“Letting go isn’t about forgetting. It’s balancing moving forward with life, and looking back from time to time, remembering the people in it.”– 4.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: denim jackets, book ends, memorials, bookstores, short films, bullying, roses, University letters, grief, good friendships, future plans, tragic accidents and unexpected phone calls.

Seventeen-year-old Julie has her future all planned out—move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city, spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes.

Heartbroken, Julie skips his funeral, throws out his things, and tries everything to forget him and the tragic way he died. But a message Sam left behind in her yearbook forces back memories. Desperate to hear his voice one more time, Julie calls Sam’s cellphone just to listen to his voicemail.

And Sam picks up the phone.

In a miraculous turn of events, Julie’s been given a second chance at goodbye. The connection is temporary. But hearing Sam’s voice makes her fall for him all over again, and with each call it becomes harder to let him go. However, keeping her otherworldly calls with Sam a secret isn’t easy, especially when Julie witnesses the suffering Sam’s family is going through. Unable to stand by the sidelines and watch their shared loved ones in pain, Julie is torn between spilling the truth about her calls with Sam and risking their connection and losing him forever.

This was such a nice and pleasant surprise! I knew this book was popular, but I admit I didn’t have a lot of expectations when I picked this up. The good thing is that I ended up liking this way more than I thought I would!

In this book we follow this girl named Julie. She found her soulmate Sam when she was in high school and she had her life with him planned out to the detail. They were very happy together and they loved each other very much, but a tragic accident takes Sam’s life and now Julie is struggling and dealing with grief. Sam always told her if she called he would answer, and that’s what she did… the crazy thing is Sam answers! And there’s where I’m going to leave it. Also, don’t worry, this is not a spoiler – it is also mentioned in the synopsis!

But I didn’t know about that. I went into this book blindly and I didn’t know it was part fantasy – well, magical realism, to be exact. I was expecting this to be just a sad YA romance, but these phone calls were such an amazing and special element added to the story.

Needless to say, I loved this book. Grief is a huge part of this story, and the author did an amazing job with these characters and their feelings. Julie was an okay character in the sense that she wasn’t super likable, but I also felt really bad for her because of how badly she was suffering. Still, I liked seeing her grow and starting to overcome her grief. Her calls with Sam warmed my heart and made me wish everyone navigating through grief had the same opportunity.

While I was reading this book, I remember having a lot of moments when I thought “how in the world is this story going to end?”. Part of me was curious, but a bigger part of me just wanted a happy ending. And when I finally reached the last pages, I was happy. I thought the ending was done beautifully and I was satisfied with the resolution of the story. And in case you’re wondering: yes, I cried like a baby!

Apparently this is a debut novel, but it really doesn’t feel like it. It’s very well written and engaging, but most importantly, it was unique and unforgettable! I completely understand why this book is popular, and I admit this is a story that is probably going to follow me for a very long time.

I highly recommend this one, especially if you want a good book to cry to. Keep the tissues close because you’re going to need it.