Book Review: You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao
So, today’s review is about You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao. A heartbreaking tragedy and an otherworldly connection, this book will appeal to those of us who like breaking our own hearts 😉
Book Information
Julie loses everything, including herself, when her boyfriend, Sam dies. She finds it hard to go on with life without him around. But when a desperate call to his phone leads to him answering, Julie realizes that she’s been given a second chance. She quickly realizes, though, that it is a second chance to say goodbye. As Julie and Sam cherish their connection between worlds, Julie realizes that by keeping Sam close, she is pushing everyone else who is living away. Julie must decide when and how to say goodbye to Sam. But how can she ever say goodbye if she never wanted to in the first place?
Review | Heidi Dischler
It’s not that I didn’t love this book. I just didn’t like this book. It feels so complicated to describe because I liked Sam; I felt his emotions. I liked the idea that Dustin Thao wrote about. I just…. I didn’t feel the emotions that I wanted to feel. With Sam, I felt a lot of what he felt in the scenes he was given. With Julie? Not so much. It felt like Julie needed Sam for everything. I get that she was grieving and I get that some people do rely heavily on others, but it felt like I didn’t get anything out of this. It never felt like Julie even tried for anyone, not even when it seemed like some others around her were more broken than she was (aka, Mika). I just didn’t relate to the way Julie handled her grief, but I’m sure a lot of other people will.
As far as the plot goes, I’m also a little meh on that. I wish we would’ve gotten a more linear plot with the book starting the night Sam died. Personally, I didn’t feel the gut punch that so many others talked about and I so desperately wanted. Not to mention, I’m not really a fan when books jump back and forth between present and past. Julie’s dreams also confused the heck out of me at first.
Spoilers ahead.
Okay, so spoilers. I’m gonna be completely honest with you guys. The phone call thing? Kinda felt like a cop-out. I know that an explanation as to why they can talk to each other doesn’t really make sense, but maybe I’m just not into the modern ghost-story with the cell phones. It felt like if Sam would have let her, Julie would have just continued the phone calls for the rest of her life. I never felt any closure with Julie, even after her final phone call with Sam.
Overall, I really wanted so much more out of this book. I loved a lot of the characters, and the world-building and details in the book were amazing (cherry blossoms everywhere please!), but to me, it lacked the emotion that I went into the book longing for. I never got that heart wrenching feeling that so many other readers described. You’ve Reached Sam is not a bad book. It’s just not my favorite either.
Source: Audiobook from Audible
