This book has to be one of my favorites now!!
It has so many key tropes/concepts: academic rivals to lovers, women (of color) in stem, dual pov, cute nicknames, and amazing banter!

My favorite thing may be Teo becoming a swiftie for Bel, the cutest thing ever!!! If somebody did that for me, I would love them forever.

Bel is such a relatable character and that will reach out to young girls everywhere, she defied the misogyny in STEM and so did Neelam (who had serious character development that I loved!). She’s also a very strong main character and had so much personality! Don’t even get me started on her family situation, it’s so similar to what I’ve been going through for a couple years and I know how difficult it is <3

The side characters were really well written, they all had strong personalities and their own stories despite not being the main characters. I love Jamie so much, she deserves the world!
Teo definitely needed some humbling in the beginning, that boys ego was so high. But I really liked how knowing Bel and hearing her speak just shifted his perspective in a healthy way :)

It was super interesting to read about robotics, especially since I’ve never gotten into that and I know absolutely nothing about the subject. But this book had great descriptions of the robots, and it’s clear the author did her research!
Definitely a must read, easily 5 stars!!!

My Mechanical Romance was such an adorable and fun read! All the characters were amazing, I loved this book.

So we follow Bel, a high school senior who just transferred to a new private school. Her physics teacher soon sees Bel's intelligence and potential and encourages her to join the robotics team at the school. She later meets Teo, the robotics club leader. Teo and Bel both have different ideas for the club and they argue constantly. It's dual perspective, following Bel and Teo's first-person POVS.

I really like how this story is not just about Bel and Teo's relationship, but also about their own struggles within their families and at school. I found Bel to be very charming and just an amazing main character as we see her deal with all the different battles in her life. Teo is also a great character; his actions are questionable but as we learn more about him, we understand and empathize with him. I think the author did an amazing job with character growth and getting the reader to emotionally connect with and invest in the characters.

Overall, I think this book was great! It was very quick and easy to read, but the story and plot is interesting. I found My Mechanical Romance to be a bit slow at some parts, but I appreciated it, because it allowed for me to understand the characters and their motives, feelings, and emotions. Great YA read, I enjoyed and devoured this book! Thank you so much to Holiday House and Alexene Farol Follmuth for sending me the ARC!

Following Bel and Teo on their senior year of high school, My Mechanical Romance is Alexe Farol Follmuth’s debut YA novel. The book contains the well-loved academic rivals romance trope, which will make it appealing for so many individuals, but what truly makes this book a successful piece of literature (in my opinion) is the representation of women in stem. Although, the world is becoming more and more progressive, sexism and misogyny are still very much prominent, especially in the world of science. Pushing and stretching these boundaries with representation and encouragement is essential to change these expectations that are built into the foundation of our society.

One thing that I loved more than anything in this book was Bel’s style. This is a very weird thing to point out, but her quirky way of dressing is exactly what I wish I had the confidence to do. I love her with my entire heart.

I found that I could relate to both main characters. Bel had this loss of direction in career, while Teo had this overwhelming sense of responsibility of doing everything right and making the right judgements. Further, the characters were very personable because they genuinely had real-life problems and they didn’t just disappear out of thin air. I really loved this aspect. Bel and Teo’s relationship also showed this side of a healthy connection, where people who truly care about each other can built the other up, instead of breaking them down.

The book itself was relatively short, however, I still felt like there was a lot of content. It rounded the story out really nicely, however, maybe I felt that it finished a little too abruptly. I’m not saying that it didn’t end well, but it might’ve been just a little unfinished. This would probably be my only negative comment, otherwise this book was exceptional.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author and Holiday House for providing me with an ARC of this book.

5/5 stars for girl enginerds! Bel is a waffler and Teo is forced to be too decisive. This book does such a good job of showing different types of kids on the cusp of so much change. Some are daunted by having to make decisions or just don't even know where to start. Some are pressured to have certain goals and then just create more pressure on themselves.

