Arc kindly received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Tell me when you feel something is a young adult mystery novel that follows the lives of three teenagers who are involved in a simulated patients programme in a local medical school. Viv is left in a coma after a party, and we see the build up to this event from Viv’s perspective and the aftermath from the perspectives of Tim and Davida.

This book had the potential to be brilliant. The general plot line was great and I found the setting fascinating. I thought Viv was a complete and enthralling character, and I found enjoyed her parts much more than Tim’s and Davida’s.

However, I do think we found out her ‘secret’ far too early, it would have been nice to see her portrayed as this ‘perfect specimen’ a little longer before the illusion was shattered. I also wouldn’t have minded her being a little darker.

Then we get to Tim and Davida. I have to admit, I really didn’t find myself emotionally invested in either character. They felt very flat and one dimensional, and I honestly don’t think they bought anything to the story.

Parts of the story were far too slow (especially in the first half) and parts were far too rushed (especially the ending). I think more could have been made of the ‘twists’ and again I would have liked the ending to be a little darker, it was all too neatly wrapped up with a bow by the end.

I read a lot of YA novels, and this is the first one that has made me feel to old for the genre. It just felt a little simple, and there wasn’t enough build up of all of the main characters. I did wonder if my age was the reason I didn’t enjoy it, but then I look at authors such as Alice Oseman, Mary H.K. Joy, Holly Jackson and ML Rio, and I realised it’s not me, it’s the you (well, the book).

I wanted to love this book. I had so much potential, it could have been amazing. But for me, it just fell very flat.

2.5/5

For me, to have had read this book was a fun experience. Speaking of fun,
teenagers like the protagonist Viv loves adrenaline and they like to have fun in any way
possible. Having jobs after school was a “cool thing” for some and it is a matter of staying alive
and surviving for others. Being a “test subject” has a nice ring to it but it is only safe when you
know what you are taking. But for Viv, she is too late to have realized what she had applied for.
For she is in a real coma now. A teenager suffered from a misfortune being a test subject and
being on the verged of never waking up is a nice story to told and read. It is not just the story
that is delightful but also how the chapters and actions were executed for the plot. It is not a plot
that would raise your standards but definitely a plot that is way above what you had expected. A
well-written story. words that can describe this book.

The story was told from a different perspective as everyone has a role that will lead us to the
plot. The story`s perspective changes but the path they are all talking about is just the same.
The only thing that really bothers me was some of its topics. I felt that it was a bit inappropriate
for teens and young adults to have read sensitive topics such as sexual assaults and drugs.
Nonetheless, the book was enjoyable and a recommendable read.

TW: Sexual assault, grooming, substance abuse.

This book was a 3 star read for me. I wish the trigger warnings had been mentioned prior to reading, as some of the discussions caught me off guard. As for the characters, the only character I really connected with/liked reading about was Viv. I wasn't the biggest fan of Davida as a character, and I felt like most of the other characters (like Tim) didn't get developed as much as they could have. I really enjoyed a few things about this book: the medical SP storyline, as I've never read anything else like this, the multiple POVs, and the short chapters.

However, it was quite predictable for me; I guessed who caused everything about halfway through, so the shock at the end wasn't quite as big. I'm not sure how long the story will stick with me, but I'm glad I read it.

Disclaimer: I got this ARC in exchange for an honest review from @NetGalley.

There were no trigger warnings mentioned, but here are some important ones: sexual assault and grooming.

This is perfect for fans of Diana Urban's All Your Twisted Secrets and Karen MacManus. An ideal after-school job turns out to be perilous when a charismatic student named Viv ends up in a coma. The other kids don't think that it was an accidental overdose. Something weird happened at this program and they want to find out what before their next. This book kept me up all night in the best way possible and I highly recommend this thriller! I'll be posting an official review closer to the date on pop-culturalist.com

Trigger warnings: sexual assault, rape, eating disorders, talk of self harm, alcoholism, grooming, pedophilia, drugs, overdose
Where do I even start. This book was an amazing read and truly shows how the people we least expect use their power to abuse vulnerable people. I highly recommend this book, but ONLY if you are 18 or older. This book should not be read by anyone under that age. With the heavy content, it is a hard read. Though, I could not put it down. Some topics could have been talked about in a more graceful way, such as eating disorders, but overall the book was a success. I feel like this is a book I will never forget.

This book was FASCINATING! I loved it. What a weird, wonderful, dark, beautifully written. The "simulated patient" concept in and of itself is what drew me to this book! I thought it had just the right amount of twists and the reveals all felt satisfying. Will absolutely give this to my teens interested in thrillers and add to a booklist on sexual violence.

~ I received an ARC for this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review! ~

** TRIGGER WARNINGS: sexual assault, grooming, alcohol & drug use.

This book is a solid three for me.

Davida, Viv and Tim are Simulated Patients (SP) for med school students to practice on as a part-time med school program. However, this Summer job suddenly turns deadly after Viv falls into a coma after taking pills at a party. Davida is trying to piece together what happened to her friend at a party. She doesn't drink or take drugs--so how did she overdose? Leading up to the party, Viv's life is in shambles and she's just trying to hold it together one day at a time. What really happened that night?

Alternating between multiple viewpoints and incorporating police reports, Tell Me When You Feel Something keeps you guessing and throwing grisly twists at you. We start off with few days before the party exploring the leading events to the situation that exists today and it's very well structured.
Police reports, though it kept me intrigued, I had difficulty piecing each piece of evidence together and had to keep looking back to see what I had already finished. Multiple POV was definitely a risky move but it was played well, so no complaints there. It started off slow, had its moments in the middle and blew it out of the park in the end.

Diversity severely lacked here. The characters were real and flawed. Although not everyone was as fleshed out but they had me at the edge of my seat. Viv's POV was the clear winner for me, and through her storyline, the author explores some pretty intense topics: sexual assault, rape, consent, teen alcoholism, illicit drug use, toxic relationships, and mental health, to name only a few.

Many parts of the book were exhausting. But, I was also incredibly uncomfortable at how much this touched on real-life situations many teens/young adults face today. These uncomfortable conversations are something we need to have. We need more art that dwells on topics like abuse, addiction unhealthy coping mechanisms and forming strong support systems.

Although I pretty much guessed the ending midway it was a thrill ride nonetheless. I've always felt that an author is doing something right if they can make you hate someone who doesn't actually exist, and it definitely happened while reading this.

bottom line, if you love thriller/mystery and are not triggered by the above warnings, I would happily recommend this book!!

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.