The Critical Reader, Fifth Edition: The Complete Guide to SAT Reading

Our daughter is an avid reader with excellent english reading/writing skills. With her PSAT scores, it was clear that she would need a guide to understand SAT exam format and expectation. She then went through this workbook just like any other book and then another read only on topics recommendation came from practice test. This helped her to score 750+ in english section.

A very good written studying material for me to tutor my son to prepare his PSAT and SAT tests. If you really grasp the content and techniques that author wants to convey. You will have improvement. The practice question is of quality as well.

Best SAT book ever.

As an SAT tutor for nearly three years, I’ve seen firsthand how the test has evolved—especially with its shift to a digital format. This book is an excellent resource for students making the transition, especially those who have previously taken the ACT or other written college entrance exams.One of the standout features is the variety of "complete the text," "author’s main idea," and "main purpose" questions, which cater to students at different skill levels. The annotation tools are a game-changer, helping students break down passages quickly and effectively—an essential skill for time management on test day!If you're looking for a practical, well-structured guide to mastering the new digital SAT, this book is a fantastic choice. Highly recommend for students and fellow tutors alike!

Great review book

TL;DR: Fantastic resource from an author with a long history of creating the gold standard in SAT and ACT verbal prep books.As the owner of an SAT tutoring company here in San Diego (and as a long-time SAT tutor), I eagerly anticipated this book: the new Digital SAT is markedly different from the current SAT, and until now, there has been a dearth of appropriate instructional material. The test will be here before you know it: the October 2023 PSAT will have the new Digital test format, and American students will take the new test in March of 2024. (International students will have the new version in March of 2023.)I was therefore glad to see that Erica Meltzer had released a new version of her famous (in independent tutoring circles) SAT Reading guide - a version designed to prepare students for the new types of questions on the Digital test.The new test has questions that, among other things, more directly test vocabulary, the function of sentences, and how to undermine or strengthen arguments. More logical skills are involved. For that reason, it's essential that serious students practice with these new question types. The College Board's new "Bluebook" app currently has 4 full length Digital SAT practice tests that reflect these new questions, but as always, students will benefit not only from thoughtful practice but from insight into how to spot these new questions, how they behave, and how to best solve them. Students will benefit from using this book before they use the College Board practice material, so they understand what's coming.This book thoroughly explains these new Reading questions with Meltzer's signature rigor, comprehensiveness, and detailed, down-to-earth explanations. Though each question type has a limited number of practice questions (around 5-12), quality is MUCH more important than quantity when it comes to verbal SAT practice, and Meltzer does a superlative job mimicking the real test's patterns, quirks, and rules. She clearly took great pains to make this guide realistic. Conversely, I NEVER recommend verbal practice material from bigger companies like Kaplan and The Princeton Review - at those companies, the level of rigor in terms of duplicating the real SAT's nuances is breathtakingly lax (they've been coasting off of their brand names for decades).So for the motivated student, this book is a valuable tool to understand -- precisely -- what is going on with each new SAT Reading question type and to understand the most effective way to get each type of question right. We'll be using the book in our practice to prepare our private SAT tutoring clients.

My daughter's been hitting the books pretty hard lately in preparation for her SAT, and this guide has been her go-to resource for tackling the reading section. It breaks down everything she needs to know in a way that's easy to understand, which is a huge relief for both of us.The author's writing style is engaging and relatable, making it easy for my daughter to stay focused and actually enjoy studying. Plus, the practice questions and exercises are super helpful for reinforcing what she's learned.If you've got a student getting ready to tackle the reading section of the SAT, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book.

Our daughter did one practice test to familiarize herself then took the PSAT and scored a adjusted 620 on the Reading and Writing. She then went through this workbook and on her first practice test improved her score a 720. Every kid's level of absorption and work ethic is different but she said it helped a lot to explain exactly what the SAT is looking for and explained a few concepts she wasn't clear on.