I am trying to be kind to myself and DNF books when they are not working for me. I do try and push through if it is an ARC, however I couldn't with this book. I made it about 50% and Colin was still being so rude and competitive with Allison. I am all for enemies to lovers, but he took things a step too far with his constant need to overpower Allison in their accomplishments. This book is nothing like Beach Read, one of its comp books. There is no chemistry or depth to these characters. I was really hoping to like this one too.

Before I give my review, I need to admit up front that I am an Associate Professor. The Make-Up Test involves the foibles of a PhD program: academic rigor, impossible reading lists, honors, and romance. Howe interweaves real life, including a very realistic portrayal of less than supportive friends and family. Balancing a real life with academia is truly a continuous balancing act. Howe also includes a good dose of impostor syndrome, which every PhD student fights. The realistic portrayal and the constant plot twists makes The Make-Up Test a pleasure to read. My compliments!

The Make-Up Test was an excellent book about second chances and allowing yourself to know that your feelings are your feelings and that's all that matters. Allison and Colin were a complicated pair with history. But once they got past their history and when they actually talked, they were magical together. I wish we got a tad more about Sophie and Allison's friendship, but in the end this was a chef's kiss of a book. I look forward to more from Jenny Howe in the future!

This was an absolutely delightful romance to read! I was excited on the premise alone, I mean academic rivals? Sign me up! I mean, having a confident, fat woman as our main character was amazing and I loved how bold she was. And Colin? A sweetie at heart! He was incredibly endearing, I mean they both were! This was just a true delight through and through.

What could be better than a romance novel that promises second chances, academic rivalries, and books!

This debut novel had a lot of things going for it. It had a strong female protagonist, body positivity, and it was set in academia. This was one of my most anticipated releases, it was offering up everything that I enjoy in a novel.

I am a reader who wants to love every book that I pick up. I want to be completely immersed in the characters’ lives and glued to the pages. Unfortunately, I didn’t fall in love with The Make-Up Test. I never really felt a connection to the characters. I should have. I wanted to. I gave it a fair shot, but for whatever reason, I never became truly invested in it. There was nothing wrong with it. Nothing that stood out or annoyed me. It should have checked off all my boxes, but when I fail to connect with the characters, the story ends up falling short for me.

The Make-Up Test was a well-written novel by a promising new author. While this novel didn’t captivate me as I had hoped it would, I would definitely read another book by Jenny L. Howe in the future.

*3 Stars

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Fellow former (and current) English majors: I don’t know about you but it feels like I read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight a million times & any time (ok the *one* time) I see it mentioned in a book now I get a little dorky thrill of excitement ;) .

Jenny L. Howe’s The Make-Up Test comes hard with the literary references, the excitement over academia & thesis arguments, & the insecurities that lifestyle can breed.

It also offers a second chance romance story between two mid-twenties PhD students who first dated for 8 months in undergrad before the hero, Colin Benjamin, dumped the heroine, Allison, after betraying her academically.

Present-day Allison isn’t a Colin Benjamin fan, but Howe does capture how much he’s grown in two years & how he’s been tempered somewhat by his life experiences.

Allison does some of her growing on the book’s pages, as she navigates difficult family situations & another big blow-up with Colin, but in general she sometimes comes across as a little immature for me.

The Make-Up Test starts off strong but then gradually loses some of that with the conflict, which was a little 🤔, the hasty resolution, & then the lack of an epilogue. That always makes me feel not totally secure about a couple’s future.

There’s a lot to appreciate about this book—including its nuanced portrayal of Allison as “a fat woman,” as Howe writes in the Author’s Note, existing & flourishing in a space that often vilifies fatness (as the book makes it clear)—but overall the last part of the book leaves me a little unsettled.

Still, I think this author’s worth checking out & I’ll celebrate women in academia every day of the week.

3⭐️. Out 09/13.

CWs:
Please read a trusted reviewer’s notes about these as my notes weren’t exhaustive enough to include.

[ID: the ebook rests on a wooden desk. A line of yellow & red flowers, including sunflowers, is above the ebook.]

I'm giving this book 3.5/5 stars.

It was good but I think I've heard so much about it that I was expecting something a bit different? I don't know, but it just didn't work the best for me. Maybe it's me? Maybe it's the book? Maybe it's a bit of both.

Synopsis: Allison Avery has always had a plan. That's why she's a Claymore, pursuing her Ph. D. in medieval lit. The only kink in her plan? The ex-boyfriend who ruined her life is also in the program.

As always, here's my two stars and a wish...

1. Medieval lit/college life

I'm a forever student so I loved that this book centered around college and being at school and those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you need to adjust from with undergrad.

