Tell me when you feel something by Vicki Grant is a YA contemporary mystery. We start off learning Viv, had dropped into a coma after supposedly taking a few pills at a party. Viv's best friend Davida states that Viv would never take drugs. We follow through a mystery based on what exactly happened.
The writing followed through nicely and flowed smoothly. It's understandable and simple. Though it's good it's somewhat part of the 4-star reasoning because it was too basic and simple-- there could've, been more thrill you know? We were narrated through a couple of different perspectives and styles of writing that included police interviews. During the start, we read about the after of Viv being in a coma and during the middle we read about the before, leaving us at the end with the after again. Continuing with the writing, parts felt cringeworthy. Specifically when some talk of pedophilia was involved. One thing about this book, there were NO trigger warnings (I included them at the end of the review). While still being a fun YA book, there should've stilled been a page for that in the beginning.
I loved the concept of the setting, I found it original and intriguing. Tell me when you feel something took place at a medical school. Where Viv and Davida were both Stimulated Patients SP, in a program. I loved how that was included because I had gotten to learn much more about being an SP what happens at programs like that.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Sexual Assult, Pedophilia, Alcohol, & Drugs.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for letting me read an eARC of this book. I voluntarily left an honest review.
eARC provided by Netgalley & Publisher
EXPECTED RELEASE DATE: June 15, 2021
REVIEWED: 3/3/2021

Chilling and gives me the vibe I am expecting so this one delivered the goods.

If you're looking for a riveting read, then this is for you. Read with caution.

I'm torn on how I feel about this book. Overall, the book was all right as in mediocre or just okay. The book is told from multiple viewpoints of teenagers involved in a medical trial. Something happened to one of the teenagers and she wound up in a coma and the book basically leads up to finding out what happened to her. The characters other than the teenager in a coma all fell a bit flat and they're writing was all right. I wouldn't say I hated this book but I wouldn't say it was my favorite. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for an arc in exchange for unbiased review.

The book uses multiple POVs (including the one of the victim) and multiple time periods that jump back and forth to create the total picture for the reader to discover the truth. Sounds intriguing, but the execution is a total chaos. The book also tried to deal with too many problems, and none of them were discussed in depth. Some (or most?) of the characters really have temper issues, it's okay to read one chapter of them arguing but exploding through the whole book? That just makes the whole explosions boring. They were probably all firecrackers but in my eyes they are just sparklers. Fun to play but not to watch/read.
In summary: a group of teenagers that have issues mess up their lives and the time of the reader.

I both loved and hated this book. It was really intriguing in palces, other places it was predictable. There's very little diversity in this book which disappointed me since there most certainly could be.

This book is about a group of teenagers who become friends while helping with a hospital simulation for med school students. Vivienne is the main character who the story is centered around and we find out within the first page that she is in the hospital due to an overdose. This book really details what it is like as a teenager to deal with depression in a lot of ways - parental issues, divorce, mental health in general and then it gets into sexual abuse and drug and alcohol use. I think this book really shows that any form of depression in anyone can be scary if left alone and unnoticed. It really shows that we have to be better at taking notice of issues that our kids could be facing because it could be more serious than a mood change due to puberty. This book was very well written and I truly appreciated the varying perspectives and the descriptive writing. I will definitely be keeping up with this author!

After taking pills at a party, Vivienne lays in a coma. Her friends and boyfriend are adamant that she doesn’t drink or do drugs but some thing caused her to act uncharacteristically that night
The story lead you through the moments before the party and after. There should be some warnings due to subject matter. Thank you NetGalley ad the publisher for an arc in exchange for a honest review.

I enjoyed this book, though the prose could be a bit simplistic. It also felt very flat with regards to diversity — I thought Steve and Davida's father were together for a good portion of the book, but that turned out not to be the case, and I envisioned Davida as black and Tim as Middle Eastern, but I don't know if that came from anything grounded in the text or not. Tim also read as very autistic to me, which I liked, but I am unsure if that was the author's intention. The stimulated patient program was really interesting, and I loved the title, but I did see the twist coming about a mile away. It was enjoyable, and what happened to Viv and why she took the pill, as well as what she told Tim kept me engaged, but I probably wouldn't reread it.

Tell Me When You Feel Something by Vicki Grant tells the story of the events leading up to a teenager, Viv, lying in a coma after taking a pill at a party. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Viv, Davida, and Tim, high school students who had been working as simulated patients at the medical school. The story twists and turns through the events from the month leaving up to the party and the subsequent investigation into the events.

I really enjoyed this book, and it was written with a pace that kept me turning the pages. It read very quickly for me. I appreciated the alternating perspectives interspersed with the police interviews as I felt that it kept me guessing as to what had really happened. I enjoyed the med school and simulated patient aspect of the story as I feel that it is a more unique aspect of the book. I thought that the plot was engaging and I didn't fully guess the ending until I was there. This book deals with some heavy content including assault, drug/alcohol use, and mental illness and may benefit from trigger warnings particularly as it is aimed toward a young adult audience. I would highly recommend this book for fans of YA thrillers.

I received an e-ARC of this title from Penguin Teen via NetGalley which did not affect the contents of my voluntary review. All opinions are honest and my own.

i was provided an earc via netgalley in exchange for an honest review! //

anybody else feel like viv was the only character with any personality at all? how are you going to write a book from four different perspectives but only flesh out one of the characters? everyone aside from viv felt like they were just tropes- mentally ill mom, dorky best friend, weird quiet girl...it was hard to connect to any of them.

additionally, i would have loved to see more of katie and more of eva. i feel like eva’s story had a lot of potential, but the author kind of threw in a paragraph long summary at the very end of the book and called it a day.

all in all, not a terrible book, but i’m not going to lie in bed thinking about it. it’s a solid three.

as is often the case with “tough” ya contemporaries, i would seriously have liked to see some trigger warnings in some sort of a “before you read” page.

