A gripping, emotional, and unforgettable read about Bailey devastated when her best friend Vanessa is killed during whiteout conditions driving up a mountain away from her home. Bailey wonders why Vanessa was driving away from her home. Bailey is so shattered from the death that she steals an app from her mom who codes artificial intelligence and downloads all the text messages she and Vanessa have had. Bailey “texts” Vanessa asking her where were you going, what took you up the hill.? As Bailey and Vanessa’s boyfriend, Mason, grieve they both have many questions. Bailey thinks Vanessa was protecting someone but why and who? As time moves on, Bailey wonders was Vanessa really who she thought she was? Many secrets are uncovered, and people are hurt. Bailey realizes if people can be unkind to others, they can be unkind to you.

Message not Found is a great coming of age novel that deals with grief in a heartwarming and down to earth approach. Characters' emotions are felt through the descriptive writing throughout the novel.

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, but I continued because I do appreciate the heart-ache we can all feel after loss, and the premise that we do what we feel we have to in the aftermath of loss. That was intention of Bailey towards her high school best friend, Vanessa whom she lost in an unexpected accident, thus building a special “bot”.

What she learns, well……is life changing, but the biggest lesson, is the lesson she learns about herself.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced uncorrected copy in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions on my own.

Aw man, I could tell from the title page that this one was going to be a tear jerker and I wasn't wrong.

It was a hauntingly beautiful read about death and heartache and secrets. What if you don't really know the people around you, or your best friend? Bailey's beat friend Vanessa dies in a tragic accident but her death leaves more mysteries than anything. Questions left unanswered. Bailey won't feel right until she gets to the bottom of the mystery that surrounds her death and so with the help of a computer AI that can respond as well as a person with the right information programmed, she starts to investigate.

I honestly can say that I did not expect that plot twist, I was shook. How dare that be written (I mean that in the nicest way possible as I write this with tears still in my eyes from that ending.)
Highly recommend this book, it was a nice quick read and kept me wanting to come back for more! The only thing I might have like was more I depth relationships between the characters, it felt skimmed a little, I know that wasn't the focus but I wanted a bit more if that makes sense.

Thanks for the chance to read and review an advanced copy.

Normally, I'm a slow reader, but I could not put this book down and finished it in 3 hours. The emotions--particularly grief--conveyed in this story are raw and well-written. The characters are complex, and as the story progresses, you want to learn more and more about each of them. The flow felt natural, and I was fully immersed the entire time I was reading. The concept (talking with AI to find out more about someone's death) is beyond cool and amazingly executed. What else is there to say? I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to stay on the edge of their seats the entire time they're reading.

Dante's voice is commanding and her new book gripped me from the very beginning. Reading through her best friend's death and how she dealt with it especially with such a high concept. Use of chatbot tech for her to deal with is brilliant.

I will recommend this book to everyone.

Bailey is a senior at Tundra Cove Highschool in Alaska. She recently broke up with her boyfriend and is looking forward to a night with her BFF Vanessa, munching Pop Rocks and watching Book Smart. It is a tense time for the girls, waiting to hear from colleges, trying to decide about their future. Vanessa brings over a few small bottles of champagne and the girls are settling in to ride out one of Alaska' typical snowstorms when Vanessa gets a text from her boyfriend Mason. He is at Vanessa's and needs her desperately. Bailey tries to get her to stay, but Vanessa rushes off. When Bailey's texts aren't returned she fears the worst then finds out it is so much more. Vanessa's car went off a frozen pass miles from her usual route home and she was killed instantly. Numb with grief, Bailey struggles to carry on without her friend. As she reviews social media and text messages something seems off. Bailey copies her famous mother's app to download texts, stories, any piece of Vanessa she can find, so the program can create a digital version of her friend. The more information she loads into the program, the more real the Vanessa-bot's responses become until Bailey learns that there was so much more to her friend than she knew, and maybe wishes she hadn't discovered. Message Not Received is a touching story about trying to carry on after the loss of a beloved friend. Dante Medema tells the story through text messages and emails as well as regular prose. The characters are very well developed. I liked the way that Bailey's two moms support her as do her other friends. The author deals with the grief and loss as well as teenaged behavior real and honestly. This is an excellent book for any young adult and offers many topic for discussion in the classroom, in book clubs even as a family. This is a book that will stick with you for a long time. I am grateful to Net Galley for the opportunity to read an ARC.

This book was so sad but yet so beautiful.

