Name: sydney's review of The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe
Item: The Make-Up Test
Rating: 4
Author: sydney

Jenny L. Howe

ONE TO WATCH meets BEACH READ in this smart, swoony, romantic comedy, in which two college exes find themselves battling against each other—and their unresolved feelings—for a spot in a prestigious literature Ph.D. program.

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.

The Make-Up Test

sydney

Kenzi Linton

I was able to read this for free thanks to Net Galley, although that does not affect my opinion of the actual book. First and foremost, I loved the body positivity message that the author shared before the first chapter even began. This book definitely confused me a bit, with some of the words chosen, but that may just be a ‘me not being smart enough’ thing. I’m sad to say that this ended up being a dnf for me. I kept trying to get into it, but I just couldn’t connect to it as I had hoped I would. I was able to get through about 15% of it before I finally gave up. Maybe I’ll try to read it again another time.

Christine Bruce

Considering how promising and excited I was for this book, it was a huge let down. The premise, the body rep, the second chance romance, academia setting. It was a book I was most looking forward to. So while all together it isn't much, I feel personally attacked by how bad it is. 
The FMC was childish and had a strong "not like other girls" vibe. Outside of her strong self-confidence she had no other attributes of being an adult, let alone in an advanced academic program. 
The MMC was toxic and not in a good way (the way one might like their fictional men to be). He was obnoxious and undeserving of a second of my time. The way it reminded me VISCERALLY of the men in my own history grad program was not the fun time I had expected when I sat down to read a romance. And also especially considering the medieval history world is one really messed up, toxic place, this was not the reality escape Howe thought it would be. 
That's not even mentioning how much this dragged needlessly. And I LIKE the boring history aspects. But this was just not a good time.

This was cute and I had a good time. I do think it could be greatly improved by being dual pov. I felt like we were in the dark for everything colin did and does a disservice to the book.

I received an arc through netgalley.

I was keen on picking this up once I heard about it, but I found it disappointing. Let's talk about the things I did enjoy first. Mostly, the setting. I love anything set in a school or academic environment. I found the discussions around medieval literature fascinating. It's not something I know much about, so it was fun seeing Allison talk about it with such passion. It almost made me want to reread Beowulf, and that was something high school me never thought she'd say. My main problem with this was Colin. For me to enjoy a romance, I have to like the love interest, and I couldn't stand Colin. He treated Allison so poorly, both in the present and in the snippets we get from their past relationship. He had a few sweet moments, but for the most part, I thought he was whiny and took all his insecurities out on Allison. Due to this, I didn't care about their relationship at all. It's a second-chance romance, but for me, Colin deserved none of the chances he got. I also wasn't a fan of Allison's family and how they treated her. Sadly, I had high hopes for this one, but it turned out to be a bit of a letdown.

sydney &
The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe

Reviews

Join the club

sydney &The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe

Reviews

Join the club

sydney &
The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe