This was a super cute read! I especially loved the fat rep and the academia setting! Girl power! I have to say that I wished the MMC would’ve apologized more and in a proper way for the multiple times he messer with Allison’s life. I did love his final groveling though! Ultimately, a fun, quick, and cute read!

The make-up test puts a spotlight on plus size women and everyday difficulties they face. Colin and Allison are so fun to read about. There is humor, academia, competition, romance, and even heartbreak. I really enjoyed that not everything was wrapped into a nice bow at the end. Relationships, familial and romantic, are messy. Sometimes with romance books everything is too easy and perfect - that just isn’t real life. I will say, I know nothing about medieval literature so there were several parts where I found myself confused but for the most part I was able to follow along fairly easily. Overall I’d give this book a 3.5 ⭐️.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and the author for an advanced copy of this book for my honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this book.. I thoroughly enjoyed the last ~30-40% of the book and thought Allison and Colin’s relationship was getting better but there were a lot of red flags for Colin for me. I think their banter was cuter and they started acting like a couple who could work things through. I do think the medieval literature parts of the book went over my head so that could make me dislike the book to an unfair advantage.

This was a great story with such a different premise, the details about pressure and competition during grad school was done in a fresh way. My only hang-up was with Colin, I truly loved Allison and I felt like he messed up one too many times for me, I couldn’t forgive him!

Hello friends! I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of The Make-up Test by Jenny Howe, her debut novel! I rated this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars!

I loved reading this book. We follow Allison as she enters her PhD program at Claymore University, eager to put her past behind her and focus on her future in medieval literature. Unfortunately for her, the past isn’t so easily forgotten. Her ex-boyfriend and rival Colin is in her same PhD program, and they’re both competing for the same advisee position with a prestigious professor. Can Allison and Colin look past their shared history? Or will the past repeat itself? Find out how they navigate this new terrain and relationship in this wonderful contemporary romance.

I thought Howe did an excellent job presenting a fresh take and really made you invested in the characters- there were times I was ready to strangle Colin myself! Not only that, but I love she placed this in the hard truth realities of academia. My only gripe is the ending felt rushed and I’m not sure Colin’s ending made sense with his truth throughout most of the book.

A big thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the chance to read this eARC!

Will be posted on instagram @navarro_books on September 9, 2022 in anticipation of the release

The Make-Up Test is a body-positive, enemies-to-lovers romance, As a fat girl myself, I appreciated the struggles Allison faced - with accepting herself as-is while dealing with the negativity from the outside world (including her own father). However, I feel that the story got bogged down in the details. There was way too much descriptive language and I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the comparisons. Also, the references to medieval literature went over my head. I'm more of a contemporary fiction afficianado. Nonetheless, I'd like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

A good, quick read romance with fun (for me at least) references to Medieval literature.

I do have to say, though, that I might be showing my age (47), where I was a little frustrated with Allison. I realize Colin was supposed to be the evil ex-boyfriend, but I found him nothing if not charming, flirty, and right off the bat not seemingly with ulterior motives., For me, Allison read a bit narcissistic and not willing to listen or keep an open mind. My late-forty year old self kept wanting to reason with her.

Despite my personal experience (?), I would recommend the book. It was a nice take on the pressures of growing up with an un-supportive, fat shaming adult, and the will and want to prove your worth to yourself and find and make your place in world.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I wanted to LOVE this book, but it has a few issues. 1) There is a lot of mention of medieval scripts and well, it makes sense given their jobs, it was a lot - and I don't mind medieval - and it was still a lot. Perhaps if you're really into medieval, this might be perfect for you. 2) The dude sucks. He's okay and I think some of the things he's done are to make it more enemies-to-lovers, but he was her ex-boyfriend. He was sort of a snake. He's very one-dimensional. He reminds me of the men that you date but you really shouldn't and then you let them walk all over you and fifteen years later you're like "huh, this man sucks". He is intimidated by her smarts which is a red flag in my opinion. I don't like it. 3) The pandemic is referenced in this book which is crazy and I don't mind references to current topics but it's still weird because of how LITTLE it's mentioned, why include it at all?

I'd say it's a 2-3 stars. It has some stuff but it's not perfect.

I received an ARC of this through netgalley. I enjoyed the book for the most part but I just didn’t really like Colin (the love interest). He seemed so whiney and insecure which is a personal turn off. I loved the graduate school setting and the references to midieval literature but did not like the constant references to the main characters weight. I just wish size could be a non-issue. Over all I liked the book and would read more from the author!

