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!

Thank you for the advance reader copy of this novel. I tried several times to get into this book but couldn't finish it. The characters weren't my favorites and I wanted to love them given the academic setting. Not for me.

I listened to an audiobook arc copy of this title and I really enjoyed it! The narration was perfect and really brought more out of these characters. It also was super easy to follow along with which I always appreciate, especially since I like to listen to audiobooks at a faster speed.

As for the story, I did like it! It had it's funny moments and even some sweet and sad moments. But as for the romance, I just felt like it took too long for them to get back together. I know they were supposed to be lovers to rivals to friends to lovers but they stuck on the rivals part a long time so the seam between friends and lovers wasn't as satisfying I suppose.

Other than that, I had a fun time with it! I loved the main characters dog whenever we got to see them. If you like academic rivals, second chance romance and maybe some harder topics mixed in, this is a read for you!

I really, really wanted to love this book, as I am always trying to find new books to shout about with plus sized representation, but unfortunately I ended up DNFing about 20% in. I just truly couldn’t get into the story, or connect with either character. I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back to it at a later date and it just wasn’t the right time for me to read it, or if it just isn’t the right fit for me, but I hope other people love and resonate with it! And I will definitely be trying future titles by this author.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the grad school representation as I feel like that is something that is not portrayed often, or as least is not portrayed accurately, it is often just used as a trope. I loved the chemistry between Allison and Colin! I was slightly apprehensive going in as second chance romances are not my favorite, but this one worked for me.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book, it was an interesting read.

Unfortunately there was a little something missing from this book. While I love the idea the execution was a bit lacking.

The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe was so cute, witty, and heartfelt. I really loved both the main characters and how smart they were. Books set in academia might be my new favourite thing, and The Make-Up Test was *chef's kiss*

DNF. Unfortunately, this was a book I started multiple times but could just not get into. I appreciate having the opportunity to read this book, it was just not a good fit for me as a reader. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my gifted review copy.

This was a sweet, cute book that had me captured the entire time. I really enjoyed the characters from the first few pages, lots of great representation, and very heartfelt.

The entire book was quite... Eh. 🤷 Dull? Nothing too inspired.

But the ending, without getting into spoilers: not my jam. Not my cup of tea. Hard pass. 😩

Unfortunately wouldn't recommend it. Even if you like academia based romances, I'd skip this one.

Book received for free through NetGalley

Read 15% of the way into this book but kept starting and stopping and ultimately forgot about it. Figured it was better to review as is. It was written well just not my cup of tea.

I loved the main character in this book!! I found that the characters were less traditional, and it made me love them more. There are two different tropes in this book because it combines enemies to lovers and a second chance romance. Overall, the book was enjoyable to read and I would read more novels by this author in the future!