You've Found Oliver

A new story, a new love, an impossible divide. The much-awaited companion to the New York Times bestselling You ve Reached Sam will break your heart open.

I ve missed you every day since you left. But I m sure you already knew that. It s time to let you go now. I ll miss you all the time, Sam.

It s been a year since his best friend, Sam, died. Even though Oliver knows he won t get a response, he can t stop texting Sam s number, especially as the anniversary of his death approaches.

Then one day he accidentally hits the call button, and someone picks up.

The voice on the other end isn t Sam. Sam s number was reassigned and a stranger has been receiving Oliver s private and vulnerable messages for months. But Ben, a college student in Seattle, won t remain a stranger for long. Oliver knows he should stop communicating now that he knows the truth but he can t get Ben out of his head.

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Autorentext
Dustin Thao is a Vietnamese American writer based in New York City. He graduated from Amherst College with a B.A. in Political Science and studied critical media literacy at Northwestern University. His debut novel You ve Reached Sam is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller. His second book, When Haru Was Here, published in September 2024.

Leseprobe
It s peak cherry blossom season. Petals are falling from the trees as I cut through the quad. I m walking a little faster than usual. The psychology class I m shopping starts in a few minutes, and I don t want to be late on the first day.

I ve never been in the psychology building before. The lecture hall is massive, lined with ten rows of seats that are filling up fast. I manage to find a spot in the middle as the professor writes something on the chalkboard. I don t have the textbook yet, so I m just listening as he goes over the syllabus for the course.

I m not really paying attention though. I keep glancing at my phone, reading the conversation from last night. I still can t believe someone else has Sam s number. And I don t even know his name. For some reason, I can t stop thinking about him. I wonder what he looks like. Part of me wants to send him another text. Ask him how his day is going or something. But that would be weird, right? I mean, we don t even know each other. And it s not like we re friends or something. I should probably just forget about it.

I turn on my side, checking my phone again. I was hoping to get another text from him. The guy with Sam s phone number. Maybe I should change the contact name to something else, since it doesn t belong to Sam anymore. I wish I knew his name so I could look him up. I want to know everything about him. What color is his hair? Does he have siblings? A dog? My finger hovers over the keyboard as I think of something to write.

I know I should wait until tomorrow. But I can t help myself.

I send him another message.