Cover Image: Message Not Found

Message Not Found

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Member Reviews

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

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This was SUCH a good book. I didn't really know what to expect coming into it, but I was left with literal tears. I love books that explore grief, and this was no exception. I loved the main character (questionable decisions and all), and every other character just felt so human. Mason and Esther have a special place in my heart. I also adored the element of mystery. By the ending, I was bawling my eyes out. It was beautifully written.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to read this early. Review has been posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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I’ve started writing a review for this book a few times and find myself coming up short. I don’t know what to say. I read it twice, because after I finished it the first time, I wanted to see just how much was casually revealed before the big one at the end. The second time, because I knew what to expect, plot-wise, I kept my focus on the interactions of the characters. Teenagers often jump to conclusions while simultaneously being blind to obvious evidence and this book portrayed that really well. It also portrayed the narrator’s grief wonderfully, in ways that people who have experienced death and its aftermath can relate to (the way she got angry at other people who commemorated her friend, for example).

This is a story that, on the surface, seems to be about a girl navigating the hardship of grief, but it’s really a mystery, and the sleuthing tools the main character uses to solve the mystery include a program that operates on communications with her friend (back when she was alive), which offers a fun and interesting dynamic to the tradition mystery novel.

It was heartbreaking when the bot was first booted up because it knew nothing, and Bailey wanted answers it didn’t have. This led to (initially) a cute way for Bailey to manage her grief, but turned awkward as Bailey tried to perfect the bot, and got up to increasingly questionable shenanigans to do so.

In classic YA fashion, Bailey learns she didn’t know her best friend as well as she thought she did, which was devastating, but she also, in solving the mystery surrounding her friend’s death, finds a way to move on, which was lovely.

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Dang - this was one of the most emotional books that I’ve read in a long time. Friendship, unexpected premature death, grief, betrayal, then add in an A.I. to fill in the blanks.

I’ll be honest, my older brain had a hard time in the beginning wrapping myself around this YA as it’s a genre that I rarely delve into.

I absolutely recommend this book. Everyone needs a good book induced cry every now and again.

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Wow, this was beautiful. A strong narrative and tone and it so accurately depicted grief and feeling caught between the world moving on and the deep questions surrounding one's loss. Incredibly accurate and moving.

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What really stood out to me in this book in as the writing! I really felt the dialogue was organic and the writing style in general really added to the story. Without being spoiler-y there is a component that make this story, which could have been boring, pretty unique. All in all a good YA read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

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Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of Message Not Found by Dante Medema.
Message Not Found is a story told in prose and text messages filled with plot twists that keeps the reader engaged until the end. A book about relationships and grief that will be appeal to many teens.

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I cried and cried and my eyes hurt from crying! It was sad and the emotions from the mc was so real and I kept crying

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with this ARC.


Description from NetGalley:
Bailey and Vanessa shared everything: laughter, secrets, and packets of Pop Rocks to ward off bad days. But that all changed the night Vanessa left Bailey’s, headed for home, and ended up swerving off a cliff nowhere near her house. Now Bailey, who thought she knew Vanessa better than anyone in the world, is left with a million unanswered questions, and the only person with answers is gone.

To help grieve her loss, Bailey creates a chat bot of Vanessa using years’ worth of their shared text messages and emails. The more data she uploads to the bot, the more it feels like she’s really talking to her best friend. That is, until the bot starts dropping hints that there was more going on with Vanessa than Bailey realized—a secret so big, it may have contributed to Vanessa’s death.

This was a page turner because I really need to know why Vanessa went off the road and what would happen with the bot that Bailey was using. I just needed to know. Bailey struggles so much with her grief, which is written very well. The book is broken down into weeks since Vanessa’s death along with text messages between Bailey and others including the bot.

Overall: 4/5

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While the message may have not been found, a variety of emotions surely will. Writing grief can be difficult, but Medema succeeds beautifully, creating a rich and heartbreaking story all at once.

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Though this book was very touching and heartbreaking at the same time, I don't think it was really for me. It was very interesting though, especially since I usually love the whole AI concepts, but it wasn't really executed in a way I enjoyed reading. The writing style wasn't my favorite and it took me a bit to get through it. The story was very emotional though and what got me through it was seeing how Bailey went through her grief and coped with the heartbreak of losing Vanessa.

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MESSAGE NOT FOUND by Dante Medema is a newer young adult novel which cleverly combines a mystery with themes of grief and friendship. Alaskan high school student Vanessa dies in a road accident one night; she is not where she is supposed to be and her best friend, Bailey, and boyfriend, Mason, feel guilt and remorse while struggling for closure. Bailey is a computer whiz and adapts a prototype app so that she can communicate with "V" who responds to texts based on old emails, messages and texts that Vanessa wrote – simultaneously spooky and fascinating, particularly because Medema deepens V's voice and "character" as more inputs are added to the app. Reluctant readers will be drawn in by the short chapters and text passages. The story's subtitle could be a version of "ignorance is bliss" because Bailey discovers some shocking news about Vanessa and their friend group. The emotions associated with loss and heartache are raw and realistically conveyed. MESSAGE NOT FOUND will definitely appeal to fans of E. Lockhart (We Were Liars), Karen M. McManus (The Cousins and others), and Jennifer Lynn Alvarez (Lies Like Wildfire).

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I am obsessed with this book! Obsessed. I am feeling emotional damage after finishing it.

This is a stunning exploration of grief and female friendship. Like I could 100% believe myself to act this way if I had lost my best friend at this age in my life and had the tech skills (also can I shout out this book for all the women in STEM!).

Bailey's parents? Obsessed! Learning people can be flawed and we still love them? Obsessed. Cold, dark Alaska vibes? Obsessed.

I saw so much of myself in Bailey and Vanessa (bookstagrammers represent) and really I could just like pick this book up and start reading it again.

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This a book about dealing with grief of losing a friend. I think this is great story for my middle schoolers. It could help one of them deal with loss of friends in their lives.

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This book really was a page turner. I read it all in one sitting. I enjoyed the story and the writing. I dthink Medema did well with this book.

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I LOVED this book so much. I did not want to put it down, it was kind of like moving through Bailey’s pain with her. It was so sad in parts for sure and twisty as we learned more about Vanessa through little details. I loved the text messages through out. And that twist, wow! I will definitely be sharing this book with people.

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This is an interesting concept—a teen creates an AI version of her best friend after her death—but the execution didn’t quite work for me. The writing is sparse and fragmented to the point of being difficult to understand, and while this touches on interesting questions of ethics and technology and grief, this didn’t totally hit the mark.

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When Bailey’s best friend Vanessa dies in an accident after leaving her house, she feels guilty. She should have stopped her, or asked her to stay. Or asked what was wrong. Will she ever find out the truth? Luckily, one of Bailey’s moms has created a computer program that allows her to upload information about Vanessa to create a “bot.” This bot helps Bailey begin to piece together the truth, but it’s not without consequences. Bailey's search for the truth leads her down a road she may not want to go down. This book was well written and really went through the process of grief with Vanessa’s friends.

This would be a great YA novel for middle school or high school. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

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