Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Ancora una volta con te

I already know and heard this book was not gonna end happily just by reading the blurb of the book. I’ve prepared my heart but it's still manage to made me cry uncontrollably especially near the ending….

You’ve Reached Sam started with a strong opening and I was really intrigued with the phone call the main character made with her ex-boyfriend from the other side.
I wish this phenomena was explain more about why it happens and how it works.

Julie, the FMC comes a little bit annoying at first but people grieves differently and one thing I admire from her was giving Sam’s family a chance to talk to him too despite making the connection of each phone call shorter.

Overall, for a debut novel this was a really well-written novel about love, loss, letting go and acceptance. It wasn’t an easy journey for Julie but I feel really satisfied at the ending.
I'm looking forward to read more books by this author in the future!

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thetinysnail's review against another edition

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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

4.0

I did not think this book would make me cry in public because I didn't really love it at first, but the last like 20% hit me

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bee_gay's review against another edition

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It was slow and boring , it’s magical properties are never explained, fmc isn’t very easy to like, and she seems to get in this weird love triangle right after her boyfriend tragically dies.

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aj9moon's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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

3.5

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hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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emotional sad 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

3.5

Less than 10 pages in, and I was already crying. This pulls at the heartstrings so completely that, for the first 100 pages, there was rarely a time I wasn't crying. Sam is so unbelievably sweet and it was heartbreaking that he wouldn't go on to live a full life. This was a great depiction of Julie going through her grief and learning to let go and move on while still remembering and holding a piece of Sam with her. The first 100 pages were so strong, and I was definitely hooked. For some reason, I wasn't as attached the next 2/3 of the book. It slightly changed directions at that point, and I think I was expecting a bit more from the actual calls, similar to those in the first third, instead of a closer focus on her current life. Of course, this makes absolute sense for the message of the book, and it was done well. I just wasn't as attached after this shift. I really liked the "before" chapters; I think the vignette suited it very well because we got to see Sam and Julie's relationship (as well as with some other characters) without it feeling forced. I wish we got to see more of Mika,

especially after she discovered the truth and actually got to talk to Sam again

. The final call with Sam wasn't exactly what I expected and didn't hit as hard as I expected it to, but

Sam's voicemail definitely hit the mark

. It was all very sweet and well done. I feel for each of the characters (except for Taylor and Liam, fuck them), but I won't be thinking of them often now that I've finished reading, which is why (along with my shift in attachment during the last 2/3 of the book) my rating is not more towards a 4 star, which it was in the beginning of the book. A lovely and heart-wrenching book.

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bookishlucy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.25

Julie wasn't exactly a likeable character throughout the story but the other characters and plot made up for it. I'm not sure I would've finished this book if I didn't buddy read it with someone. I didn't start enjoying the story until about 60% in. Most of my enjoyment was coming from reading it with my friend. I am glad I finished it though but Julie made it hard to enjoy the book at times lol.

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kassidyreads's review against another edition

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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

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icarusandthesun's review against another edition

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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 didn’t want this to be a date, that’s fine, but then just bloody tell him maybe, instead of telling him you won’t come, even though it means the world to him?? not because he loves you but because you’re 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 clichés 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 clichés and overused tropes, you also might like this.

but, uh, proceed with caution.

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