This was AMAZING! I thought the STEM romance was to die for! I also adored the character development!! The plot was also very inspiring to young girls everywhere!

This book was the perfect geeky romance! If you're looking for your next read after 'The Love Hypothesis', this one will give you the same thrill. The author of this novel already produced a brilliant piece of fiction and this easily follows. It's humorous, bright and such fun to read.

The characters were all so charming and the romance was to die for. I really liked this and will definitely pick up whatever comes next for this author!

I loved this one. Super cute and fun to read with a sweet romance! I loved that it was dual point of view and that each character, while also falling in love, had their own character arcs that were exciting and really interesting to read about. Personally, my favourite parts of the book were when Bel discovered her love for robotics and knew that was what she wanted to go to school for. It made me happy to read about someone discovering their passion.

I was excited when I saw this on NetGalley because this author also wrote The Atlas Six, which has been on my radar thanks to TikTok. I thought this book was great and I appreciated that it was short but still gave me just what I needed to stay invested in the story. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

‘𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨, 𝘽𝙚𝙡 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙤.’

Bel would rather die than think about the future. But when she accidentally reveals a talent for engineering at school, she’s basically forced into joining the robotics club. Even worse? All the boys ignore Bel—and Neelam, the only other girl on the team, doesn't seem to like her either.

Enter Mateo Luna, captain of the club, who recognizes Bel as a potential asset—until they start butting heads. But as the nights of after-school work grow longer and longer, Bel and Teo realize they've made more than just a combat-ready robot for the championship: they’ve made each other and the team better. Because girls do belong in STEM.

‘𝘽𝙚𝙡, 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙄’𝙢 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚.’

first of all, I think the cover is so cute. I love bel’s bird jeans. second of all, I loooove this story. it has an academic rivals to lovers trope and it’s just great how bel and teo grew closer.

at first bel didn’t really care about engineering and just school in general until one of her teachers recognized her talent. she was way happier when she joined the team and got so much more friends.

in the beginning teo was a bit arrogant and I didn’t really like him. he was mean to bel when he saw she was as good as him in engineering. luckily they started working together, because bel changed teo in a positive way.

‘𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄’𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪.’

even though this story is about robots, science and engineering (which I normally don’t really like) I loved this book. the story is fun for everyone, because most of the book is about the lovestory of bel and teo. I’m so happy that this book was my first arc!!

𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨, 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙮, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.

"I like to think I have eccentric tastes in most things, but I like Taylor Swift too. I’m human, after all." SAME Bel, same 😆 #swiftie

This was a really cute YA novel! I found the pacing slower than I like, but this book was wonderfully written, witty and inspiring. I really loved the Women in STEM aspect of this book, and thought the robotics team was really fun to read about! I loved Bel's teacher who encouraged her to to challenge herself and to "Take up your own space, Bel. Don't let other people tread over it.".

However, I thought the characters were somewhat unlikable. Teo never grew on me, and although I liked Bel, she spent most of the book being so unsure of herself that it got really annoying after awhile. The amount of times I read "I mean" and "Uhm" started to get to me. I understand this was added to make it known that she was insecure, and me not liking that detail is just a personal preference.

If you're looking for a wholesome, well written, young adult, slow burn romance, centering around robotics, engineering and women in stem, I recommend it.

"Hormones are honestly the worst thing anyone’s ever invented."

✍🏼 𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧: Alexene Farol Follmuth
🗓️ 𝙋𝙪𝙗 𝘿𝙖𝙮: May 31, 2022
📚 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚: Young Adult Romance

3.75⭐ Thank you Holiday House for this e-ARC!

This review will be posted to my blogs and Amazon in publication day!

This was a fun read that I went through fairly quickly! I still love YA, even as an almost 30 year old. The characters felt really fleshed out and we definitely need more books about women in STEM, especially YA books. I also really loved the cover of this book. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone in a reading slump. This pulled me out very quickly!

"Desculpe ter demorado tanto."

Bel é uma garota que corre toda vez que o assunto sobre o futuro chega à porta. No último ano do ensino médio em uma escola nova, ela só quer se esconder e não ter que pensar em tudo o que está acontecendo em sua vida, contudo, após uma trabalho surpreendente feito de última hora, ela é basicamente obrigada a entrar na equipe de robótica do colégio.

