You've Reached Sam: A Heartbreaking YA Romance with a Touch of Magic Paperback – 26 May 2022

Honestly, be prepared to cry. chapters 16-18 hit for me. Like really hit. I was okay the rest of the book, but holy hell, genuinely insane how hard I cried. Their love is so genuine it’s actually heart wrenching. Would recommend, easy to read, bit cliched but Sam being such a good guy end up making you feel twice as bad by the end. But still good, thank you Dustin Thao.

love this book!

My daughter has really enjoyed this book.

I really wanted this to be the tear jerker everyone said it was going to be but unfortunately for me it wasn’t. I found it boring and difficult to read through and for something that was less than 300 pages, it should have been quick and easy. But it wasn’t. I didn’t feel any connection towards the characters and I didn’t feel anything towards Julie’s grief. The plot idea was cute; don’t get me wrong. Wouldn’t we all love to speak on the phone one last time to loved ones that have passed? Wouldn’t we love to take back words of regret and shake ourselves from guilt we probably feel for things we should have done differently. But in the real world that isn’t possible. When it was just Julie hearing Sam’s voice on the phone, I could go along with the book because it was all in her head right? But then Mika and James could hear him too? That’s when it got a bit too extreme for me. And all her texts and calls weren’t going through until she severed the connection and he left her a voicemail from the afterlife? Please. You couldn’t get any more far fetched. I wanted to love it. I wanted to cry over it the way I did “A thousand boy kisses.” But instead I just spent my time rolling my eyes and hoping it would be over soon.

For some reason, I love sad and tragic books, and this book definitely was tragic. I was really connected to the two main characters and I really felt like I was Julie at some points, and feeling the emotions with her. I loved the character of Sam and reading them talking on the phone together was heartbreaking.I loved the flashback scenes of their relationship, and the way that each scene tranforms into another scene. I thought it was quite unique and conveys the sense that it's a flashback, with different images constantly flashing through her mind.The ending is great but so so sad. You kind of know the ending from the beginning, it's set up so you know what will happen, and the more you read the book, and the ckoser it comes to the ending, the harder it was to read. I was definitely crying during the last few chapters of the book.There are some great messages and inspiring quotes in this book too so it's not completely depressing.Spoilers below:If I was to change anything in the book, I have two little issues:I liked the build up of Julie listening and then working on Sam's music and how she met the ex producer of Sam's favourite band. I kind of get why it ended with the email that he had forwarded the music on to the band members, but I wish there was a better outcome, like they worked on a song and released it, so Sam would have something to hold onto, and it would be good for those who lived him too, to feel close to him.Another thing, during their phone calls, Julie always asks Sam questions about where he is, why this is happening, etc, and Sam always replies with the sams vague answers and says he can't tell her that yet. The way I interpreted that was by the end of it, we'd learn more about what's going on. Where is he? Where is he going next? But we never really find out. Why does their connection fizzle out? But I'm not too bothered about it because I guess in a way, it's realistic. Nobody knows where you go or what happens to you. But it would have been nice to use the opportunity to create something there.Anyway, great read, highly recommend!!

If you pick up this book, it will break your heart!For me, a stronger read than When Haru was Here - so much more emotion. The writing is raw and genuine. You really feel for the characters and sometimes it feels a little close to home.You’ll want to keep reading. Buy this, you won’t regret it

GREAT BOOK

TL;DR: I sobbed for 296 pages x“I missed you. I missed you infinity.”A really beautiful story showing how grief affects everyone differently, and how letting go and saying goodbye truly is the hardest part.For how much I cried, I really did enjoy this. I've had it on my shelf for a while, but finally felt like it was time to give it a read (my subconscious must have known that I needed a really good cry).The representation of Julie's grief was really well done. I think the way she was written was really reflective of how a 17 year-old may react to a loss like that. It's such a delicate age (as much as I may have thought I was a grown-up at 17, I look back and realise that was definitely not the case) where there are so many major life changes happening all at once.I felt really connected to both Julie and Sam. While sometimes frustrated by their communication, I found it all very believable. There's no single emotion with grief, and I'm glad that Julie and Sam both got to explore multiple emotions during this book.Some slight spoilery thoughts that keep me awake at night. ✨I can't stop thinking about the metaphor around her phone/messages and the idea of letting go. Am I reading into this too much? Probably. Julie wasn't receiving any messages on her phone when she's really latching onto her connection with Sam at the start of all this. When she begins to reconnect with those around her in the real world, she started to receive more messages?? That thought had me spiralling for a good while and make me think about how isolating grief can be, and how (at least in my experience) we only begin to truly grieve when we are able to let go a little and reconnect with those in the present.If you want a good cry, pick this one up. I'm sure I'll think about this book a lot.