Overall I thought Grant told an interesting story here with a very original storyline but I found it difficult at times to get invested in some of the characters with the constant changing of POVs. That aside though, the plot was just so interesting that I wanted to keep reading to see if my theories were correct (they weren't) and I found myself blowing through this book because I could not put it down. The medical school setting was so different than I expected and I found myself really enjoying the simulated patient concept. I highly recommend Tell Me When You Feel Something to anyone who can handle the intense subject matter but advise those sensitive to sexual assault to beware.

Thank you to NetGalley, Vicki Grant, and Penguin Teen for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was really interested in the pitch for this book, but it feels like much of the actual writing strays away from the interesting PT program as "simulated patients" and focuses more on teen drama. Had trouble connecting to the characters, and ran out of time. May revisit at some point and try to finish, as I really want to know more about this program!

Fascinating read! The story is told from multiple perspectives, as well as through police interviews. The author has an amazing ability to toggle between the many voices in the book. I did feel like it was difficult to keep track of all the characters mentioned by name—the ones who weren't interviewed or telling the story. Luckily, the timeline was laid out clearly so keeping track of that was not an issue. Although I correctly predicted who the main villain would be early on, I was hooked on finding out how the rest of the characters' lives wove together. This book did not disappoint!

A little confusing. Wouldn't say it was enjoyable because of the topics it tackled, but it was certainly riveting. Wish there were some trigger warnings for some of the themes and topics discussed. I liked the short chapters but since there were a few POVs it made it a little confusing too. I felt like I couldn't connect really well with some of the characters? Kinda slow too, and the twist for me was a little obvious so that left me a bit disappointed.

The story is told in 3 POV in dual timelines. All this was pulled together expertly by the author and at no time did I feel any confusion with the story. Even though I had guessed the perpetrator, I did not guess how the person would be discovered. The writer pulled me into the story and I needed to know what would happen to the characters I had become invested in.
Note: references are made to sexual assault.

A powerful story told in multiple POVs! I was intrigued and kept wanting to flip the page!! The writing style was amazing! The story was slow at times, but overall a great read!! 3.5/5 stars !!

⭐⭐⭐⭐
#tellmewhenyoufeelsomething
#vickigrant
#vickigrantauthor
#ya
#triggerwarning
#NetGalley published 6/15/21
#penguinrandomhousecanada
#penguinteen

Viv is in a coma. From an oxycotin OD. How did it happen?

This book is told from the POVs of Viv, Davida and Tim. They switch back and forth. I really did enjoy meeting each of the characters. You also get to see parts of police interviews from characters that surround the main 3. As well as some from Davida and Tim.

Not only is the is book narrated by different characters, the time line also skips around. The timeline revolves around and event. Before it. After it. I usually love this, but it jumps around just a little bit too much. Even though days/times as well as who was narrating was clearly marked I got confused on timing. When was what happening? That lost it a sta⭐. I was starting to get too confused. But overall, I liked the unique story.

#triggerwarningsexualassault
#policeprocedural
#bookstagram #booknerds #bookworm #booklover #bookdragon #readalot #ilovereading #inkdrinker #librarymouse #booknerdbookreviews #bookaddict #bookaholic #bookrecommendation #bookreview #booknerdigan #bookish #gottareadthisbook

This book. Just wow. I was blown away by the unexpectedness of it all. I saw this as a read now on Negalley so I grabbed it. Man was I surprised by how good it was.

Viv ends up overdosing after taking a pill at a party. To Davida, Viv would never do that, but Davida does not care about Viv anymore, after being together constantly for the last month. Why? Why does Davida think that Viv would never take drugs? Are things always as they seem, especially for teenagers?

Told through alternating perspectives from Davida and Tim in the present and Viv before the party, we start to piece together what led up to the party and Viv's overdose. There are also excerpts from the police interviews with the various characters after her overdose.

I will have to say that Grant did a phenomenal job of keeping me guessing and on the edge trying to figure out the small problems that were arising among the different characters. I had NO clues of what was really about to happen and what led up to the overdose. I was shocked. I had a strong hunch that did not appear until right before the truth came out. Mind blown!

oop forgot to give feedback but here it is a whole month later! It was a good book but just not for me! Sorry! Thank you so much for the ARC!

A YA thriller perfect for fans of Karen McManus? As soon as I saw the marketing promo for this book, I knew I needed it. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Content warnings for this book include: sexual assault, r*pe, and grooming.

This book, like many thrillers, flips back and forth between different points of view, and past and present settings. It follows a group of high school students who work as simulated patients at a local med school. One of them ends up in a coma, and while authorities say a drug overdose is to blame, her friends from work think something else caused the accident.

