The Make-Up Test is a second chance, rivals to lovers romance set in the world of academia. While I enjoyed reading the book and finished it, it’s not one I could see myself purchasing or reading again.

I would say the best part of the book was having a fat heroine comfortable with herself, but still showing some of the insecurities that can still pop up.

Other than that, I had a hard time getting myself emotionally invested into this story. The romance between Allison and Colin seemed to have some major toxicity because they were rivals in the same program, which was made worse when they agreed to just not talk about that part of their relationship. The ending also felt rushed with several story lines being resolved in what felt like just a few pages.

As a side-note, there are quite a few references to medieval literature in this book. While knowledge of it isn’t needed to read this book, I also felt sort of disconnected from a huge part of this book because of it.

*Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC and provide my thoughts on it!*

I think the best way to describe this book is “not at all subtle”. All of the themes, dynamics, and characterizations are blatantly and repetitively told to the reader. It’s obvious that the author knows a lot about literature, but it took up way too much of the page. I think a dual POV could’ve helped bring in more subtlety for both of the main characters. Unfortunately this was a miss for me.

ARC BOOK REVIEW

The Makeup Test
By Jenny Howe

Publishing date: 9/13/2022

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 = Rounded to 4

Allison is grad school student, working on her Ph.D in medieval literature- she even landed a teaching assistant job with one of her idols.   Everything is going according to plan, until she discovers her EX BOYFRIEND Colin, has also been assigned the same teaching assistant job- this can't be happening right?! ( why is he even at her school?!)  Colin,  is the one academic challenge standing in her way-this can't be happening!!!

However, once their teaching advisor announces that only one student can remain her TA  and accompany her on a trip to to Europe, Allison realizes she must beat Colin. She deserves this- she is the expert! She didn't even know Colin liked medieval lit?

Hating Colin is easy.....until its not. After a night of drinking, he drives her 4 hours to see her dieing ( mentally abusive) father in the hospial and is....nice, thougthful, caring.....oh no. Is Allison falling for Colin again?! Will she be able to stop these feelings?! She HAS to beat him...she deserves this teaching position and trip to Europe. How will she navigate this? Can she keep her feelings seperate from her work?

Review: I liked this alot! It kept my interest easily, and I liked the college/academic setting. The story also tackled some real world issues such as,  "fat " shaming, mental abuse from family members, and plus size acceptance. I felt like I really related with Allison because I was once a plus size woman and felt the struggle.

This won't be a book that stays with me for a long time, but it was a pleasant read that was quick and flowed nicely.

If you like second chance romance, and enemies to lovers, give this a go !
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This was a fun book, but it didn't hold my attention very well. A lot of the drama and conversations felt repetitive. I feel like it could have been over way before it was. It was hard to connect to the characters and I found both of them a little annoying.

3.25/5 ☆

Thank you SMP and NetGalley for the ARC!

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. I came into it thinking it would be another typical academic rivals plot, and it was, but what I really liked was Allison, the main female character. I thought she was very relatable and the plus size rep was written well. Allison is very comfortable and confident with her body and I really enjoyed that. I also just loved how passionate she was about medieval literature - so passionate that she was scared to fail at teaching. I think it really embodies what happens often in prestigious graduate programs: imposter syndrome.

I didn't love Colin. He just seemed all over the place and didn't know how to communicate to Allison. Their rekindling wasn't really developed that well. I understand that they have history and that may bring up feelings from the past, but that was it. They barely spent time together outside from their graduate group gatherings. I think if we had a dual POV and got to see things from Colin's end, that would've helped. Colin just seemed very meh and hard to connect to.

Tropes:
-Academic rivals
-Second chance
-Fat FMC

Allison Avery claims confidence and comfort. She’s secure in her identity as a plus-size woman, student, and scholar. She has it all together with a perfect plan. Except for the fact that the men in her life — men she would rather forget — keep popping back up. Between an aggressive, aggravating email from her estranged father and her ex-boyfriend’s reappearance at what is supposed to be *her* graduate program, Allison quickly resorts to both defensiveness and competitiveness. As if it weren’t enough that Colin Benjamin, the boy she loved but can’t trust, is in her PhD cohort, he’s on the same track as her, and er dream thesis advisor can only take on one student. It’s either her or Colin, and this time, Allison is determined to come out on top, no matter the cost. In time though, Colin works his way back into her good graces, and Allison is able to let her guard down again, risking the hurt she swore she’d never again endure.

