diff --git a/src/test/java/io/usethesource/vallang/basic/BasicValueSmokeTest.java b/src/test/java/io/usethesource/vallang/basic/BasicValueSmokeTest.java
index 572cea69..57763119 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/usethesource/vallang/basic/BasicValueSmokeTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/usethesource/vallang/basic/BasicValueSmokeTest.java
@@ -174,6 +174,27 @@ public void testStringWrite(IValueFactory vf) {
         }
     }
 
+    @ParameterizedTest @ArgumentsSource(ValueProvider.class)
+    public void testStringRead(IValueFactory vf) {
+        Random rnd = new Random();
+
+        for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
+            IString testString = vf.string(RandomUtil.string(rnd, rnd.nextInt(200)));
+            var result = new StringBuilder();
+            try (var r = testString.asReader()) {
+                char[] buffer = new char[1024];
+                int read = 0;
+                while ((read = r.read(buffer)) > 0) {
+                    result.append(buffer, 0, read);
+                }
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                fail(e.getMessage());
+            }
+
+            assertEqual(testString, vf.string(result.toString()));
+        }
+    }
+
     @ParameterizedTest @ArgumentsSource(ValueProvider.class)
     public void testStringEmptyWrite(IValueFactory vf) {
         IString testString = vf.string("");
@@ -284,6 +305,7 @@ private void checkIndent(IValueFactory vf, String indent, String newline, boolea
         assertSimilarIteration(indentedDirect, indentedConcatTree);
         assertEqualLength(indentedDirect, indentedConcatTree);
         assertEqual(indentedDirect, indentedConcatTree);
+        assertEqualWriteAndRead(indentedDirect, indentedConcatTree);
         assertEquals(indentedDirect.hashCode(), indentedConcatTree.hashCode());
 
         // these modify internal structure as a side-effect, so after this we test the above again!
@@ -298,6 +320,7 @@ private void checkIndent(IValueFactory vf, String indent, String newline, boolea
         assertSimilarIteration(vf.string(expected), indentedConcatTree);
         assertSimilarIteration(indentedDirect, indentedConcatTree);
         assertEqual(indentedDirect, indentedConcatTree);
+        assertEqualWriteAndRead(indentedDirect, indentedConcatTree);
         assertEquals(indentedDirect.hashCode(), indentedConcatTree.hashCode());
 
         // basic tests showing lazy versus eager indentation should have the same semantics:
@@ -306,6 +329,7 @@ private void checkIndent(IValueFactory vf, String indent, String newline, boolea
         assertSimilarIteration(vf.string(expectedTwice), indentedDirectTwice);
         assertSimilarIteration(vf.string(expectedTwice), indentedConcatTreeTwice);
         assertEqual(indentedDirectTwice, indentedConcatTreeTwice);
+        assertEqualWriteAndRead(indentedDirectTwice, indentedConcatTreeTwice);
         assertSimilarIteration(indentedDirectTwice, indentedConcatTreeTwice);
         assertEquals(indentedDirectTwice.hashCode(), indentedConcatTreeTwice.hashCode());
 
@@ -326,10 +350,40 @@ private void checkIndent(IValueFactory vf, String indent, String newline, boolea
         assertSimilarIteration(vf.string(expectedTwice), indentedDirectTwice);
         assertSimilarIteration(vf.string(expectedTwice), indentedConcatTreeTwice);
         assertEqual(indentedDirectTwice, indentedConcatTreeTwice);
+        assertEqualWriteAndRead(indentedDirectTwice, indentedConcatTreeTwice);
         assertSimilarIteration(indentedDirectTwice, indentedConcatTreeTwice);
         assertEquals(indentedDirectTwice.hashCode(), indentedConcatTreeTwice.hashCode());
     }
 
+
+    private String writerToString(IString a) {
+        try {
+            var result = new StringWriter();
+            a.write(result);
+            return result.toString();
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            fail("IString::write failed", e);
+            return "";
+        }
+    }
+
+    private String readerToString(IString a) {
+        try (var r = a.asReader()) {
+            var result = new StringWriter();
+            a.asReader().transferTo(result);
+            return result.toString();
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            fail("IString::asReader failed", e);
+            return "";
+        }
+    }
+
+
+    private void assertEqualWriteAndRead(IString one, IString two) {
+        assertEquals(writerToString(one), writerToString(two), "IString::write had different results");
+        assertEquals(readerToString(one), readerToString(two), "IString::asReader had different results");
+    }
+
     private void assertEqualCharAt(IString one, IString two) {
         assertEquals(one, two);
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/usethesource/vallang/basic/LazyStringOperationsTest.java b/src/test/java/io/usethesource/vallang/basic/LazyStringOperationsTest.java
index 02fb70ee..17dc85ef 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/usethesource/vallang/basic/LazyStringOperationsTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/usethesource/vallang/basic/LazyStringOperationsTest.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.fail;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.Reader;
 import java.io.StringWriter;
 import java.util.Random;
 
@@ -192,8 +193,22 @@ public void testStringReplace(IValueFactory vf) {
                 vf.string("abcdefxygh").concat(str.substring(8)));
     }
 
+    private String fromReader(Reader r) throws IOException {
+        try {
+            var result = new StringBuilder();
+            char[] buffer = new char[8 * 1024];
+            int read = 0;
+            while ((read = r.read(buffer)) > 0) {
+                result.append(buffer, 0, read);
+            }
+            return result.toString();
+        } finally {
+            r.close();
+        }
+    }
+
     @ParameterizedTest @ArgumentsSource(ValueProvider.class)
-    public void neverRunOutOfStack(IValueFactory vf) {
+    public void neverRunOutOfStack(IValueFactory vf) throws IOException {
         int outofStack = 100000;
 
         // first we have to know for sure that we would run out of stack with @see
@@ -216,6 +231,16 @@ public void neverRunOutOfStack(IValueFactory vf) {
                 // TODO Auto-generated catch block
                 fail("unexpected IO:" + e);
             }
+            try {
+                fromReader(v.asReader());
+                fail("this should run out of stack");
+            } catch (StackOverflowError e) {
+                // yes, that is what is expected
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                // TODO Auto-generated catch block
+                fail("unexpected IO:" + e);
+            }
+
         } finally {
             StringValue.resetMaxFlatString();
             StringValue.resetMaxUnbalance();
@@ -231,6 +256,8 @@ public void neverRunOutOfStack(IValueFactory vf) {
         try {
             new StringWriter().write(v.toString()); // do not remove this, this is the test
             assertTrue(true);
+            fromReader(v.asReader());
+            assertTrue(true);
         } catch (StackOverflowError e) {
             fail("the tree balancer should have avoided a stack overflow");
         }