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goatsrsexy 's review for:
You've Reached Sam
by Dustin Thao
Hard to rate. It's not that it was bad but the writing felt simplistic even for YA. The way Julie grieved didn't resonate with me and didn't *feel* true although I'm sure it did to others since everyone grieves differently. I found it unbelievable how she would talk about how she was too busy to call Sam even before the problems with their calls started. If this happened to me I'd literally be talking to him 24/7 and not caring about anything else and it just felt unbelievable to me that she seemed to be able to prioritize other things so well. I was also surprised to learn that Sam had only been gone a week when the book started because the way it was described made it seem like it was more in the past.
I felt like there were a lot of dropped threads. Did the people from that band ever respond to Julie? Why was Sam so mad about her showing them his music? I get what he said in the voicemail at the end but I feel like that still doesn't really explain his behaviour. I kinda think there was just too much going on in such a short book.
I also feel Taylor and her friends were strange characters lacking nuance, kids can be mean, but the way they acted was shockingly bold and inappropriate. Unbelievably so. Then they never reappeared.
I don't like how there was so much mystery around why these phone calls were happening and little comments that made it seem like Sam knew secrets he was going to reveal at the end, but then at the end there's no explanation. That's a stylistic choice I can normally respect but I feel I was really lead to believe there would be an
explanation so not getting one bothered me.
I liked the portrayal of Julie's friends and how they loved and supported her. I especially liked seeing her and Oliver grow close.
All in all, I think this was a decent story with a heartfelt emotional message, but I didn't connect to the main characters so it didn't have any emotional impact on me. I actually did lose a boyfriend in highschool, so I understand how Julie felt to a degree, but I didn't see myself in this story.
I felt like there were a lot of dropped threads. Did the people from that band ever respond to Julie? Why was Sam so mad about her showing them his music? I get what he said in the voicemail at the end but I feel like that still doesn't really explain his behaviour. I kinda think there was just too much going on in such a short book.
I also feel Taylor and her friends were strange characters lacking nuance, kids can be mean, but the way they acted was shockingly bold and inappropriate. Unbelievably so. Then they never reappeared.
I don't like how there was so much mystery around why these phone calls were happening and little comments that made it seem like Sam knew secrets he was going to reveal at the end, but then at the end there's no explanation. That's a stylistic choice I can normally respect but I feel I was really lead to believe there would be an
explanation so not getting one bothered me.
I liked the portrayal of Julie's friends and how they loved and supported her. I especially liked seeing her and Oliver grow close.
All in all, I think this was a decent story with a heartfelt emotional message, but I didn't connect to the main characters so it didn't have any emotional impact on me. I actually did lose a boyfriend in highschool, so I understand how Julie felt to a degree, but I didn't see myself in this story.