I love how to book jumped into the action and it didn't take too long to explain things. It was to the point and quick. Message Not Found made me laugh, cry and fall in love all in one big swoop. I’ve never had a book hit me in ALL the feels the way the first chapter did. Getting to know Bailey through her messages with her best friend while experiencing her grief and the changing world around her left me in need a of a strong cup of coffee and a packet of Pop Rocks because Lord knows I stayed up all night to finish the book!

Message Not Found
by Dante Medema
Pub Date 29 Mar 2022
HarperCollins Children's Books, Quill Tree Books
Children's Fiction | Mystery & Thrillers | Teens & YA


I am reviewing a copy of Message Not Found through HarperCollins Children’s Books, Quill Tree Books and Netgalley:




Bailey and Vanessa shared everything from laughter and secrets as well as packets of Pop Rocks when they were trying to ward off bad days. Sadly that all changed the night Vanessa left Bailey’s, headed for home, and ended up swerving off a cliff nowhere near her house.



Bailey thought she knew Vanessa better than anyone else in the world, is left with a million unanswered questions, and the only person with answers is gone.



In order to help with her brief 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 age finds herself feeling as if she’s talking to her best friend. But when 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.



Will Bailey be able to find out what really led to Vanessa’s death?





I give Message Not Found five out of five stars!




Happy Reading!

This book was so sad, yet so beautiful. I love how to book jumped into the action and it didn't take too long to explain things. It was to the point and quick.

I love reading books where there is mystery with loss. I think those books are always the books that I love the most. When the book is sad and sad, it's just too much. My heart is breaking and nothing in the book is making me happy to read it. In this book, you're sad, but you don't really know the character enough to like cry like some other books where you get attached.

Medema did a really good job at making us feel interested in the death even though we hardly know the character. There were many characters in the book, but towards the end those characters turn into the final 4-5 and you finish all of their stories.

I really enjoyed this book and I wish I could read more. I want to know everything.

xoxo,
Bea

Tw: car accident, drinking and driving, texting and driving, death, grief, cheating
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MESSAGE NOT FOUND follows Bailey after loosing her best friend Vanessa in a devastating accident. To cope with her grief, Bailey starts talking to a chat bot that she modified with data to fit Vanessa’s personality. As she talks to this bot “V,” Bailey starts to see inconsistencies within the night Vanessa died. Was Vanessa keeping secrets from her? Did those secrets lead to her death?
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I really appreciated Medema’s portrayal of grief— It’s messy, angry, hollow grief. This story had me by the throat from the very beginning; I genuinely didn’t want to put this book down at any point. It’s been awhile since I was completely hooked on a story like this. These characters felt true to their age, and they were well done. The writing was excellent and the big reveal had me *shattered.* Though devastating, it ends on a hopeful note. If you need a good cry, pick this book up!
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4.5/5 stars, MESSAGE NOT FOUND by Dante Medema is available March 29, 2022!
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Thank you to Dante, Quill Tree Books and Netgalley for sending me an eARC to review.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing me a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Dante Medema brings Bailey to life in a way that I think truly cements how literature has changed for the better. While her prose is contemporary and fresh, it’s also full of beautiful phrases, descriptions, and emotions that even with all the technology references I can see how Message Not Found will be a timeless classic in its own right.

With just two books in her catalogue, Medema is one of those authors that knows who she is and understands exactly how to deliver the stories she wants to share with the world. That aspect in itself is magic—just like each of her books.

What would a senior in high school know and understand about grief? More than you think. Bailey’s journey is one that hits you in the feels but makes your heart soar too. Best Friends are like family. The friendship between girls run closer to a sisterhood more than anything and yet when one friend is tragically ripped away from this earth, picking up the pieces and living life is not without mess.

I adored how grief is addressed in Message Not Found. I’m well-versed in that particular emotion and while I was prepared to be wrecked emotionally by Bailey’s story. Instead I felt more like a proud momma. Like I could have easily been Jes-Mom while watching Bailey navigate through her last semester as a senior in high school.

Even if you’re not a fan of YA, Message Not Found is truly a special book that deserves your time and attention. Friendship is transcendent of age and so is grief. This beautiful book speaks volumes on both topics.

I want to start by saying this book was fine. But just fine. The plot centers on the main character named Bailey. She is trying to move on from the sudden death of her best friend in the world, but some of the circumstances leading up to her death aren't lining up. In an attempt to seek out answers, Bailey uses an artificial intelligence app, fueled by old texts and social media posts, to recreate her best friend and track down the truth.

