TRIGGER WARNINGS GALORE. Nowhere in the description or other reviews that I initially saw mentioned anything about it and boy was I surprised. Just be prepared for what you're about to read.

I actually finished this book a few weeks ago however I am beyond behind on everything this year and it is new years eve and I am trying to review all the books I have managed to finish this year that I just haven’t been able to do. This was yet another solid three-star thriller. Based on the description I was expecting a solid easy quick read in the who done it format. However, what I actually received was a book that was completely obsessed with opioids. most of the book is focused on the main character Viv and her struggles with alcoholism. I thought it was done pretty well and that should have been the focus of the story. However, the book kept trying to convince me that the real story was the "mystery" of how a teenage girl with addiction issues and a disastrous personal life managed to overdose on opioids.
Vivienne's story, told through flashbacks, is interwoven with the (mostly pretty dull) stories of two of her friends, as well as interviews by the police as they try to find out where she could have obtained the single painkiller, she took that caused her overdose. I just can't imagine the police putting in that kind of an investigation when Viv was filmed taking the drugs willingly. Over all there are bits of the story that I love and it did have a resolution at the end of the story which I was happy to see. Overall, I am happy I gave this author a chance not sure if I will be reading the next one but only time will tell.

Being a simulated patient for medical students seemed like a great after-school job for high school students- a little acting, cute med students, and a little partying from time to time- what could go wrong? The answer is a lot.

Viv lies in a coma while the reader is treated to flashbacks from the five weeks preceding what is being called an overdose. Davida is convinced that Viv would never overdose and is desperate to find out the truth of what happened that night.

The flashback style of writing is an interesting one, though could be confusing for readers who prefer a more straightforward narrative. The story was engaging and I wanted to know what happened, which kept me focused on following a story that jumped around quite a bit.

There are several components of the story that should come with a trigger warning.

Tell Me When You Feel Something is a YA Thriller that should come with the following trigger warnings: Sexual assault, grooming, alcoholism.
This story follows a group of teenagers who become unlikely friends while working at a med school acting as simulated patients. When the story begins, we learn that Viv is in a coma after taking a pill at a party. The only thing is, her friend, Davida, doesn't believe that Viv would take drugs knowingly, someone must have given her that pill. We get flashes of Davida and Tim in the present as they navigate dealing with their friend's trauma, Viv in the days leading up to the fateful party, and police interviews with everyone in Viv's life, trying to piece together exactly what happened the night of the party.
This one kept me guessing and turned out darker than I expected.
Thank you so much to Penguin Teen & NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

This is a new to me author, so I had no expectations going in to this book. It is pretty good! It’s definitely dark and twisty, though there are moments of happiness and hope that shine. It is told in several different perspectives, and each of those perspectives have a specific period of time, but it’s easy to follow since the timing is specified when the new perspective starts.

The characters really shine in this book. They are all larger than life in their own unique ways. One is an alcoholic that uses alcohol to get through her life - she is the character that the story revolves around. Another of the main characters is a timid, shy girl who almost faints at loud noises. There are many other characters, and they are all just as unique as these 2.

The story itself touches on a lot of really important social issues such as drug use, alcoholism, and another that’s a spoiler for the huge plot twist.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I thought the ending was very abrupt, and I do wish that some of the other characters were explored a bit more, but otherwise it was a good read!

*Thanks to Netgalley for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review*

It's a bit hard for me to review this book because I felt different things throughout it. For the most part, I liked it. It was completely different from my expectations but it kept me interested.

I enjoyed the setting of the hospital and the whole SP thing! The whole concept was great. I thought it was original and fresh, thus I was very intrigued by it!

There were a few things however that I thought were weird. The characters did things and had interests that I don't think are common for teenagers, even questionable. Most of the book talks about them and what they used to do together (Viv, Davida, and Tim) and they just were pretty odd. It may be a subjective thing, but I really felt that and it did throw me off a bit, because I couldn't connect to them at all.

