I cannot express how badly I need more new adult books in my life. I love a good young adult romance and general adult romance as much as the next romance reader. But there is something really nice about being in a graduate program and getting to read characters who are also in a graduate program and around your age. There are certain lived experiences that come with adult romances that I haven’t encountered yet and certain ones from young adult romances that are just enough out of my recent life experiences to always be relatable. Granted, I work with children and got a degree in secondary education so it’s not anything that I see myself growing out of reading anytime soon but a new adult book set in a graduate setting is just *chef's kiss* for me.

The banter and longing between Allison and Colin are absolutely incredible. I think that Jenny did a really good job at painting them both as well-rounded humans and flawed characters who genuinely care about each other and want to work to be better. The banter between them was top-tier, especially when they were first getting to know each other again. I loved it so much.

One of my favorite things about this book is having representation of a body type that is not average-sized or a twig. It is really validating to get to read a character who has a body type that is similar to mine and who doesn’t hate their body. And getting to see the way that it is handled when others do not respect your body type in the same way that you give yourself the space to respect your body type.

I appreciated the way that the storyline between Allison and Jeb panned out. I think that a lot of times people address family conflict with the angle that it’s family so you have to make it right with them or you have to forgive them because they’re blood. I think that that completely neglects the very real ways that family members can hurt you the most through abuse or neglect. And it’s okay to sometimes let those relationships die out or not get the resolution the other party wants.

NAVIGATING FRIENDSHIPS IN YOUR 20s !!! Sophie and Allison are phenomenal friends. I feel like your 20s can make or break your friendships post-graduation. This is the era where people are moving and finding their first long-term job and getting settled into their careers. Allison and Sophie have conversations about re-manging their expectations in their friendship as it is evolving.

Overall The Make-Up Test was a fun, cute read and I can’t wait to read more from Jenny L Howe in the future.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for giving me access to an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

This was cute, but not one of my fav romances. I liked the MC enough but the romance fell a little flat for me. Enjoyable, but ultimately not super memorable.

I enjoyed reading The Make-up Test by Jenny L. Howe. Happy reading!


**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**

Nope did not like this one at all. I didn’t enjoy either of the characters or their developments. It was very lacking.

Hmmm how to describe this book.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: sizeism, fat phobia, gaslighting, parental death, grandparent illness, dementia, cancer… if I remember more I will update.

First off I was looking for a fun romcom and this was not it! I facilitated between hating it and wanting to know what happens in the end. I gaslit myself numerous times thinking I only hated it because it hit too close to home for me. However upon reflection, I think this just wasn’t the book for me.

Let’s talk main characters:

Allison is a fat, phd candidate with trouble letting people in. This is a result of a father who mentally abused her for her entire life not only over her fatness but her intelligence, a mom who tried to force her to have a relationship with said father, a society that has no room for her fatness, and an ex boyfriend who basically stole an academic achievement from her.

Colin is a elvin thinster, also a phd candidate with inadequacy issues, inflated ego, a bad habit of stealing other people ideas and a constant need to “compete” to feed his white male ego! He also has a grandfather whom he loves that he wants to make proud, and is there to help soften the blow of what a horrible character he is and explain away his terrible actions.

Firstly I am a fat woman navigating the world and while I related to everything too much and it was accurately written… can I get a book with a fat FMC where her fatness isn’t a plot point, catalyst, or main focal point of the book?!?? I’m over it and I’m over it being called body positive. Yes okay it is reality, but I think writers of size are missing an opportunity to change the narrative.

Secondly the amount of gaslighting in this book… why is this such a prevalent issue with contemporary romance?! The end of this book has Alison apologizing for forcing Colin into betraying her yet again because she was being too competitive… I mean *facepalm*

Anyways I loved the medieval literature references and while it wasn’t what I expected or wanted to read, I confess the realities were very well written! I also give it an entire star solely on the fact the author didn’t force Alison to forgive her father, and allowed her to be true to her feelings!!! Seriously that was a big thing for me. So three stars because it’s actually well written and I believe many people will enjoy it… anyone with the triggers mentioned read with caution!

