You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

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 Julie had her future planned out. She wanted to move out of her small town with her boyfriend, but then Sam died. Heartbroken Julie can barely pull herself out of bed, let alone go to the funerals and vigils held in Sam's honor. One night, Julie becomes so overcome with grief that she calls Sam. And Sam picks up. Hearing his voice makes it even harder to move on and soon, Julie finds herself relying on Sam's calls. But how long does Julie have before their connection breaks and she loses Sam forever?

I went into this book expecting it to break me. And it did. You've Reached Sam was so sad! This book was so full of emotion. If you liked The Year After You, I definitely recommend reading this. Both books were so overcome with grief. I just couldn't with that ending!

Usually, I prefer plot-driven stories, but the plot isn't super heavy. The story focuses more on the characters though the story was pretty gripping. Each character in this book was written so well. They were also really realistic. I fell in love with all of them!

Julie's character arc was my favorite part of the book. She lost her first love and had to move on. Her narration was so raw and emotional. This is one of my favorite storylines about grief. Her friendship with other characters is developed really well too. I love Mika. 

The cover is this book is beautiful! I love how it relates so well to the story. The cover alone just shows how sad this book is.

You've Reached Sam was also really diverse! A lot of the main characters are Asain.

My only criticism is sometimes the plot seemed to drag on for a little too long.

Page count: 304 pages

Published: November 9, 2021

Genre: contemporary

My rating: 4 stars

Trigger warnings: death of a loved one, car crash

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Thank you to NetGalley for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

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