I really, really, really wanted to love this one. It had every trope I love - academia, academic rivals to lovers, second chance romance. But the ending of this one frustrated me so much. I enjoyed it as a whole, but I'm still bitter.

The main problem with this one was Colin. He had some endearing moments, but as a whole, he was unbearable. Like other reviewers have mentioned, he should've had a perspective. That in itself mightve saved the book. Instead, he just came off as careless and toxic. (view spoiler)

Other than that, I did enjoy this one. I loved Allison as a character, and the plus sized rep was amazing. She was unapologetically herself, and it was beautiful to read. She was an inspiration.

I also enjoyed the setting. So much of this was set around classrooms, and the discussions were super interesting. I'm interested in going into English in the future, so I loved spending some time in a fictionalized recreation.

So even though I didn't completely love this one, I did enjoy it. It had some things that bothered me, and I don't think I'll be rereading it, but it isn't a read i regret.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

The Make-up Test is an impressive contemporary romance novel with a great message. It is refreshing to see an inclusiveness of characters who do not fit the standard bill for beauty,

The story starts with Allison a PhD student studying Medieval Literature. She is excited to start her doctoral journey only to find her ex-boyfriend is enrolled in the same program at the same school. To make matters worse, they are forced to work ( and compete) together in order to land the careers of their dreams.
The characters of this story are well- rounded and very relatable. The aspect of medieval literature to pop culture references within the story give it an added level of dimension and there are plenty of scenes in story which made me laugh out loud.

The author’s writing was very light hearted and this story could definitely be transformed into a Netflix movie or television show. I do not think there is much to critique about this novel. The book gives its audience the entertainment it expects and The Make-up Test is a solid debut novel which should be celebrated. There is such a need for diverse groups of women to be celebrated and at the forefront of a romantic stories.

I would definitely recommend this book!

I wanted so badly to love this one, but this book just did not work for me at all.

A few of the things I DID enjoy - the grad school setting of this was fun to explore, and the academia world was a nice backdrop to the story. I also thought the supporting cast of characters were fun, and it provided a nice found family vibe when they got together and hung out. The book also includes a fat heroine, and it was a welcome change to see someone who was comfortable in their body and wasn't focused on changing themselves through dieting or weight loss, and actively called out those who tried to push that on her.

However, there were a lot of elements that made this book tough to get through. One, the pacing of Colin and Allison's relationship doesn't quite work. The way the flashbacks of their dating history are scattered throughout the book make it hard to understand the characters' motivations and romantic history, and the last 20 percent of the book is so rushed that none of the moments get a chance to really sink in and make an impact.

My biggest complaint with this book is with Allison's overall personality, which just cast such a huge shadow over the whole book.. To me, she came off as rude, judgmental, entitled, condescending, and just flat out mean to people who stand in her way of what she believes she deserves, which made it challenging for me to root for her or care about her goals. So many times, she's downright rude to Colin and it was really hard to feel any sort of romantic spark between them. There’s a difference between a strong female character and one who’s just cruel, and Allison crosses that line many times.

Yes, she’s had struggles with an emotionally abusive parent and people saying hurtful things about her weight throughout her life. Yes, she's insecure as a woman in academia. But she also never lets anyone communicate with her and frequently shuts down conversations because she assumes she knows what they’ll say. This leads to TONS of miscommunication between her and Colin, and it's almost painful to watch the entirely avoidable conflicts play out due to her own stubbornness.

Overall, while there's some good representation and an enjoyable setting, The Make-Up Test just didn't quite make the grade.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC for review!

Thanks to NetGalley for the free book in exchange for an honest review!

The Make-Up Test was an interesting read for me. It was one of the few books I’ve read lately with a fat main character and it was refreshing! Overall, it was a fun read. Let’s get into some things I liked about the book and some things I didn’t like!

