Reviews

Message Not Found by Dante Medema

izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition

3.0

3/5

I thought I would enjoy this book more but it was hard to really get into the side characters and piece together why they were important in some way. The two main characters were alright. I just felt like there could have been more to the story.

kmsmith1776's review

emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

This book was a quick read and had some unique ideas in it. Given how much technology is changing right now, the chatbot friend was an interesting concept. This book was so sad, but I thought it did well in dealing with the grief all of the characters were working through and showing just how complicated people and feelings can be. 

emmavieira's review against another edition

half way through and I still couldn't get into it 

syncstarlight's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

jennneely82's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Ok, so this book is very well-written and I really wanted to love it. The book focuses on family, friendship, grief, and AI, all very relevant and important subjects. However, the story seemed to drag on and how the author wrapped up the book bothers me. While we all grieve in our own ways, not every action can be forgiven or excused because of grief. Just a bit disheartening. 

windermerepeak1's review against another edition

dark funny reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’m so fucking sad😭😭😭 reminds me of that black mirror episode, and the book definitely delivered in emotion

optimisticbooknerd's review against another edition

5.0

5 ⭐

I found Dante on tiktok and I absolutely love her content and one day I saw her talking about this novel and after hearing the summary I RAN to add it to my goodreads tbr and I've been wanting to read this one for what seems like forever. I finally picked it up and read it in one sitting.

I never wanna say books are perfect but this one is pretty darn close if not perfect. It explores the discussion of friendship, grief, betrayal and it was such a beautiful journey.

I want a physical copy so bad to annotate it and highlight all the beautiful passages. I rarely see anyone talking about this one but it was so incredible and it needs all the attention. I cried, I laughed, I cried some more it was devastatingly perfect and even the authors note made me cry!

I think I reccomend this for anybody who wants an emotional book with beautiful quotes, outstanding writing and amazing characters. everything about this was absolutely incredible.

villainy's review

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

wiebkebickel's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

bookishblondegirl's review

2.5

When Bailey's best friend, Vanessa, dies in a car accident, the circumstances surrounding her death just don't make sense to Bailey. In an attempt to find a cure for her intense grief, Bailey creates a chat bot of Vanessa using their years worth of messages. At times it feels like she really is talking to Vanessa. But then, the AI bot begins to hint that there were secrets Vanessa was keeping from Bailey; secrets that may have contributed to her death.

From glancing at the reviews, it looks like I'm in the minority for feeling underwhelmed by this. I did not dislike this, per se, but rather thought it was just okay. Keeping it vague, the premise of this intrigued me so much, and I was really looking forward to seeing it play out, particularly the AI aspect. 

I was very interested in the mystery of the story, so I was pretty bummed that the answers turned out to be so simplistic and anticlimactic. In the same vein, the AI chat bot played less of a significant role than I expected, specifically in the unraveling of the plot's mystery.

I don't know, maybe this is a me issue because I think I expected something different from this. I think this is better suited for those who like realistic or contemporary fiction, which is not what I typically gravitate towards. It is a good representation of loss and grief for the target age group as well!

TLDR; expected a mystery/thriller, got a contemporary