You've Reached Sam

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A universe where a teenage girl doesn’t get a second chance or an extension on her homework because the teacher thinks that she didn’t have a convincing enough excuse as to why she forgot about the assignment… by that point, Sam has been dead for a week and a half. I got an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and already spoke about it in my ”ARC Book Haul” BookTube video. That’s not a way to live life,” my mother says, her hands gripping the wheel. “Always worrying about what comes next, instead of living in the moment. I see this in a lot of my students. And I’m seeing it in you…” She looks at me. “You’re living ahead of yourself, Julie. Making decisions, and wanting things done, only to set up the future.”

No one would believe that Sam and Julie are in love from their brief, banal conversations. Where is the pining? Where is the heart-wrenching good-bye, that conversation that makes you cry, even as you realize that Julie is going to be okay and that Sam is ready for whatever comes next? Instead, they talk in cliches like disinterested neighbors who occasionally see each other in the shampoo aisle of their local grocery store. The writing also made me feel numb because it encompassed so many emotions. Also, it was so dang quotable. This guy was so utterly sweet, and emotionally gorgeous (it's a thing). The way he spoke, and acted. The amazing relationship he had with his parents, how he was the bestest friend, and especially how he tolerated the MC for three years. I could NEVER. All of those tiny things mounted together and sprinkled with slight mentions of death, all of them made me connect with him way more than the rest of the characters mentioned in this book. I wouldn't say that I truly fell in love with him, because I didn't have the time, but I will say that he was an amazing boyfriend and an amazing reason to be emotionally numb for. 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. The writing is captivating and beautifully done, immediately drawing readers into imaginative and well-developed scenes. [A] beautifully written exploration of grief... You’ve Reached Sam is an impactful debut. The question at the center of the book and the paranormal premise combine to create a narrative full of heart." —The Young FolksI hate this so much. But I love this so much. I know it doesn't make sense. It was painful, heartbreakingly beautiful, and so real to deal with regret, grief and loss. I readjust the box that’s starting to feel heavy. “Mom—we’ve never owned a lawn gnome,” I say. Thankfully. “And we also don’t collect vintage sports cars.” Life will pass right by you,” she says, her eyes focused on the road. “And you end up missing the little things, the moments you don’t think matter—but they do. Moments that make you forget about everything else. Just like with your writing,” she adds out of nowhere. “You don’t write to get to the end. You write because you enjoy doing it. You write and don’t want it to end. Does that make some sense?” I would actually understand this one if the readers were given any indication that she was having a hard time in another way… other than have her just tell us that she is). A book where Julie’s only sign of grief is that she doesn’t go to any of Sam’s vigils and doesn’t attend his funeral because she simply can’t.

Following a teenage girl who lost her boyfriend to a car accident and magically gained a final opportunity to speak to him through phone calls, the haunting premise of You’ve Reached Sam promised an emotionally devastating study of grief, loss, and letting go. While I appreciated its depiction of the different ways people grieve and cope, never shying away from what might not be the cleanest, most acceptable forms of grief, I unfortunately didn’t feel very connected to the story or emotionally affected by it. There is poignant, heartbreaking beauty to be found in this book, certainly, but this is a story that you feel all or nothing for—and unfortunately, it was erring on the side of nothing for me. A heartfelt YA read. At times maybe leaning toward the younger YA age range, which is entirely fine - but I do think it missed out on some depth because of this. Why do Sam and Julie have a limited number of calls? Sam says they’ll be able to talk until julie is ready to say good-bye, but then their calls start running out. That doesn’t seem like waiting.When I read a 'sad' story, I expect to be a sobbing mess by the end of it. Which I was. A mess that is. Sobbing, well, depends on how you take the term. There were slight traces of watery liquid which may be venom or tears (we'll never know) in my eyesperes, so of course, my nose was looking like Rudolph the Reindeer. Shout out to that guy, the first thing to make me cry. Thank you. Morning light comes through the curtains as I lay curled in bed, listening to Sam’s voice mail again. The romance in Your Name was effective in that we were able to slowly watch the connection build up between the characters before the heart-wrenching part happens (if you watched it, you know what i mean). Here it was kind of done the other way around and while I think the premise was really promising and interesting, I had a hard time feeling a connection to Sam and Julie like I did with the main characters in it’s anime comp.

No explanation whatsoever to any of the questions that I had about the supernatural elements in this story (what a missed opportunity). Also, the grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors are distracting. (Yes, I know I’m reading an uncorrected proof but it’s not like this was typeset from a hand-written copy. This isn’t the 1900s, folks. I have to assume that the author turned in a manuscript full of errors.) So for me, personally, the timing was off. There were a lot of things about Julie’s behaviour I couldn’t relate to and I’m sure if some time would have passed between Sam’s death and her actions everything would have been more realistic. Maybe due to that the story didn’t hit me as hard as I thought it would. This had all the makings to cause me to cry into my tissues but instead of crying my eyes out I found myself kind of emotionally detached. I had the feeling the entire story was just touched at the surface; that we got to see the tip of the iceberg but that we never got deeper than that. Of course this could also be an “it’s me not the book thing” but I guess we’ll never know. The rest of the characters as previously mentioned, didn't do much for the story, and I would've loved for it to be otherwise. Alas, not all happily ever afters are possible.

I wondered why someone would want to intentionally experience that. I think I figured it out. You want to feel something. Something meaningful, and intense. You want to feel that thing in your heart and stomach. You want to be moved. To care about something, or fall in love, you know? And you want it to feel real. And different. And exciting. I’m learning that…” I say, resting my head against the window. “Don’t put too much effort into things. You’ll only end up being disappointed.” A heart-breaking story of grief and loss, You've Reached Sam is a YA magical realism read about healing and moving on." —Young Adult Books Central