Lá Bel percebe que não será apenas abraçada por todos, ela precisa mostrar seu valor num grupo dominado pela sua maioria meninos e onde as mulheres não são valorizadas. Também não ajuda quando a outra menina do grupo parece que a odeia. Mas, no meio disso tudo, ela encontra Teo, o líder e o menino perfeito. E o seu oposto.

Teo tem tudo na vida planejado e se envolve em várias atividades com maestria. Líder da robótica, jogador de futebol, aluno nota 10, aquele que todos podem contar o tempo todo. Mas até onde isso é bom para um garoto que 18 anos que deveria ser apenas... um garoto?

Teo vê um potencial em Bel e ajuda a direcioná-la dentro das suas potencialidades que ela mesma nunca havia pensado, em contrapartida, ela traz a leveza que a vida de Teo precisava. E no meio dessa aproximação de amizade, companheirismo e amor, eles buscam construir um robô vencedor para o campeonato nacional.

Uma das coisas que eu mais gostei nesse livro é que, além do romance fofo e maravilhoso, temos diálogos e dificuldades condizentes com a faixa etária e contexto do livro. É real e necessário. Eu amo livros levinhos de young adult que me fazem suspirar, mas também adoro quando, além disso, eles nos trazem dilemas da vida e um pano de fundo sólido para os personagens.

A autora é maravilhosa em mostrar o machismo no contexto das áreas de engenharia e robótica e como a mulher precisa lutar 10x mais para alcançar o seu espaço. Da mesma forma, ela te mostra como um cara nunca vai entender na mesma proporção o que nós passamos, ainda que ele esteja do seu lado nessa briga.

Além disso, o livro também aborda os dilemas sobre escolher o futuro e a pressão feita sobre os adolescentes. Se de um lado eu conseguia compreender a Bel com suas indecisões, do outro eu queria acolher o Teo e toda a expectativa que as pessoas ao redor colocavam nele.

O final me deixou apreensiva e deu um toque a mais na história, trazendo um lado realístico e bem pé no chão, ao mesmo tempo que me deu o quentinho no coração que eu precisava.

É o primeiro livro da autora que eu leio e sem dúvida eu espero que ela escreva mais nesse estilo porque ela acertou em cheio por aqui. Aquele primeiro beijo com certeza ficou na minha memoria afetiva e eu levarei Bel e Teo pra sempre comigo.

as someone who did not have a good relationship with high school and thought they outgrew YA romances, this blew me out of all my biases and was such a cute, intelligent, and surprising read!

My Mechanical Romance is a young adult contemporary romance with a dual pov following bel, an eccentric and intelligent girl who joins her new school's robotics club much to her own aversion, and teo, captain of the robotics club. while also being a fluffy rivals to lovers romance, this book delves deeper into commentary on sexism and racism within the STEM world, familial issues, and intersectional feminism. this is also the first time i've read a book with a filipino mc (bel), which i appreciated and adored! each character felt very fleshed out and unique, even the side characters. bel and teo felt reminiscent of blue and gansey from the raven cycle and i was absolutely here for all of that.

i will say that the beginning of this book read very cheesy and cliche, in which i thought i wasn't gonna be able to continue, but after it set up the initial premise everything fell into place and the writing style grew on me. if you struggle with the beginning, please push forward because this is a cute read that's definitely worth your time!

(i absolutely need more from this author so now i'm finally gonna pick up the atlas six)

thank you so much to netgalley, holiday house, and alexene farol follmuth for this eARC!

Okay, this book is genuinely so cute and relatable!! Like, I could write an essay on how I can find myself in almost all the characters.
This is a fun, cute, quick romance to read whenever you don’t know what to read next.
First of all, the tropes: (kind of) enemies to friends to lovers and slow burn is awesome!
Both main characters are genuine and loving. Bel’s fashion style is so perfect, and it makes her stand out but not in an “I’m not like other girls” way. I want to give Teo a hug because he makes everyone feel better before himself and he puts so much pressure on himself.
I also loved this book because of the scientific background. It was so interesting to learn about robotics and made me wish my high school had stuff like that.
During the entire book I could relate to so many characters: Bel for being a girl in a man’s world, not knowing what you want to do after school. Dash because you’ve been doing something your entire life, but you realize you don’t want to make it your job. And so many more…
Anyway, you should read this book, I totally recommend it :)

I might be addicted to books about women in STEM, so please write more!