This book took on some hard topics in very approachable ways that I think teens will find understandable like implicit bias. The female friendships in this book are everything. The girls are supportive and open-minded, and I even felt empathy for Naleem by the end.

Overall I would call this book just squeezable cute. I really was hugging my tablet by the end with all the warm feelings.

Thank you NetGalley and Holiday House for the eARC!

From the very start, My Mechanical Romance grabbed my attention and held fast.
This "enemies to academic colleagues to lovers" is a quick, well-paced story that revolves mainly around Bel, who I felt was not only likeable, but relatable too, And Teo, the nerdy Mr Darcy-esque jock/genius who at first came across as quite narcissistic. The high school robot wars theme shows the reader what extra challenges girls and women face in a predominantly male environment.

This book was amazing! The main character had a lot of depth and was very relatable. Her relationship with the other mc was so cute and I had a lot of fun reading this book. Can't wait to see more from this author!

The relationship in this one is just so immature. I understand they’re in high school, but it just wasn’t for me unfortunately. I think that this would be a good book for a high schooler (I can usually enjoy YA but this one seems to be an outlier unfortunately because I wanted to love this one!)

DNF at this time. This book was not a good fit for me at the moment but I think it will be better for me when it comes out on audiobook.

This was a cute rivals to lovers, which was easy to read and quite enjoyable.

The main plot follows Bel joining the schools robotics club, and eventually finding her place at her new school, and passion, which gives her a path for the future whilst also navigating her personal life and family drama. There was a nice balance between quirkiness and more serious topics, and I enjoyed that. The story is quite slow at first, and there is a lot of science and technical terms that I was unfamiliar with, but regardless, the story was cute, and the robots were cool.

The character's were difficult to like at first, but thankfully, there is a lot of development and they challenge each other and become a lot more bearable. I could relate a lot to Bel not being certain about her future and lacking passion, but eventually finding it, and it was nice to see her grow in confidence and stop selling herself and her contributions short.

I was unaware that this was written by the author of the atlas six, but enjoyed it and would be interested in seeing more young adult works.

This book was sweet and cute. It was nice to see another book about a female in the STEM program love the inclusion of it. It was a fun book to read and one of my favorite tropes enemies to lovers. It was a little slow in the beginning and I did get lost with some of the terminology but it could be due to my lack of familiarity with the terms. Don't let that discourage you from reading it though it is worth it. The character development is great and relateable. Bel is so indecisive and wary to step outside of her comfort zone but with Ms. Voss encouragement it helps her navigate a male dominate enviornment . Teo is the star athlete/ student that everyone goes along with what he says. In reality it shows how he has so much pressure to live up to his family name and be the star of everything. It is very relatable becaus real pressures of high school and then college looming with applications and decisions to be made. The robots were awesome and i loved reading about it! I did not think I would enjoy it as much as I did but to me I would definitely reread it again. Thank you Net galley for my ARC!

Fun, romance and robotics, everything that I like!
I really loved this book. The author creates these academic rivals to lovers that is so good, I really would read a series about these couple and their friends. I liked all the college environment and the robotics competition. I think that this book talks about important themes about knowing what you want to do in your life and the toxic masculinity in the engineer area. I loved the development of the main couple, building from enemies to friends and then lovers. I would reread it 1000 times!

Thank you NetGalley and Holiday House for the ARC!

I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!

To be honest, right now I'm practically not very interested in reading about the story of a youth who is looking for their dreams. However, one thing that attracted me to this book was because it deals with robots, girl and STEM. Maybe the reason is too personal because I also felt that way when I was at school and I was trapped in there.

As I said above, this book will follow Bel who still doesn't know what kind of future she wants. Where will she continue her education or what major she will pursue. Until finally she worked with the robotics team which she unexpectedly would become her favorite thing and of course there was Teo Luna there.

This book tells a lot about the robotic team and their matches. It might be difficult to imagine with many robotic terms and parts but I like these moments because I think the author is able to build the excitement and atmosphere of a tense match and all the excitement of the competitors.

