I Need You to Read This seemed so very promising but just happened to fall flat for me. I was hoping to read more a thriller but this was more like a cozy murder mystery read but still somehow different from her first book ??

I don't think it was a bad story by any means, but I wasn't blown out of the park either. I think you should either go into this one blind or just expect it not to be thriller-like. The build-up was well done but no big, crazy twists imo.

I'm glad I read it, it just wasn't my favorite but that doesn't mean you won't love it :)

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review :)

Alex, on a whim, applies to be the replacement for an advice columnist who was brutally murdered just months before. As she’s learning how to fill such big shoes, she also tries to uncover who murdered Francis.

This felt like different stories mixed together - like the author was trying to do too much and it just didn’t grip me like I thought it would. I liked secondary characters, but just never really cared about Alex.

I felt the pacing of this book to be slightly off. The main character had depth but I didn’t jive with the others. The writing style worked well for the genre—keeping the language from veering into past tense kept the momentum going and added a layer of anticipation.

Published Date: August 13, 2024. Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books and author Jessa Maxwell for an ARC for my honest review.

This story is about Alex, who preceeds the unalive newspaper columnist. She feels drawn to the woman she replaced and wants to find out what happened to her. As Alex pokes around she receives some threats. Is someone trying to keep the past hidden or is it Alex's past that is haunting her?

This story reminded me of: She's Not Sorry by Mary Kubica in some aspects.

Triggers: cheating/infidelity, murder, assult, threats, domestic violence. PTSD,

When Alex’s favorite advice columnist is murdered, Alex drunkenly applies and gets the job. But on top of having to write her column, Alex is scared that the murderer is still out there. So she and her friends from her local diner start their own investigation, possibly placing them in the crosshairs of the killer.

This really felt like a cozy mystery with a thriller pasted on. I liked the adorable elements but the thriller aspect was so obvious and unnecessary

Told from the perspective of two people, the story revolves around the renowned advice column “Dear Constance.”

When the “Dear Constance” writer Francis is murdered, the New York based newspaper seeks a new writer for the column. Having followed the column her whole life, Alex, applies for the job and is shocked when she’s hired on. Feeling rather lost after being thrust into a large corner office with a salary double her previous one, Alex is thankful when Lucy, Francis’s former assistant, steps in to help wade through all of the letters.

Lost Girl is a faithful writer to the “Dear Constance” column, asking for her help and advice in leaving a toxic relationship. But letter after letter goes unanswered as Lost Girl plunges further and further into a warped relationship. When her letter finally makes its way into the paper, Lost Girl takes the advice to disastrous results.

Alex doesn’t trust easily and is constantly looking over her back. When threatening letters start arriving, she’s sure someone is out to get her. And someone is. Alex finds herself in a web of lies and betrayal.

Jessa Maxwell became a “must read” author for me after reading The Golden Spoon. This new novel confirms her place in that list. This is fast paced and I enjoyed the two perspectives. You can’t help but cheer Alex on and hope her future is bright after leaving her dark past behind her. I definitely recommend this for fans of thrillers!

I need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell is a really excellent mystery.
I loved this story so much. The mystery was so well done and perfectly paced.

I followed the clues and was so surprised at the ending.

Well-crafted characters and an excellent mystery I really enjoyed.

This was a very quick read. I read it over a weekend because I didn't want to put it down. The main character was a little annoying at times, but I think she had to be for the storyline to work. I loved the Golden Spoon, so I had high hopes for this one. It didn't quite live up to my expectations, but overall it was a solid thriller to begin the fall season.

I have mixed feelings about this one; it wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t what I expected in a thriller. I found that it didn’t really pick up until the final third when everything happened at once.

The storyline itself was interesting and I liked how Maxwell intertwined Alex’s past life with her current life. The ‘Dear Constance’ letters were a nice touch but also a bit depressing when you learn that Alex is being abused.

I admittedly predicted that Lucy was not who she said she was, that she was a bit cuckoo because so much about how she just appeared didn’t sit right with me. For the most part, a lot of the characters were lacklustre and didn’t add to the story at all.

I Need You To Read This certainly had premise; I also feel like there was so much more where Maxwell could have taken the plot. I wanted to see more of Alex’s work as the Dear Constance columnist and less of the callbacks of her being abused. Nonetheless, it was not a horrible read but not one of the best thrillers I’ve read either.

Thank you to the author, Atria Books, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book had a strong opener, and a very good concept. However, it all felt too convenient and odd overall. Our girl goes into a spiral based on one little note found in someone else's desk because a former detective friend told her it was intense and evidence?

There was one character that took me by surprise, which is pretty much all that kept me going.

Not the strongest book I've read.

I loved The Golden Spoon, so when I saw Jessa Maxwell was coming out with another book, I just had to read it. Definitely a different take from her previous cozy mystery. I really liked the pacing and how twisty the story turned out. Jessa Maxwell is auto buy author for me. Thank you Jessa Maxwell, NetGalley and Atria Books for this digital copy.

This book is best gone into knowing almost nothing about the plot, in my opinion. All you need to know is that it’s about a woman who takes on the job as an advice columnist after the predecessor has been murdered, and winds up desperately trying to solve it before she winds up with the same fate. Everything else? Unnecessary, you’ll find out as you read.

