Unfortunately, this one wasn’t a favorite. I felt that the author tried to accomplish too much in the book - best friend issues, parent issues, her ex, grad school…it was a lot. It also didn’t seem that the romance was the key driver of the story, which, to me, is important when you are selling a book as a rom-com.

All in all, it was fine.

The Makeup Test was archived prior before being able to read and review. I wasn't able to download it to my laptop/ kobo device because of this. I will check it out from the library in the future.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for allowing me the chance to read and review.

Allison is a PhD student in a very selective at Claymore University, hoping to work with her hero in the world of medieval literature. The trouble is that her ex, who stole a prestigious award from her in college and then broke up with her, is now in the same PhD program, and competing for the same mentorship, despite having no previous interest in medieval literature. Can Allison win the mentorship without letting her ex bring her down?

I was so hoping to like this. The main character is a plus size woman who takes no shit for daring to be heavier. It's a book about literature. It's a romance. It has all the things I like. But I really don't like the characters, like at all.

Allison is too stuck in her past, particularly with how she lets feelings for her ex creep in, even though he switched his focus and is once again fighting her. And she actively refuses to talk to the people around her to make her feelings known. The ex, Colin, is a jerk. He just is. His grand gesture at the end was predictable. Her dad is exactly as abusive and jerky as the book describes, but in a book full of jerks, that wasn't really surprising. Her mom is awful and refuses to listen to her when she says she doesn't want to hear about her father. Her roommate is less than supportive, and disappears for most of the book, and I'm sorry, but if I went out of my way to make something for a get-together, and my almost-invisible roommate and her uninvited pals consumed every bit of it BEFORE MY FRIENDS THAT I INVITED ARRIVED, I'd be really pissed off.

I found these characters really unlikable, and the story was frustrating. I pushed through for some reason, and I'm honestly not sure why. I have so many other books to read.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

I have been on a romcom run lately! This one was a quick read and I liked it although it wasn’t my favourite. I had a bit of a struggle connecting with Colin at times and I am not really sure why. If you’re a romcom lover check this one out.

I loved this book! Author Jenny Howe wrote a slow-burn second chance romance that focuses on academia, success, the pressures we put on ourselves to prove we are worthy of recognition and love, and family dynamics. This is masterfully crafted and an emotional journey from beginning to end. I was always rooting for Allison and Colin, but also glued to their struggles. It was so hard to put down, highly recommend!! Can't wait to read what the author writes next!

4.5 Strong Debut Stars
* * * * 1/2
This book took me on a journey that held my attention throughout. We have two people who are competitive, who have a history of a bad breakup, and the mutual goal of being part of a program with only one spot available.
What could possibly make them work together and have a HEA???

Could there be a possibility of people actually changing and growing? This was a very solid read.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. This book was so fun. I really enjoyed it. This book kept me interested and i enjoyed the book and this genre

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for my digital arc of THE MAKEUP TEST by Jenny L. Howe in exchange for an honest review. This book published September 13, so you can go grab a copy now!

I wasn’t too sure about this book when I first started it, but I turned out to enjoy it more by the end! I also felt at times, like this book was to smart for me 😆 - masters students seem to be above my level of knowledge 😆 I did learn a lot tho, which is always good!

This is a second chance romance between two exes that work out their differences/ try again with their relationship, all while competing for a spot in a prestigious phD program.

Allison is the FMC, and I loved her. She loves to win, but is also a bookworm, and an introvert, who is trying to be more social. She also has a difficult relationship with her father. When he becomes ill, and there’s a family emergency, it’s Colin (MMC and her ex boyfriend/competition) that drives her the 4 hours back home. A sexy game of Scrabble leads to them pursuing their relationship again. Colin was a good MMC, but what lead to their breakup years ago, has him now trying extra hard to win back Allison. Tho he had his own reasons, for breaking things off, he did not follow through with actually telling Allison these reasons. Colin also has his own struggles and pressures in his past, that he has to deal with too.

Allison and Colin work well together, as long as they learn to communicate with each other. That’s what broke them up the first time. I also loved the body positive aspect of this book, it was very refreshing to see!

2.5 Stars rounded down

Here's the thing. I love plus-size rep, and I love enemies-to-lovers, and I have a soft spot for academia as well. However, second chance romances are not my jam, and this book seemed to rely on the worst bits of that trope. If it is your jam, this would be a solid choice. I just wasn't won over by our 2.0 hero. I think if you have to add 2.0 to the end of whoever you're seeing again, you probably shouldn't be dating them. Second chances relies on the reader seeing the hero/heroine as redeemable, and I just... didn't. Also, the miscommunication there at the end-- it did not create any feelings in me that endeared me to either party. I would love to read another title by Jenny Howe, but this particular one wasn't for me.

What a refreshing and warm romance to fall into! I sped through it because I was very invested in their story and I wanted to make sure of the HEA (even though I knew it was coming lol).

sadly this was a DNF for me. I got about 36% in.

I found the two main characters so insufferable and annoying so I honestly didn’t care to read about their romance. The MMC was especially irksome and I could not for the life of me understand why Allison would want to get back with him. Honestly it was just so childish and I did not like the romance.

