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savvyrosereads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Out September 13, 2022 [Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!]
Rating: 4/5 stars
Allison has big plans for her new graduate program—get a great mentor, become a great professor, and earn a spot as a leading scholar of medieval literature. But she doesn’t account for her ex-boyfriend—and academic rival—being back in the picture for all of it…
A rom-com featuring plus size/fat representation, literature academia, and a corgi puppy? Suffice to say I could not get my hands on this one fast enough. And I’ll be honest—I related to Allison and her lived experiences, insecurities, and self-imposed perfectionism a little *too* much, but it made me enjoy this book all the more.
First, the less great—I did think the book felt a hair too slow in parts, and I wanted fewer internal-monologues-stressing-about-situations and more situations-to-stress-over, if that makes sense. I wasn’t bored, exactly, I just didn’t feel like enough had happened for me to be fully invested in the characters until close to the 2/3 mark.
That said, once I got invested, I got really invested, which is what led to sobbing at 1am as I stayed up way too late to finish reading. Colin went from insufferable to an absolute gem very quickly (it’s amazing what communication will do) and Allison’s character growth was really lovely to watch. In short, not a perfect book, but a really wonderful debut, and I can’t wait to see what Jenny Howe writes next!
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: fat representation, academia nerdiness, puppies.
CW: Emotional abuse (including abusive parent/child relationships); loss/illness of loved ones; fatphobia; sexism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexism, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent
arthur_ant18's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cancer, Sexism, Sexual content, and Death of parent
kbairbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A huge thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for this arc (in exchange for an honest review).
I don’t think I’ve read a college academic rivals to lovers before and that paired with the second chance romance concept was fun! I will say one of the events that happened in the book really knocked me off kilter and I was actively rooting against the male love interest for a while before that was cleared up for me. There is fat phobia in this book and a really terrible father figure as well as a very unsupportive mother which is very triggering but the female main character never had those feelings about herself that I can recall so there is that. I felt very satisfied at the end of the book and find it comical how strong my feelings were during the read. Lovely debut from this author and I look forward to more!
I don’t think I’ve read a college academic rivals to lovers before and that paired with the second chance romance concept was fun! I will say one of the events that happened in the book really knocked me off kilter and I was actively rooting against the male love interest for a while before that was cleared up for me. There is fat phobia in this book and a really terrible father figure as well as a very unsupportive mother which is very triggering but the female main character never had those feelings about herself that I can recall so there is that. I felt very satisfied at the end of the book and find it comical how strong my feelings were during the read. Lovely debut from this author and I look forward to more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol
decklededgess's review against another edition
dnf. i skimmed so much to get to some interesting bits but it was just frustrating and annoying. i don’t like ANYONE in this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexism
hilwithonel's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Academic Rivals plus second chance romance with a plus sized FMC.
Things I loved:
- The absolute nerdiness of our main characters and
- the way both MCs fight stereotypes of the beauty standard within romance novels
- Every moment of referencing medieval lit
Things that were meh:
- the pacing.
- it felt a little too long
- the side stories weren't super important to me
Things I loved:
- The absolute nerdiness of our main characters and
- the way both MCs fight stereotypes of the beauty standard within romance novels
- Every moment of referencing medieval lit
Things that were meh:
- the pacing.
- it felt a little too long
- the side stories weren't super important to me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Emotional abuse
stacyroth's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Allison Avery and Colin Benjamin’s college relationship was full of as much competition as love until it came to a crashing end. Now, Allison is thrilled to be in the grad school program at Claymore University, studying medieval literature from a professor she has long admired. Her years of dreaming and hard work have finally paid off! The last thing she expects to see is Colin, accepted to the same problem and being mentored by the same professor. When the professor announces a career-changing research opportunity with only one spot for the two of them, their rivalry comes back in full force. Will the love follow?
This was an OK romance story; I wanted to like it more than I actually did. I was really confused by the competition that broke them up the first time. It was open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Colin, as a senior, beating Allison, as a sophomore, completely destroyed her chances of winning this super-important competition, and she couldn’t just … try again her junior or senior year? Second chance romance is one of my favorite tropes, but I didn’t really ever feel that this relationship needed a second chance. The side story with Allison’s dad was extremely predictable.
Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Death of parent
alisonreadsitall's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/ St. Martin’s Griffin for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Allison Avery is living her best life: rooming with her best friend and just started the elite graduate program she's worked so hard to get into. Imagine her surprise when her ex shows up as the other TA competing for a once in a lifetime placement. Being forced to work closely together, will she be able to resist how much he has changed?
Overall, I really liked Allison. She loved herself as a fat woman, and didn't try to make herself smaller (physically or emotionally) to fit in or please others. She was intelligent, confident, and always had a plan for worst case scenarios. However, she suffered from the inability to cope with failure and jumped to false conclusions often driven by her anxiety.
I have mixed emotions about Allison and Colin together, because honestly, their communication was just terrible. Yes, Colin was in the wrong in their previous relationship, but Allison always jumped to the worse conclusions to protect herself without allowing his explanations. Even though I was annoyed by the lack of communication, there were some hilarious and swoon-worthy moments in between it all. (I can't with the cardigans. 😅)
While I didn't love this one, I really did enjoy it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I'm looking forward to more of what Jenny has up her sleeve as an author!
Tropes: second chance romance, rivalry to lovers, forced proximity
The book will be published September 13, 2022!
Allison Avery is living her best life: rooming with her best friend and just started the elite graduate program she's worked so hard to get into. Imagine her surprise when her ex shows up as the other TA competing for a once in a lifetime placement. Being forced to work closely together, will she be able to resist how much he has changed?
Overall, I really liked Allison. She loved herself as a fat woman, and didn't try to make herself smaller (physically or emotionally) to fit in or please others. She was intelligent, confident, and always had a plan for worst case scenarios. However, she suffered from the inability to cope with failure and jumped to false conclusions often driven by her anxiety.
While I didn't love this one, I really did enjoy it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I'm looking forward to more of what Jenny has up her sleeve as an author!
Tropes: second chance romance, rivalry to lovers, forced proximity
The book will be published September 13, 2022!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Fatphobia
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Cancer
bookwormbullet's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Body shaming, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Cancer and Medical content
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