This was a good story that mostly kept me into the plot. Some spots it seemed to drag or get a little slow, but all in all, a solid book. I would like to see it be a bit faster paced but not bad by any means.

Alex Marks gets the chance of a lifetime when she is chosen to take the place of Francis Keen who wrote the very popular advice column Dear Constance after Francis's death.

Alex has been hiding in New York City for years and working as a copywriter for a pharmaceutical company. She has made a couple of friends at the Bluebird Diner which is across the street from her apartment, but otherwise leads a life of loneliness and isolation filled with rituals to keep herself safe.

Dear Constance had been a lifeline for her before she managed to escape from a bad situation, and she still reads it today for insights into her life. Still, she is very much surprised when she is the one chosen to write the column. She is pleased but also frightened because her new job with include some public exposure which might make her vulnerable to her past. And Francis's murderer has never been caught.

This was an engaging and twisty thriller interspersed with letters Alex wrote to Dear Catherine which gradually expose why she left her past behind to start anew in New York City. I was drawn into the story and really needed to know what happened next.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4

If you’re into cozy mysteries, this book is perfect for you!

I did find it repetitive and slow at parts, and a bit predictable. I had figured out the ending halfway through the book. The ending felt a bit rushed and I was left wanting to know more about Francis, Howard and Tom. Tom felt like a character that ultimately served no purpose.

This, however, this was a fantastic quick read! I enjoyed reading this book and did not put it down until I finished it, which says a lot because I usually have a few books going at once.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC!

Rating: 3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Alex Marks gets a once in a lifetime opportunity as a writer… to be the new advice columnist in the popular Herald Newspaper. The previous columnist, Francis, was found murdered at her beach house and was someone Alex respected and admired.

This story follows Alex beginning her career as the advice columnist for Dear Constance. She is on the hunt for any evidence to help solve who murdered Francis… and then she begins receiving suspicious/threatening notes. Is she next? Who killed Francis?

While the book really was a decent read- I wasn’t sure I would like it and wasn’t even engaged until about 50% of the way through. The storyline of Francis’ murder was really not covered in depth (IMO) and instead there was a lot of backstory and filler about Alex. I felt like something was missing from the story.

A good, quick read & had a good ending - although not surprising.

This was a really fun and entertaining mystery and the perfect palette cleanser from the darker thriller books I’ve been reading lately. It has a clever premise and kept me guessing as to the ending which did surprise me.

A fun read all around.

🌿Read if you like:
✨Cozy mysteries
✨Found family
✨NYC settings
✨Journalism storylines
✨Advice columns

I couldn't put this thriller down--loved the concept of an advice columnist new to the job. The story was well-executed, and the backstory was woven in well, with a satisfying ending. I did guess at the twists, but I write mystery/thrillers, and I was hooked, so I wanted to see things play out. I cared about the characters, who seemed pretty 3-dimensional. I'd enjoy reading another book by Jessa Maxwell. I appreciated that it wasn't gory or needlessly violent. I'll be sharing this one with my psych thriller-reading friends. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book--all opinions are my own.

While I enjoyed the story line for the most part and where the book was going, I would have loved more from the Francis character that they talked so much about. I would have liked to see that part of the story unfold as this wasn't a long read. I did like the characters but they kind of all just needed more development. Although, I finished it wouldn't be something I would jump to recommend to people. The book didn't keep calling me back and demanding me to finish it like other books I have read recently.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this!
This is a somewhat twisty whodunnit thriller about an advice columnist who is murdered and the woman who takes over her column (with a shady past of her own). There's some epistolary moments here that I really loved, and the general creepiness that lurks throughout the story is pretty good.
That being said...this just felt a little lackluster. Both of the big 'twists' I guessed pretty early on and the resolutions all felt a little scatterbrained. I wanted to really feel engrossed in this story but it just didn't draw me in.

I could not put this book down! What a ride! On a whim, Alex applies for and gets the job to take over writing a very successful advice column after the original Dear Constance is murdered. Soon she starts receiving threatening letters. She's been running from her past for a very long time and she fears that she's been found out. Or is it somehow connected to the unsolved murder Francis Keen, the original writer of Dear Constance?
Sooooo much suspense, so many twists! I absolutely adored Alex. Highly recommend!

Slow burn thriller but this book was so fun to read ! I like how the story builds up and drops everything in the end. So satisfying!! Cant wait to read more from this author 🤍

💌 Thank you netgalley for the arc

I Need You to Read This is, on the surface, a story about a woman who wants more from her life. Alex Marks is bored with her copywriting job with a drug company. When she sees that The Herald is looking for an advice columnist she applies on a whim, never thinking she'll get a second glance. Francis Keen, her predecessor, was murdered 8 months ago, leaving the column without a writer. But when she gets the job she can't believe her luck. What Alex doesn't realize is that there are so many letters and emails begging for help. She also gets multiple anonymous threats. Was Francis murdered because of something someone confessed to her in a letter? Is Alex going to be next? Jesse Maxwell does a great job of making the reader truly care about Alex because of how she depicts Alex's struggles with anxiety and past trauma. It makes the character feel real and relatable. I also enjoy a story with good secondary characters, which in this case includes Alex's diner friends Janice and Raymond. They come through when Alex needs them the most. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

The writer of an advice column gets murdered, and an ad gets placed for her replacement. Alex, new to NYC, applies for, and gets the job. Things immediately turn weird. She starts getting strange letters, wonders why the murder hasn’t been solved, and thinks there is definitely something creepy about her new boss. I found Alex to be extremely likable, and I liked reading about her anxiety and OCD. There were plenty of twists and turns throughout the story that kept me guessing.

