After hearing nothing but amazing things about the Golden Spoon, I was anxious to dive into this new thriller from Jessa Maxwell.

Alex is a single woman living in NYC with a job as a copywriter for a pharmaceutical company. She has an almost stalker like obsession for an advice columnist at the Herald. But Alex’s hero ends up murdered, the killer gone free. On a whim Alex applies for the columnist position, and gets it. Her whole life is about to change with her dream job, but something or someone she’s been running from is about to catch up to her.

I really wanted to like this more than I did. But I have to say the whole insecure woman trope is getting old. Alex is constantly doubting herself, suspicious of everyone and paranoid to the point she checks locks and windows thrice a night. As someone who also suffered domestic trauma, I can understand the lack of trust, but it’s a bit much. Some of the connections in this book are a bit farfetched. It was a quick page turner, but I mainly finished it just to see if I had figured it out, which I did.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the eARC.

3.5 ⭐️

Ooh, nice and twisty! And even better, another honest and unflinching portrayal of OCD and anxiety, with a touch of agoraphobia. It’s so important to write about characters with mental health struggles, because every little bit helps to stop the stigma.

Alex is REAL. She’s on her own in a big city, and she is frightened. She’s got her routines that help her feel safe, like ordering the same thing for breakfast every morning and checking the locks in her apartment multiple times.

You’ll grow to love Alex, just like I did. I think we can all identify with some part of her—maybe the imposter syndrome or low self esteem, or perhaps the regrets simmering just under the surface.

Alex is multifaceted, and she’s a character you should get to know. Look for this in August 2024!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an eARC! I was so excited to receive a copy. All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to love this, but it felt sort of flat. I think I just don’t like her writing. It reads like a children’s book but you know more murder. I love advice columns so that intrigued me but but the characters in the writing was so basic I couldn’t get into it as an adult reader. I feel like this writer has a lot of good ideas, but right at such a low level it’s just not engaging.

Jessa Maxwell is great at writing prologues, that’s for certain! At the start of my reading, I was so intrigued about what caused the events that occurred in the prologue. When it comes to mystery, the thriller part is my favorite. Seeing how everything ties together at the end and being shocked is the best feeling when reading a mystery, and this ending I did not expect! Really creative! This story was definitely a slow burn, but I loved the premises of an advice columnist’s murder and the predecessor’s search for the answer of who did it. The story starts to pick up around the halfway point. I did enjoy finding out the twists, they were perfectly timed for the story! Overall, I enjoyed the plot and the characters. Most characters were easy to love from the beginning, like Raymond and Janice, but for others, it took some time.

I did find that in some instances there was too much descriptive information that dragged on the scene. Reading too much of the main character’s thoughts between two dialogue points made me lose a bit of interest in the conversation.

I would recommend reading this if you love slow-burn mystery!


#INeedYouToReadThis #NetGalley.

I Need You To Read This follows Alex Mark's as she embarks on a new job following the mysterious death of a well respected advice columnist. Alex starts following leads and mysterious notes to find out what happened meanwhile keeping her past hidden. This book was slower to start but the starts a whirlwind of events. Who can you really trust? The cute banker from the coffee shop? Your assistant who seems scared of everyone? The boss that stays too late and talks to someone on the phone in hushed voices? The ending is fast paced and leads you on a mysterious ending. Can you guess the twists? Probably not.

We need a word for the feeling when you can't stop reading a book, but you also never want it to end. That was the sentiment I felt as I entered Alex Marks' world. As I was introduced to her diner friends and, eventually, her intriguing job, I kept getting more and more hooked by the writing.

I'm treading very carefully as to not spoil anything, but I wish the reader would have spent more time unraveling the mysteries and being in the newsroom. It felt like the author introduced a lot of intriguing elements — Francis' remote office location, Howard's late nights, the Nest — but didn't dig deep enough into them. There were so many more layers that could have been added to the story to make it even more phenomenal. I would have much rather gone deeper into that part of the book than the Lost Girl plotline (and how it ultimately unfolded).

All of that said, the first 2/3 of the book were fantastic, and I cannot wait for Jessa Maxwell's next one.

3.75 stars

I was instantly hooked. Though it had a bit of a slow start it did pick up pace quick, and o really couldn’t put it down. This was an outstanding mystery/thriller.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for the e-ARC. Jessa Maxwell is an auto-buy author for me from now on. I LOVED The Golden Spoon and I loved I Need You to Read This. We follow Alex Marks who lives in NYC and loves to read a column from the paper titled, "Dear Constance". Dear Constance receives thousands of letters each week and Francis Keen who runs the column picks one a week to respond with advice to. Francis however gets brutally murdered thus about eight months after her death, the Herald which is the newspaper who runs Dear Constance posts her position for appliers. Alex sees the ad and decides to apply. To her surprise, she gets the job. Soon after, she begins to receive threatening messages to Dear Constance. Now, Alex doesn't know if it's Francis's murderer whose never been caught, or if it's toward Alex herself who also has her own secrets to hide.

I personally loved *most* of the characters. Jonathan was probably my favorite who came off as unsure about Alex at first, only because he truly loved Francis. Once he began to open up, I loved to watch their friendship blossom. Overall, I Need You to Read This is a 5/5 read for me. I can't wait to read a new Jessa Maxwell novel, soon. (I hope)

Wow. Truly wow. There are only a small handful of Mystery/Thrillers that I can actually say I was shocked down to the last page. Genuinely, this will be an INSTANT buy for me once it hits the shelves. By following Alex and her journey in her new role, you get to explore dueling timelines of her past and present as they BOTH haunt her daily. I genuinely could not believe the twists in this book and even though I thought I knew how this was going to end... it took an entirely different directly. I would easily recommend this to all of my Mystery/Thriller friends and could re-read this again in a heart beat. The way Jessa Maxwell describes characters and situations is absolutely spot on. As a visual person, I can say I genuinely could envision what Alex was wearing, what he was thinking, and what the world around her looked like through her eyes. Super impressive writing and super impressive ending!

TW: Assault, Suicide Attempt, Domestic Violence (All Trigger Warnings are done properly without being too grotesque in nature)

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC copy of I Need You To Read This.

This was a fun, easy read that kept me engaged from the beginning. I loved the advice column format of some of the chapters, it was a really unique aspect that will stand out when I think of this book. My only complaint is that although I liked the ending, I found it very predictable.

Overall a solid choice! 4 stars

Thank you to Netgallery for giving me an early release copy of I Need You to Read This by Jesse Maxwell, this book will be available for purchase on August thirteenth of 2024.

I Need You to Read This has a very interesting start, the prologue had my attention from the start, it was an amazing start, I loved Jessa Maxwells writing style, it was simple and read smoothly, I liked our characters they weren’t overly complex and were written well,I loved the banter between Raymond, Janice, and Alex it gave a found family vibe. The story around the advice column is intriguing, the letters included and responses given felt real, it really makes you feel for the characters.

It really turned for me in the end though, I didn’t like the direction of where it went with “lost girl” however I would still recommend this book, it was a enjoyable read, I’d recommend I Need You to Read this to those who also enjoy Fredia McFadden.

I’m obsessed. This was fantastic. I couldn’t put it down!!! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Thank you to atria books for my arc!


This was a freaking delight, a bit of slow burn but once it hit the half way mark the plot picked up pretty quickly and I ended up really enjoying it. The mystery was fantastic and I saw it sort of coming but I also was still suprised.

If there’s one thing about Jessa Maxwell’s writing, it’s that it’s addicting and hard to stop reading. I binged The Golden Spoon and did the same with her second novel, I Need You to Read This, a quick, tense thriller about an advice columnist trying to solve the murder of her idol while horrific details of her past are simultaneously resurrected. While this story felt vastly different from Maxwell’s debut, the ease with which Maxwell hooks her readers from start to finish and paces the tense moments with surprising reveals is truly a work of art.

I was not blown away by the twists, but I could gorge myself on Maxwell’s books all day simply because her writing and storytelling is addictive.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the arc!

Publication date: August 13th, 2024
Page count: 288
Genre: domestic thriller
Setting: NYC

Alex moved to NYC for a fresh start. When her favorite advice columnist is murdered, Alex applies for her position and gets it. Alex wonders why her predecessor’s murder was never solved. As she receives weird letters, she is wondering if she is wiry with the murderer, and if life is at risk.

Unfortunately didn’t connect/like any of the characters, which made it difficult to be invested in the outcome. Not much action though the story.


Thank you to author, publisher, NetGalley for advanced copy. This is an honest voluntary review.

Alex Marks has fallen into her dream job! Living in NYC she applied almost as a gag for the newly available advice column Dear Constance, a column that she has followed assiduously and written to herself. Once Alex joins the team, she is haunted by the remnants of the previous writer, Francis Keen. Francis was murdered and Alex can't help but think that it might have something to do with her role at the paper.

Jessa Maxwell creates a truly creepy atmosphere and tightens her grip on us as we read a series of letters Alex herself wrote to Francis prior to her move to New York. Soon everyone is a potential suspect and Alex truly doesn't know where to turn. I dare you to read this at night with the lights off!
#atria #ineedyoutoreadthis #jessawhite

Alex Marks escaped to New York City years ago for a fresh start. Aside from trips to her regular diner for coffee, she keeps to herself, gets her perfectly normal copywriting job done, and doesn’t date. Her carefully cultivated world is upended when her childhood hero, Francis Keen, is brutally murdered. Francis was the woman behind the famous advice column Dear Constance, and her words helped Alex through some of her darkest times.

The paper is searching for a replacement for Dear Constance, and Alex gets the job. However, she begins to receive strange, potentially threatening letters at the office. Francis’s murderer was never identified, turning everyone around her into a threat, including her boss.

The story was intricate and kept me on my toes. The twists were done well, and I did not figure out how it would end until I read the ending!!

I Need You to Read This is a solid mystery with good characters and good writing.

#NetGalley @AtriaBooks

Jessa Maxwell’s sophomore novel does not disappoint! I really enjoyed how drastically different this novel was from The Golden Spoon. From plot-driven to character-driven, and from multi-POV to one POV, Maxwell proves her versatility as a writer.

I am always down for a good old-fashioned murder mystery, so I knew this story would be right up my alley. The advice columns were extremely well-written and fun to read, plus Janice, Raymond, and Jonathan were scene stealers. Alex was an easy MC to root for and, even though some of her choices annoyed me, she showed amazing growth throughout the novel.

Maxwell, too, has grown as an author, with immersive writing that paints scene after scene in your mind. This book draws you in right from the start with a combination of uneasiness and curiosity. Although the action is minimal aside from the very beginning and the very end, I could not stop reading!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved The Golden Spoon, so I was thrilled to be approved for this book. I really enjoyed it! The advice columns were fun to read and added something a little different than usual. Raymond and Janice were amusing side characters and added some humor. I thought I had the mystery all figured out, but while I did have some things right, there was a lot I got wrong. Alex is a mostly likable main character, but she did things that annoyed me a couple of times. There isn't a lot of action is this book, but the author has an easy-to-read writing style that makes the pages fly by. I Need You to Read This wasn't quite as good as The Golden Spoon for me, but it was still an entertaining mystery. 4.5 stars rounded down.

Also, that cover is amazing and super eye-catching! It made me want to read it before I even realized who the author was.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

I will post this on Goodreads and Amazon on or near publication date as per the publisher's request.