A review by howlinglibraries
You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

 
I don't want to open my eyes and see a world without Sam. But sometimes you just wake up. No matter how hard you try not to.

You've Reached Sam is a story with an incredibly sad premise that should absolutely tug at the heartstrings, especially for readers who are prone to being very emotional (such as myself)... yet unfortunately, I feel that the writing rarely reached an emotive enough state to allow me to care very much about these characters and their tragedy.

I felt more empathy for Mika and the rest of Sam's family than anyone else, but honestly, my heart even broke more for Oliver than it did for Julie. I found her inner narrative very numb and flat for the first 70% or so of the story, though I did appreciate the tremendous amount of personal growth she underwent in the end. Despite Julie telling us about the massive amounts of pain and grief she is undergoing, we don't actually see that for a long time. The writing also struck me as a bit stilted and unnatural, with some of the dialogue not feeling organic.

I'm glad I read this story, and I think it will resonate with a lot of readers, but it fell a little short of the hype I'd built up for it in my head. That's okay, though - I think Dustin Thao shows a lot of promise here and I'll happily check out future works from this author!

✨ Representation: Sam and his family are Japanese; multiple BIPOC side characters; two queer side characters 
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