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macliffe's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Racism and Car accident
dajaelizabeth's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
So this book wrecked me throughout it. I have seen some comments saying Julie was rude and annoying; I think people forgot what this book was about. Someone said she was rude in the flashbacks where was she rude. At no point was she rude in my opinion she was someone grieving the loss of plans she had made and someone she loved with all her heart. This was her learning to let go of someone she thought she would have more time with maybe even a lifetime. She felt like she was shorted time.
They had planned their whole life together. Julie and Sam both had to learn to let go of what they thought would happen.
I do feel for Sam. He was robbed of a future he thought he was going to have. Was he being a little selfish yes and in this situation, he had every right to be. He wanted to get the chance to have final moments with Julie and say goodbye to his girlfriend and family. He died suddenly and to him without reason. His final voicemail hurt to read.
Throughout this book, you knew the ending was coming the same way Julie did but you hoped that it wasn't that wrecking. And you know there are going to be a lot more things that he misses out on once that last phone call happens. Those phone calls were for him as much as they were for Julie. To me this was the perfect book about grief.
I cried throughout this book and there was a point where I thought the ending wouldn't be good and this was just another overhyped book. This book to me captured what I think a lot of people would feel if they thought they would spend the rest of their life with someone only to have them die before that life even got the chance to start.
Her not being able to go to her funeral and candlelight was something I could relate to. This might not be everyone's way of grieving but this is sometimes what it looks like. It wasn't over-dramatic like in movies sometimes this to me was the natural progression of things. The ending showed that she would never forget him, never fully let him go but she knew they both had to move on and say goodbye. And that is all this book was a final goodbye for them.
I am happy that Sam and Julie both got the goodbye they needed. Sam so that he could rest and Julie so that she could live. This is what it was about. It made me feel like I was going through their grief of living and dying with them.
This represented what to me a lot of people would do if they could call a loved one who died so they could say goodbye on their own terms.
So I would recommend this book but I will say that if you are anything like me this book with break your heart. I can say this is the first book that I think really altered my brain as the girls on TikTok say. This changed me for the better and also helped with my grief as well even though they have been gone for a while.
They had planned their whole life together. Julie and Sam both had to learn to let go of what they thought would happen.
I do feel for Sam. He was robbed of a future he thought he was going to have. Was he being a little selfish yes and in this situation, he had every right to be. He wanted to get the chance to have final moments with Julie and say goodbye to his girlfriend and family. He died suddenly and to him without reason. His final voicemail hurt to read.
Throughout this book, you knew the ending was coming the same way Julie did but you hoped that it wasn't that wrecking. And you know there are going to be a lot more things that he misses out on once that last phone call happens. Those phone calls were for him as much as they were for Julie. To me this was the perfect book about grief.
I cried throughout this book and there was a point where I thought the ending wouldn't be good and this was just another overhyped book. This book to me captured what I think a lot of people would feel if they thought they would spend the rest of their life with someone only to have them die before that life even got the chance to start.
Her not being able to go to her funeral and candlelight was something I could relate to. This might not be everyone's way of grieving but this is sometimes what it looks like. It wasn't over-dramatic like in movies sometimes this to me was the natural progression of things. The ending showed that she would never forget him, never fully let him go but she knew they both had to move on and say goodbye. And that is all this book was a final goodbye for them.
I am happy that Sam and Julie both got the goodbye they needed. Sam so that he could rest and Julie so that she could live. This is what it was about. It made me feel like I was going through their grief of living and dying with them.
This represented what to me a lot of people would do if they could call a loved one who died so they could say goodbye on their own terms.
So I would recommend this book but I will say that if you are anything like me this book with break your heart. I can say this is the first book that I think really altered my brain as the girls on TikTok say. This changed me for the better and also helped with my grief as well even though they have been gone for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Car accident
kassidyreads's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Car accident
Minor: Bullying, Racism, and Sexual harassment
chrissy3's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Car accident and Alcohol
sameen_haque's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
" π»ππππππ ππ πππβπ πππππ ππππππππππ. πΈπβπ πππππππππ ππππππ ππππ πππ π πππ ππππ, πππ πππππππ ππππ ππππ ππππ ππ ππππ, πππππππππππ πππ ππππππ ππ ππ. "
π± The story follows the life of Julie who recently lost the love of her life Sam in a car accident. As she tries to cope up with it while everyone blames her for Sam's tragic demise, she finds herself calling on Sam's number wanting to hear his voice even when she knows he's dead. But to her surprise Sam picks up and they are reconnected once again.
π± It was a really intriguing plot but there was something missing that the book didn't live up to my expectations. I was waiting for something more surprising to happen but it didn't.
π± For a young adult fiction this book was really heavy and discussed many sensitive topics like grieving over the dead, dealing with loss of a loved one and restarting life from a new perspective.
π± Sam and Julie shared a really meaningful and beautiful relationship, with future plans and supporting each other. It was not like the current dating culture and relationship we get to see nowadays. All the characters were written nicely and lovable.
π± I really loved the relationship between Sam and his younger brother. How he got affected with Sam's death and Julie's absence was really hard to read.
π± Overall the book was a nice read, not something i would pick again and recommend highly but people who are getting started with young adult and contemporary genres would like it much more.
π± The story follows the life of Julie who recently lost the love of her life Sam in a car accident. As she tries to cope up with it while everyone blames her for Sam's tragic demise, she finds herself calling on Sam's number wanting to hear his voice even when she knows he's dead. But to her surprise Sam picks up and they are reconnected once again.
