Julie and her boyfriend Sam had their post-graduation future planned out. They’d move out of their small Washington town, go to college in the city, even spend a summer in Japan. And until then, there were so many things they were going to do or Sam was going to show Julie.
But one night, Sam died, and Julie doesn’t know how to move on. She skips his funeral, throws away his things, and avoids contact with everyone who tries to reach out, including Sam’s family and their friends. She’s sad, she blames herself, and knows others do as well.
One night, she’s so desperate to hear his voice that she calls his cell phone—and he answers. He can’t explain where he is or how long he’ll be reachable, but if Julie calls, he’ll answer. This second chance at goodbye fills her with emotion, the opportunity to say the things she never got to say, and Sam guides her to experience things he had always promised to show her before.
The more she starts to depend on the calls, the more she pushes others away, and Sam knows that at this rate she’ll never be able to move on. He encourages her to start reconnecting with those she pushed away, those in need of attention, so that someday soon she can say goodbye to him for real.
I can’t imagine what it would be like to get another chance to talk to those we’ve lost. You've Reached Sam was an emotional book for sure, and one that showed how everyone grieves differently. We can’t expect everyone to react the same way we do.
That being said, I really didn’t like Julie’s character very much. She was so selfish and impulsive that it was sometimes hard to have sympathy for her because of how she treated others. But still, this story is beautifully written, and it moved me.
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