Marvelous mystery thriller concerning a gal who writes for an advice column. Thret is an easy flowing style of writing that captivates the readers attention. Maxwell knows how to keep readers in her grip. Great read!

I have mixed feelings. The twist was sooo good but the book was a little boring until then. The twist added a star for sure.

This was an alright thriller for me. I unfortunately found it very predictable. To me, this was a run of the mill thriller.

I was excited to read this book after enjoying The Golden Spoon. I’ve always been fascinated by the thoughts of who writes the advice column and I thought it would be a truly unique story. I initially loved the short chapters. It allowed the pages to fly by. However the deeper I got into the story the less invested I became. With the short chapters it felt like nothing was really happening. The intensity wasn’t there and I began to question the point of the story. It didn’t feel as gripping as it should have been for a mystery book. I know the original advice columnist died under mysterious circumstances, but I never felt like we were getting any information about that storyline to stay engaged with it. So unfortunately it wasn’t a new favorite.

My first Jessa Maxwell book and it won't be my last! The pacing is well-balanced, with moments of tension and introspection that keep the reader invested. The exploration of connection—both missed and cherished—resonates throughout the narrative, making it a thought-provoking read.

I won't sum up the plot, since others have done so and you can read the synopsis.
I read The Golden Spoon, and loved it.
Like others have mentioned, I went in thinking this would be a fun cozy mystery much like Maxwell's previous book.
There are similarities, in the loveable characters full of their own personalities, and twisty plots. However, I Need You to Read This is not so cozy, with darker themes and a bit more thrill. I can't say I'm mad about it though. I enjoyed this book for what is was. I well-laid out mystery with good characters (more than a few with some secrets in their pasts). I think the only thing I might wish for more of, is a bigger build up to the final reveal. More threatening frightening type clues, since we only get a few, before we find out what is happening. Otherwise this is a solid mystery novel amd enjoyable read.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

I had read and very much enjoyed the author's first book, The Golden Spoon, which took place in the culinary world, so I was happy to see that she had a new book. In this one, Alex is a copywriter who stumbles on a new opportunity she didn't expect to get -- she will become the new advice columnist, replacing one who recently died. Soon things begin to turn sinister and a little scary, as it starts to look as if someone might be trying to kill her, too. Great mystery that I look forward to recommending.

"I Need You to Read This" will have you hooked...until it doesn't. While the first half of the book sparked intrigue and mystery, the plot started to fall a little flat after this point. It seemed as though there were multiple plot lines that sort of connected, but also didn't. That being said, I would maybe recommend this as a cozy read. I would recommend The Golden Spoon, also by Jessa Maxwell, as the more engaging read!

"I Need You to Read This" by Jessa Maxwell is a well-written twisty character-driven murder mystery. When Alex Marks lands a dream job as the replacement for a national advice columnist, it seems almost too good to be true... and maybe it is. Immediately, Alex finds herself at the center of her predecessor's murder case, discovering clues that lead her closer and closer to the truth while she also dodges her own mysterious past.

The novel is set in New York, and while it takes place in modern times, there's a certain timelessness to it that doesn't rely too heavily on tech, style, or current events to move the plot along. There's any eerie quality to the settings that help to really set the tone. So many mystery/suspense books rely on remote settings to create a vibe, but this worked well right in the heart of the city. The plot really didn't involve too much suspension of disbelief, at least not compared to other popular books in the genre I've read lately.

In particular, Maxwell does a great job developing characters that are nuanced and interesting. She has some characters recovering from trauma, and I felt that they were well written and not done in a cliched or overly dramatic way. Even characters who were a little quirky still felt authentic. It would be easy for a story in this genre with characters in certain roles (newspaper editor, waitress, detective, etc.) to dip into caricatures, but Maxwell avoids this for the most part, and the characters are what keeps the story interesting. Again, many of the books I read in this genre rely on very niche characters for interest, but Maxwell's cast is mostly made up of average people.

There were a few pacing issues that kept this from being a five-star read. It starts with a very slow burn, while the end perhaps feels a bit convenienced or rushed. There were also some interesting plot pieces that showed promise but then ended up not contributing to the final reveals, which was a little disappointing.

The novel does have darker themes, including content that might be triggering to some who have experienced relationship trauma. I won't give away too much here because they could be spoilers, and other reviews have touched on those elements.

Overall, I really enjoyed "I Need You to Read This," and the writing kept me turning the page until the end. Those who like an interesting character-driven mystery will likely enjoy this book as well. I'll likely read "The Golden Spoon," Maxwell's first book, because I liked this one so much, and I'll also be looking for future releases from her. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced read.

I WANTED to love this book. I went into it excited and ready… and I was disappointed. This book could not hold my attention. I felt like the book took forever for me to finish because I would get bored and distracted and have to reel myself back in to the story.

When a famous advice columnist is murdered, Alex takes over her job. However, she quickly starts feeling threatened as well, and her past is starting to catch up with her. This is a very quick read, and there were several twists I didn’t see coming. I do think I liked Maxwell’s debut, The Golden Spoon, better, but this is still a solid suspense!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read before pub day! ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I NEED YOU TO READ THIS is out now!

I tried to get into this one, because it was easily one of my most anticipated reads of the year. That said, I had a lot of trouble connecting with the storyline and the characters, which didn’t make it too easy to get through.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a fast read that hooked me from the very beginning. The writing style, premise, and storyline were all engaging, and the characters were well-developed, relatable and fun to follow—none of them fell into the trap of being overly unlikeable. There were clever twists and surprises along the way, though I did figure out the major mystery a bit too quickly, which is why I couldn’t give it all the stars. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.
Alex Marks leads an ordinary, unremarkable life, a life in hiding. She frequents the same diner, works remotely at her mundane job, and mostly keeps to herself. But when an unexpected opportunity arises to replace her childhood hero, Francis Keen—the recently murdered woman behind the advice column Dear Constance—Alex takes a leap of faith. Despite the odds, she lands the job and dives headfirst into solving other people’s problems. However, when threatening letters start to appear alongside the usual ones, Alex begins to suspect that Francis’s murderer is still at large—and may be targeting her next. To uncover the truth behind Francis’s death, Alex will have to confront some of her own buried secrets first and maybe even come out of hiding …

Having heard great things about Jessa Maxwell’s previous book, The Golden Spoon, this read has made me eager to pick that one up next, as well as anything else she writes in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for early access to this title in exchange for an honest review.
Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, they say. Well, the cover enticed me to submit for this book. It is so edgy and mysterious. *click* Okay, the premise sounds exciting. Clearly this book must be for me, right? Wrong.

The prose were good and the idea was there, but this book was such a slog for me. I thought the cold open was fantastically done, but the rest of the book failed to live up to the first couple pages. I am so sorry, but this book was exceptionally dull. I don’t think I could recommend it to anyone, since it is sure to fade from my memory by next week.

When Francis Keen, a well known advice colonist is brutally murdered Alex Marks is devastated. Alex has always aspired to be like Francis for as long as she can remember. So when the opportunity arises to apply for the now vacant position as advice columnist Alex finds inspiration to apply.
Now in her dream job, Alex starts to receive mysterious letters that she believes can only be from Francis’ murderer. However, as Alex receives more letters she can’t help but wonder if her own sorted past has come back to haunt her. Could the murder be someone from Francis’ past or her own? Can she find out who is responsible before someone else is murdered?
Overall rating 3/5
I liked the concept of an advice columnist solving a crime plot line however wished that the twist at the end was a bit original. I loved the letters to Francis/Constance within the book alluring and would have liked more unhinged letters sent for advice to confuse the reader and Alex as to who the murderer was. If you like the tropes- unassuming suspect, killer plays with MC, history returns, big reveal or twist endings then this book is for you.