I found this book to be fairly fast-paced, and once I began reading it I couldn’t put it down until everything was solved. I really liked how many red herrings were present during the events in this novel, as we (the reader) are running as blind as Alex is while she tries to stay alive, keep her job, AND solve the murder. This book has a lot of moving parts, some more related than others, but in the end everything comes together in a coherent manner and we end the book with absolutely no loose ends that still need to be tied up.

One thing I really liked was that, as the main events of the story are taking place, we get bits and pieces of some mysterious person writing into the “Dear Constance” advice column to try to work through her own problems. Not to spoil anything, but I found this to be a clever way to kind of give us a “flashback” scenario to before the events of the novel, without actually just giving us flashbacks. Instead, we follow this mysterious writer as the events within their life unfold and we can slowly connect the dots into how it will eventually end - and how this will affect what is currently happening. There were also quite a bit of hints thrown into the novel to give us an idea into what will unfold, but not so obvious that you could clearly see the ending coming. In fact, there was one such thing that I only realized literally a few pages before the actual reveal happened - but in hindsight, it made so much sense.

All in all I suggest this book if you like a combination of mystery and thriller, and are looking for a quick and twisty read that will absolutely take you on an adventure. I really enjoyed this book, and found it to be a fairly quick read that provided just the level of stakes and twists and turns I was looking for when I opened it.

I would caution a trigger warning for abuse from a romantic partner, as that is a big plot point within this book and it goes into fairly explicit detail during the events of the novel.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Atria Books for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was one of the people who loved THE GOLDEN SPOON but I totally understand why people didn't. That book was exactly what I wanted and expected it to be - basically a cozy mystery taking place at GBBO. I wasn't expecting high-stakes thrills. Because of that, I went into I NEED YOU TO READ THIS with the same expectation. I think, for that reason, I enjoyed this more than others (though not as much as her adult debut). Her mysteries are not fully cozy but they're not fast-paced thrillers either.

I think this one took a while to get grooving - the main character was going through a lot but it wasn't necessarily a thriller. Yes, she wanted to figure out what happened to the previous Dear Constance but there weren't scary moments necessarily. I got halfway through the book and didn't feel like anything happened.

I thought some of the "twists" were incredibly obvious while others would have been, in my opinion, impossible to figure out (and not in a good way). I always hear people talk about "fair play mysteries" where you as the reader have all the information you need to solve the crime or mystery within the pages. No random boogeyman can come out and be the culprit. While I *do* think this technically counts as a fair play mystery, one of the elements came out of nowhere and it didn't feel fair in a way. I won't spoil it.

The ending or whodunnit wasn’t my favorite for those reasons but I did like the actual end of the story. Again, no spoilers, but it was hopeful and nice (for a MC that deserved that). Overall I was still drawn to Maxwell''s writing style and the premise; I enjoyed following along but really don't see this as a thriller until the final few chapters.

Loved this book! Loved the climax and character building. I love a good mystery and this definitely filled my void! I needed a good read and that’s exactly what this gave me!

Quick thriller, perfect for this time of year when you are moving in 10 different directions. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Alex is a copywriter who works from her NYC apartment. When her former hero and advice columnist, Francis/Dear Constance is murdered, she applies for her job on a whim. It isn't long before she starts receiving death threats as well. Will she uncover the identity of Francis' killer or become their next victim?

A quick and easy read. Was it edge-of-my seat suspenseful? Absolutely not. It was more of a melodramatic slow burn; a Hallmark murder mystery, if you will. I can't say that it met my expectations, but it was still good. Nevertheless, the cover is better than the plot.

Content warning: Domestic violence.

Ooo this was a fun one.

A copywriter-turned-advice-columnist takes on more than she bargained for. Turns out the job opening only became available because the much-beloved predecessor was brutally murdered.

Lesson: Apply for those dream jobs, regardless of the circumstances.

I’d love to give advice to strangers – the job was responding to one letter a week. A WEEK? Can you imagine how wonderful that lack of word count would feel like?

Like any good mystery, everyone becomes a suspect, even the protagonist who, of course, has secrets of her own. I finished this in a day and thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

I enjoyed reading this book, and was pleasantly surprised about how interesting it was. The story revolves around a writer of an advice columnist at a newspaper in New York City. As the main character Alex starts her job as the new advice writer, she fears she may be in danger. Since the previous advice writer was recently murdered, perhaps she’s right. Between the advice column snippets, the amateur detectives, and the office drama, this is a fun book that you won’t want to put down.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC.

This mystery thriller was a quick read for me, with short chapters that I just flew through. The suspenseful and creepy vibes built throughout, leaving me wondering what the heck was going on and as a result I had a tough time putting it down! I liked the characters, the advice column/letter writing aspect, and that it took place in NYC (I lived there for many years so I recognize all of the references). While part of the ending was predictable, I was still very surprised by the final reveal overall and had a lot of fun reading it! This was my first book by this author and I definitely plan to read this author’s other book in the future. Thank you to NetGalley for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So sad I didn’t enjoy this more! It was boring and predictable. I loved her first novel so I was really looking for more from her but this one fell flat.