In this story, everyone is hiding secrets and no one knows who to believe, but they have to work together to uncover the truth.

Tell Me When You Feel Something by Vicki Grant deals with a lot of uncomfortable topics. I’m not entirely sure if they were executed well, as the book doesn’t provide a lot of closure or discussion around what happened to the characters. I’d love to discuss with others who have read this one.

As always, thank you to the publisher Penguin Teen Canada for providing me with a digital ARC via NetGalley. Tell Me When You Feel Something by Vicki Grant came out on June 15, and can be purchased wherever books are sold.

An after school job as a simulated medical school patient ends with very real consequences. Their is a girl in a coma and cellphone footage of what happened.

A gripping novel

Beautiful, popular Viv is in a coma from a drug overdose, and the police are trying to find out exactly what happened.

Davida, who’s become close with her for the past month through their work as simulated patients at a medical school, is sure Viv didn’t take anything but a vitamin at the party. She knows that Viv isn’t the type to drink or take recreational pills. Viv’s life is great, and she has no reason not to be happy.

But in flashbacks, readers find out that Viv’s life isn’t at all what Davida thinks it is. Viv has plenty to be unhappy about, despite appearances.

Tell Me When You Feel Something primarily focuses on the points of view of Davida and Viv, in the present when Viv is in the hospital and in the past month leading up to the overdose. But it includes the viewpoints of other characters as well, giving their full versions of what they saw and know about Viv even as they withhold information from the police. Readers certainly know more than investigators, but they don’t know the true story about what happened to Viv until the end.

The setting of the medical school and these teens’ jobs playing the roles of patients with simulated diseases or injuries is an important part of this story, but for some reason I expected a different kind of book: It’s described as a YA thriller, so I expected more nefarious things going on with the whole medical program (like weird experiments or something?) and it being the primary “scary” part of the story. But this is more of a mystery about who gave the main character the drugs that put her into a coma and why. It comes down to really one or two bad characters. It involves #MeToo themes rather than creepy medical school vibes. Interesting and absorbing, either way.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for an advance copy of Tell Me When You Feel Something.

Viv is in a coma and there's very few answers to the dozens of questions about why. Davida, her new but close friend, swears that she would never do the drugs they're saying she did. There's video footage of Viv taking drugs...why? The mystery unravels through dual timelines and POVs throughout a Simulated Patient program at med school.

To be totally honest, I put this book down. I wasn't feeling any connection to the characters, and while the setting was interesting, I couldn't get past the story not coming together. I understand that with this type of book there should be an aura of mystery as to what's actually going on, but I found it hard to keep the characters separate, keep the timeline straight (I do blame having a galley copy on this piece), and I just couldn't care about what was happening.

I may attempt to finish it at some point, but it took me two weeks to ready 45% of the 330ish page book, which was a clear indication that it wasn't right for me at this point in time. I don't feel as though I can give a fair rating until I've fully completed the book, but due to feeling the need to put it down, I am giving it two stars with the potential to change later on.

I agree that this book needs trigger warnings.

Is this book something I'd want my teenager to read - absolutely - but with my knowing about the alcohol, drugs, rape, etc. I'd definitely want to have a book discussion with my reader after.

This book makes several good points - no matter how great your life is - it can change in an instant - usually through no fault of your own! Be cautious even with the most trustworthy people in your life. Be aware!!

The book was slow and hard to stick with - but worth finishing. The ending was a bit abruptly - but left room for your own.

Thank you so much to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of Tell Me When You Feel Something! I really loved the summary of this book because not only do I love thrillers, but when I was in high school, my doctor kept telling me that I should go be one of those mock patients (I could never figure out how to apply, so it never happened, but it sounded like such a cool program). Overall, the premise was cool, but I had a hard time with the execution.
Tell Me When You Feel Something 3.5/5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads:
The perfect after-school job turns deadly for teens working as simulated patients at the local med school. Everyone has something to hide and no one is safe in this contemporary YA thriller that exposes the dark reality of #MeToo in the world of medicine, for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.
It seemed like a cool part-time program -- being a simulated patient for med school students to practice on. But now vivacious, charismatic Viv lies in a very real coma. Cellphone footage just leads to more questions. What really happened? Other kids suspect it was not an intentional overdose -- but each has a reason why they can't tell the truth.
Through intertwining and conflicting narratives, a twisted story unfolds of trust betrayed as we sift through the seemingly innocent events leading up to the tragic night. Perhaps simulated patients aren't the only people pretending to be something they're not . . .