I went into this thinking it would be a quick and easy, romantic read. What I ended up with was an intelligent, smartly written, thought provoking book I was not anticipating.
The academic rivalry/second chance romance trope may actually be one of my favorites now.
This book had plus-size representation done well and done respectfully. It dealt with emotional childhood/family trauma and bullying from her father in regards to her weight. In this regard, I rather appreciated that although it did affect her, she did show shame in her body or her weight and was proud of who she was.
I was immediately impressed when PMDD was casually mentioned in a thought from our FMC but just in passing. PMDD isn't a widely discussed condition and it should be. So, although it was never gone into, I do think it would lead to some readers possibly researching to see what it actually is. In turn, this helps to elevate the discussion on women's health and take the taboo out of talking about cycle health.
The relationship between Allison and Colin was well rounded and felt real and relatable. It didn't just skim over their past but had them unpack the issues they had in their relationship and allowed communication which opened up the second chance.
I appreciated the development in not just the main characters but her school mates and her family, as well as the grandfather of Colin's. The only one I had any issue with was Sophie. What we did get to know of her was alright, but I do think there could have been a bit more depth there?
It touched on real topics, such as the PMDD, dementia, failure, emotional traumas, and the pressures of academia.
Overall, 4.5 stars. I haven't had a romance/RomCom have such a thought provoking effect on me and I applaud Howe for her execution of this and for producing an amazing piece of work.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC eBook in exchange for my honest review.

Rom com focused on medieval literature students who reconnect after a tough breakup. The story was fine, but it felt hard to connect to the main character and her issues with her best friend or her father as it seemed the storylines were discussed randomly at times. Kudos though to the body positivity and the main character being an intellectual rather.

I love a good college/grad school romance. This book was so much more than that. Add in a little competition, heartbreak, family issues, comedic relief, and a whole lot of personal growth and you have a true winner. Loved this story. 4.25 stars.

I received this arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A fun romantic read for anyone with a degree in English or who enjoys books. This was a fun story to read because of the characters in the academia setting. It kept my interest and had some heart. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This book had tropes I both love and one that I hate, but the good outweighed the bad. I love a good academic rivals to lovers, as well as a second (and third) chance romance so I'll forgive the miscommunication in the third act nonsense. I really did enjoy this book!! Allison Avery is the FMC I didn't know I needed. She's far from perfect, but she doesn't shame herself for her shortcomings. Yes, she's overly competitive. She's an overachiever. She jumps to conclusions and even makes worst case scenario lists for everything. But she has no shame in that. It's what makes her so relatable. I'm in love with her journey over the course of this book, especially in regards to her father. There was a few occasions where I felt like the romance with Colin was a little rushed. Overall 4.5 stars!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was one of those simple reads with some good personal resolutions. I liked that we got to read from a plus sized character!

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I got into it, I was hooked! I love books with college settings so that was a huge plus for me. I enjoyed the twists. and thought the author did a great job keeping the reader engaged and interested.

The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe is a fun and delightful rom-com debut. I've been so excited to read this book ever since it was announced because of it's exes to enemies to lovers trope. Allison and Collin's rivalrous dynamic was perfect and it was very satisfying to see them slowly fall back in love. I also love that the book addresses some more serious topics while still remaining a rom-com. I'm excited to read more books by Jenny L. Howe. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe in exchange for an honest review.

thank you netgalley for an ARC of this book!

this was pretty solid. the characters were both pretty likeable. i liked how slowburn it was but i wish there was more of an explanation for their past together. once they got together, it was pretty fast. overall a fun and easy read!

Allison and Colin used to date in undergrad, but he dumped her after beating her for a prestigious award. They reconnect in their PhD program about medieval literature as they compete for the spot of advisee to their teacher.

This book was so good! I’m a sucker for confident fat main characters and second chance romances and this gave me all of that. I instantly fell in love with Colin (I know we were supposed to hate him but him and his cardigans and cat themed undergarments were so dang endearing) and I think the relationship between them was tense and flirty and fun. I devoured this book in less than a day, which always lends itself to being a highly rated book.

I'm not saying The Make-Up Test is one of my favorite books of 2022 but.... I'm not NOT saying that. This was so sweet and heartfelt and tender, I really cannot rave about this enough. It sucker punched me and I'm worried I'll never quite recover from the emotions I felt when [redacted for spoilers, read the book so you know what I"m talking about!!].