Review: ‘You’ve Reached Sam’ by Dustin Thao
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You've Reached Sam
by Dustin ThaoSeries: You've Reached Sam #1
Published by Wednesday Books on November 9, 2021
SubGenres: Young Adult Contemporary
Format: eBook
Pages: 316
Source: Library - Libby
Audience: Young Adult/12+
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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.
I picked up You’ve Reached Sam just as my eighteen-year-old cat passed away, which made me even more emotional. Despite knowing what to expect from the blurb, I continued because I’d wanted to read this book since its 2021 release.
Told solely from Julie’s point of view, the book immediately drew me in. I empathized with her as she navigated the unexpected loss of her boyfriend Sam. Some blame Julie, while others stand by her, believing she is not at fault, after all, Sam’s death was an accident.
The story explores Julie’s chance of reconnecting with Sam via her phone, and once she has that connection, she’s not sure she wants to let go of him. But Sam keeps telling her it’s temporary and he knows eventually they’ll have to say goodbye. The whole time, Sam is reassuring Julie that she’ll need to move on from him, and Julie realizes she has friends, even Sam’s friends & family, who will be able to help her. She’ll also need to help others when it comes to lost of Sam. Yup, it was a very emotional story and moments that were definitely were tear worthy. I felt for both Julie and Sam and their emotional love story. I could feel how much they loved one another.
My only issue was with some confusing shifts between Julie’s current narration and flashbacks to past moments with Sam. These transitions sometimes caused me to reread certain parts to orient myself in the timeline. Still, this did not take away from my overall enjoyment.
Although I usually read Romance, I’ve recently wanted to branch out into other genres and subgenres. Picking up this book was a great decision, as it left a lasting impact and introduced me to Dustin Thao’s writing. Now, I plan to read more from this author.
As a Young Adult book, I think my youngest daughter would love it; she’s searching for more emotional stories that make her cry, so this is a book I’ll recommend to her.
Overall, I give this book four stars and enjoyed reading it, even if it made me cry several times. I recommend it to readers who enjoy books that stir emotions. Dustin Thao truly moved me while reading this, and I’m so glad I finally made time for it.
About Dustin Thao
Dustin Thao is a Vietnamese American writer based in New York City. He graduated from Amherst College with a B.A. in Political Science, and is currently in a PhD program at Northwestern University. He writes contemporary fiction, and his debut novel You’ve Reached Sam is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.
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My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
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