I don't want to spoil anything, so I will be vague here. This novel had so much potential for me, but kind of let me down. I was invested in the mystery, but the reveal and answers were so...simple. And cliche. It was not particularly special, despite the AI program aspect. I find this feeling of disappointment happens to me a lot when I read realistic fiction, so if you are a lover of that genre, don't let me sway you. I'm just a SciFi/Mystery lover who wanted more from the AI part of this novel.

I loved the idea that a person could create an online version of a loved one who’s passed away, using their online presence. Not in real life., of course, but in a book. Science fiction like this is my favorite genre, and I enjoyed the murder mystery and plot twist as well. This book reminded me of You’ve Reached Sam. Loved them both.

I received an ARC for this book, and I would just like to say, wow! The writing made me miss a friend that I didn’t even have. A bit slow at the beginning and it took a while for things to start happening, but you get an insight into the friendship between Bailey and Vanessa.

This book does well with showing how people struggle with their grief after losing a loved one. It’s great to see all of the characters process each stage in their own way!

4.5/5 overall! Highly recommend.

The best emotion grabbing novel I ever read.
When I saw the author of this book talk about it on tiktok, I had to read it. I read this in 2 days and it’s the best 2 day I spent reading. There are parts in this book that will pull at your heart strings. This book is so well written given the backstory of why the author wrote it. She did an amazing job with this book and I can’t wait to get it physically when it comes out in March of next year.

Love, love, love MESSAGE NOT FOUND. The way Dante was able to construct this story of grief and healing was *chef’s kiss*. As Bailey went through the stages of grief, I went through them, too. What an incredibly heartbreaking book (read: there were LOTS of tears), but the peace it brought at the end was so freeing. I can’t wait to read it again.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing me a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was truly elated to find out I'd be getting to read Dante Medema's next novel, Message Not Found, before its release. Usually I have to prepare myself mentally and be in the right headspace before reading grief lit, but I decided to jump right into this book, and it was very rewarding. Simply put, I found this story to be absolutely beautiful.

As a computer science nerd with an interest in machine learning, I was fascinated by the premise of this novel, and I'm glad to report that this book is well-researched and the plot is delivered authentically. It's a simplified version of machine learning that Bailey uses, yes, but the core concepts are there, and I'm glad this didn't veer into some make-believe territory where the bot knew things that weren't fed to its model. The story is driven by Bailey's need to improve the model with more data from Vanessa's life — the things that Vanessa kept secret. That's what the bulk of this story is.

I picked up Medema's debut, The Truth Project, last year without realizing it was a novel in verse, and quickly fell in love with the way that she wrote the world. Her poetry in that book was exceedingly well done and it was one of the first books I used the Quotes feature on Goodreads for, because I wanted to save its every word. While this title is not written in verse, her writing translates well to prose. It keeps a poetic feel using perceptive metaphors (like the moment before a kiss being a starved orange flame) while also maintaining a lot of good inside jokes (like Pop Rocks as a cure-all) and crafting tension that keeps it engaging.

When I read books about grief I sometimes get bored. I don't think I was ever bored reading this. Bailey's journey through mourning Vanessa is a diverse range of emotions that she expresses in many different ways all at once. It shows that there are tons of ways to grieve.

The ending of this book is devastating in a wonderful way, almost bringing me to tears (if you know me, you know how rare this is), and that's what nudged this book up to five stars for me. I really appreciated every bit of this story, and it culminates wonderfully. I can't wait to see this book in print next year so I can hold it in my hands and give it a hug. This twisty, poetic, and ultimately hopeful novel is something I hope to see on everyone's shelves in the spring.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Giving a rating to this book is hard, I couldn't stop reading for the first 70% and then we reached the big reveal moment and I hated it so much it just ruined the book for me. Don't get me wrong, the writing was good and I loved seeing Bailey deal with her greif but that reveal just made everything fall apart. I know this book will be loved by many, I truly enjoyed the 70% of the book.

This book somehow was super fun to read while also being very devastating. I found myself never wanting to put it down while simultaneously afraid of what was going to happen next. There were some pretty crazy twists that I did not expect at all and I definitely don't cry very often at all when I'm reading but this book did make me cry. The way that the grief over a loved one's death was depicted was scarily relatable and I just felt so much for Bailey. I also really appreciated the simplicity of the story. After reading so many fantasies about teenagers saving the world, it was quite refreshing to read about events that really only happen in Bailey's small community and circle of friends.

There were a few typos I found in my copy but I'm not sure if that was just an error with my own digital copy. I'm rating this four stars– not necessarily because I found anything wrong with it. It just didn't blow me away or was on the same level of some of my other five star books.