Hi there. I’m very late to the game, but I’m here to talk about a romance book that came out in September of 2022. **And every day we are reminded that discrimination against marginalized communities is still a serious problem, so click here to find a compilation of resources where you can donate your time, money, or whatever you can to support these communities. I still encourage you to research these causes on your own to educate yourself and find the best way to lend your support.**
Back in late summer of 2022, NetGalley (or more specifically the publishers who list books there) was offering some select titles that were coming out in the fall / winter as “Read Now,” which meant you didn’t have to request the books and be approved. I saw one of the titles was The Make-Up Test, a debut romance by Jenny L. Howe, and immediately hopped on to snag it. It came out in September, and while I didn’t quite get around to reading it before release day (I was a little pre-occupied on my trip to Europe and didn’t actually get much time for reading) I did complete it shortly after. Unfortunately, the end of last year I was the lowest of lows in terms of motivation to do anything bookish, so this review has been pending in my blog’s draft folder for several months now. I wanted to get it done before January, to start off the year with a clean slate, but got super sick. But I am here now, so here is my review, even if it is several months overdue.
From Goodreads: 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.
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. The Make-Up Test was released on September 13th, 2022, so it’s way past time to wish it a happy book birthday, but please pick up a copy for yourself if it interests you! Jenny L. Howe has her second novel, another romance featuring a plus-size heroine, releasing later this year, On the Plus Side, if you’re interested in more from her. *Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Griffin for the early copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.*
Where to find The Make-Up Test:
Bookshop
Amazon
Goodreads
Storygraph
Macmillan
Jenny L. Howe’s site
Thoughts About Things 