Pros:
-The main character was an absolute baddie who wasn’t afraid to fight back! I absolutely loved the fact that she was comfortable in her own skin and that the book wasn’t about her accepting herself or losing weight.
-As a fat girl myself, this book made me feel seen. I adore any media when it shows normal people who aren’t supermodels having romance.
-I liked how passionate the characters were about the stuff they loved. They felt relatively fleshed out.
-I loved the literature moments and debates even if I had no clue what was going on
-The book had some funny moments I chuckled at

Cons:
-The rivalry between Allison and Colin is borderline toxic in some parts
-Some random things pop up out of nowhere to move the story along. For example, the research trip with only one spot. Seriously, how many times can there be ‘only one spot so we have to fight each other to the death for it!?’ A lot of problems came up and the ending felt quite rushed and incomplete.
-Circling back to the borderline toxic rivalry, Colin was often a plain jerk. He does some really crappy things but ‘please forgive him because he actually has a really, really, really fantastic reason to do horrible things but he can’t explain it for reasons,’

The Make-Up Test was a solid 3 stars or perhaps 3.5 stars if I’m feeling generous. It had quite a few elements I like in a book but some parts didn’t sit right with me. I had fun reading and if you are considering reading it you should give it a try!

I love reading books with extremely intelligent and funny people as main characters. The premise of the book is two Ph.D students fighting over one spot on a research trip. Of course they had a romantic history together... and of course they fall in love again... I love how ambitious and competitive they both are. I love their banter and battle of wits. A terrific LOL book.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

“The Make-Up Test” is a debut rom-com by Jenny L. Howe. I have to admit while I don’t know a lot about early English literature, I find the topic rather interesting. I had, at least minimum, heard of most of the books Ms. Howe mentioned in her novel (though I did have to look up the Wife of Bath, having never actually read “The Canterbury Tales”). So, throw in a second chances romance on top of that - I’m going to be a target audience member.

So, why only three stars? Well, there were some issues. I think this book would’ve benefited from being a dual POV (both Allison’s and Colin’s), opposed to just from the main character’s (Allison’s) viewpoint. Additionally, I felt the “second chance romance” would’ve been better as a rivals to lovers instead. I also have an issue with characters lying (which Allison did a lot when feeling internal pressure to “be better” than Colin) and there’s a lot of miscommunication. I also felt like things wrapped up way too quickly near the end - even little loose ends back at the college. I did like that while Allison was “curvy” that this wasn’t a book about her proving that she was comfortable in her skin or dieting to become comfortable in her skin - Allison WAS comfortable in her skin! In fact, except for the comments from her father, I honestly forgot she was curvy - because it wasn’t part of the story. Another reviewer mentioned issues some of Ms. Howe’s writing style. I also had a few “remove yourself from the story and rejoin reality” moments. Yes, they were minor and infrequent, but it did take away from my moments of enjoying the book. Ms. Howe’s writing style was enjoyable (except for those moments were I questioned her statements) and I’d probably read another book by her - but this book didn’t quite satisfy me like I hoped it would. A huge plus to her, however, for the research on older English literature texts.

"The Make-Up Test" was the first book I've read from Jenny Howe. In this book, Allison and Colin are both competing for an exclusive spot on a life-changing research trip with a renowned professor at Claymore University. However, there's extra layers to their rivalry: they're also exes. A few years ago, Colin broke up with Allison without any good reason, and Allison still wants to know why. As they compete for this research spot, the sparks begin to fly once again. Add in family issues and Allison is doing all she can to stay above water.

I enjoyed the serious issues that the author tackled in this book. However, the chemistry between the two characters didn't feel complete realistic to me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book! The rivalry between Allison and Colin is the best, and the grad school setting is so fun. It's been ages since I read a romance about academic rivals, so I was excited for this one, and it did not disappoint. There were also some heavier moments, however - such as Allison's relationship with her father - and I think those served to make the story feel well-rounded. Plus, it was fat-positive! Would definitely recommend.

This book was actually really fun. There is a fat protagonist and while there was a little bit of fatphobia from other people, we didn't have to worry about her being self-hating and there wasn't much that was explicitly anti-fat besides the family anti-fatness and 2 other isolated situations--no concerns about being unlovable or not hot. Just wanted to get that out of the way bc that often makes fat romances unreadable.

This is a second chance romance that i gave 4 stars to--very unusual for me as it's a very disliked trope in my heart. But i thought it was done well and convincingly, and with almost no explicit "I have never been able to have a good and real relationship bc i was always still in love with you" mess. This book was, i think, better for being solely from the perspective of the MC.

I think everyone in this book should get therapy.

4.5 stars - Great debut by the author!

I've really been enjoying romance novels set in the master/PhD space lately, as it's something that I haven't seen a whole lot of and suddenly they seem to be popping up everywhere - and this one was no different. I liked Allison as a main character and all that her story had to offer. The second chance romance, the rivals to lovers trope, her dealing with and loving her body, watching her gain new friends and feel like she's losing old ones, and the messiness of her family. It was a great book overall, and with Allison & Colin in the middle of it, the story really took flight.

Oh my sweet lord! I’m melted, swooned, euphoric after reading this sweetest, quirkiest, smartest, most heartfelt romance! I’m over the moon! This is FREAKING AMAZING! I literally devoured it! My favorite tropes enemies to lovers and rivals to lovers blended in fantastic references from medieval literature passages made my nerdy grey cells dance! Those fiery and well approached literature debates between main characters were most delicious symphony for my soul! I fell in love with this book!

Second chances love story perfectly fit with the execution. Avery: who loves challenge, high IQed and EQed heroine, emotionally abused by her own father for her size and academic choices she’s made, is tough, hard worker, doing everything she can to climb the academic ladder, finally accepted to her dream PHD. Program: she definitely deserved it!

But she finds out she assigned to TA for the same professor with her ex boyfriend who hardly forgot. Colin Benjamin: competitive, smart, highly achiever man dumbed her two years ago is back to work with her. She tries her best ignore him because he did unacceptable thing to her and now he acts like her friend. How dare he?

And their professor makes an announcement: there’s a career changing research trip opportunity but only one of them can take this chance. This means they have to compete with each other! Their academic futures depended on this research project!

As they spend more time together, Avery realizes the self involved rivalry changed so much in two years. She cannot avoid him anymore because he works too hard to compensate the mistakes he’s done to her!

Could he really change and turn into a better version of himself? What if there are things he didn’t tell her? Could she open her heart to him at risk of getting broken one more time ?

In the beginning I was really pissed off Colin as soon as you learned about Avery and his shared past but he slowly earned my love by groveling to get his girl back. His character’s evolvement , his efforts to learn from mistakes were well portrayed. I wanted to hug both of the brainy MCs so tight!

Sensitive issues like body shaming, psychological and verbal abuse, parental neglect, dementia were realistically approached.
So many awwws, wows and deep sigh moments later, I dabbed my tears and smiled deeply! I had an amazing reading time!

Overall: I am so happy to add another brilliant author to my reading list! I cannot miss any books this smart author writes! She definitely made my week! Earning my 5 chivalry, medieval stars!

Millions of thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/ St. Martin’s Griffin for sharing this FANTASTIC digital copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

i am lowkey just a smidge upset with this book 🤧 i wanted to love this so much. it literally has everything i could want in a novel: fat mc, second chance romance, academic rivals. and while i did enjoy reading this, i just felt like everything fell short for me. the plus size rep was great, i really loved how allison was comfortable in her own skin and how her story wasn’t about losing weight or becoming accepting towards her body, if that makes sense. and i also loved the academic setting. even though i hate it in real life, i loove college based novels bc they make college seem much more intriguing than it actually is lmao. i’m also an english lit major so i appreciated the medieval lit discussions, considering i had to read and analyze those same novels. and i did really like the authors writing- it was easy to fall into and i loved the way she described things. but truthfully that was about all i enjoyed. the whole romance just did not work for me, and i think this would’ve been better of not as a second chance romance but just as a rivals to lover’s situation. from how allison described her previous relationship with colin and how he made her feel and how her friend talked about it too, it seemed like that was a really toxic relationship. and even though colin “changed” after the two years they were apart, there was still a lot of miscommunication/lack of communication and i just really did not vibe with that. i also think this book could’ve benefited from being dual pov, because i really had a hard time connecting with colin and felt like he was kind of just a meh character. i also didn’t really like how allison treated her best friend in the book, too. i think overall there was just so much of the miscommunication/lack thereof and that was really frustrating because it felt juvenile in this book, despite everyone supposedly being 23-25? idk. i’m a very character driven reader, so when i don’t like the main characters it kinda ruins the whole thing. i know i am complaining a lot, but in general, this was a pretty cute and fun read and i definitely recommend it if any of the tropes sound up your alley, but it just wasn’t what i was hoping for, unfortunately :(

A big thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Jenny Howe, and NetGalley for an ARC of “The Make-up Test” in exchange for an honest review.