I’m sad this one didn’t work out for me but thank you to the publisher for the e-arc!

I need to quit reading “enemies-to-lovers.”

The Make-Up Test sounded great and I was really excited to read it, but I only got about 15% in before I called it quits. Why? Because I’ve found out I HATE enemies-to-lovers in a contemporary setting. The characters are so petty and ridiculous and basically want to kill somebody because he broke up with her or didn’t tell her she’s pretty, etc. And there’s always some stupid misunderstanding that we’ll find out about later and learn everything was fine this whole time, so they literally hated each other for nothing. And of course, he loved her the whole time. Which just makes it that much more petty and ridiculous that they fought the whole time.

Rants aside, I did Jenny L. Howe’s writing is wonderful and I really enjoyed what I read of her characters (not the pettiness—that wasn’t a good look, Allison), so I would definitely try reading more from her in the future. This just isn’t the trope for me.

Thanks Netgalley and St. Martins for the ARC! Sorry I didn’t like it. ☹

📝 𝐑 𝐄 𝐕 𝐈 𝐄 𝗪 📝⁣⁣
⁣⁣
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦-𝘜𝘱 𝘛𝘦𝘴𝘵 by 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐋. 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞⁣⁣
☆⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Y’all are gonna think I only get on here to post negative reviews now. 😅 I promise that’s not my intention, but rather, how the bookish cards have fallen for me lately. Pity me, please. I beg of you.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
I feel particularly bad about this one, especially since 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦-𝘜𝘱 𝘛𝘦𝘴𝘵 focuses on plus-size rep and is by a debut author, but this book is just unfortunately not very good.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
It begins with the fact that both main characters are incredibly unlikeable and insufferable and childish. I read another review where someone (I can’t for the life of me remember who it was, so please tell me if it was you) said this is a YA plot slapped into a contemporary romance book, and if that isn’t the truest thing I’ve ever read, then I don’t know what is. Several plot elements are incredibly unrealistic and also just don’t make sense for adults.⁣
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Thank you so much to @stmartinspress for my complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

📖My Thoughts📖

This was a pretty good book! I loved the characters seeing them grow throughout the book, as well as the relationships. However, I wanted to see more between Sophie and Allison. They’re best friends and while their friendship was seeming to be going in two different directions, it kind of left you wondering if they made peace with all that and were still going to remain strong or if they were just going to let things fizzle out. There seemed like a couple semi unresolved issues in the book, but it’s also fair to say, I understand that the author couldn’t tackle each and everyone one in such a short amount of time. It was nice to see Allison’s character become more strong willed and sticking her ground with things. Overall this was a pretty good book. It was cute and fun as well as very easy to read. Rom-Com lovers should check this one out!
Thank you Netgalley, Jenny L. Howe and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love a good academic rival book especially if that’s the main premise. Not only did I find the relationship between the two main characters to be a bit toxic and talk about miscommunication!

This is also a very heavy book. I’m glad I read the trigger warnings before starting it. There's death of a parent, psychological and verbal abuse, fat-shaming, sick parent.

To be honest, expected the vibe to be something else, but this is a very heavy book. It does has its moments of comedy and all, but I think it has more heavy/ intense moments than anything else. I even want to say it is a bit women's fiction rather than a romance, especially not contemporary.

The Make-Up Test is Jenny L. Howe's first novel. I went in very optimistic - a second chance romance set in grad school, what could go wrong?

I quickly realized that the Main Character, Allison was not particularly likeable. She portrays what I imagine is a relatively realistic portrayal of what it's like to be in grad school - meeting new friends, struggling with how to maintain her friendship with her roommate, learning how to be a TA (but she has a time for a puppy?).

The second chance romance left me cold - Colin was a challenging character. He's pretty flat as a character, and when you find out why they broke up, the fact that Alison is willing to take him didn't make sense to me. Then when he screws up again, she takes him back a third time? Alison: listen to your roommate: Do not get back together with Colin.

In addition to the Second Chance romance, there is a sub-plot with Alison's parents. It all ends up being a lot to take in, with a lot of characters to try and keep track of. Overall, I would rate this 2.5 stars (rounded down).

This book was the fat rep I needed! I thought it was really well done. And while it didn't shy away from the lasting trauma of growing up with a fatphobic parent, it didn't reduce the character to just that. Allison loves her body from the beginning and it was so refreshing to see a story that was about her achieving her dreams without having to change herself.

I wanted to absolutely love this one, and while I did find it easy enough to read and even relate to in some ways, some parts of it felt truly icky and I just didn't love the way the story unfolded. The second chance aspect was not resolved well enough the second time for it to be believable to me, and I struggled to connect to the characters in a way I'd like to.

I do love reading books set in academia because I think that world isn't always represented well enough, but this didn't even seem like the most accurate portrayal of this world either. I did enjoy the friend group and the advisor as well as some character growth seen from beginning to end, but overall, just not a favourite.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was cute! Honestly it wasn’t super memorable, but I did enjoy the banter! I usually swoon over academic rivals, but I am not sure I connected with these characters!

It's her debut book and I was excited for this one. I liked it and it was a good book. Hoping for more from this author in the future.