Reviews - I Need You to Read This

I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell

918 reviews for:

I was really excited to read it after having read The Golden Spoon. I really loved that one, so I was happy to read something else my Jessa.

I felt like this one was a little slower than the previous book by her...they are different books after all, but just in case you wanted to compare. This one is a bit slower. Otherwise, the writing style feels similar.

It definitely seemed like a balance of cozy mystery and thriller. Not really completely either one. That can be nice if you're looking for a palate cleanser after an intense thriller. I felt like it was a little predictable. The end didn't surprise me, but it was an enjoyable read getting to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read I Need You to Read This.

goldengeode's review

3.75

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Diverse cast of characters: No

Lots of twists, mostly unpredictable but in a smart way

Content Warnings

kahkmyers's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Alex is a snively annoying main character. I almost dnf’d the book because such a victim mentality drives me crazy. The book could have used a bit of editing because it seemed to drag on quite a bit at multiple points with no forward momentum. I guessed the twists of this book pretty early on as well which would have been fine if the storyline would have moved forward at a more steady pace. There were many holes in the story because there really was no way it could have gone the way the author wrote it. That’s a lot of negativity for a three star book I guess. I did like the concept behind the book and felt it had a lot of potential to be so much better with just a few simple tweaks.

aaniya's review

2.75

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

carlykauf's review

5.0

mysterious tense fast-paced

mkmoore00's review against another edition

2.0

I felt like I was reading a draft or a Wattpad novel rather than a finished book.

The pacing was horrible. The first half of the book is more slice-of-life than anything. For being a murder mystery novel, there's very little focus on the murder until about 60% of the way through the book. The first "clue" being the "I know" notecard was kinda lame. It was such a stretch for Ray to be so worried about Alex being threatened with just that.

I liked the setting of the book and the descriptions of Alex's work at the Herald, but there was a distinct lack of mystery solving for long periods of time. The solution was too obvious. The Brian subplot could've been great and scary, but it was just cartoonish.

Complete sidenote: why did everyone make fun of Alex for having a boy name? Is this a Gen X/Millenial thing? I've literally never heard anyone comment on that outside of this book.