Citation: Payne, M. J., (2022). Grave message. Orca Book Publishers.
Content Warning: Violence, death.
Jaylin has struggled to deal with the death of her friend Fatima for a year now, and the pain still feels fresh. Jaylin’s best friend is gone; the only thing she can do is move on, but will Fatima let her? As Jaylin is cramming for an exam, the unimaginable happens: Fatima texts her from “beyond the grave” – begging Jaylin to investigate her death.
Grave Message is a character-centered story that thoughtfully unravels Jaylin’s deep grief over the loss of her friend.
It could have been better. Everything seemed to happen too quickly; while I understand it is written for a lower reading level, it could still be a bit more realistic while also remaining uncomplex. There were also at times an unnecessary level of detail that didn’t really add to the plot.