You've Found Oliver by Dustin Thao

The quick cut: A boy struggling with the death of his best friend a year later makes an unexpected connection when he calls his best friend's number and someone else picks up. 

A real review: 

 Thank you to Dutton Books for providing the arc for an honest review.

 Grief can take different forms for everyone and has its own timelines. For Oliver, it's a year after Sam's death and he's still struggling to cope - until a new connection shakes him up. 

 It's been a year since Sam died and Oliver still can't live without him. Even though he knows he's gone, he still texts Sam's old number as if he's there to read it. When Oliver accidentally calls Sam's number - he's surprised when someone else picks up the call. Will this new connection help him move forward? Or make his life an even bigger mess? 

 This book is a combination of fantasy and contemporary in the way the story is tall about grief and loss with a time flair. The base story is core contemporary, but the addition of time changes and how it's explained is definitely fantasy meets science fiction. That change made a fairly typical story different and helps this one stand out. 

 Oliver is an interesting character with how he chooses to deal with his best friend's death. Texting his old number as if he's still there to read them isn't a way I would cope, but it feels appropriate for the character here. He's a fairly emotional person and that seems like a fairly emotional coping mechanism. 

 Ben is the guy who picks up Oliver's phone and helps shake Oliver's life up. He's a mysterious voice on the line that has gotten to know Oliver VERY well due to the text messages he's received. I can't say I would've responded as well as Oliver did if I knew someone was reading my messages to someone else. 

 At its core, this story is about moving on, dealing with loss, and seeing how our choices change our lives. While I can't say I would've done anything that these characters did, the choices they made did feel organic to them. 

 A sad and heartfelt story. 

My rating: 4 out of 5