I'm so disappointed :(. I should have known when I saw Ali Hazelwood's blurb. both the MC's were pretty annoying, Colin with this actions, and Allison with her dismissal/forgiveness.

It also took me out that COVID was brought up sporadically. Guess that should be the new norm.

The beginning took a little while to get going, but the remainder of the book was worth it once you get through it! I liked that Allison also had a strong body image. At its foundation, this story was a genuinely sweet and heartfelt romance.

The Make-Up Test ~ Jenny L. Howe

When Allison Avery is accepted into the Ph.D. program of her dreams, she is thrilled. Until she realizes that her ex, Colin Benjamin has also been accepted. To make matters worse, they both receive the esteemed position of TA for their favorite professor and that’s when the competition really begins. The two start to compete for research trip opportunity which puts them in some pretty compromising situations. Can Allison have it all?

“In this charmingly bookish debut, The Make-Up Test embraces the truth that people can sometimes change and grow, even when you least expect it.”

The Make-Up Test was a real struggle for me to get through and enjoy unfortunately. I really did not like the men at all in this book and I do think I ended up feeling like I related to Allison more than I would like, and I think I would make choices she did. The men were so toxic and did not deserve her. They could not communicate and then felt they were owed forgiveness and understanding, despite never giving it to her at all. I did not this to end as a happily ever after.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Griffin, and the author for sharing this book with me in exchange for my honest feedback!

I love rom com books. The world is very dark and sad and sometimes it’s just nice to escape to a dreamier place with sunshine and rainbows. Unfortunately, that was not the case with this book.

You could summarize this book in one sentence: two exes rekindle their relationship as they work together in the same grad school program. And that’s it. That’s the whole book. I was sooooo bored and it took me days and days to finish it because nothing happened. Come onnnnn babes - give me swoon give me romance give me drama give me SOMETHING!!

Both of the MCs were so unlikeable and immature and might I say even insufferable??? The one redeemable character was the girl’s pet corgi who made like 5 appearances throughout the book.

To anybody thinking about reading this one, it’s a hard pass for me. The storyline had so much potential and it just did not deliver.

Thanks again NetGalley ♥️

Absolutely adorable romance. Perfect for fans of Olivia Dade. I loved that it showed how compatible graduate school is, and how rigorous. Allison was also very body positive, which I enjoyed. I’m also a sucker for a second chance romance, but I understood exactly why Allison held a grudge. Will definitely recommend to romance lovers. I was given a free copy by a Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's been a while since I've finished my early copy, so let me break it down into things I loved and things I don't think worked quite as well. What I loved part 1: plus-sized rep. Allison is fat, and she knows it. She embraces it. She doesn't make it part of her personality, frankly because she doesn't need to. No one does. But just because Allison is confident in her own skin, it doesn't mean that insults, even passive aggressive comments from family members, who are supposed to be people who love you unconditionally, just roll off her back. They hurt. Even if they're "not intentional." Which brings me to part 2 of what I loved: discussions of cutting off toxic family members. Allison doesn't have a good relationship with her dad. He left her and her mom and a young age, and she feels as if he's never been proud of her accomplishments. He also makes digs at her weight. She decides to limit / cut off contact with him, because no one should have to continue a relationship with someone if they are feeling belittled in every conversation. Her mom tries to convince her otherwise, and when her dad ends up in the hospital, Allison grapples with her feelings internally - she should feel bad, her father is hurting, but she doesn't. And lastly, what I loved part 3: Allison's passion. Grad school is hard. Especially when you're competing with your former love of your life for an amazing internship opportunity from a professor who inspired your passion in the first place. But Allison never backed down from defending herself from people who didn't believe in her.

