Welcome again everyone!!
How are you? How’s life?
It’s been quite hectic from my side BUT hey, I finished a book that I wanted to read for sooo long so I’m counting that as a win!
Before I dive into my actual review, let’s refresh your memory–or introduce you to:
You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao
Seventeen-year-old Julie 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.
Heartbroken, Julie skips his funeral, throws out his things, and tries everything to forget him and the tragic way he died. But a message Sam left behind in her yearbook forces back memories. Desperate to hear his voice one more time, Julie calls Sam’s cellphone just to listen to his voicemail.
And Sam picks up the phone.
In a miraculous turn of events, Julie’s been given a second chance at goodbye. The connection is temporary. But hearing Sam’s voice makes her fall for him all over again, and with each call it becomes harder to let him go. However, keeping her otherworldly calls with Sam a secret isn’t easy, especially when Julie witnesses the suffering Sam’s family is going through. Unable to stand by the sidelines and watch their shared loved ones in pain, Julie is torn between spilling the truth about her calls with Sam and risking their connection and losing him forever.
Genres: Romance, YA, contemporary, fantasy
Now, starting this, I knew that it would be an emotional read. I’ve watched a lot of readers bawl their eyes out because of it, but I’m nothing if not “not like the other girls” so I was pretty confident that it couldn’t be that bad…. The actual truth is: it was AND it wasn’t, if that makes sense.
The main thing that I liked about this book is the story itself, like the idea is unlike anything I’ve ever read and I think it was really well done considering. From the very first page, we’re thrust into Julie’s world as she’s grappling with the recent passing of her boyfriend and closest friend Sam.
For info, the book is more about how the characters deal with the conflicting emotions they’re experiencing rather than being plot heavy, so keep that in mind if you pick it up.
However, the thing is I think this didn’t dip the toes as much as it could have, this may be because it’s YA. For example, I thought at least 4 or more months had passed since the accident, but no this is narrated barely a week after and Julie kinda feels unfeeling. Like, I get it, everyone grieves differently and there’s no right or wrong way to go about it, but sometimes she would do things that were quite at odds with what she was preaching about just a few pages ago (i,e. having empathy and giving ourselves and others the space to feel things). It felt mostly bland.
One other thing that I still wanna know is the why behind what happened, like what’s the reason Sam’s and Julie’s phones are connected? Early on, he mentions how it’s not time yet to tell her but he never actually says the reason, even at the end. In a way, it kinda seems cute, like it just is, they connect in ways outside this realm, but one does wonder.
Overall, I enjoyed reading it and I truly liked the idea but sadly, the quest for a book that makes bawl my eyes out is still on, any recommendations?!
Rating: ✨✨✨✨
Have you read You’ve Reached Sam? Any recommendations similar to this one?
Until next week! 👋
librorum in sempiternum 