DNF for now at 35%.

I really liked how this was basically the adult version of What's Not to Love by Emily Wibberely and Austin Siegemund-Broka. The academia and teaching aspects were extremely interesting to me. I also liked how this book touched on a broken family and a basically dead-beat father and how that effects the MC. However, there were a lot of areas that fell flat for me. I felt like the love interests had basically no chemistry and that Colin had little to no personality. I wish that at almost the halfway point, we would gotten a little bit more history of their relationship.

I'm curious to see how this goes so for now this is an *on pause* DNF. I'll update my review once I finish. Thank you for the opportunity.

A rom-com about two grad students competing for the same mentorship. They are Exes so you have relationship drama. It was okay. Didn't wow me but didn't struggle through it either.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for the advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

From lovers, to enemies, to rivals to lovers. Allison and Colin’s love story was neatly wound into the grad school life of studying, TAs and cohort hangouts. I thoroughly enjoyed that Howe wrote this as Allison is a plus size woman BUT she does not have an epiphany at the end of the book and gain a ton of confidence etc etc. Allison is already steadfast and confident in her body and Howe does a great job at displaying Allison’s firm boundaries and complex feelings of things we all go through in life. I loved the cross stitch mentions in the book. I respect Howe for also portraying Allison’s relationship with her father and how she and Allison’s mom navigate that. Healthy boundaries are important and I don’t feel it is written about more

So 3 stars because I wish there was more spiciness and hotter sex scenes between Colin and Allison. I also am not a huge fan of medieval literature so it was a little hard to follow. Overall I will read another book from Howe again and more than anything really appreciate her paving a path for plus size bodies.

3.5 stars

at times this book was so fun, but at others it was really frustrating. overall it was a solid read. i would still recommend it.

a few notes while reading:

the whole scene of her in the hospital and the constant naming of her fathers heart rate…. didn’t do what i think it was meant to. it didn’t touch my heart or make me sad or even that mad at him. it was annoying to watch her revel in his heart failure even if he is a bad character (also your heart rate changing isn’t the only sign of heart failure and the detail just felt… lacking).

at times the main character is incredibly petty and while no one wants a perfect main character, it wasn’t in a fun way to read, especially in this hospital scene and in the scenes where she was being jealous of colin.
and
she focused on the pain he caused her but never acknowledged that for half the book she went looking for it despite what she already knew about jed.

she’s so worried about being “better” than people, even than people she allegedly loves. it seems very toxic, and i wanted her to maybe acknowledge and clearly grow from that more.

her and sophie call colin self-centered but allison is literally so self-centered and proud.

“he’s put her feelings before winning” - yeah he’s done this for a while, allison seems to be the one who refuses to.

we’re told that colin used to undermine allison but we’re shown that she does it to him now, because of that, the latter sticks with us more.

inconsistencies with WCS or WSC list in naming.

I just had to read this when I saw Ali Hazelwood read it. I loved the academia setting. The tropes were good! Enemies to lovers and second chance romance. I typically do prefer a new romance versus a second chance but I enjoyed this.

This book was okay. It read a bit like a young adult book. The characters were pretty immature and didn't communicate well and I found that a bit frustrating. Despite having a doctorate myself, I didn't find the academic piece too relatable and have a hard time imagining students beginning a rigorous PhD program without already having an adviser committed to working with them.

I enjoyed Jenny L. Howe’s writing and the fat rep in this book. I also thought the academic setting was well done — you can tell she has a lot of experience with it and medieval literature. You can really feel how these characters (in particular Allison, since the book is from her POV) were affected by their previous relationship and past hurts. It made sense why they were so competitive in the present, but also why they were drawn to give each other another chance.

I’d recommend this if you enjoy second chance romances, rivals to lovers, or are looking for books with good fat rep.

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley.

I read this one quickly because I had to find out what happened next! This was a fun one to add to my summer list. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading other books this author writes.

This book just wasn’t a favorite for me. There were parts I really enjoyed. I found the discussion of the literature enjoyable and the dialogue between characters witty. The group get-to-know-you scenes were funny and I liked reading the interactions between all the grad school members! However, I just really couldn’t connect with Allison. I found her immature and her opinion of herself quite inflated at times. I am a really character driven reader, so if I don’t connect to the FMC it’s hard for me to fully enjoy a story. Colin had plenty of flaws and the way he acted towards the end of the book was out of line, but at the beginning it just felt repetitive to read Allison’s feelings about him. The final resolution also happened quickly after the conflict and I felt like it could have been fleshed out more. I definitely think this is a book others will love, but it just wasn’t for me personally!

I really enjoyed this book. I thought that it was interesting to see how Allison handled the situation with her father. It was not the typical approach and I commend her for being so brave.

