THIS BOOK IS A HIT! I laughed and cried, seriously. We follow the journey of Colin and Allison, who two exes who find themselves in the same prestigious English PhD program. The pacing of this book was probably my favorite part. Unlike many romances who follow the same formatting (we all know the 70-80% break up), this book followed slightly different pacing, which I found to be a relief. I love an academia book and The Make Up Test does not disappoint!

*I first want to say thank you for NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I loved this book. The two main characters Allison and Colin are two sides of the same coin, and their adventure in grad school to become the sole TA to the medieval literature is the driving force in this novel. Allison and Colin are exes from undergrad, and it is Allison's nightmare that she comes face to face with her ex-boyfriend who broke her heart.

The story is well rounded in the conflicts that come up not only between Colin and Allison, but also Allison and her ailing father, who comments negatively about her weight. I love that Allison isn't afraid of the word "fat" because it's society that attaches a negative connotation to it even though it may be an apt descriptor. She takes hold of her body and how people get to talk about it. Like Olivia Dad, Jenny L. Howe gives great representation to fat characters and how they shouldn't apologise for their size.

The one thing that didn't flow smoothly for me was that the third-act conflict seemed to be resolved too quickly. I am glad for the HEA, but I felt like there could have been more added to make the resolution feel more realistic or deserved. I cannot wait to read more from Jenny L. Howe in the future (but let's celebrate her debut now)!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars (rounded up to 4 on here)

First let me start by saying that I REALLY wanted to LOVE this. I had heard such good things about this book and I love that the MCs are PhD students. However, I think that the characters just fell flat for me and it was a struggle getting into the beginning of the book and connected with the characters. I think the author did such a wonderful job with representing the plus size MC and I think that this needs to be in more books. However, she just appeared so entitled and mean at times to the people in her life who do support her. I think that she does a good job of some development in her character and shows a great job of setting boundaries with her parents. I think this is soo important to point out because a lot of times people will bend over backwards for family and not set boundaries with them. However, I do have to say that it doesn’t seem like she applies those same boundaries with her friends at times. Overall, I do think it was a wonderful storyline and I think once it started picking up for me about 35% of the way in, I wanted to keep reading it to see what else was going to happen with the characters and see how they might develop.

The Make-Up Test, Jenny L. Howe
September 13, 2022, St. Martin's Griffin
⭐⭐⭐

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Make-Up Test does what rom coms do best. A fun, romantic book, but with heart. Allison, our plus size heroine, finds herself competing for a coveted TA position against her ex boyfriend, Colin, who broke her heart 2 years earlier. I wanted to hate Colin, I really did, but Howe weaves the story in such a way I ended up rooting for the couple to get back together, as I also was rooting for other personal, professional and academic successes for the pair.

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #chicklit #beachread #summerread @jennylhowe #stmartinsgriffin #arc #netgalley @netgalley #themakeuptest

Well pals, here we are again, with another advance review! I was super excited to snag this one early through NetGalley, and after finishing it I’m here to tell you all the things I liked, and maybe didn’t about this highly anticipated release.

As always, a huge thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for this ARC, thoughts below are my own, enjoy!

I’ll rip the bandaid right off early and share: I didn’t love this. Which I cannot tell you all how much this PAINS me to write. I’ve been sitting here post-read, processing and trying to formulate all the thoughts and feelings I had throughout. Hoping I would be able to put together some level of coherent ramblings, that would best convey all the reasons why.

So, the premise I actually really loved. Here we have two Ph.D candidates in medieval literature that are exes, who need to compete for a placement? Oh and one of them broke the others heart years earlier? And we have diverse body representation? Okay. YES to all of that right? My friends where did we all go wrong?

I think where some other academia based books have done well, this one hits the ground running with some deep-cuts that often times left me feeling like a legitimate dumb dumb. Once I worked through making sense of the references, I finally started to get a sense of our main characters. Who I gotta tell ya, I COULD not empathize with.

And really it wasn’t for a lack of trying (both on my and the authors part). I wanted to love this and these main characters so badly. Allison is competitive to a fault, and Colin is kind of a dick?

Truly one of the most moving and resonate bits of writing ends up coming from Professor Wendy when she’s writing to Allison after (spoiler incoming) the death of her father. Those two-and-bit paragraphs had more, depth, more heart and more conviction in any of the rest of novel. Ugh.

Also like POOR Monty, our kind of random (but very cute) Corgi plot-device that often times felt a little uh, neglected? Add to this conflict with Allison’s long time bff and roommate, the fatphopbic and misogynistic colleague, the inexplicable tension between her and her mom, her dad being a covid denying asshole. All while trying to sort out what the central love story is here? Your guess is as good as mine.

Like I said, I wanted to love this, right down to the tips of my toes, and yet I am sitting here feeling all types of ways. I kept thinking, PICK a struggle. Be less. Be more. Why DO WE EVEN LIKE COLIN? IS ANYONE LOOKING AFTER MONTY?! OH THERE IS ALSO A CAT NOW?

Friends, it did not work for me, but that’s not to say it might work for you! Grab The Make-Up Test wherever you get your books when it lands in stores and online September 13th 2022.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars.

I wanted to love this, I really, really wanted to love this. But I didn’t like either of the characters. And how you gonna have a fat heroine, describe the hero as skinny and bony, and then mention her putting on his cardigan??? What? In? The? Sisterhood? Of? The? Traveling? Pants?

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This is a great rivals to lover’s book in an academic setting. This is one of my favorite Troupes and I love every second of this book. I think the author did loads of research to make sure the academic was right. I loved this book and I could not put it down. This book does have some heavy topics and handles them with care.

Oh boy did I not enjoy this one.
The “hero” is such a horrible person with no redeeming qualities. The hero does something that, for me, is pretty unforgivable. He makes no apologies or grovel, so I was not happy the heroine ended up with him.
The rest of the book wasn’t too bad but the hero ruined my experience.

I was so excited to pick up this rivals to lovers romance with a side of second chance, knowing that this premise promises tension galore, but I don't think this romance entirely delivered. While I really enjoyed reading the flashbacks, I wasn't too interested in returning to the present day. Colin could be a rather frustrating character to follow whose growth we hardly witness or can comprehend, and I did not enjoy the grand gesture at the end of the book, nor that part of the book featured miscommunication. Lastly, often times, the conversation around medieval times or the pre-1800 lit took me out of the story as they did not exactly align with my interests.

On the other hand, it is evident the author handled the plus size representation with care. I think her writing had an easy flow to it. I appreciated reading about a setting we do not often see in romance - graduate school.

This adult contemporary romance takes place in academia with a plus-sized main character with a passion for medieval literature!

I really enjoyed the academic setting, and with so many STEM-related books coming out, it was a nice little change that gives fun representation to other academics! The academic rivals aspect in this book was certainly interesting since it followed the lovers to rivals to lovers to rivals to lovers again path instead of the more typical and simplified rivals to lovers path. What made this path so complicated was the abundance of miscommunication between characters, which seemed to be a large part of their personalities, especially Colin's. I can't blame Allison for her reactions to Colin's academic actions as I would've been taken aback as well, but I would've liked to see better communication from Colin's end as he seemed to act without explaining well and it made their relationship messier than it needed to be. Admittedly, I can't say I'm a fan of Colin as a character and it made it a little harder to like him and Allison together.

I loved Allison as a character and her persistence in following her dreams. I was even more delighted to see the author largely based on herself! Watching Allison invest in herself made her easier to root for, especially when her familial problems persisted. I love seeing a character set boundaries and goals and Allison certainly delivered. Her growth is really what stood out to me in this book. The writing style was great and overall I really enjoyed the book and think it's a great debut!

I. Loved. This. Book.

It is SO refreshing to see the heroine be fat-and unapologetic about it. I also love the author reclaiming “fat” -yes it’s a descriptor, but it doesn’t have to be negative. It was a piece of who Allison was, but it wasn’t her whole existence. My goodness, more of this from EVERYONE PLEASE! And more from this author. Highly recommend.

Overall I liked this book! It was a long slow burn that didn’t really get going until about halfway through for me. I enjoyed their academic rivalry, but it felt really repetitive and not as enjoyable to me as I thought it would. The ending also left me wanting more. I also thought fatness was brought up as a plot point too often for my taste. As a fat woman, I understood where she was coming from, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

“She was a library, full of stories and words and definitions”

This book is beautiful. It’s real and raw and messy and beautiful. Allison Avery is a PhD candidate with a focus on medieval literature, and her very worst ex-boyfriend shows up to try to steal her dream spot—again. At the same time, Allison’s navigating growing apart from her best friend, making new friends in her cohort, and managing her parents’ expectations for her. The Make-Up Test handles a variety of situations with such kindness towards its main character.

I’m just a little bit biased, since it feels like the book was written about an alternate universe version of me, but I loved nearly everything about this book. I especially love the way it handles fat representation in a way that actually, you know, represents fat people. Allison doesn’t hate herself or her body, and while she has times when she’s frustrated by society’s view of her body, she never feels the need or acts on a desire to make herself smaller to fit in. Her fatness is never fetishized or made into a moral failing in the narration—it’s just a fact of her body and her experience in the world.

I also love that every thread isn’t tied neatly in a bow. Early in the novel, Allison expresses a love for stories that leave the characters in a place where they can continue to grow, and that’s exactly what she gives us. The big questions are answered, so the ending doesn’t feel unsatisfying, but every character and relationship has room to grow and change. It’s a book I’ll reread several times and still be thinking about long after I’m done.

I simply do not think this book has ANY of the vibes you are looking for. This was totally a YA plot slapped onto an adult setting. The characters were terribly immature, made horrible decisions, and were unlikeable. Especially Colin Benjamin. Yes his full name Colin Benjamin nearly every time with his knobby knees and hazel eyes. He was described in the book as a stoic elven figure and I saw god in this Chili’s tonight. He wears cardigans and nothing else. Yes he is described as being buck naked wearing only a cardigan. Hopefully you don’t want to end this book still loving your cardigans. He cries at the end of horror movies because he’s “so happy the villain is caught.”

✨

He stole her accomplishments in the past and came right back to steal them again in the present and made zero smart decisions. There was not one page of this book where I liked that man. The initial description of him was enough for me to understand just how not into him I am. Ichabod Crane. Literally that was our comparison.

He was also just a really shitty person in the past and nothing about present him makes it any better. He actively makes it worse! On several occasions! I hated how in the past he told her to ignore a fatphobic comment at a restaurant and pulled HER out of the restaurant after she defended herself. But in the present he’s her white knight? There was no explanation nor evidence that he made ANY change to that side of his character. It was basically like “he changed.” How? Why? Magic? Deal with the devil?

She actively tried to describe him as “not like other guys” and while I appreciate the sentiment it was incredibly off putting. He seemed neither real nor a good person who I’d want to spend more than five minutes talking to. He has a devil’s advocate personality and that should sun EVERYTHING you need to know about him up. If you were an English major (or other majors but I only speak from my experience), you know the exact type. There’s always at least one in every cohort.

✨

Sexy scrabble was not sexy but come on did you really think it was going to be? I suppose you did since Ali Hazelwood calls it sizzling but again did you really think that was going to be the case? There was *sex* but it was vague and he climaxed off the page and I also just didn’t want to see him getting off so I was happy it was basically closed door. Obviously after the sex scene they had so much sex but it was all summed up. Miss me with that wishy washy “there’s sex but also the book is the complete opposite of sexy” tendency a lot of recent contemporaries have.

✨

Half of this book is talking about and close reading medieval texts like we give two shits and I just really can’t be bothered and that was my favorite section in Brit lit. It really read like you needed to know all of these works coming into the book. It’s interesting in a vacuum but did nothing for half of the book.

The third act breakup was laughably horrible and made me so angry. He straight up fucked her over and made decisions for her AGAIN and was intimidated by her smarts like he was in the past. I short-circuited I really did. His “redemption” was just ridiculous and flat. The romance was half baked and left literally everything to be desired. Or not desired really. I was never turn on.

✨

Overall, the ending absolutely ruined the book even more than I thought possible. There was an attempted redemption of her father that I found wholly expected and unnecessary. I appreciated her dealing with him for some of the book which was nice. I liked the representation of fatness here and I really appreciated Allison’s relationship with her body. The author includes a nice note at the beginning and it felt like a very sincere book if anything. I also liked this line a lot: She wanted to swim in these feelings like a pool of gold.