The debut delicately handles several sensitive topics including, obesity/fat phobia, the aftermath of the pandemic, and strained parental relationships. Howe handles these topics delicately and with ease. Set in a post-Covid era, there are few references to the disruption to daily life and the ensuing trauma outside of a few mentions of online classes and masks. It felt sufficient and not overkill. The fat phobia is handled well, too, and Howe balances the discrepancy between Allison’s confidence and self-worth and the way that society views women in plus-sized bodies. Whether Allison admits it or not, there’s a level of the lady doth protest too much when it comes to her body confidence, which rings true. Also accurate was Allison’s complicated relationship with her divorced parents— her closeness and protectiveness of her single mother and the contempt she felt for her father all folded nicely into Allison’s self-worth and how she interacted with Colin and others.

Though at times a little formulaic, it’s a sweet debut with a niche audience. Even for those not in academia, Allison is a relatable protagonist and her path to finding herself and forgiving the men in her life felt complete.

I'm sorry, but I couldn't finish this book. I gave up halfway through when I realized, not only didn't I especially care about the characters, I didn't even LIKE the main character. There are very few books that I give up reading. I usually can find some redeeming quality... In this instance, I did enjoy the academic setting, especially as a former English major. The literary references were interesting to me.

But there were too many characters, and then their nicknames as well, to keep up with. And Allison was simply a brat. She lied and manipulated people to get what she wanted, and was continually immature and self-centered through the entire first half of the book. All I kept thinking was, I felt sorry for whoever ended up with her!

Once I realized that I had to move on to another story.

Despite the DNF, thank you to Jenny L. Howe, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advance review copy.

FAIL.

Oh how I wasted an evening reading this book.

This is marketed as a ROMANCE, so I fully expect my main couple to spend time together and have some flirty banter, maybe some angsty looks and be begging them to kiss. This second chance romance gave me none of that. Most of pages were spent dissecting other literature books (like Beowulf) for the main characters PhD program. I did not care. I still do not care.

There was also a lot of obvious page filler scenes. Gimmicky games like, two truths and a lie, scrabble, a quiz night. They didn’t add anything to the story because they barely even involved the love interest, Colin.

I had some other issues with other page filler things as well. And I never felt connected to the romance. I think I was exhausted from skimming over a lot of hoopla that anytime the couple actually had tie to talk (or actually, argue) I wasn’t feeling it.

I’m going to stop here, this one just did not work for me.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Romance
- Language: some
- Romance: one open door
- Trigger/Content Warnings: fat shaming, emotionally abusive father

The Make-Up Test is rivals to lovers with a body positivity story. I adored it so much! It was such a good story. Allison and Colin are exes and they assigned to be TA's together in grad school. They have a rough history and do not work together well. When they are forced to work together they battle it out to prove to their professor who's a better fit for the research trip. Colin and Allison soon realized they still have feels for each other and have to choose between love or their dream opportunity. The Make-Up Test was a charming and surprisingly deep read. I couldn't stop reading once I started!

I loved the academic setting of this novel and the unique field (medieval literature)! I liked Allison, the protagonist, but I really, really do not love second chance romances. There are very few situations in which they deserve a second chance, in my opinion. I didn't love this one. I did feel like Colin changed, that he was a different person from before, but I didn't feel like his explanation for what went wrong between the first time was satisfying. I didn't like Allison's reaction to it; it felt out of character for her to just kinda sweep it under the rug and proceed with the relationship. It just didn't all sit right with me and I couldn't really get behind them getting back together.

2.5 rounded down. I went Into this book not sure what to expect, but I don’t think academia romances are enjoyable to me anymore. Rivals to lovers and second chance romance are favorite romance tropes of mine so I was wanted to give it a try. However, this just didn’t do it for me. Colin was not likable at all, either were his descriptions. Their romance never made me feel anything but annoyance that she saw anything in him. I loved the plus size representation and the issues and prejudice that comes along with that. I liked how the author dealt with toxic family and grief. Overall it was a well written book it just didn’t make me feel that loving feeling. Just because this wasn’t for me doesn’t mean it you won’t enjoy it! Definitely give it a try if you like medieval literature, academia rival/romance. If you enjoyed “The Love Hypothesis” you’ll probably enjoy this.

***Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review***

I haven’t stopped smiling since I finished this book! This is a debut novel, but I really couldn’t tell. I love Colin and Alison’s story so much. If you enjoy reading about second chance love, lovers to enemies back to lovers, and found family you will love this story!

I love that the FMC is plus size and the MMC is kind of a dork. It’s not your typical love story in the best way.

The book is written in third party point of view which took some getting used to. I do wish we could have also had some POV’s from Colin’s perspective, but overall I loved the writing and the storyline kept me engaged the whole way through! And there’s even a little bit of spice which is always a plus!

I can’t wait to read more from Jenny in the future!

I thought this book was pretty cute. I think I glossed over at the beginning what the definition of WCS was, and since it was used so much in the book, I ended up having to go back and find it at the beginning. I liked that the main characters were a stick thin guy and a plus-size girl—it’s a nice change from the guy with a six pack and the girl with slender hips and a flat stomach. It definitely made them feel more relatable to the average person. Overall, it was a sweet book, and worth a read!

Allison Avery is a PhD student with a love of medieval literature deeply ingrained in her. She is working as a TA under a highly admired distinguished professor, who has another TA also: Colin, Allison’s ex from their undergrad years at Brown. Colin is handsome and charismatic, and Allison is haunted by their past. Their professor reveals that by the end of the semester, one of the two TAs will be chosen to be her advisee and go on the trip of a lifetime to see medieval literature relics. As the competition between Allison and Colin heats up, old feelings come rushing back to the surface.

There were many positives to this book that are incredibly endearing. A sweet corgi puppy; a woman who is plus-sized and wears it with pride instead of shame; references to beautiful medieval literature. There are also aspects that are now sweet, but that are so raw and real that they give depth to Allison: a fraught relationship with her father and her struggle during his final days; bodily insecurities, despite her outward confidence; feelings of being left behind by her best friend. The positives and negatives that weave a rich tapestry of character and give us a very flawed and very lovable heroine that we want to root for.

However.

I simply could not root for this romance because I absolutely detest Colin.

An egotistical, selfish, immature caricature of an academic. I was so disappointed in Allison’s attraction to him because his only personality traits are being tall and thin, and having a large ego. The way he was described is also incredibly off-putting. As a reader, I’m supposed to find Colin attractive so I root for the romance. But with descriptions like “an isosceles triangle” or “elvish,” I can’t help but picture a pretentious Jack Skellington. I couldn’t stand him and was actively rooting for Allison to come to the conclusion that she was better off alone. Alas, they ended up together anyway. I’ll give them a year.

This seemed a little too YA for MCs in their mid-20s. Too immature for me.

Very excited that I got to read this before the published date! This book gave us lovers to ex-lovers to academic rivals back to lovers! A great book that had quirky characters that also are strong and independent. With both main characters fighting for a school position, they pulled out all the stops to be the best TA around. It was a heartfelt story with you rooting for the main character and her journey to find love!

Jenny L. Howe created some very likable, and some even lovable, characters in her novel The Make-Up Test. While it took me a few chapters to really get wrapped up in the story, I found it to be very well written and it offered some very much-needed comedic relief. This novel stands apart from others I have read lately in the sense it that had depth, moral and ethical battles, important life lessons we all face, and still managed to have just the right amount of romance and spice to accompany it. One other thing that I thoroughly enjoyed about this book was the fact that the characters aren't described to be models. They are REAL characters. Allison is what the synopsis describes as "unequivocally fat positive" along with her best friend Sophie. Then you have Colin. Colin isn't the man we normally get in our novels with the ripped abs and shredded biceps. Instead, he is tall and lanky. He is nerdy with a wide variety of cardigans. He wears big glasses, but he never has a hair out of place. Overall, this is an adorable read that is very different from the books that are popular right now. I did enjoy it.