I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn’t make it through. Just too slow for my tastes. DNF’d at 25%

TELL ME SOMETHING is a unique, interesting mystery that will appear to a wide variety of readers. I read this in less than 24 hours. The different POV made this more three dimensional of a story and hooked me from the beginning. It's pretty heavy because of the topic, but it was handled well. I'm excited to purchase this.

This book contains real life problems that many young people face, it brings the ugly to the front.
Too many books for teens focus on a love story, this book focuses on the tragedy of being a teen. Not quite an adult but not a kid anymore, teens have the in between freedom of no responsibility and a lot less supervision.
Viv finds real friends but still feels alone.
Davida can’t stand loud sounds.
Tim is an oddball.
3 teens come together while their worlds come apart.

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did when I first started reading it, although I'm glad I did. The plot was fascinating and I really enjoyed it. The book covered a lot of important themes that aren't approached on enough nowadays and Vicki breached these topics carefully and successfully. It is written in a multiple perspective and very well. Viv, one of the main character's is in a coma after taking a pill at a party, and her friends insist to the police that Viv doesn't do any drugs, drink or participate in any other impulsive behavior, much to the disagreement of others. The story goes through the events leading up to the party and what might have happened to Viv. The story was written so well and absolutely unique, I loved it.

This one starts with a tragedy and then reveals the events that led up to the night of the party. Viv and her friends work at the local med school as simulated patients. Before each shift, they study scripts and are made as if they have different diseases or injuries. Under all of that makeup, Viv is concealing real symptoms and hurtling towards the night where she'll overdose at a party. There's video of Viv swallowing the pill, along with a roomful of witnesses. But no one has any idea where she got the drugs or if her overdose was deliberate. After a slow start, this one really picks up speed and by the end I was filled with mounting dread.

I didn’t know what to expect with this novel, but quickly became engrossed in it (read it in a day!).
Tell Me When You Feel Something is perfectly titled and I think is an important story to read for several reasons (trigger warnings: addiction, depression, abuse).
Although considered a YA novel, there is serious subject matter that could be triggering and quite disturbing for many readers. I applaud Vicki Grant as she is able to approach these sensitive subjects successfully.
I really think there need to be (and hope there will be) resources mentioned in the final version of this novel* for those who may be suffering in similar situations to Viv, or know someone who is and trying to help out (Tim, Davida and Jack). *I am reviewing based on the early draft I read.

On a lighter note, absolutely loved some of the Canadian references (Wunderbar, Caramilk, Canadiens sweater).

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC, I really enjoyed it.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is set to be published on June 15th, 2021.

TWS: substance abuse, sexual assault

If you're a fan of One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus, this book is for you.

After taking a pill at a party, Viv is in a coma. Viv's friend (of about a month), Davida, goes to the police investigating the so-called overdose insisting that Viv doesn't drink, do drugs, or engage in any reckless behavior at all. Other witnesses, however, say otherwise.

The story is told through 3 POVs: Viv, Davida, and Tim (Viv's friend & Davida's boyfriend). Police interview transcripts are also written in throughout the book to bring in various other viewpoints and opinions about our comatose MC (main character) and what actually might have happened to her.

We are taken through all of the events from the month or so leading up to the party, most of them involving our MCs and their part-time jobs as SPs (simulated patients) at a medical school. You slowly start to learn that Viv's life isn't what her friends and boyfriend thought it was, there is a lot going on under the surface that is unpacked throughout the book.

The plot and pacing of this book is spectacular. The story is entirely original and unique from other mystery novels that are currently out there (I did NOT guess the ending, which is something that unfortunately happens to me a lot when I read mysteries). The answers you are seeking as a reader unfold at a pace that keeps you interested and at the edge of your seat.

The main characters are interesting and each of their POVs are written in a unique voice that helps make the book feel more feel and made me feel more connected to the characters. You can tell that the author put a lot of effort into creating a unique writing style for each POV that matched the character's personality and quirks (Tim is my favorite).

Overall, I gave this a 4/5 stars. I am excited for this book to be printed in June. I definitely intend on purchasing it and re-reading it in its final format. If you are a fan of mysteries with lots of twists and turns (think Karen M. McManus books), "Tell Me When You Feel Something" is for you.

Wow! I loved this novel. It is unpredictable, original and timely. The characters were believable and my heart went out to both Viv and Davida. I like that my opinion of just about every character changed by the time I got to the end of the book. The author is dealing with a lot of serious issues, like grooming, drug and alcohol abuse but she handles it all with deft compassion. There were neither cardboard characters nor scenarios in this novel. Well-written and paced like a racing heart. Brava. #netgalley #penguinteen

Not really my taste, but definitely interesting for fans of the genre. The writing style was super clunky to be honest, but I think the plot had a lot of potential!

3.5/5. I really wanted to loved this book because I'm always up for a good YA mystery, and even though it started really well -at least in the middle of the book, I struggled a little bit in the beginning-, the ending was disappointing. I struggled at first because I couldn't get a connection with the characters, but I actually liked how the autor added the transcripts with the police. Once I got into the book I read until the end. The author showed us the development of the characters and I finally got a bonding with some of the end. Everything was going great -though I'm not sure if some of the trigger topics where treated with the sensibility they deserved-, until the end. It was too abrupt and everything was figured out in the last pages, with many questions left. I don't know, felt like the big secret and the relationship of one of the characters only took like 5 pages to explain, and I missed something else. One last chapter, or at least an epilogue. Overall I enjoyed the book but in the end, It felt a little bit flat.