Typically, I don't read YA contemporary/romance, but this book called to me and thank god it did because it is so cute! I adored the romance, and the characters' development was great. Both had a good build-up and neither felt forced or rushed. There are some predictable plot elements, but I guess that's to be expected in a YA romance.

Overall, a great read. Highly recommended.

Words cannot describe how much I loved this book, AHHHHH. Like I don’t even know where to start or with what to start. This was just sooooo Fkn adorable and kept me so hooked the whole time, I did not want to put it down. I loved the characters, the growth, the relationship development, the tropes, the setting, and the plot.

This book just made me fall in love with the opposites attract and new girl x popular book tropes even more. Their relationship is so pure, their dynamic, support towards each other and development was so wholesome. It called me single in every language possible. And their first kiss was at a holi festival??? LIKE GOALS! It was the whole she falls first but he falls harder thing and I LOVED all of it. The epilogue has my whole heart too it was so well done.

I loved seeing Bel & Neelam’s relationship growth, and the topics of classism/elitism regarding college and sexism in STEM.

I would 100% recommend this book, so pleaseeee pick it up!!!!

Let me start saying this was such a cute book in everyway that counts. I ask for it because the cover and title were so cute and I was curious when I saw a review if it.

So about the story I can't only it was one of the cutest book I've ever read this year. It was so fun, real and nerdy. I love every single page of it because it really shows you the way teenagers act about they future. Take as example the way Teo was already accepted to his chosed school and then you have Bel who is so confused and doesn't even know what she wants be let alone chosed a school.
Another real thing about this book that maked me conect with it was the way woman are perceived in sccience. It's so Hard to be a woman in a World thats its mostly controled by guys, in the science field most of the time women are the behind the scene or the harder work trying to gain their Place as part of the project and barely got recognition for it. I really like the way the author showed you the strugles of Teo to mantain this perfect person and behind the scene he was struggling to much.

Seriously robatic and physics lenguage it's my New love language. I'm going to finish this saying that "Nerds are hot" except Teo (joking he's hotter than sin) 🤭🤭.

Thanks NetGalley for this cute and amazing ARC, I can't wait for people to read this boook.

“If I want the world to recognize what I am truly capable of, I have to show them.”

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc !!!

A heartwarming novel with lots of robotics and inspiring moments.

With the characters struggling to find the “right” path as they were seniors and about to go to college in not so long; as I am going through the same thing, I thought the whole experience throughout the book was really relatable, which I liked.

WOMEN IN STEM WE WOOON.

The “enemies to lovers” trope is really popular right now, and as someone who LOVES this trope, I didn’t really like how it was portrayed in the story, yes there was angst and yes there were cute moments, but there wasn’t really a lot of yk, the enemies part.

With dual POV we got to see the story through Bel and Teo, the main characters, whose love story description is what lured me into reading this book. Being almost polar opposites, Bel and Teo are perfect for each other. And the conversations the characters felt so real and not forced, with genuinely funny moments and REAL conversations.

Character development was *chefs kiss*, secondary characters I turned out to like better than Teo though. 🤭

And that’s it, this pretty much sums up my whole experience with the book.

What I loved:
* Academic rivals to lovers - watching Bel stand up to Teo, especially at the start of the book was so satisfying. I loved seeing how she was able to use her own experience to help the team and how much it infuriated Teo.

* Representation for women in STEM - I loved how the author addressed the very real problems faced by women in male dominated areas, like areas related to STEM. It is an unfortunate truth that too many girls are not encouraged to pursue interests or careers that are mainly male dominated and the author did not shy away from this at all.

* Bel was a super likeable character! I liked her right away, right down to her bird jeans. She felt really realistic and relatable, I mean, who else felt like they didn't have their entire life figured out at 17?

What I didn't love:
* I feel like the ending left a few loose ends. I don't want to get into details, but I feel like there were some things that need cleared up, one example being with Teo's father.

