Dante has done it again. Another breathtaking, nail-biting book filled with stunning prose, realistic characters, and plot twists galore. Just when you think you know something, she uproots it all and takes you in a new direction.

Achingly realistic and full of her trademark voice that screams YA, Dante has lived up to her debut. Something not many authors can achieve. She's become an instant-read for me and LET ME JUST TALK ABOUT MARCUS FOR A MINUTE. HE IS MY BEAN CHILD FOREVER AND EVER AND I LOVE HIM.

Okay, screaming done. But seriously, I stayed up till 2:30AM reading this beauty because I couldn't stop. AMAZING.

Rating 5

I loved this book. This book will take your emotions on a roller coaster and when it’s time to get off you will stay seated to go again. Bailey and Vanessa were friends since they were little and they shared absolutely everything with one another. They weren’t just friends, they were practically sisters. On a snowy night Vanessa leaves Bailey’s house for her own and on the way she ends up swerving her car over a cliff. However, Vanessa’s car isn’t found by her house but instead a pass that Vanessa would have no reason to be on. Bailey is now grieving the loss of her best friend while trying to understand where Vanessa was truly headed that night. Wanting answers Bailey creates a chat bot of Vanessa that incorporates all of their text messages, emails, and all of her social media posts/comments. It starts to feel like Bailey is actually talking to Vanessa again and she will stop at nothing to get her answers.
Watching Bailey go through everything she did was truly heartbreaking. I cannot imagine losing someone so close to you and never getting the closure/answers you wanted. Grief will make you do crazy things and I completely understand why Bailey did what she did. If I could have the opportunity to chat with a passed loved one then I would. Especially if that loved one was hiding secrets from me. Of course, the more she talks to V the harder it will be to let go but sadly, that is something one has to learn the hard way. I hope this book shows the importance of not drinking then driving and not texting and driving. While it’s unclear how Vanessa crashed her car I’m sure drinking champagne before and texting while driving in those wintery conditions didn’t help. The guilt Bailey felt for letting Vanessa leave when she knew the roads were bad and on top of that when she might have been tipsy was devastating. She was also texting Vanessa out of worry but still that could have caused Vanessa to look at her phone instead of the road. Bailey blamed herself for Vanessa’s death as anyone would in that situation and I think this made her want those answers even more. Luckily, Bailey had a great support system throughout this story. Both of Bailey’s moms were supportive and never once made Bailey feel like a monster. Instead they let her grieve her friend and did their best to help her move on. Mason, Vanessa’s boyfriend before she passed, became a great support system for Bailey. Together they were able to remember the good times and bad times. They both struggled with letting go and realizing maybe Vanessa wasn’t this great person like they thought she was. I’m so glad Bailey was able to open up and become friends with Esther because it showed her that she can eventually have a great best friend with someone else. That eventually no matter what her life has to move on but that doesn’t mean it can’t move on for the better. Their friendship seemed natural and effortless. I did enjoy Vanessa’s character and her bubbly personality. While she did do some questionable things (going to stay vague-no spoilers) it is important to remember she was a teenager and is only human. Overall, this story has an emotional storyline with real characters going through real life events. The incorporation of the AI was creative and having Bailey be a coder/into computers was nice to see.

Should you read “Message Not Found”?
Yes, but prepare the tissues because you might cry. While this book does have a slight mystery it mostly focuses on Bailey’s grief and what it means to lose that special person. The story was well written and will leave you filled with almost every emotion.

**Received an advanced copy through NetGalley in return for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

This book is a beautiful story about friendship, coping after loss, and learning to move forward. Message Not Found is one of my favorite reads this year and I am incredibly happy to have had the chance to read the ARC.

After the loss of her friend Vanessa, the main character Bailey “borrows” the data of an AI created by her mom to continue to text her. Using it she discovers that Vanessa was not the perfect person she'd previously thought her to be.

Message Not Found is an incredible book. I read it in a matter of hours and cried multiple times. Bailey's grief felt so raw and the way she put Vanessa on a pedestal felt so realistic. All of the characters in this story felt well fleshed out and they all had depth to them. Even the background characters that you would think to be insignificant had more to them. They all had their own strengths and flaws, which isn't something I see often from characters outside of the protagonist.