Another thing that stood out for me is that it didn't exactly seem like a thriller as much as it was a contemporary, since we only find out in the end what happened, sometimes I forgot I am supposed to be reading a thriller. The pacing was a bit slow.

With that said, it did keep me engaged once I got into it, and the ending and resolution were interesting!

This was a great YA suspense read. What is most terrifying is the very real scenarios presented in the novel. I'm glad to see literature that reflects reality for teens today - topics like addiction and overdose are things that have been and still are happening for teenagers. Instead of sweeping it under the rug, we need to examine that anyone can be affected by these diseases and many people are at a predisposition for it.

Tell Me When You Feel Something is a glimpse into three teens' lives (truly more with the supporting characters): Viv, Davida, and Tim. We see this story from various angles and time frames. We know right off the bat that something has happened with Viv. She's overdosed, is in a coma, and she was seen in multiple videos taking a pill at a party. As Viv's peers, friends, and family are left reeling, shocked that she would even take drugs, the police are left scrambling to solve what has happened.

Viv's timeline is all leading up to the party and the overdose. We see her spiraling out of control, battling an alcohol addiction. The adults in her life are completely unreliable - she feels like she's the one supporting them. But she puts on a mask of smiles for everyone else. Her friends, her schoolmates, her boss at the medical school where she works as a simulated patient.

We hear from Davida a few days after the party. She's upset over Viv's overdose, a girl she's come to think of as a close friend over the past month. She's upset with Viv - betrayed by her really. It's uncomfortable to be mad at someone who is in a coma.

Tim is both Viv's friend and now Davida's ex-boyfriend. He's torn over a secret he's sworn to keep for Viv and wanting Davida to understand he's not what she thinks.

Its a race to figure out what exactly happened and who the villain is. I loved the alternating timelines and narratives. I also liked the police interview excerpts - it showed you characters in a different perspective and helped you put together the mystery.

The pacing of the book is great for reluctant readers that need greater conflict to catch and keep their attention. The alternating POV chapters and slow revelation of character relationships and connections fuels the intensity that builds continuously through the chapters.

Tell Me When You Feel Something had an extremely gripping synopsis for me--I thought I was getting in to an exciting thriller and it really was more of a tense, detailed read. Unfortunately, I didn't feel much for this book.

Davida recently started a job as a simulated patient at a med school. Seemed like a great way to get her parents off her back for being an introvert. When the most popular girl around, Viv befriends her, it makes the job even better. Then Viv decides that Davida needs to be with Tim, another fake patient, Davida’s life seems to be perfect.

But then Viv suddenly dies at a summer party. Davida doesn’t believe that Viv’s death was an accident. She starts prodding for the truth, but the truth is hard to find when everyone has a secret.

Flew through this book. Told from multiple points of view and through police interviews, this YA novel is the perfect blend of teen life and crime thriller. No one knows what really goes on behind the scenes of these teen “model” citizens. Vicki Grant exposes the pressures teens can be under and how they cope with them.

I couldn't get into the story and had a hard time getting through the book. I couldn't connect with the characters and didn't care much for them.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

Tell Me When You Feel Something by Vicki Grant introduced the interesting world of simulated patients. People who are regular people but roll play specific injuries or pains. The medical school student then needs to diagnose the patient and "treat" them. This practice helps them learn to be better doctors.

Viv, an energetic high school student, enjoys works as a simulated patient. Now she is in a coma. Davida, Viv's friend and fellow simulated patient, is determined to discover what happened to Viv no matter where the clues lead.

Tell Me When You Feel Something is a dark, contemporary YA mystery that would appeal to fans of One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus. The writing flowed well and kept me guessing until the end. The medical school setting adds to the atmospheric setting, and the story relies on flashbacks to tell the story, which adds to the mystery.

Many reviewers commented how upset they were because the book did not offer trigger warnings mentioning sexual assault and pedophilia. Since this is a YA novel, warnings probably are necessary.

