, Bad mental health, Beautiful connections, trauma, books and film talks, Accepting and growing, Keep you tissues because lots of tears. You will probably cry. and cry. and cry. just like I did. Because death is unimaginable, but letting go is impossible. And if you've ever lost someone, this book is for you. Wow. This is a short review by my standards. Maybe it’s because I don’t remember a lot of the book. Saying goodbyes to our loved ones has never been an easy thing to do and Dustin Thao brings those emotions, that heavy reality to life in his book. Honestly, it would make an amazing movie. I got an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and already spoke about it in my ”ARC Book Haul” BookTube video.

Thank you to the publisher -Wednesday Books- and the author -Dustin Thao- for sending me an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.* A heartfelt story about love, loss, and grief, Dustin Thao’s bittersweet novel You’ve Reached Sam will likely make you shed some tears." —Culturess The thing is, I really wanted to like her as a person. I wanted to feel every inch of heartbreak, alas, I felt a small portion of that same emotion that I was craving to experience (again, why am I like this). I loved how strong she was at times, but it faded into nothing once I started realizing "dang, this girl is a piece of work". Why? Well because she couldn't keep promises, was sadly naiive and obviously didn't have the brain to begin to comprehend NOT TO TURN THE DANG PHONE OFF. One scene, y'all. ONE scene. And she messed it up. 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.

Customer reviews

Also, can we talk about the fact that this special connection.. wasn't so special after all? Like, I don't want to say more because spoilers but that.. I mean, why? How? Why? So many little things just don't line up or seem to make sense, really. Why does Julie run around town looking for Sam when she knows that he’s dead? Why does she have a glowing selenite crystal? Also, how many flat secondary characters -- Mika, Yuki, Taylor, James, Oliver, Jay, Rachel, Liam, Julie’s mom -- are too many to include in a story? (The answer is the endless number that the author added to this book; all of his secondary characters are as flat as Stanley himself.) What does it all mean? Why should we care? Seventeen-year-old Julie Clarke has her future all planned out—move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city; spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes.

I received an uncorrected bounded manuscript from the author. This does not influence my opinion in any way. Morning light comes through the curtains as I lay curled in bed, listening to Sam’s voice mail again. Yeah, don’t worry.” I was hoping to sneak the box right by her. I’m not in the mood to have a talk about what’s inside. “What are you looking at?”Like a lot of other reviewers, I'm sad to say that I was also disappointed as it didn’t really live up to my expectations of a mystical and, though heart-breaking, still a fulfilling read. It made me wish that they didn’t compare it to Kimi no Nawa because I think it ended up hurting this book more. I did still enjoy I hate this so much. But I love this so much. I know it doesn't make sense. It was painful, heartbreakingly beautiful, and so real to deal with regret, grief and loss. Sam suggests the connection is simply an emotional force that “gives them a chance to say goodbye.” Goodbye isn’t something, though, that Julie can easily say. She stretches the string of calls out as long as possible.