The story about Bel and Teo who also have to start thinking about their future is also fun to follow. Especially when those who initially kept arguing and then spent a long time together until they finally fell in love. Because there are two points of view, we can see clearly what they really think and feel for each other and it's cute. I love them as a couple!

If you like story evolve around academic especially in STEM, I highly recommend this!

I’m not going to lie, it was a bit difficult to get into and read through mainly because i didn’t understand have of the things there were saying in BUT it was so cute. I loved how awkward, how angsty, how heavily “teen” it felt, it was all so relatable. From the way everyone spoke to eachother, from the “enemies to lovers”, to how school can be, etc. so so wholesome !!

4.4 stars

-Academic rivals to lovers
-Women in stem
-POC representation
-Dual POV

This book was adorable, and I adored it! The rep was pretty impressive compared to the other novels I've read, and the joy I got when I found out there was POC rep was terrific. This is the first time I've read anything by Alexene Farol Follmuth or Olive Blake, most known for her work on Atlas Six, and I'm confident I'll enjoy her other work as well.

Bel and Teo's points of view were displayed throughout the book, which was quite refreshing, and I absolutely enjoyed it since I am a major sucker for dual povs. They're a force of nature and hilarious. Their tiny flirting remarks at the start of the book were to die for, and the character development was incredible. With Mateo, as a Latino, and Bel, as a Filipina, you can witness a tiny representation of their culture, whether in their home life or daily.

The one thing I really admired about Bel was that she had a strong personality and wasn't changing her entire attitude simply for a male. Bel's character development, in particular, I felt was significant and needed because, as a high school student myself, it's challenging to figure out what you want in life honestly. Especially in your final years of high school, the pressure and stress can become overwhelming, leaving you in utter confusion about what you want for the future.

The robotics aspect was entirely new for me because I'd never read a book dealing with STEM in any way. Still, I saw it as a trip down memory lane and enjoyed it since, a few years ago, I was on a robotics team, participating in competitions with friends and the feeling of adrenaline pouring through my veins.

I ALMOST FORGOT THIS, BUT THE HOLI FESTIVAL PART WAS SO CUTE!

Overall, as you read the book, you become aware of the various challenges that women, particularly those of colour in stem, face, which I found enlightening because I didn't know much about the subject. Bel and Teo were adorable, and the book does a good job of depicting the realities of high school relationships.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published on May 31, 2022!

Such a cute read! I love the uprising of “women in STEM” books, and I thought Bel was a great character! Her character growth and strength were inspiring.

Obvi I’m always here for the romance, and Bel and Teo were adorable! Hot nerd are the best. The rivals-to-friends-to-more trope worked well. I know zero about robotics but really enjoyed learning through the characters/story.

Certain parts felt a little slow, but overall this was a really enjoyable read. Thank you to Holiday House and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This book sounded very intriguing and after a lot of hype and other reviews which made me curious, I decided to also request this book. Unfortunately, it was not for me. Though the book is not at all bad, I just could not connect with the writing of this book at all. To me, it was a strange feeling how high level the writing was because I expected it to be a simple romance book, but the dialogue and the big wording threw me off. The dialogue seemed unrealistic to real life and there was a lot of internal talking and explaining without much happening.

I believe that for people who specifically are more interesting in for example STEM and might be in this stage of their lives this would be a great book. The storyline was interesting and its rivals to lovers with a very diverse cast. I feel like this would be a hit or miss and sadly it was a miss for me. I will definitely try one of this author's next books again. The sequel to TA6 sounds promising and I feel like the writing style was better fitted to a book like that, so I am excited to see how that book unfolds.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for a review.

Adrenaline is peculiar when it comes to competitions, and when it's about high school robot competitions, it isn't the exception.

Bel has never had the urge to be in a club, specially one in the tech side of the school but Teo, the robotics team leader as well as a teacher of hers, sees potential in her, despite not knowing about what or how the computer programs used in the club work or even to work in a team.