π± It was a really intriguing plot but there was something missing that the book didn't live up to my expectations. I was waiting for something more surprising to happen but it didn't.
π± For a young adult fiction this book was really heavy and discussed many sensitive topics like grieving over the dead, dealing with loss of a loved one and restarting life from a new perspective.
π± Sam and Julie shared a really meaningful and beautiful relationship, with future plans and supporting each other. It was not like the current dating culture and relationship we get to see nowadays. All the characters were written nicely and lovable.
π± I really loved the relationship between Sam and his younger brother. How he got affected with Sam's death and Julie's absence was really hard to read.
π± Overall the book was a nice read, not something i would pick again and recommend highly but people who are getting started with young adult and contemporary genres would like it much more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Car accident
brandieh21's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Car accident
mackenzieann101's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
this was a very confusing book but it was something i needed to read to gross myself. not a comfortable read but a needed and motivating story. thank you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
ashlislibrary's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Car accident
icarusandthesun's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
this review might contain minor spoilers.
i feel absolutely terrible for saying this, but you've reached sam was one of the worst books i have read in a while.
so i want to preface this by saying that i don't wanna shit on the author or anything, and it's just my personal opinion and i am someone who's not too fond of young adult books in general, so take all of this as you will.
the characters were a bloody mess.
not all of them, but very (un)conveniently only the ones that mattered - namely the main characters.
i don't think i've ever met anyone who's more unlikeable and frustrating and selfish than julie: skipping her boyfriend's funeral, ignoring her friends, and meanwhile it's all just me me me me. "i feel so horrible", "i want him back", "i can't let go". fuck you.
she's mean to everyone and has no personality whatsoever. whatever she says, it's bland and icky and she acts like she's the victim all of the time when she's really not.
she was also just a bad friend and a bad person in general, imo.
especially the thing with tristan. like?? are you insane?? (if you didnβt want this to be a date, thatβs fine, but then just bloody tell him maybe, instead of telling him you wonβt come, even though it means the world to him?? not because he loves you but because youβre supposed to be his god damn friend.)
her whole character was asking how 'all of this is possible' and 'where are you' and 'i can't let go' and 'i wanted to but i didn't' and 'i'm sorry' and 'i feel guilty' and 'i don't know what to write about'. endless whining and endless repetitions. if i had a dime for every time she said the same phrase or asked the same question over and over again, i'd be rich enough to go back to the book store and buy a different book.
and sam wasn't much better either. he wasn't as annoying, but definitely as bland. there was no personality in his speech, in his words, only in his actions. playing a round of 'who said what?' with the cast of this book would be a herculean task.
and the "bullies", or "mean girls" or whatever you wanna call them in that pretty little unconvincing high school setting, were atrociously written.
they were supposedly friends with sam, which poses the questions: why was sam friends with people who behave like this? and why did they behave like this in the first place?
they had no redeeming qualities. they were simply there to be mean, and to piss of the characters that were supposed to be the more 'favorable' ones (which they weren't).
i suppose the author wrote one of the bullies to be racist? which didn't make any sense at all because they were friends with sam and sam is japanese.
also, they were portrayed to be the bad guys, but they weren't even that evil?
yuki wanted to create the 'asian study group' thing, and one of the bullies asked why she named it the 'asian study group' when everyone was allowed to join, not just asians.
the main cast was all pissed at him, though that's a perfectly valid question, isn't it?
at one point the main girl and one of the bullies get into a verbal argument. and mika goes out of her way to make the VERBAL fight physical. she literally slaps a bitch. and then proceeds to use her SELF-DEFENCE moves to mess up the two bullies. the author portrayed it to be a #girlboss and #badass move, which it wasn't at all?? mika wasn't being badass, she was aggressive and violent and it's glossed over and portrayed as something heroic. starting fights and using your superior fighting knowledge to win against some inexperienced, weak high school kids is - controversial take, i know - not okay?
so at that point i was already pretty pissed, right. well, i'm not done yet.
the mindless clichΓ©s that were put into this book made me wanna slam my head against the wall. because it's got everything. and with 'everything' i also mean, among other things, inconsequential sexual harassment at a bar. why?
it's always good to talk about stuff like this, because it happens, of course, but this kind of representation isn't helping the cause. the sexual assault was solely used to establish mika's character - that she does self-defence and stuff. that's it. no consequences, nothing. it makes sexual harassment seem like a joke, like something that happens and can be easily forgotten. not cool.
and by the time they boarded the ferris wheel in one of the flashbacks at the end of the book, i was utterly done with all the sweetly sickening tropes - and with the story in general.
man, the story. what a nothingburger. such an interesting concept, and 300 pages that could be compressed into 5 well-structured sentences. and the ending? with the magical crystal and shit? i felt like i was reading a children's fantasy book. goofy.
needless to say, i didn't cry. the ending was okay though. julie realized some of her mistakes and character flaws and there was a bit of character development. i think i would've enjoyed the book more if the character development had hit a bit earlier and not in the last two chapters when it didn't matter anyway and the metaphorical lake that's my opinion of julie had long frozen over.
if you like young adult and the utter perfection that is peak melodramatic teenage behavior, you might like this.
if you like clichΓ©s and overused tropes, you also might like this.
but, uh, proceed with caution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Bullying, Racism, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
thiamoorhouse's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief