***Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a free arc of this book in exchange for an honest review***

When Viv takes drugs at a party and winds up in a coma, Davida is shocked. She never thought Viv was one to take drugs. She tries to tell this to the police, but they are more interested in finding out who supplied Viv than considering Viv might not have taken drugs voluntarily. As the plot unfolds, there are more questions than answers mostly involving their part-time jobs working as a simulated patient for a medical school. Is the job really as it seems or is something more sinister happening?

The story is told through three POVs. There are also excerpts of police interviews throughout the book, reminding me of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (which I LOVED). I appreciated these inclusions because they added an extra layer of detail and made it feel like I was submerged in a real mystery. The story is told from three different perspectives and follows different timelines, giving readers details about what happened in the time leading up to the party and after. Viv’s POV is especially compelling in comparison to Davida’s because of how much it reveals. Davida makes a lot of assumptions about Viv, believing she knows who Viv is, but as the plot unfolds we see how many secrets Viv has kept from her friends. I didn’t feel as connected to Tim’s POV, and there were times when the voices of the three MCs blended a bit. Overall, Tell Me When You Feel Something is a great mystery with a lot of twists and turns, keeping readers guessing until the end.

NOTE: I read a lot of books that deal with hard themes and topics, and while I don’t rely on trigger warnings to help me decide which books to read, it would be helpful to have one at the beginning of this book to warn others.

An interesting premise and truly unique setting (a training hospital where people role play patients for trainee doctors to practice their consulting skills), however, this book did lose me a bit in the middle, as the true plot takes some time to emerge. I'm glad that I persevered, however, and ultimately enjoyed this

I have some mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the different povs. I feel like it lacked feeling with the chracters although the timelines were quite interesting. It took me awhie to get through this book because I lost interest. But I’m glad I stuck with it! There were some things I did not see coming. Also needs to have trigger warnings especially for YA.

Tell Me When You Feel Something is a great starting book to get into YA mystery. The idea and plot was interesting enough for me to be engaged to the characters. Especially to Viv. Though I find it hard to differentiate among the three (Viv, Tim, and Davida). Even if the characters are lacking, I really want to see the ending and twists. One thing I like about is you can tell the author knows how to write a mystery, the suspense is there and it's great that you could guess the ending.

Content warnings of this book includes: drug abuse, grooming, pedophilia, self harm, rape, eating disorders.

Tell Me When You Feel Something has a premise that is compelling. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy! However, I didn't find the story as compelling as I would have liked. The voices of the three characters (Viv, Davida, and Tim) weren't as distinct as they could have been, making me have to stop and remind myself who was the narrator at any given time. It also seemed like there were too many subplots that didn't all get resolved.

On the other hand, I did enjoy the plotting of the mystery, and though I suspected the culprit, I wasn't sure prior to the reveal. Ultimately, I give this one three stars. It won't be one I booktalk often and will be a secondary purchase for us.

Oh how I wanted to absolutely love this, but. Oh how I unfortunately did not.

This book had one hell of an interesting premise, and I was immediately intrigued by the synopsis. I could not wait to pick this one up, so sure that I was going to be absolutely blown away by the story. But sadly, despite a unique plot and a compelling opening chapter, the book ending up falling flat for me, and didn’t live up to the hype that I conjured in my mind.

This story had all the right ingredients: unique plot line, mystery, and drama, but for some reason they just didn’t quite blend together correctly.

Still, despite all that, I still found some aspects of this book good, and don’t regret reading it. I loved the creativity of the story, and the writing was very good. It was just missing that certain something that I can’t quite put my finger on.

I definitely feel that a lot of people will enjoy this book, so I would still recommend giving it a go, as the writer is definitely talented! Although this one didn’t work for me, I would still pick up another book from this author in the future.

Were do I begin. This book was absolutely amazing! I could not stop reading it. I thought at first the style of the way it was written was going to be a bit bothersome but it actually was very creative and helped the story become more alive.
I love how this story does not get overly dramatic and presents its self in a real life situation. I felt for all the characters involved because of the way it was written. You get to feel for everyone and see different points of view through their eyes.
The story unfolds so nicely and comes together at the end with a couple twists in the plot then a surprise. I really enjoyed this book and plan to check out more by this author. I am so glad I got the chance to read this. So thank you for allowing me access to read this book before it is released and to review it. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the arc in exchange for my honest review.
I really liked this book. A party leaves one girl in a coma and the others wondering what happened. I don't want to give much away until the book is published in June.

What I can say about this book is there is a lot going on. It keeps you engaged and the characters are well written. I do want to state that there is trigger warning with sexual assualt. Vicki Grant created relatable characters who the reader will connect with although at times you may hate them.

The sexual assult and the substance abuse is addressed in a classy and understanding way. Its always a thin line when authors tackle that subject. I've seen that it either is addressed too much or not enought. but in this book its just right.

The ending was a little messy, but that didn't take away from the story.

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

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.

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.