- Second Chance Romance
- Enemies-To-Lovers
- Forced Proximity
- Academic Rivals
- Plus size representation

I LOVED this one!! I’m obsessed with graduate school romances currently since there’s only but so many. I feel like you only really see Academic Rivals in college romances and a lot in high school romances. I really adored the chemistry between the two characters and the way he cared for her. I loved the depth of the characters, the way our heroine struggles with the death of her father who she had a fraught relationship with. It recognizes the money struggles of grad students. The depth of our hero who just genuinely wants to make his grandfather proud. I read this one in a day and it was well-worth my time!

If you loved The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood and A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings you’re going to love this one!

3.5 stars
As you may have gathered from the title and cover, The Make-Up Test is an academic rivals to lovers romance for fans of books such as Beach Read. Although I never really fell in love with the author's writing style, the characters, premise and tropes were all very loveable, making this a truly enjoyable read. I highly recommend it to contemporary romance readers.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re craving a book like The Love Hypothesis but set in the English department, this one’s for you 📖

Okay, so we’ve got
📚Enemies to lovers AND Second chance romance
📚 Nerdy lit references
📚 Academia rivals
📚 Body positive/fat representation

As soon as I read the synopsis for this book I knew I had to read it! A plus-size main character who studies medieval literature? Yes please!

This was such a fun RomCom. I really liked both Allison and Colin’s characters and I loved the rivalry between them. I didn’t realize I enjoyed the academia setting until reading The Love Hypothesis but now that I’m 2/2, it’s safe to say I’m a fan.

Another thing I really liked that this book included was how adult friendships change once people start getting themselves established. It’s something I think a lot of long-term friendships go through but isn’t talked about enough, so I really appreciated that.

This one comes out in September 2022 and takes place during the fall semester so it’s going to be a perfect fall read. Make sure to pre-order your copy 😊

❗️TW: Fatphobic comments, death of a parent

Thank you to @netgalley @stmartinspress and @jennylhowe for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I DNF at 35%. I found the main character Allison unbearable. There wasn’t enough build up of the background to make me hate Colin; I just ended up hating Allison.

If you are into stories involving old loves and graduate settings, this book is for you! The plus-size main character is a refreshing change of pace, as are the flawed (a/k/a real) relationships. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

2.5/5 stars. I hate to do this, but let me explain. The way I decided to rate this book revolved around the concept of adding stars instead of subtracting them. So this rating basically means I enjoyed half of this book and disliked the other half.

Let's start with what I liked:
I thought the writing was great, and that was probably the main reason I kept reading. I also thought the main character was dynamic, and I appreciated the research this author put in regarding medieval literature, because the main character, and therefore the author, really knew her stuff. Additionally, I thought the toxic familial relationship between Allison and her father, including Allison's complicated feelings about it, was depicted in an honest and realistic way.

Unfortunately, I pretty much disliked everything else about this book. To be completely transparent, I don't typically read second chance romances, and this book made it clear that this trope is not for me. I could not understand what Allison saw in Colin the second time around, aside from lingering feelings from when they were first together. Allison constantly referred to the current version of Colin as "Colin 2.0," but based on what she revealed about the first version of Colin, this new and updated version seemed to be exactly the same. I really disliked his character, and I just could not understand the romance. I also disliked how repetitive this book got when describing their rivalry. I was constantly reminded of everything Allison was feeling regarding Colin, even though her feelings for him were not really changing. It almost felt like the story lacked substance regarding their rivalry, so the reader kept being told the same few things over and over. It made the book very hard to finish.

Overall, I wish I enjoyed this book more, but if second chance romances are up your alley, I would still recommend checking this book out!

I appreciate being approved to read The Make-Up Test from NetGalley.
The title and the cover alone are cute! The main character is plus-size and I believe the author did well in portraying this aspect. I only have one suggestion::

In the ARC electronic version, (Howe, 2022, Chapter 32, 82.8%).. It says - At least her puppy wouldn't outgrow her. Allison had all the food.. End paragraph.
I would omit - Allison had all the food. It doesn't seem necessary for that sentence to be included. It was reminding me of Jed's perspective of Allison being plus-sized.
.
Regardless, I still give this book 5 stars!

I loved Allison & Colin's story. Even though they are medieval literature PhD students, there is not anything overly nerdy to watch out for lol! A sweet second chance love story. I loved that Allison and her roommate are plus size gals. However, if I have a criticism of the book, it is that it went into her size and discussed being "fat" so much, it was overkill for me. As a plus-sized gal myself, I wish that the author would have referred to Allison as being large and then just let her be herself! Otherwise, I loved the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.