2. Allison

I really like Allison, the main character. I don't know that she's the best friend in the world, but I liked her personality and thought she was a nice, strong character who didn't hold back.

My wish....

Man, I just could not get into Colin. He did Allison way too dirty in undergrad and I will never be able to understand how she was ever even able to look at him again. I think maybe that was my biggest issue with an otherwise good book. If you don't like the love interest, it's just not going to be your thing, you know?

Overall, I'm excited to see what Jenny Howe comes up with next and I'll absolutely read it. For debuts, it was a witty, fun story. It's a shame the love interest was not the best.

A sweet second chance romance set in the world of academia? Yes please.

Allison and Colin dated in college until he suddenly ended their relationship. However, when they end up in the same Ph.D program AND end up as TAs for the same professor they become rivals. That rivalry is taken one step further when the professor shares she can only take on one of them as an advisee. However, as they work together, they remember more and more why they dated in the first place.

I appreciated the author’s note prior to reading this about her intentions for including heavy topics to include fat shaming and fatphobia, and I thought those topics were handled beautifully. While reading Allison’s experiences, especially with her father, were challenging to read at times, reading the author’s note made those scenes feel so important and impactful. Allson was such a strong main character who managed to overcome so much trauma. Her growth throughout the book was incredible and I loved how she really found herself and came into her own here. I thought the romance was believable - it took a while for Allison and Colin to shift from rivalry to really trusting each other enough to try their relationship again. I appreciated the slower burn here because it felt needed. Overall, this was a great debut and I look forward to reading more from Jenny Howe.

Thank you to SMP Romance and OrangeSky Audio for the advance copies.

Love love love this book! Nerdy, fat-positive love story with rivals-to-lovers and second chance romance! It was important to see Allison’s relationship with Colin, where he loves her for her, as the counterpoint to her toxic relationship with her father. There’s no get healthy, get pretty makeover montage here, which was also incredibly validating as a fat reader- so often I read supposed fat-positive, inclusive romance books that hinge on some kind of improvement factor to get their happily ever after, and it can be discouraging. Jenny Howe is now my latest must-buy author - right up there with Olivia Dade!

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for an advanced Readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I had a hard time rating this one – because while I didn’t like it, I can see why others might. I’m giving this a 2 even though I had to ultimately DNF this book – not because the writing was bad, I think Howe’s writing is fine but mostly for the fact that for a book being marketed as a rom-com, it is very little rom (I ended up DNFing at 40%), and even less com.

Things you’ll find in this book:
- Second chance romance
- Academic Rivals - Only one spot for a TA position, two people wanting it.
- Single POV
- Plus-Sized Heroine
- External Fatphobia

Things I enjoyed:

I did enjoy the writing in and of itself. I did enjoy the fact that Allison was plus sized, and that this fact wasn’t hidden.

Things I didn’t enjoy:

There is no fat joy. While I understand that Allison’s life is in flux, and she has issues within the school and her family, in the 40% that I read, there is no pure moment of joy. She’s suspicious of Colin because he’s changed. But she refuses to talk to him about their break-up other than saying she doesn’t want to look back, but you don’t get the true why (until obviously later in a part I didn’t get to) which is odd seeing as this book is entirely in her POV.

It's frustrating to see Allison get in her own way throughout the book, with her TA position, when it’s obvious Colin and the professor want to help her, in her friendships, in her relationships. Everything is doom and gloom, and there is very little joy.

Even the moments she has with her roommate are shadowed by this misery cloud of her friend obviously trying to move on with her career and getting new friends.

Really, when I really pin it down, Allison isn’t all the likable, and neither was Colin. I wasn’t really rooting for them, and I got to a point where I didn’t really much care about their relationship or the story because there’s so little movement and character growth between them.

Overall:

I really wanted to like it. I really wanted to finish it, but even with the trigger warning at the start of the book, it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. BUT I do think there is a subset of readers who would enjoy it – it just wasn’t for me.

Title: The Make-Up Test
Author: Jenny L. Howe
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3 out of 5

Allison Avery loves to win. After acing every academic challenge she’s come up against, she’s finally been accepted into her dream Ph.D. program at Claymore University, studying medieval literature under a professor she’s admired for years. Sure, grad school isn’t easy—the classes are intense, her best friend is drifting away, and her students would rather pull all-nighters than discuss The Knight's Tale—but she’s got this. Until she discovers her ex-boyfriend has also been accepted. Colin Benjamin might be the only person who loves winning more than Allison does, and when they're both assigned to TA for the same professor, the game is on.

