You’ve Reached Sam written by Dustin Thao, is a story that focuses on moving on after losing a loved one. Our protagonist, Julie, is a high school student who dreams of moving out of her small town. She has big dreams and plans to go to college–sounds like any typical high school student. However, we also get a glimpse of Julie’s life, and it’s all not that great and sweet. For example, her parents are divorced, and she barely has any friends. The only person she is closed to is her boyfriend, Sam. Unfortunately, Sam passes away one night after getting into an accident, and Julie pretty much blames herself. However, a few of Sam’s friends also blame Julie for his death. The story really starts when Julie decides to call Sam’s phone, and he picks up. From there she makes frequent phone call to Sam, but it has to happen at a specific time. We also get to see other people from Sam’s life, such as his cousin, Miki, one of his friends (name), and Sam’s younger brother (name), and how they cope with his death. We also see flashbacks of Julie and Sam’s relationship, from when they first met to their first dance and promises here and there. 

If you have ever lost a loved one, there are no words to describe the heartaches and pain of moving on and trying to hold onto as many memories as possible. In 2018, I lost my father, so I understand the pain and heartaches of moving on and the different coping methods. I think Dustin Thao does a great job describing and detailing how the characters cope with Sam’s death and how they slowly move on. I love the relationship development between Julie and Sam’s friend (I can’t remember his name, but he was Sam’s only friend that treated Julie well after Sam’s death. In other words, he never blamed Julie for Sam’s death). Additionally, I also enjoyed reading the development of Julie’s character. And I have to say that the overall development of Julie’s character allowed the sad ending to be a very well-written, thoughtful, and excellent finish to the book.  

One thing I have to be honest about is that I bought the book because of the cover. The art of the cover caught my eyes as soon as I walked into Barnes and Noble. So, I purchased the book because of the art cover, not because of the synopsis. After, reading the book I find that the book cover is relevant to the story. In one of the flashbacks from Julie’s memory, Sam had promised her that one day he’d take her to Tokyo to see the cherry blossoms there because the cherry blossoms over there are different from the cherry blossoms in their hometown. So, I thought incorporating the cherry blossoms on the book cover was a great way to reflect their memories of promises they did not get to fulfill. 

One thing that I am disappointed about is that Dustin Thao never goes into details as to why Julie and Sam were able to make a connection via phone call. Although, throughout the entire time Sam does mention quite a few times that he’s not sure or that he can’t really tell her. So, I am completely disappointed that this phenomena never gets explain in detail. However, because it is left unexplained it is possible to Thao to write a sequel that will explain phenomena.

Is the book sad? Yes. Will you cry? Probably and it depends on the readers. There were plenty of moments where a few passages in the book touched me, my eyes waters, but tears didn’t come down. So, if you’re a very emotional person I don’t recommend reading this during school or work.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Art Cover: 5/5
Will I recommend this book to others? Not really.