diff --git a/cmd/api/handlers_test.go b/cmd/api/handlers_test.go
index adfc00b..2d6ec20 100644
--- a/cmd/api/handlers_test.go
+++ b/cmd/api/handlers_test.go
@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@ import (
 	"log/slog"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
+
+	"git.runcible.io/learning/pulley/internal/assert"
 )
 
 func newTestApplication() application {
@@ -35,15 +36,12 @@ func TestHealthRoute(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
 	body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
+
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
 
 	body = bytes.TrimSpace(body)
 
-	if !strings.Contains(string(body), "environment: test") {
-		t.Fatalf("Did not find: %q in response body", "environment: test")
-	}
+	assert.StringContains(t, string(body), "environment: test")
 }
 
 func TestCreateMovieHandler(t *testing.T) {
@@ -65,15 +63,12 @@ func TestCreateMovieHandler(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
 	body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
+
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
 
 	body = bytes.TrimSpace(body)
 
-	if !strings.Contains(string(body), want) {
-		t.Fatalf("Did not find: %q in response body", want)
-	}
+	assert.StringContains(t, string(body), want)
 }
 
 func TestGetAllMoviesHandler(t *testing.T) {
@@ -107,9 +102,7 @@ func TestGetAllMoviesHandler(t *testing.T) {
 
 			r, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, fmt.Sprintf("/v1/movies/%s", test.id), nil)
 			t.Logf("Path: %s, Method: %s", r.URL.Path, r.Method)
-			if err != nil {
-				t.Fatal(err)
-			}
+			assert.NilError(t, err)
 
 			app := newTestApplication()
 			// want to test with httprouter since we use it to parse context
@@ -117,9 +110,8 @@ func TestGetAllMoviesHandler(t *testing.T) {
 
 			resp := respRec.Result()
 			t.Logf("Code: %d", resp.StatusCode)
-			if resp.StatusCode != test.wantCode {
-				t.Fatalf("Got status code '%d', wanted status code '%d'", resp.StatusCode, test.wantCode)
-			}
+			assert.Equal(t, resp.StatusCode, test.wantCode)
+
 		})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/assert/assert.go b/internal/assert/assert.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3cc90d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/assert/assert.go
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package assert
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// Equal a generic function to test equivalence between two values
+// of the same type
+func Equal[T comparable](t *testing.T, actual, expected T) {
+	//The t.Helper() function that we’re using in the code above indicates
+	//  to the Go test runner that our Equal() function is a test helper.
+	// This means that when t.Errorf() is called from our Equal() function,
+	// the Go test runner will report the filename and line number of the
+	// code which called our Equal() function in the output.
+	t.Helper()
+
+	if actual != expected {
+		t.Errorf("got: %v; want %v", actual, expected)
+	}
+}
+
+func StringContains(t *testing.T, actual, expectedSubstring string) {
+
+	t.Helper()
+
+	if !strings.Contains(actual, expectedSubstring) {
+		t.Errorf("got: %q; expected to contain %q", actual, expectedSubstring)
+	}
+}
+
+func NilError(t *testing.T, actual error) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	if actual != nil {
+		t.Errorf("got: %v; expected: nil", actual)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/logging/logging_test.go b/internal/logging/logging_test.go
index 1ebdee6..dd9af15 100644
--- a/internal/logging/logging_test.go
+++ b/internal/logging/logging_test.go
@@ -3,8 +3,9 @@ package logging
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"log/slog"
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
+
+	"git.runcible.io/learning/pulley/internal/assert"
 )
 
 func TestParseLevel(t *testing.T) {
@@ -45,9 +46,7 @@ func TestParseLevel(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			got := parseLogLevel(test.level)
 
-			if got != test.want {
-				t.Errorf("got %s, want %s", got, test.want)
-			}
+			assert.Equal(t, got, test.want)
 		})
 	}
 
@@ -61,8 +60,6 @@ func TestInitLogging(t *testing.T) {
 	logger.Info(msg)
 
 	content := spy.String()
-	if !strings.Contains(content, msg) {
-		t.Fatalf("Error comparing messages. Wanted: %q got: %q", msg, content)
-	}
+	assert.StringContains(t, content, msg)
 
 }