Review - You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

 

 

 Title: You've Reached Sam

Author: Dustin Thao

Pages: 298

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Release Date: 9th November 2021

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

If I Stay meets Your Name in this heartfelt novel about love and loss and what it means to say goodbye.

How do you move forward when everything you love is on the line?

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. 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.

What would you do if you had a second chance at goodbye?

Filled with a diverse cast of characters, the heartache of first love and loss, and the kind of friends that can get you through anything, plus a touch of magic, You've Reached Sam will make an instant connection with anyone looking for a big emotional romance of a read.

 

Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley*

 

 

Julie can't wait to leave the small town she lives in and go to college with her boyfriend Sam. However, her plans are derailed when Sam dies unexpectedly.

Grief-stricken, Julie shuts herself away from everyone. Then when she calls Sam's phone desperate to hear his voice, the last thing she expects is for Sam to answer.

Julie has the chance to speak to Sam again, but can she let him go?

 

Going into this book, I was looking forward to reading it as both the cover and blurb intrigued me.

I found Julie quite frustrating at times. While I did feel sorry for her at the beginning, as time went on, I felt less and less sorry for her and instead found her to be selfish and thoughtless.

There were some flashbacks that showed how Julie and Sam's relationship developed, but I couldn't really feel the connection between the two of them, so didn't feel particularly invested or emotional in what happened.

While this was a fast read, the plot didn't grip or surprise me.

My favourite part of the book was probably Julie's character development, but it was too little too late for me.

The writing style wasn't one of my favourites and I found some of the dialogue to be odd and clunky.

This book didn't end up meeting my expectations, unfortunately, despite having a promising premise. But while I found this book underwhelming, I can definitely see other people enjoying it more.

 

Overall, this was a mixed read.