What starts as a personal battle of wits (and lit) turns into all-out war when their professor announces a career-changing research trip opportunity—with one spot to fill. Competing with Colin is as natural as breathing, and after he shattered her heart two years ago, Allison refuses to let him come out on top. But when a family emergency and a late night road trip—plus a very sexy game of Scrabble—throw them together for a weekend, she starts to wonder if they could be stronger on the same team. And if they fall for each other all over again, Allison will have to choose between a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and what could be a twice-in-a-lifetime love.

I usually enjoy second chance romances. This one…the level of competitiveness between Allison and Colin was almost too much for me. Allison came across as almost hateful sometimes (to Colin and to any random person she didn’t like), sometimes despite the other person being perfectly nice to her. She was extremely judgmental and rarely made any effort to see anything from someone else’s point-of-view. I enjoyed the body positivity and Allison’s unapologetic views on her life, but she came across as very selfish, rude, and pushy.

Jenny L. Howe is a professor. The Make-Up Test is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

The Make-Up Test, on paper, has just what you want: second-chance, academic rivals to lovers romance. Unfortunately, it falls a bit flat with characters you don't really care about, and a romance that left me puzzled and honestly, a little bit bored.

The main issue I have with this book is that many of the relationships - both romantic and platonic - only seem to experience growth off-page. Allison (our main character, a grad student at Claymore studying medieval literature, seemed to make deep friendships with members of her grad student cohort, but as the reader, we didn't really get to see those friendships develop. They just kind of happened, and you're left to just go along with it without being given a reason.

The same is true for our hero, Colin. Colin is never really described as the hero you want to root or pine over in a romance, and he never really gave me a reason to want to love him. I found both him and Allison to be immature, with the inability to communicate AT ALL. I was left wondering, for most of the book, where the romance is or even when it would start.

The non-romance elements in the book almost seemed to take precedence: Allison's relationship with her best friend/roommate and her fraught relationship with her father, the latter of which is kind of but not really resolved, once again removing any sort of character growth we might get to see on page.

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

The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe 📚

Cute cover-check! Adorable premise-check! Romance surrounded by the world of literature…check, check, check!! I’m totally reading it! This book started out very promising for me. It’s a second chance romance that pretty much turns into enemies to lovers. It’s also steeped in academia, specifically the world of English literature. I just couldn’t wait to read.

Allison Avery was left broken-hearted by Colin Benjamin right before graduating with her undergrad at Brown. Fast-forward a few years and Allison is now working towards her PhD. Who happens to be there and in the same program?? Yep!! None other than Colin…the man that shattered her heart. To make matters worse, the professor states she only has room for one, and so now they will be competing for the lone spot. Allison knows Colin can’t win this like he seems to win everything else. She’s ready….game on! The thing is-Colin is confusing her. His actions aren’t lining up with his behavior and words of the past. Does he still have feelings for her, or is she getting played so he can win?

This is a cute read. I liked it, but I didn’t love it as much as I was hoping to. I appreciated that the book touched on some important topics such as having a healthy self-image and self-worth. I also loved the flashbacks of Colin and Allison falling in love and of course all the English lit references! The Scrabble scene in the present is absolutely cuteness personified!!

What I didn’t love was that both MC’s seemed a little juvenile at times comparative to the age their characters were portraying. Also, there were some miscommunications throughout that could have been resolved very easily with a conversation or two, and “listening ears” as my former elementary teachers would say. All in all, It’s a quick read with a satisfying ending that will have you smiling at the incredible sweetness of it. If you love English lit, it’s definitely worth the read for the references and that Scrabble scene alone. 3.5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

(3/5) I tried desperately to like this book. A second chance/academic rivals combo? Sign me up NOW. 😩 Unfortunately I couldn’t make it through to the end because I found neither of the main characters were likable. At all. I found them both immature and didn’t see any character growth in the parts that I got through. If I had known either of them in grad school, I don’t think I would have wanted to be friends with them. 🥲 The writing itself was fine, I liked the representation of a fat MC, and I could certainly sympathize with the struggle of a first time teacher not having your students want to be engaged. But the general immaturity and unlikability (is that a word?) of these characters was just not doing it for me.

2.75
Thank you to SMP Romance for sending me a copy of this book to read and review. I love the idea of second chance/ academic rivals romance, however I think this one missed the mark. Allison is a plus size main character and I loved seeing that, but she was competitive to a fault rather than driven. She often got in her own way and didn't give others a fair chance. Almost all of her relationships whether friend, family, or love interests felt toxic to me. It was hard to read at points because I felt like it took up too much of the plot. While this was said to be a romance, I didn't really feel the chemistry or love between the characters and I think the love story fell short. I enjoyed the medieval literature focus and the struggle it takes to be a grad student. I really wanted to like this one because it has a lot of tropes I love seeing, but overall this book was not a favorite of mine.