It hit just right in the enemies to lovers department, but I think that the best part about this book is the whole STEM topic. Specially when you're a woman in that department. We see it in the way the team wholly depends on Teo since the beginning of the book and how they consider Bel less of a teammate because she doesn't know how to use the computer programs or another teammate who is always dismissed because she complains a lot. With these attitudes, not a whole lot of wanting to learn. And even worse, we see favoritism based on gender from the teachers. Disgusting, but truthful.

It's a fast paced novel, with a lot of focus on doing what you like even if it involves unconventional methods, team work, accepting your weaknesses and strengths, and maybe even accepting that you can't do everything, and receiving help is not the end of the world. The romance was cute, a nice touch, and something I wholly enjoyed but compared to the rest, it somewhat falls short.

The dual pov was pretty great, seeing both sides on the situations presented and how the story moves forward from Bel and Teo's perspective gave a us a bigger overview on how some of these situations are very focused on only one gender, while the other doesn't even notice something happened.

such a cute little story about two stem kids :) teo can be so annoying but also so cute, i love both of them so much. bel's style is described in such a cool way as well, i really enjoyed the emphasis on it & how teo points it out / obsessed over it 24/7 (LISTEN... funky pants are on his mind all the tiiiiimeeeee). also this shows the reality of women and girls in stem really well!! i'll definitely recommend this book to my girl friends who are majoring in stem fields <3

overall, a really sweet romcomish young adult story!

Thank you again @netgalley, @holidayhousebks, & @afarolfollmuth for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

God, I love this book. It is so well written, I flew right through it, and I feel like I have so many thoughts & yet I somehow can’t seem to find the right words? That’s how much I enjoyed it, tbh. It’s been awhile since I read YA so I was a bit hesitant at first, but MMR really does have the entire package. Well-developed & layered characters + dual POVs? Check. Diverse leads (a half-Filipino queen, Bel Canto!!), each w/ complex family dynamics? Check. Academic rivals-to friends-to lovers? Double check. Banter that is equal parts fun, smart, and hilarious? Check. Kickass women in STEM? Check. Exploring all the many biases & microaggressions women in STEM face every day due to working in a predominantly male field? Triple check. I mean it when I say: THIS CUTE AF ROMANCE HAS👏🏼 IT👏🏼ALL.

I highlighted/tabbed so many great parts & quotes (which I cannot share until pub day, I know, I’m sad 🥹)— Teo & Bel are such wonderful characters. I love how this book is as much of a love story as it is about two people discovering what it means to make space for themselves to be who they really are & go after what they really want. I saw a lot of my younger self in both of them and, as the byproduct of both crippling self-expectations AND also being caught in the middle of a messy divorce while in HS, their storylines made me feel so….. seen. It was bittersweet almost, bc I wish I had been able to read this gem of a book back then. I know I would have felt a lot less lonely if I had.

Anyway, anyway. I could say so much more but then I’d never shut up haha. My only “gripe” doesn’t even have to do w the book itself, only that the formatting for my Kindle eARC was totally wonky…. But that just means I’ll definitely be buying more than one copy come pub day! 🤗 SAVE THIS POST. PRE-ORDER THIS BOOK. READ IT ASAP. YOU’RE WELCOME. 🤖🤍

Yall, this book is so good and so exhilarating! When they said nerds are hot, damn both Bel and Teo are so finee! I am totally in love with their robotic talks (even though I don't understand that much about tech, engineering and stuff). The fun part of the story will always be the robotic match. It was so thrilling and instead of reading a typical romance book, it feels like you are reading a sport-romance theme. And the way they put the ending is just chef kiss, love it so muchhh! I originally wanted to give this one 4 stars but because of the robotic thingy I'm giving it 5 (maybe 4.5).
What I love to see in the books I read is the character development and this story delivered it nicely. I kinda like to see Bel and Neelam's relationship improvement and the author surely put it very nicely for both of the characters.
ps. Sheesh people would hate Neelam, but somehow I think she is really cool.