Oof. I feel like I haven’t completed a book that I’ve outright disliked lately! Unfortunately, The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe didn’t do it for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this free digital copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is available today.
I really wanted to like this book but I felt like it missed the mark in many ways. I love that this book gives us a fat lead (more of this representation please!!!) and my English major heart soared over all of the Medieval Lit references. I also think that the conversations around being able to cut out a toxic person from one’s life were for the most part, done well.
However, I didn’t really like our two leads (Allison and Colin) and it was hard for me to root for them to get together. They were toxic together, in my opinion, and I had a really difficult time believing the circumstances surrounding their first sex scene–if you’ve read it, chat with me lol. Honestly, this is a second-chance romance but I would NOT have given that guy a second chance based on the crap he pulled during their first relationship. There was also just a lot of lying. Not a fan.
I would try this author again, but this was a hard-pass for me.
CW: Fat shaming, misogyny, death of a parent
The Bookish Bird 