I enjoyed the dynamic between Colin and Allison when it came to their studies. Being competitive with each other is a huge part of their relationship and they were able to make it work.

Second chance romance always gets me! I think it shows that people can change with time and life experience!

I really enjoyed this exes/enemies to lovers romance, set in academia, it tells us the story of Allison and Colin, who are exes and now compete for a spot in their program.
I liked all the pull and push between them, their banter, the arguing. I love the way the author narrated the evolution of their relationship from enemies to friends to romance.
This is a sweet and funny story that made me laugh and sigh. Definitely recommended for RomCom and enemies to lovers fans!

Sadly I found this book a bit tedious even though the setting and plot line should have been right up my alley. It was hard to care about any of the characters, and many of them were irritating. It wasn’t very entertaining or fun. Just not for me, but I thank the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an incredible second-chance romance, which is typically not a trope that I love! The academic rivals plot felt refreshing in a grad-school setting, and I loved the development of rekindling trust that the two main characters developed for one another as the book unfolded. I would totally recommend this!

I got through about 70% before I just had to put it away. The first half was so good, I was feeling all the emotions, especially anger towards Colin. But after they got together, things just felt off. I can’t really reconcile their active rivalry with their rekindled relationship, especially when they both have everything to gain and everything to lose. I hope I can come back to it and finish but it won’t be soon and it was honestly stressing me out. Even Allison’s relationship with Sophie was nerve wracking to read about.

i loved this book so much!! i thought i knew what i was getting into with this academic rivals to lovers romance but it was so much more than that! this book explores family dynamics, female friendship, fatphobia, and mental health-and the ROMANCE! there were so many swoon worthy moments.
i can’t wait to buy this book once it’s released.

thank you so much to @netgalley for this digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book honestly made my heart happy I’m so many ways.

1. Romance set in academia is close to my heart as I myself am working on my PhD. It is nice to see characters that I can relate to, characters that think in a similar fashion to myself!
2. Neither the FMC or the MMC were the typical romance lead. Our lovely FMC, Allison is a brilliant, vivacious, plus-sized woman. I think Allison is a character that is relatable and approachable. And I just loved her brain and thoughts honestly! Colin, oh Colin. In no ways was Colin our normal leading male. He wasn’t this conventionally attractive alpha male, he was attractive in his quirks and his personality. I just really liked how these characters were out of the mold of what we are so used to seeing.
3. So much nerding out. While I’m working on a pharmacology PhD, I appreciate the thinking of all academics. This book is riddled with complex thinking and fun literature.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a sweet romance! (While sex happens, it is fade to black, so pretty appropriate for lots of ages!) I am really enjoying these academic romances and look forward to seeing more from this author!

2.5 but rounded up to a 3

This book has all the tropes that I usually enjoy. Enemies to lovers and second chance romance. However, this book just did not do it for me.

Allison and Colin dated while in undergrad at Brown. They have not spoken in several years and are now in the same graduate cohort and have been assigned to TA with the same professor.

Throughout this book, I really enjoyed Colin’s story and found his cardigan wearing, therapy going self quite charming. He experienced a lot of growth after his time at Brown and I found myself being really drawn to his character. Allison is a different story. I found her to be difficult and rude.

Special thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Make-Up Test deals with Allison and Collin, two exes that reunite at their Ph.D program and compete for a spot on a research trip.

This was a nice experience and for once I got to read a book that deals with exes to lovers with a breakup that truly felt awful. Allison and Collin brought light to the feeling of being an impostor in what is supposed to be your expertise, a theme that we can all relate at some point of our lives.

And of course, the romance. Nothing to say except that they are one of the sweetest couples i read.


Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was expecting to LOVE this book however, it just fell flat for me.The characters were not interesting and the writing style was not good. The overall plot of the book is strong but the conflict/climax didn't do it for me.

2.5/5 stars.

I was really excited when I saw this arc from netgalley come through but overall, it just wasn’t my vibe. This does not mean that it’s a bad book in any way shape or form, it just didn’t connect with me.

The writing was good and the story flowed nicely. I really loved that the mc, Alison, was plus sized. I love seeing other bodies represented in books. There are some heavy topics of body shaming and body insecurity in this book, so be mindful of that if that’s a trigger. I enjoyed seeing Alison grow to be more confident in her body.

Unfortunately, I just couldn’t connect with the characters, Alison and Colin. I honestly wasn’t a big fan of a Colin. He’s definitely not like most of the fictional men that I read and it was refreshing but still not my vibe.

I also couldn’t feel the strong connection between the two characters. I needed a little more chemistry and a few more wow moments.

Even though this book wasn’t up my alley, I do recommend checking it out if you’re into academic rivals and/or second chance love.