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A review by m_riaelle
You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao
challenging
dark
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book excited me that I pre-ordered it, my first pre-order. If you love this book, look at my star rating before going through my thoughts about it.
Good points:
It has potential. I was going through it negatively until it made me remember Sam and Julie are teens. Co-dependency was a mechanism for peer pressures, especially in school. How lonely it gets when there's no one beside to depend on while it seems like everybody has someone.
Some of the 'Before' had me smiling because I know those things happen when you want to impress someone. And I get why Julie only ever interact with Sam's family and friends as they're living in a small town, and again because they're teens. That's when I realized they don't develop when they're together.
I like Mika, James, and Oliver.
Bad points:
The phone call was supposed to be an unfinished business, the goodbye, but it turns out to be 'call me as if I'm not dead, so you look crazy.' But then, I let this one go because grief is something that could make you go crazy or nothing at all (I've been there). Julie was almost ready to move on, but the phone call happened. I thought it was closure, but it was a path Julie should not have taken because she depended on the phone calls to keep herself together. Yet again, I let this go because grief is a whole new level that people go through differently no matter how you know their story. After all, we're just looking from a third-person point of view.
Moreover, Sam kept answering Julie's calls because somehow he's still 'processing' that he's dead. It seems selfish for Sam to do this to Julie, but Sam abruptly lost his life and can't accept it that easily. And as they always do, they depend on each other. In conclusion, they're both humanely toxic for each other if grief isn't part of the context.
I can't seem to like the main characters.
Then, the reason I kept pacing back and forth, thinking what doesn't sit right while reading this is the execution of the plot itself. I get it. Contemporary with a dash of fantasy. But all this makes Julie look like she needs professional help as this coping mechanism is delusions or something like that. I've read and watched countless books and movies or shows that centre on grief, and mostly, it's illusions and how they asked for help when it's almost ending. But, Julie didn't reach out for help. Until the end, she believed it was Sam. I guess that's what makes me not feel connected to the character because I would've ended the phone call halfway through the story. The fear of going crazy and isolating myself will make me drop the call and wish for someone to help me. Additionally, the story itself, the phone call; just made it slower for Julie to move on. The plot wasn't it for me.
But damn, Sam's will to live hurts me soo much.
I'll be giving this a generous 2.75 stars because it made me smile, and mostly it's because of James, Mika and Oliver. The author has potential, and I will still give his future books a gamble.
TW: Death, Car Accident, Grief, Sexual Harassment (not by any known character), Bullying, and Racism (search it up for more specifics or correct TW as mine is what I thought is TW while I read it)
Good points:
It has potential. I was going through it negatively until it made me remember Sam and Julie are teens. Co-dependency was a mechanism for peer pressures, especially in school. How lonely it gets when there's no one beside to depend on while it seems like everybody has someone.
Some of the 'Before' had me smiling because I know those things happen when you want to impress someone. And I get why Julie only ever interact with Sam's family and friends as they're living in a small town, and again because they're teens. That's when I realized they don't develop when they're together.
I like Mika, James, and Oliver.
Bad points:
The phone call was supposed to be an unfinished business, the goodbye, but it turns out to be 'call me as if I'm not dead, so you look crazy.' But then, I let this one go because grief is something that could make you go crazy or nothing at all (I've been there). Julie was almost ready to move on, but the phone call happened. I thought it was closure, but it was a path Julie should not have taken because she depended on the phone calls to keep herself together. Yet again, I let this go because grief is a whole new level that people go through differently no matter how you know their story. After all, we're just looking from a third-person point of view.
Moreover, Sam kept answering Julie's calls because somehow he's still 'processing' that he's dead. It seems selfish for Sam to do this to Julie, but Sam abruptly lost his life and can't accept it that easily. And as they always do, they depend on each other. In conclusion, they're both humanely toxic for each other if grief isn't part of the context.
I can't seem to like the main characters.
Then, the reason I kept pacing back and forth, thinking what doesn't sit right while reading this is the execution of the plot itself. I get it. Contemporary with a dash of fantasy. But all this makes Julie look like she needs professional help as this coping mechanism is delusions or something like that. I've read and watched countless books and movies or shows that centre on grief, and mostly, it's illusions and how they asked for help when it's almost ending. But, Julie didn't reach out for help. Until the end, she believed it was Sam. I guess that's what makes me not feel connected to the character because I would've ended the phone call halfway through the story. The fear of going crazy and isolating myself will make me drop the call and wish for someone to help me. Additionally, the story itself, the phone call; just made it slower for Julie to move on. The plot wasn't it for me.
But damn, Sam's will to live hurts me soo much.
I'll be giving this a generous 2.75 stars because it made me smile, and mostly it's because of James, Mika and Oliver. The author has potential, and I will still give his future books a gamble.
TW: Death, Car Accident, Grief, Sexual Harassment (not by any known character), Bullying, and Racism (search it up for more specifics or correct TW as mine is what I thought is TW while I read it)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Car accident
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Sexual harassment