Now, for the things I thought didn't work out quite as well. As a second-chance romance, I wasn't completely solid on Allison and Colin's history, or chemistry, either in the past or present. I understand why they broke up, and it explains why their battle for the internship plays out the way it does, their relationship just needed more development for me. There is a period of time where Allison and Collin both have to TA a recitation class, and Allison struggles, a lot. Teaching is hard, especially to college undergrad (I do not have fond memories of doing it myself in college). I wish her struggles were explored more, and that she was confronted for lying about her weekly classroom experiences. I think of the major issues I had with the book is that we get it solely from Allison's perspective, and while, for the most part, I liked seeing her journey throughout the book, she has a tendency to close herself off to the people around her, like her family, roommate, classmates, and especially Colin, so therefore the reader is also cut off from exploring those characters. I don't always need a romance book to be dual perspective, but I wish the narrative structure was a bit expanded here.

In conclusion, I thought The Make-Up Test was just a fine read. It explored some interested topics, and I appreciated the discussions that I found within the text, but overall didn't find myself particularly interested in returning to the book when I put it down. I think other people, who prefer single perspective books with a focus on academics, specifically in a grad school setting, will have a better time with it than I did. *Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Griffin for the early copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Why is it that lately I keep picking up books with MMCs who are…. unpleasant. I really wanted to like this one. As a former English major who really enjoyed her time in the English Department, I was intrigued by the setting of this novel in a graduate English program. Allison and Colin are two PhD candidates with the same interest… and a previous shared interest in each other. Can they overcome their history of competition to work together? And when it comes to competing for a life-changing trip how will they rectify their relationship with their desire for academic achievement?

This had all the makings of an excellent enemies to lovers trope. And I am TOTALLY on board with a good ETL. But here the MMC just fell flat. I get it, he’s really knobby and likes a cardigan. But does he have to be such a gas lighting SOB? Even when it seems he has changed, at the end of the day neither he nor Allison have learned a damned thing about communication. As we can probably intuit from the genre, it works out in the end… but does it? How do two people so blind to their personal faults ultimately make it work?

Add in the story about the gas-lighting dad and I was so over the men in this story. Honestly, I was more interested in the Nordic God who her roommate was seeing. At the end of the day, I didn’t feel really in love with any of the characters because they all seemed particularly blind to their own problems and infuriatingly whiny about it.

The best part of the story was undoubtedly the Corgi. Definitely the Corgi.

There were several funny moments and the steam is light, so if you are not into some door off the hinges open romance then this is probably for you. It would be a good read or an airplane or beach, something that you’re using to kill time but don’t expect to fall in love.

Not a fan. I struggled with the plot because there was just so much focus on the character’s weight that it distracted at worst and grated at best. Wanted to love it because the plot sounded cute, but I couldn’t get through it.

This was DNF for me - it might be one I come back to later when I'm in the mood for this kind of read again.

Unfortunately, The Make-Up Test missed the mark for me. I found I didn’t care much about the characters or their journey.

However, I did love the fat representation. In the author’s note at the beginning of the book, the author says that this story isn’t about her MC striving to lose weight or learn to love herself, because she already does that. And that is the kind of messaging I absolutely love!

This was insanely cute and was exactly what I needed to read without evening knowing it.

Set in academia, it follows 2 grad students who used to previously date. Allison is still hurt by Colin’s actions years ago so when she finds herself in the same program as him and they’re both competing for the same spot, there is no doubt that he is enemy #1 for her. Over time, Allison reluctantly gives him a second chance and what follows is a sweet story filled with lots of heart. It’s also told from just Allison’s point of view, which is a rare choice for an enemies-to-lovers novel but really helps the reader feel the tension between the characters.

An easy mostly enjoyable read. Allison and Colin have a second-chance love story. Loved the setting at Claymore and that Allison is a plus-sized main character who doesn't sit there and apologize or try to change her body for anybody - it's refreshing. Fun side characters enhanced the story. Thank you St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC.

4 stars for a bookish romance~

This was a really cute and heartfelt romance at the core of it. The beginning started off a little slow, but after getting through those parts the rest of this book was worth it! And who doesn't love the enemies-to-lovers / ex-lovers trope? There was drama, heartbreak, and everything in between this academia romance, overall a great read!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing the digital ARC for review!