Two exes reunite after years and are both forced to TA together as they compete for a spot on a coveted research project. Allison Avery has finally been accepted into her dream Ph.D. program at Claymore University, studying medieval literature under a professor she’s always admired. The only hiccup? She is being forced to TA with her ex who not only broke her heart, stole academic credit, and is now back to steal another academic opportunity from her. Colin Benjamin was the guy that Allison was in love with except he stole an award that she had wanted so badly and then promptly broke up with her a day later telling her he just wants to focus on himself. Now he is back and acting as if they can reconnect and trying to be nice to her again. But then when a family emergency has her panicking and him offering to help, they reconnect and open up to each other again... except once again Allison walks into another betrayal from Colin and this time, it just might be the last straw for her. I’ll say this, if I ever dated someone and they did what Colin did to her, I would never forgive them, I would not give them a second chance, and I would not give them the time of day. As someone who has dealt with people trying to take credit for my own academic work, I immediately disliked Colin and my growing dislike for him only grew worse as the book went on. Colin is not a great person, in fact I completely sided with Allison’s friend Sophie who questions why Allison is giving him the time or day a second time after he completely ruined her the first time, and the fact that she recalls all the things he did and said, the way he treated her? Come on Allison, do better. This man did not change from how he was, and the way they broke up in the third act and the reason for what he did? Nah. NAH NAH NAH. No way would I ever let that man even talk to me again. Let me say this, I appreciated Allison trying to do her best and her anger was justified, what I did not appreciate was her just letting herself be pulled into the orbit that is Colin. This romance just did not work for me, I was expecting academic enemies to lovers but with a bit more substance or at least fun banter, what I wasn’t expecting was being infuriated while reading this and just overall upset that in the end she was lulled back with this man. So while this one wasn’t for me, definitely give it a go though if you are looking for second chance romances.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This is one of my most anticipated reads of this year. A second chance, academic rivals romance? Take my money.
The story was set in a highly intellectual world. The competing, working together, having presentations, assisting, everything added a realistic touch to Allison & Colin's relationship. I loved their chemistry & banter.

That being said it's hard to like Allison. She is a person who always jumped to conclusions without thinking or even with any kind of evidence. Even after knowing about Colin's insecurities, she uses it to hurt him, when she thinks that he stole something important of her-again without even knowing the whole story.

And Colin was a goddamn Saint. A cinnamon roll hero who tried to make it up to Allison for his past mistakes. And here this, HE was the one to make a grand gesture at the end, even when HE wasn't at fault and even when HIS life was falling apart due to various other reasons.
Overall I enjoyed the growth of the characters & body positivity rep.

Thank you Netgalley & Publisher for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

Thank you to Jenny L. Howe, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of a digital advanced reviewer copy in exchange for an honest review!

Plus-sized representation. Smart. Forced proximity

"Maybe, instead, she'd aim for better. Because better meant there was always more to learn."

REVIEW:
This book follows Allison Avery, a determined and competitive Ph.D. medieval literature candidate at Claymore University. Allison wants to impress her parents, especially her "never-satisfied" father by excelling in the program of her dreams, while working under the professor that will fast-track her dream career. The only thing standing in her way is Colin... her ex-boyfriend that somehow got into the same university, with the same study, and the same mentor professor as her. The stakes get even higher when the professor has to cut of them as a mentee and miss out of an international trip of a lifetime. Will Allison and Colin battle it out to the death, or will they discover something more important than winning?

I thought the storyline was cute. I loved the academia setting and the literature references. I appreciated seeing the female lead as a strong individual with goals and ambitions. My heart wrenched for Allison to see her struggling relationship with her father. But I wanted to see more struggle between Allison and Colin. It seemed like they found their "happy ever after" too early in the book and the author had to cram in their relationship struggle at the end. I also felt that the resolution was too far of a reach. I appreciated seeing the plus-sized representation in this book and the subtle references that accompany real life issues plus-sized individuals.

Based on the description I really wanted to love The Make-up Test: academia setting, body positive heroine, second chances, but I stopped reading this book at the 30% point. I could not get into it. I felt like the exposition went on for far too long and I wasn't emotionally connecting with any of the characters. I know others have really loved this book, but sadly it was not the book for me.
2.5 stars for the first 30%.