This is the first book by Grant I read, and I added several of her novels to my want-to-read list.

This 200-word review will be published on Philomathinphila.

Viv worked with her friends as simulated patients for medical students. It seemed like an innocent job, but after a party, Viv ends up in a coma from an overdose. No one can believe that she would have taken drugs on purpose, but there’s a lot about Viv’s life that no one knew. Through the accounts of her friends Davida and Tim, as well as police interviews and Viv’s own narrative, the story of what really happened to Viv is slowly pieced together.

This was an intense and unpredictable thriller. There were lots of twists throughout the story. Every time the narrative switched to a different character, I wanted to continue the previous narrative. I figured out part of what was going on with Viv pretty early. However I couldn’t figure out the connection with the overdose, so that was a surprise.

I don’t want to give spoilers but there were some potentially triggering parts of this book. There was alcohol abuse, drug abuse, parental abandonment, sexual assault, and rape. These parts made the book quite intense and disturbing at times. They were integral to the plot but also potentially triggering.

Tell Me When You Feel Something is an intense young adult thriller!

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Good character buildup. Amazing plot, but I feel as it should have a slight trigger warning. Kept me reeled in, wanting to never put the book down: exactly what a book should have.

I really didn’t like this. This thriller didn’t really read like a thriller. The characters were nothing special, I didn’t really care for the plot and it took a long time to get into it. The shorter chapters did help, but it just was so hard to get into and care about.

Rating: 1.5*

Someone please clear this up for me: Are simulated patients common in US med schools? And I don't mean the kind of simulated patients I'm used to from the EU (that is: either bored pensioners looking to pass their time by torturing young people with their bad acting, or fellow med students who desperately wish they were somewhere else), but actual volunteers who get paid and are equipped with special effects makeup and a whole script to read before stepping into their role?

If so, my biggest question regarding this book is already answered. Which isn't exactly a great point to start the reading of a mystery novel... but this story isn't so much a whodunnit, but rather an unravelling of events that lead to the possibly drug-induced comatose state of lively, beautiful, and most importantly popular Viv, who of course has her own dark secret she must hide behind a shaky smile and polished exterior.

Spoiler: The secret is her alcoholism, and of course her perfect family isn't so perfect after all. I can't say that everything in Tell Me When You Feel Something went as expected - the various POVs and POV formats worked nicely together to create an atmosphere of doubt - but there definitely is a certain formula one has to expect from YA crime mysteries that Vicki Grant chose to stick to. One trope being that rich white people leave such sad, hard lives... please, no, enough.

Not going to lie, there were parts of this book that was really hard to read and I do think that trigger warnings would have been a great addition. With that being said, I do think that this book really grabs you from the start, kept a pretty steady pace throughout. I really liked the length of the chapters and I think it really added to the nice pace. I will say that the twist was a bit predictable so I was a little let down, but I still thought it was good. I think that is is a good beginner thriller as it is not too dark, but I do think that it might be a little too predictable for someone that is more seasoned in this genre. Overall I did still enjoy it and thought it was a nice fast read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was an interesting look into the character's heads, but it felt as if it fell short a bit. The premise of the story was very interesting and got me interested in the beginning, but I just couldn't seem to like most of the characters. The twist at the end seemed a bit obvious, and I felt a bit uninterested by the end. In all, I think that this story started strong but ended a bit abruptly.

really wish I loved this one more than I did. the ending was incredibly lacking, and I wasn't able to connect to the characters in any way. I do believe that there are some readers that may enjoy this, but it just seemed quite similar to books I've previously read, and therefore couldn't fully appreciate it.

I struggled to read this book and had to restart a few times. I decided to put it down for now and give it another chance in the future. I expected this to be a little hard to read and it's probably partly my fault why I struggled. I saw some reviews that this should have a warning in the beginning, that might be another reason why I struggled to read this one.