Also, the grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors are distracting. (Yes, I know I’m reading an uncorrected proof but it’s not like this was typeset from a hand-written copy. This isn’t the 1900s, folks. I have to assume that the author turned in a manuscript full of errors.) 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.

Instead, I had to read You’ve Reached Sam, a story whose pacing, writing, and character development are so amateurish that it may have been written by a somewhat immature ten year old with the help of his mom’s thesaurus and some garage sale Trixie Belden books. By the way, that immature ten year old wrote this dreadful book in first person even though he has no idea, apparently, how women of any age think, speak, or feel. This was so good!! 🥺🥺 I did expect to enjoy it bc of the hype, but it still surprised me how good it was. Utterly heartbreaking but so so worth it 😭😭❤❤ I loved the way music was present in the story. One of the songs that’s really special to Julie and Sam is a song called “Fields of Gold,” which I had to go listen to as soon as I finished reading the book. I’d heard it before, and listening to it again I felt like it fit the story so perfectly. 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!

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tragic love story between a heartbroken girl and her recently deceased boyfriend, whom she can still call on the phone? yes, of course i wanted this book to break my heart. (i actually waited to read this when my partner was around so i could get some much-needed comfort snuggles)

Have your tissues at the ready when you dive into Dustin Thao's emotional novel You've Reached Sam." How convenient,” my mother says. “We’ve lived here for almost, what, three years now? No one has taken as much as a lawn gnome.” There’s a lengthy -- and I do mean lengthy -- prologue that, I guess, is supposed to make us like Sam and Julie so much that we’re grieving for them too but it’s a hot mess of clunky writing that attempts to blend memories into something like a camera fade in a movie. Major fail. It’s hard to follow and is so deeply one-sided that all we know at the end is that Julie sure does like herself but maybe doesn’t like her boyfriend that much.chapters about julie's current life and grief are interspersed with chapters of before, which show us romantic moments from julie and sam's relationship. some of these are cliche, but i'm a softie and i enjoyed them anyway. and these before sequences are very dreamlike and cinematic. i think this is when thao's writing is at its best, and i could definitely envision a movie version! Out of the house?” my mother asks. She shuts off the electric kettle and wipes her hands with a dish towel. A book where the author would create a unique explanation and reason as to why and how Julie could connect with her dead boyfriend.

The “Before” chapters are so unique in the way they’re written. In the memoirs, you see a visual of it playing in your head as if it were a movie. You can’t help but fall in love with the way it’s written and the seamless transition from one memory to the next. I got an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and already spoke about it in my ”ARC Book Haul” BookTube video.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. I will also add that with regard to the experience of grief and the expression of feelings, I can only speak to my experience. Teens who have lost loved ones and who might relate to Julie and Sam on a more personal level would be advised to approach You've Reached Sam with caution. The connection is temporary. But hearing Sam's voice makes Julie fall for him all over again and with each call, it becomes harder to let him go. As we drown in grief, we sometimes forget that others may also be grieving. This is what Julie forgot when she was trying to forget about Sam. The calls with Sam made her see what others were also struggling through. 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