* I feel that the ending was a bit rushed and I would have liked to see more about how Teo and Bel dealt with things more. There were a few issues in their relationship that hadn't been sorted out and I would have liked to have seen some sort of conclusion before the book ended.

* I wish the rivals part had developed more, but that's purely personal preference.

Overall, this was a really great read and I highly recommend it. It was a quick, light read!

Thank you so much to the publisher Holiday House for sending an arc of this my way in exchange for an honest review.

This just wasn't up my alley. Although i am a diehard fan of the authors other works. i just couldn't fall in love with My Mechanical Romance. I just couldn't care enough about the story or the characters considering I'm not into robotics and stem. it seemed interesting at first and then kind of just dragged for me.

ARC provided by NETGALLEY

reading slump make it way while i was reading this book and it took me 10 days to finish it BUT i absolutely adored this novel!
first, the trope academic rivals to lovers yup obviously im in!
second, a two pov narrative, love it!
i felt really connected to some stuffs on this book, and it felt so good to be seen!
being a scientist myself, i wish more (romance) novel were settled in science world with nerdy characters!

Thank you to NetGalley, Alexene Farol Follmuth & Holiday House for allowing me to read this ARC. 4 stars: My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth is such a cute novel featuring women in stem, academic rivals to lovers, and coming of age. I loved Bel and Teo and the duo POV as they become closer. There were great range of characters but the plot moved a bit slow for me. Overall, a good YA contemporary read.

My Mechanical Romance
5/5
I absolutely LOVED this book! It was a cute, quick read and I really enjoyed the pacing of the story! I am all for academic rivals to lovers, so this story had me hooked immediately. I found the main character, Bel, to be so relatable, especially with her struggles to find her path in life. The focus on women in STEM was also amazing! I enjoyed the dual POV between Bel and her robotics team rival Mateo Luna, and I really liked that all of the interactions between the characters in the book felt very natural! It really felt like conversations high schoolers would have. Bel and Mateo’s transition from rivals to friends to lovers was EVERYTHING! I always enjoy all the cute, wholesome moments when they are beginning the shift from friends to lovers and this book had plenty! I also loved all of the secondary characters in the book! Overall, this was one of my favorite YA books I’ve read this year and I would recommend it to literally anyone and everyone who loves YA romance!
Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for gifting me this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

When Bel fails an assignment, she is forced to join the schools robotics team and quickly finds out that she is pretty good at it. This is also where she meets Theo, the team captain. Rivals at first, the two soon realize that they might have more in common than they originally thought.
This was a great read. The story was very well written and the plot is easy to follow. The characters were great as well. Especially the main character Bel was amazing, in my opinion. She was very well developed and her character growth was notable and appreciated. The relationship between the main characters was also very well executed in my opinion. The change from rivalry to love was great and not too rushed. i would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC

First I would like to thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC copy in exchange for a review !!

I personnaly loved this book so much it was such a fun read !! At first I was a little skeptical because read even if I love a good rivals to lovers I'm not a big fan of science (litereray to the core lol). BUT I was so wrong and I'm glad i was.

The story follows Bel who just arrived in a new High School and who will against all odds join the school robotics club by capturing the attention of the team leader who i no one else than our male protagonist Mateo Luna !! I find it interesting to see the struggles that girls in STEM have to face and how they have to fight to prove their value in this world where some men dont think they belong.

Concerning Bel and Teo I just loved the fact that even if they're from two completly different worlds they find in eachother a person who understand them better than everyone else.

Their relationship and its development was awesome just to see them going from academic rivals to friends to lovers was so cute and fun !! It was beautiful to see this fragile young love blooming.
And I really loved them separetly too they're so smart and kind !

I also really could relate to Bel character and her struggles. Some people have their all life figured it out (or at least have a idea of what their future will look like) but some of them just dont really know what to expect of their future (I'm one of them lol) I just recently figured it out that each person have her own path, her own rythm and that its not a competition. Everything will come to place and at some point all of this will make sense (enventually lol). And thats why Bel character hit very close to home and I just loved to see her grow throughout the book and to see her become a independent and skillful character who just keep evolving despite all the difficulties she has to face as a girl in STEM.

So yeah I was such a good read and I'm so happy I was given this opportunity to discover it !!