The only thing that I didn't quite understand is how the AI software seemed to be so highly advanced for something that had supposedly been sitting around since Bailey was born. After the first initial awkward conversation between Bailey and the AI most of the responses felt very real and conversational, which isn't something you get from many modern AI without first training them to learn conversational habits. But perhaps I'm just nitpicking.

I cannot wait to get my hands on the finalized copy of this book. It beautifully written and a great reading experience. I would honestly recommend this book to everyone I know, and I believe that public and school libraries should all have a copy of it.

5 Stars

A beautiful novel about friendship, forgiveness, and grief.

After loving The Truth Project, I went into this book with high expectations. I was particularly interested in how her writing style would translate to prose. I’m happy to say I was not disappointed. Using another unique storytelling form—this time using messaging—Medema crafted another beautiful story with lyrical writing, compelling characters, and an atmospheric contemporary setting.

I particularly appreciated the nuanced exploration of grief, humanity, and memory.

This book gets inside your heart and twists it this way and that. It is such a beautiful testimony to friendship, love, loss, and hope. I loved the richness of all the characters and their emotional bonds toward it other. I think it is important to remember, above all, forgive yourself. Be true to who you are. That what I will carry away from this novel. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review. Also thanks to the author, who was sweet enough to share via Twitter, my first earthquake with me during my October 2020 Anchorage visit.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of MESSAGE NOT FOUND by Dante Medema in exchange for my honest review.***

When Bailey’s best friend Vanessa dies texting while driving drunk, Bailey creates an artificial intelligence app to continue to “talk” to her deceased BFF while struggling with grief.

MESSAGE NOT FOUND is a beautifully written book that I couldn’t put down and read in one sitting. Some of her phrases about life and death are so profound I had to highlight them, which I never do with ARCs. Medema has an excellent grasp on grief, how we sometimes place those we’ve lost on pedestals and what to do when they fall from grace. I enjoyed MESSAGE NOT FOUND more than Medema’s debut THE TRUTH PROJECT, because I believe prose is a better way to tell a complex story.

Bailey is a fully fleshed narrator, with strengths and weaknesses as did Vanessa. Her two moms also had distinct personalities and I never wondered which was which. Some of the other characters I had more difficulty understanding. I never understood Bailey’s attraction to Cade, other than his popularity and hockey skills, he never made sense to me.

If I was rating only on the reading experience, MESSAGE NOT FOUND would be 5 stars.

A few examples of why I dropped a star:

-Cade
-Texting and Drinking and driving is never really addressed, which could have been done without making it a Big Issue Book a missed opportunity
-Nearly 18 year old Bailey is okay with her moms tracking her phone and reading her texts. The moms should be letting go, especially since one was a therapist and Bailey should be pushing back

MESSAGE NOT FOUND is an excellent, modern book on grief and should be in every school library and on every therapist’s bibliotherapy list.

I was lucky enough to get an arc (from NetGalley)


I absolutely adored this book.

First thing you should know before reading is, don’t go into this thinking it’s kind of a mystery/thriller. It’s not. It’s mainly about Bailey processing her grief, learning to live without Vanessa, and growing up through the process. She also learns that loving someone doesn’t stop after they die, and finding out they lied doesn’t make you love them any less.

Plot/pacing:
The pacing is somehow slow and fast at the same time. You always want to know what happens next, but you don’t find out any shocking information for a while. I could never have predicted the ending of this. It was bittersweet for Vanessa, but made Bailey the best version of herself.

Characters:
I was very emotional reading this book. I felt like I was Bailey, and my friend just died. I felt all of her pain as if it were my own, and cried multiple times. Vanessa reminds me of Allison from Pretty Little Liars because she kept secrets, but always cared about Bailey.

I loved Bailey’s relationship with her moms. It felt very realistic. You can tell they love her, but like all parents they made some mistakes. All the tiny issues between them got solved naturally throughout the book.

All the characters in this book had a clear motivation for every decision they made. There is not a single character in this that I hate. There are moments when I don’t like them, but then you learn why and understand.

Small complaint:
Vanessa is called a “book girl” a lot. It just gets a little repetitive.

This is my favorite YA book I have read so far this year. I tore through it in less than a day. I think the bot is a bit unbelievable and a convenient way to move the plot, but I don't even care because I felt Bailey in my soul.