YOU'VE REACHED SAM REVIEW

 YOU'VE REACHED SAM BY DUSTIN THAO

About You've Reached Sam

Seventeen-year-old Julie Clarke 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 and desperate to hear him one more time, Julie calls Sam's phone just to listen to his voicemail recording. And Sam picks up the phone. 

The connection is temporary. But hearing Sam's voice makes Julie fall for him all over again, and, with each call, it becomes harder to let him go. 

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

My thoughts 

Wow.

First of all, the main character (and others) are grieving. If you have lost a loved one recently, I would think it twice before reading because it may trigger you.

Julie's the narrator, which intensifies the pain she feels for losing Sam. We also experience the pain of other characters, like Sam's cousin, his best friend and his little brother. All of them have their moment in this story and to me it is a plus, considering their connection with Sam, but also Julie. 

I admire how she tries to make everything work; the calls with Sam; her studies; and her relationship with her friends. It shows how we must put ourselves together, even if we don't want to nor can't, because life keeps moving forward and we need to catch up with the world. Every person has their own way of grieving and seeing the world after losing a loved one. That is the main reason why I can emphasise with every character in this story, even with the "bad ones", but it doesn't mean I tolerate their behaviour. 

I would have liked to know more about the protagonists's connection, the calls and who or what controlled them. We also get to know how Sam feels about the situation, but I find it a bit rushed compared to how many times he could have expressed his feelings and his thoughts.

On the other hand, I took a lot of annotations. There are sentences, paragraphs and whole pages that got stuck in my heart and almost made me cry. It was a nice read to me, I don't usually read this kind of books, but I found myself enjoying it.

It is a light read (293 pages) it won't take you too long to read it. If you consider yourself a quick reader, you may finish it the same day or the next. As it contains a lot of grief, you may want to stop for a moment and process all the emotions and thoughts of the characters. It happened to me, though I tried to read it in 24 hours!

PS: I didn't make it >__< 

My favourite Quotes 

"The world keeps moving, no matter what happens to you." (Julie)

"And out there, life doesn't give you extensions. Even during the hardest times. So let this be a valuable lesson for you . You'll thank me later." (Mr. Gill)

"Letting go isn't about forgetting. It's balancing moving forward with your life, and looking back from time to time, remembering the people in it." (Yuki)

"And whatever happens, promise you won't forget me, okay?" (Sam)

"I realize it doesn't matter where we're going next, as long as we're together." (Sam)