This is a second-chance and academic rivals-to-lovers romance. Allison and Colin dated and broke up during undergrad are are surprised to be in the same Ph.D. program. Now, these exes are competing for one open spot on a research trip and trying to one-up each other in the classroom. I enjoyed this book for the most part, but had a hard time rooting for Allison and Colin in the end and didn't really like Colin all that much.

The Make-Up Test
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romance
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 9/13/22
Author: Jenny L. Howe
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 336
GR: 3.46

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Allison Avery has finally been accepted into her dream Ph.D. program at Claymore University, studying medieval literature under a professor she’s admired for years. Until she discovers her ex-boyfriend, Colin Benjamin, has also been accepted. They're both assigned to TA for the same professor, the game is on. When a family emergency and a late night road trip—plus a very sexy game of Scrabble—throw them together for a weekend, she starts to wonder if they could be stronger on the same team. And if they fall for each other all over again, Allison will have to choose between a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and what could be a twice-in-a-lifetime love.

My Thoughts: I love the fat positive spin this book gives. The trope of enemies to rivals to lovers is a spine of my favorite trope, enemies to lovers. It also features the trope of second chance love. The story is narrated by Allison, in her perspective. Set in an academic setting of grad school, it reflects on the pressures of grad school and TA positions. While I am not a medieval literature fan, I really enjoyed this book. Allison is competitive, strong, and independent, you cannot help but fall in love with her. At first, Colin is not very likable until you learn why he did what he did, learning from mistakes, truly tugs at my heart. The characters were well developed with depth, witty banter, a little sacrifice, chemistry, and just very well done. The author’s writing style is complex, humorous, swoony, intriguing, and kept me engaged throughout the story. This is the first time I have read Howe’s work, but will not be my last. I love how Howe spun relationships are about supporting one another, putting work into them to make them flourish and never is about competition. I highly recommend picking up this book next week!!

Unfortunately, The Make-Up Test didn't work for me.

I didn't like Allison, I didn't like Colin. I didn't think they had chemistry. I didn't think they should be together, so I wasn't rooting for their HEA. I found the book mainly made me feel stressed and angry. All of the relationships - whether romantic, platonic or familial were either toxic, estranged or going through a rough phase and it was just not a story I wanted to read. I actually did enjoy the references to medieval literature and I loved the academic setting.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

This book was easy and fun to follow I loved the enemies to lovers, lovers to rivals and second chance romance. It is sweet, funny and adorable book with characters that made me love and hate them at times lol. After being dumped by Colin 2 years before Avery tries her best to avoid him but when their professor announces the opportunity for great research project both can’t let it go. Through the book they begin to spend more time together and Avery realizes that Collin has changed from who he was two years ago. Overall I really enjoyed this book and I think it’s a beautiful second chance romance read!! Congratulations to Jenny for creating such a great book and thank you NetGalley and St.Martins Press for allowing me to read this book and give it an honest review.

We really hesitated on the rating for this one. Why is that? Well, there are a ton of things that we liked:

1. Allison is a great heroine. She's intelligent and she knows it, but she's also afraid of failure. She's fat and confident about her looks, but she also experience moments of self-doubt the way all of us do.

2. The academic setting felt authentic and vibrant. Allison and Colin are thrown together as co-advisees, make up most of their social circle with the other first-year PhD students, and generally just roam a (post-pandemic) campus.

3. The writing is clear and fun. Although nearly all of the characters interact in an academic milieu (see point 2 above), the prose doesn't get bogged down with too many technical terms. That said, it doesn't feel like it's been dumbed down for a reader who's not familiar with them, either.

But... it was just really hard to get into the romance between two people who didn't feel like fully-formed adults. Allison just finished undergrad and went straight to grad school, while Colin graduated two years earlier. And (did we forget to mention?) this is a second-chance romance. So the reader is supposed to believe that a forever love between two undergrads (that was interrupted by the absolutely heinous behavior of one of them) is right on track only two years later?

Howe doesn't gloss over Colin's terrible actions, but both Allison and the reader are expected to forgive him a little too easily. (SPOILER: Allison thinks Colin stole some of her academic theories for a career-making presentation; is somehow convinced not to report him because that would make her look petty or something; and it turns out that he only stole the title of her work, so it's a good thing she didn't tell anyone, right? UGH. There is a simple answer to this and it's that COLIN COULD HAVE SENT HER AN EMAIL IN ADVANCE we're still het up about it.)

We're settling on 3.25 stars because of the elements we mention above. Also because we were obviously emotionally invested even if maybe it was in the wrong way...

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.