*Thank you to Jessa Maxwell, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons and Netgalley for the ARC copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t remember what made me request this one. I feel like I saw a couple of reviews from book bloggers I follow that made me want to check it out. It starts off strong - a well-known and respected advice columnist is murdered, and several months later, the newspaper begins searching for her replacement. Alex Marks is a shy copywriter who just wants to do something creative. She also loved Francis’s column (called, for some reason Dear Constance, even though it’s widely known that the author’s name was Francis), and applies on a whim. Naturally, she gets the job, but she quickly feels like she’s in over her head. The letters have just kept coming, even after Francis’s death, and some of them are of a threatening nature. Alex is hiding secrets of her own, and being all alone in a creepy office, working long hours, just makes her more paranoid. And it doesn’t help that Francis’s murder remains unsolved.

I wanted to like this - I started it several weeks ago, then put it aside, but when I picked it up again, just enough time had passed that I didn’t quite remember the beginning, so I had to go back and reread it. And it’s still a good beginning! I’m intrigued by Francis’s death, and Alex is a little whiny, but I can root for her. But it all kind of falls apart near the middle, and the pieces never really come back together in a way that makes sense. The story starts to become far more about Alex, and the secrets she is hiding, to the point where Francis’s murder becomes secondary, and I almost thought it would just remain unsolved. When we finally do learn the truth, it’s basically an afterthought. While I didn’t have a problem with the story becoming more about Alex, I question why we needed the frame of Francis’s unsolved murder in the first place. It’s a very thin thread to connect the two plots.

This is the problem - depending on what you want the focus of the story to be, I’m not sure all of these people need to be here. If you want to focus on Francis’s murder, then we don’t really need Alex. If you want to focus on Alex’s escape from her past, then you don’t really need Howard and Francis. There’s barely a thread connecting these two stories, and while they’d both be interesting if given more focus, as it stands neither of them is fleshed out enough.

I liked this book, but I didn't really think it counts as a thriller. It's more of a suspense/mystery with finding out about Alex's past and finding Francis's killer. The plot was good, but I felt like it dragged a little bit in the middle. The twist was pretty predictable so it really wasn't as surprising when it unfolded. The story kept me engaged while I was reading, but nothing gripped me. It was easy to pause, put down and pick back up. Overall, I'd say the writing was good if you enjoy whodunnit books. This is my first Jessa Maxwell book and I'd look forward to reading more of her writing.

I hope Jessa Maxwell has a new book coming out soon because I thoroughly enjoyed this title and look forward to reading more from her. I loved the premise of I Need You to Read This as I had not personally read anything similar lately (or if at all) so it reeled me right in.

Alex Marks has recently taken over the Dear Constance advice column at the New York Herald after the original columnist, Francis Keen, was murdered 8 months prior. Along the way, we meet her mysterious boss Howard Dimitri, buddies from the local diner Janice and Raymond, and several other interesting characters. Soon Alex finds herself not only on the receiving end of threatening letters but in the middle of trying to solve Francis' murder.

I Need You to Read This was quick, easy to follow, reels you right in with palpable tension, and ties everything up in a little red bow at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC eGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this novel but would’nt consider it a creepy thriller as portrayed. A better genre would be general women’s fiction. Alex is living in a new city after a ‘bad situation,’ exact details unknown. Seemingly on a whim she applies for the vacant position of a famous advice columnist -Dear Constance - think Dear Abby. Now I don’t read these type of columns myself but thousands do and judging from the overflowing mailbags, thousands write in regularly. Alex, on the other hand, has followed Dear Constance regularly and often followed her general advice and considers her as a major influencer in her life. Why was the position open you ask? Dear Constance, real name Frances, was just brutally murdered. Unsurprisingly, Alex is named as the new replacement and immediately doubts her abilities and why she was chosen- yet she suspects the editor or someone else at the paper is the killer. With the help of her work assistant and her two cronies at the local dinner Alex vows to discover the truth. About halfway through I nearly gave up, but was glad I hung in as I was surprised in the last third of the novel. Domestic violence sexism and workplace harassment are major themes.

It was such a great book! Loved the horror aspects and the writing as well as the characters and the plot. I highly recommend.