This was my first book by Jessa Maxwell and it has some great promise! There was a lot going on in the story that at times felt a bit overwhelming but it was a good read.

Alex Marks, our main character, is hiding out from life in New York City. She seems timid and scared and you can infer that there are things in her past that she is running from. She maintains a routine and makes sure she feels comfortable in her surroundings. After seven years of living like this, she takes a chance and thrusts herself in the spotlight.

In doing so, she finds herself entangled in a potentially harmful situation. Alex is not sure who to trust except for Raymond and Janice, her diner friends (and her only friends). But once in the spotlight, it is hard to hide from your past.

I felt for Alex and her trauma. What was a little hard for me to swallow was moving from safe and secure to spotlight in 48 hours. That was a pretty big leap of faith.

The ending felt a little rushed to me but it closed out the story. I think I would have liked a little more there and maybe less in the middle. Personal preference.

All in all, a good read and I will definitely try Ms. Maxwell again!

Thank you to Net Galley and Atria Books for the Advanced Copy for a honest review.

I zoomed through this book in a day - couldn’t put it down. Every twist was better than the last. The setting, the workplace, the character development were all incredible. Can’t wait to recommend this book to my friends!

This was a fast paced read that kept me flying through the book. I didn't find a lot of the reveals surprising, I feel they were slightly obvious early on. As well as one side characters backstory just felt like unneeded filler. But with all that said I did still find this highly entertaining to read and had an enjoyable time with it. Alex was a great character to follow and she felt true to what someone in her experiences would be like.

Thank you to the publisher for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

Great atmosphere and main character with a slowly revealing history. Loved the building descriptions.

My first read of the author and while the story was slightly predictable, I genuinely enjoyed the experience! I found the writing to be easy to digest and the pacing to be slow but steady. Once you hit the last quarter of the book, you truly can't put it down. The quick chapters make it easy to follow along and matches the pacing of the book well. I'm definitely going to seek out more from this author! - 4.25 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ERC in exchange for my honest review.

Alex is not loving her job when she sees the job listing to be the new Dear Constance after Francis, the old one was killed. She applies on a whim, but is flabbergasted when they not only ask to interview her, but also offer her the job. Things seem weird around the office though, and Alex can’t ignore the fact that they never found who killed Francis. So she decides to take it on herself…but Alex also has something to hide. Will her secrets be revealed as well?

Have you ever enjoyed reading the “dear X” letters? I know I always have, and that made this book all the better. I loved following along with some of the letters Alex receives as the new Dear Constance. I also really enjoyed trying to figure out who had killed Francis. For someone with something to hide, I did feel like Alex was a bit too trusting right off the bat with people, but I get how it moved the story along. This was a great twisty novel just as good as The Golden Spoon!

Thank you to @atriabooks for my gifted copy of this book!

I absolutely loved Jesse Maxwell’s debut last year and was excited to check out her follow up!

I Need You To Read This has a great premise- advice columnist Francis Keen has been murdered, and a young woman named Alex applies for her job, fully expecting to be turned down on the basis of her lack of experience. She is shocked to get the job, and quickly dives into the massive pile of letters the column has received since Keen’s death with the help of an assistant. Alex has dark secrets of her own, and her own experiences definitely help her in responding to the letters.

While I found parts of this one to be very predictable, I still enjoyed reading and watching how events played out. The central murder mystery isn’t solved until the very end, a surprising choice. I thought we wouldn’t even find out who murdered Keen in the end since that reveal came so late.

The characters are definite characters- several feel like caricatures rather than multidimensional people. They do add humor and levity to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and atria books for the arc. All opinions are my own.

Alex Marks is saddened to hear that her favorite newspaper columnist has been murdered. A fan of the column for years, Alex is intrigued to potentially replace the slain Frances Keen. The New York Herald and its dynamic publisher, Howard Dmitri, get over 500 applicants for the position, but Howard is very drawn to Alex's entry, and she lands her dream job. In the role, she needs to publish a column weekly and read all of the letters that come to the desk. This is when she starts getting some threatening letters.

Secrets abound and Alex tries to determine what happened to Frances. Who is a friend and who is a foe? Who in her new job is dangerous?

This was a fun, easy read. There are some big plot holes and some resolution that gets wrapped up a bit too easily. However, I did enjoy it. There are clues to the mystery throughout, which is always fun when the author gives you bread crumbs. I found Alex to be a little one dimensional and didn't have a ton of depth. But the newspaper staff had some characterizations that gave you a good desciption.

Not the best mystery of the summer but a decent read if you are voracious and need another beach/fluff mystery for your to-read-pile.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC. Book to be published August 13, 2024.