I loved this book! The characters felt real and engaging and I loved seeing a fat protagonist in romance, which is criminally rare! I also really enjoyed the college setting and the rivalry between Allison and Colin!

I loved this romance! It was refreshing to see a plus-sized main character and Jenny Howe wrote her beautifully.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year because I adore all of the tropes! It has: a second chance romance and academic rivals to lovers. It also has plus size rep and a cardigan wearing hero. I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately it missed the mark for me.

Allison Avery is a hard-working grad student pursuing a TA position with a professor who teaches in her dream field of medieval literature. It seems like everything is falling into place until it’s announced that there will be two TA’s, the second being none other than Allison’s ex, Colin Benjamin. Allison and Colin dated during undergrad but Colin’s competitive nature led to a (much needed imo) breakup.

While I loved Allison and was invested in her journey to cut ties with her toxic father, Colin was not my favourite for the majority of the book. We see Allison and Colin’s relationship play out in flashbacks and I found it hard to forget the Colin of the past when reading about the current version. I would’ve liked to see some actual growth from Colin instead of the heroine insisting that he’s “changed” when readers saw none of it.

This book has the miscommunication trope in the third act. I adored the grand gesture Colin did to win back Allison but it felt too rushed for me. I needed more grovelling to get on board with Allison forgiving him.

Overall, this book has some fun tropes but my dislike for the hero overshadowed it. I spent the entire book focused on Allison’s personal journey and not the romance, which fell flat.

2.5 stars

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

3.5 stars

I love a good second chance novel and at first I wasn't sure if that's where this one was going. Avery is finally starting her PhD program in medieval literature, which is a dream come true until she finds out that her ex is starting the exact same program. Which is a huge shock since he was so not interested in this kind of lit when they were together. Who she hasn't seen since he dumped here 2 years prior, after making her feel humiliated when he swooped in on an award she'd been working towards her whole college career.

But it soon becomes obvious something has changed about Colin since then. Which unfortunately for Avery, she has to find out a little as she goes when they both are assigned to TA with the same professor. The author did a really great job at balancing the revelations of Colin's past shitty behavior with the revelations of his current ways he's changed.

I really appreciated Avery and her relationship with her body. She is a fat woman and likes who she is, how she dresses, and how she looks. She has past trauma around this because of how her father treated and verbally abused her in her childhood, but she hasn't let it impact her body image. However, the relationship with her father is so not great to the point of potentially cutting him off. That relationship is portrayed very well, but oof, protect yourself if you're not up to reading about that!

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and the romance. I will say there is a tad too much of medieval literature, I glossed over it when it got too much!

There is one unfortunate use of gender essentialist joke that was totally unnecessary: "Allison responded by noting his (obviously) small manhood, causing him to spin around, his face to the color of a tomato." I did not catch anything else like this but I do wish this was removed as it would not impact the book or this specific section at all.

CW: past history of body shaming, death off page, parental verbal abuse, dementia

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the eARC of The Make Up Test by Jenny L. Howe.

The Make-Up Test follows Allison on her journey to be the highest achieving person in any room and on her way to becoming a college professor. While I enjoyed the academia setting, I will admit sometimes struggled with the jargon surrounding class Allison and Colin were TAs for.

Also, I'll be honest I didn't understand the "spark" between Allison and Colin which was of course a huge part of the novel. It just suddenly happened and then that was that. I felt like it didn't ever build for me.

The best part of the book for me was Allison navigating her relationship with her father and the pressures her mother put on her surrounding it. I found myself rereading those passages and shaking my head with understanding and frustration for her.

Overall, I'd give this 3 stars.

Let me start off by saying - UCal Berkeley has never been any way shape or form , the name for UC Berkeley or Cal.

Big. Pet. Peeve.

Secondly - a lot of the technicalities of being a grad PHD program were so unrealistic.

With that said - the emotional toil that these characters went through as they grew up was beautifully written . The human experience was well put.

I think this book could’ve been developed a bit more. All of the issues were told but not showed. I never quite felt the problems and I wanted to really feel engrossed in the book.

I loved this second chance romance without unrealistic drama. It was so genuine in the awkward interactions and anger and biased views . I loved how in tune with each other they were. It was sweet.

Overall , I wanted to see more of everything; dive in a little deeper to really get those emotions going.