Overall, I was super excited about reading this- it's got medicine and it was a thriller and you had multiple timelines, so everything I should have loved, but the execution was a little hard for me to understand. For example, it took me about 20% of the book to realize which sections within the chapters were Viv's and which were Davida's- I had gotten them confused and I thought that Davida was our main narrator throughout (which she definitely isn't). Also, I just really didn't like Davida or Tim, so the only sections I was really looking forward to reading were the ones from the police and Viv. The storyline itself, once it started coming together was really compelling and it took me a while to realize what had actually happened, but man, the last maybe like 15%-20% of the book was so intense and it's so sad that there are people who can get away with sexual assault for so long and others will cover it up for them. This was a super interesting book and while I wasn't a huge fan of the way it was executed, I'm still really glad I read it and I would still suggest other people reading it!

I'm totally going to echo other reviewers because this book needs content/trigger warnings.

I went into this thinking it was a thriller, but the backbone of it is more of a mystery. What I didn't know was that it was going to be really heavy, that's why I hoped that the author/publisher explicitly stated that, at least in the final copies.

I was a bit skeptical at first because I didn't know if I'll end up liking this, but I gave it a chance. Still, I didn't enjoy this one. The pacing felt fast and off, and the time jumps were confusing most of the time. It didn't leave any room for the reader to be grounded and settle into the story. I love multiple POVs but I just think that it wasn't executed well in this book.

The plot was also predictable, maybe it's just me and my love for true crime and thrillers but I totally figured out the perp way too early. So yeah, it lacked the surprise factor.

What I liked though was the inclusion of different media like e-mails, transcripts, flyers, and news reports in the narrative. Sadly, they weren't enough to make me like this book.

I found the format of this eARC to be very confusing and had to dnf. My star rating has nothing to do with the actual content of the book as I didn't get very far into it. I plan on picking up a finished copy as the premise did intrigue me.

Hmm. Well that was weird.

First off, major trigger warnings for this book: sexual abuse, grooming, rape, alcoholism. If you're in the least bit triggered by any of those things, do not read this book. It is not for you.

This book wasn't what I thought it was going to be and I'm not sure this book knew what it was trying to be either. It was very messy, it jumped around timeline-wise, the various points of view were confusing to read from, and there were several subplots that just didn't need to be there. It's a story about a girl, Vivienne, being taken advantage of and not remembering it, but it also has these big subplots of her mom raging against her father's new fiance and the matchmaking Viv's doing with her two friends, Davida & Tim. I'm not kidding - these subplots take up chapters in this book and it just makes for a weird reading experience.

I think if the author stuck to the main plot of the simulated patient program and the eerie unexplained things happening and presented it in a linear timeline, this could have been a much better book. Unfortunately, there was just way too much going on and it confused me to the point of not being able to connect with anyone or anything. It felt more like a rough draft of an idea that never went through an edit.

I was very excited about this book because the description was intriguing and sounded unique. I had never read anything by author Vicki Grant and was ready to dig in.

Unfortunately I have to say from the start that I was not a big fan of this book. I also want to give full disclosure that I did not finish the book. I read 32%, which is about where I require myself to read if I am struggling with a book. I feel that if the book isn’t pulling me in by 30%, there is a bigger problem and I am likely not going to like it either way.

With that said, let’s talk about why I didn’t love it. From the beginning, the story was very broken and all over the place. It did give a timeline of “4 days after the party” or “36 days before the party”, but it jumped between a few different characters. The story was very confusing and what had happened wasn’t really all that clear. That was a big turnoff.

From there, I found that I was expecting a mystery novel based on the description, but found I was reading more about a teenager with an alcohol problem. That was the primary focus of the story. It was really dark and depressing and kind of unnerving to think there were no adults who noticed the issues. There was no real mystery aside from what came to transpire at the party, but it wasn’t the focus of the story. By the time I reached the 30% I required myself to attempt if a book was just not catching me at all, I still had no real mystery set before me and the story mainly focused on a drunk teenager struggling with life issues. There was no real fluid storyline and it was very broken and convoluted.

I really wanted to enjoy this story, but it was just too confusing, didn’t flow smoothly, and did not click well. That does not mean others will not like it, and I always encourage you to try a book for yourself and be the judge. I will check out more from author Vicki Grant to see if more of her stories interest me more than this one.

When I saw the synopsis of this book I was very intrigued by it. But it fell very flat for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters at all. I feel like the format of the ebook ARC made it extra confusing and hard to read. I was fine with the duel time but the writing got really confused sometimes. Once we find out what really happened, I wasn’t surprised, but I also felt like it didn’t really fit. It seemed to come out of left field, and this also confused me.

If you couldn’t tell already, this book mostly left me very confused. I gave it 2 stars because I was curious about what was happening and what really happened but if it wasn’t for that I would have given it 1 star.