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

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

3.5

I listened to this book on Libro and while it was very easy to listen to and follow along with the story, it just didn’t really work for me. I can imagine that this might be helpful for a teen experiencing grief, but I thought it fell really flat. Julie is so absorbed in denying her grief that she neglects everyone around her for the majority of the book, and I’m not sure what the overall message around grief was supposed to be. It also bothered me that Sam’s only connection is to Julie, not to anyone else in his family. I know that their love story is supposed to be compelling, but…they are teens, and I want to think that Sam would be more connected to his family or long-time close friends? I don’t know—I didn’t find it problematic or anything, and if you’re looking for teen melancholy then this could be a good choice!