It's just kinda funny to me to be skeptical about the selling point of an entire game genre. It's like being skeptical about shooting games because it has shooting in it. But hey, maybe give visual novels a shot if you haven't already since it's a mix of gameplay and writing. Some recommendations: Danganronpa, Ace Attorney, 999, The Letter, Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood.
I was attracted to the puzzle aspect of the game in the description because I like puzzles. I'm not averse to reading and I've played IF on itch before but that's not really what I'm looking for on here. I just played this creator's latest IF that he mentioned and it's great. I left my comment for people in the future who are looking for a puzzle game but may be driven away by the IF tag.