You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao Review: "Don't leave me."

Welcome to "You've Reached Sam" by Dustin Thao!

Hey there! Dive into this heartfelt YA Fiction Romance story that delves into the theme of grief. Meet Julie, a high school senior who tragically loses her boyfriend in a car accident. But here's the twist - she holds onto a secret that she can't bring herself to share: she can still connect with him through her phone. Join Julie and Sam on their emotional journey as they navigate through loss and learn how to move forward.

(I created these images with Ai)

Julie

So, Julie, right at the beginning of the story, she's this girl with big dreams. She's all about leaving her small town behind to chase a new life in a lively city with her partner, Sam. They both had these grand plans - she wanted to write, and he was all about making music. But then, tragedy strikes, and Sam is gone. Julie is left to navigate this deep, deep sorrow. Now, here's the thing - and I'll be real with you - the way she dealt with her grief initially, well, it didn't sit right with me. I mean, it's not really a spoiler 'cause it's in the first few pages. She starts gathering up everything that reminds her of Sam, tosses it all in a box, and dumps it outside for the garbage collectors. It's only been a week, and she's already trying to erase him from her life. She's set on not dwelling on him, almost wishing they'd never been together.

I had to take a step back and realize that everyone grieves differently, you know? This is just her way of dealing with everything. Even if I don't necessarily agree with it, I understand that this is her journey to finding peace.

So, in this story, we really get to see how much Sam meant to her. He was such a big part of her life - her friendships, her home life, her future plans... And then, when he was suddenly gone, her whole world turned upside down. She started pulling away from her family and friends, her plans fell apart, she struggled in school, and she was left feeling lost about who she was supposed to be after graduation.

Once she got that first phone call from Sam after he passed away, everything changed for her. Instead of trying to push Sam out of her mind, she realized she needed to find a way to hold on to him while also letting him go. Dealing with a different kind of grief, where she hadn't completely lost him, she started reaching out to friends and easing back into her daily routine. But as time went on, she found herself in a rut, unable to move forward with Sam still lingering close by, not quite ready to release him into the unknown.

This book tells a fast-paced story. It follows a young girl who is in a time of growth and learning to navigate the world. Julie undergoes a mature experience of falling in love, enjoying three wonderful years with her partner, only to lose him unexpectedly due to circumstances beyond their control. This unique form of grief was not something she expected at her age, as they were making plans for their future together before it was abruptly cut short.

In this story, various characters offer different viewpoints on grief: a cousin who was more like a sister to Sam, long-time friends pointing fingers, new friends providing support to Julie during her mourning, and family members feeling as though they have also lost Julie in addition to Sam.

Although this was a good book that I recommend you read, for some reason I needed help to pick it back up after every reading session. I believe it has to do with me and Julie being a bit too different; I didn't agree with her way of grieving, I would also get a bit annoyed with her approach to bridging separations caused by her lack of seeing the perspective of another person's grief. I want to leave it at that because I don't want to spoil what the actual issues are and believe me, the issues don't last long and do get resolved, I just didn't care for it. But that would be my only critique, Julie and I are just different and I would've handled things in other ways. But I guess that's part of the point of reading other perspectives, I honestly wouldn't know how I would react unless it happened to me right?

I would give this book a rating of 3.5 - 3.75⭐️. This is because the main character annoyed me at times, and I found it difficult to resume reading once I had set it aside. Additionally, I have not been thinking about it much lately. Have you read this book? What are your thoughts on it? Feel free to leave a comment below and let's discuss! 😁❤️🌸