“Reading these back again, I wish I hadn’t been so angry at him. I wish I had picked up the phone. Maybe then everything would be different.”

You’ve reached Sam tells a beautiful story of loss and grief and how we learn to live again. I enjoyed the overall message of this book, but I do think there were some things that could have been executed a bit better.

What I loved:

This is a story that is very well written. The flow was great overall with some hiccups here and there.

I loved the concept of being able to stay connected with someone after their passing through the phone. Another book with this trope that comes to mind is landline by a Rainbow Rowell.

This book pulls on your heart strings (although I didn’t cry) I think those who may have experienced grief are rating this book higher because it may draw on some memories. I know it did for me.

I loved how grief was represented as it’s not a linear process it takes time, and you never truly stop grieving you just learn to cope.

What I didn’t like:

I didn’t really feel a strong connection to the main character and Sam’s relationship as we don’t learn a lot about them in the past. The reader is expected to have an emotional connection to characters who are not very developed

Otherwise any other things that I didn’t enjoy were not the fault of the book, so I won’t share. However I did enjoy this book and I think it will resonate with a wide range of people, especially those who have experienced lost.

I will recommend this book; however, go in knowing that this book is almost entirely character driven with no plot.

Trigger warnings: Grief, death of a loved one, sudden death, depression, bullying