Thank you NetGalley and Holiday House for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

A YA novel centered around women in stem, sign me up! I was so excited to be approved for this netgalley read! We follow Bel who wants to think about anything other than her future. However, she has been hiding a secret talent for engineering and has been recruited to sign up for the robotics club!
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This was such a cute nerdy romcom that follows Bel and Teo and I loved to see their relationship blossom. Though I don’t know much about robotics or anything really related to engineering I didn’t find myself getting too confused and I thought the author did a wonderful job of not making things too complicated for the reader. I love reading books that are centered around a predominantly male-domanited field and the MC being a woman who is able to kick some real ass! I thought that it made for such a unique storyline. I also think that it has such a great potential to show its readers that you can be anything you want to be, no matter what stereotypes might say. Overall, I thought this was a really good read and would recommend it to anyone who loves romcoms!

This review will be posted to my Instagram blog (read_betweenthecovers) in the near future!

I really enjoyed this book it was super cute and I loved TeoBel (the main couple). I however did NOT love the unnecessary break up and Bel’s little pity party, I felt it was just thrown in there for no reason. Authors often do this to add drama and what not in books and I really am not a big fan. I also really wish TeoBel had more romantic scenes where it was more focused on them as a couple. I get the book is about them and the robotics team but more romantic scenes focused on their relationship would’ve been nice.
Overall this was a quick and fun read, also THE EPILOGUE??Too cute.

I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

I really struggled with this book. I wanted so bad to like it but I felt like it was just dragging on and on. I kept forcing myself forward! I know this has plenty of amazing reviews so I know it will do well but this just wasn’t for me.

In her YA debut, Alexene Farol Follmuth,explores both the challenges girls of color face in STEM and the vulnerability of first love with unfailing wit and honesty. With an adorable, opposites-attract romance at its center and lines that beg to be read aloud, My Mechanical Romance is swoonworthy perfection.


Even tho I am not a STEM kind of gal I really loved this book. Fun and quick read for sure.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

THIS BOOK!
This came right on time for me, since I'm starting my electrical engineering degree this October. Seeing Bel struggling to find her place and then how she manages to 'make a space for herself' gave me so much hope for my future, and for girls in STEM in general. Her relationship with Teo, and his character on its own, were amazing from the start. I could see myself in both of them, and it's something that is very important to me in stories.
I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, it was such a great read!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My Mechanical Romance was a very cute nerdy romcom. Even though anything scientific makes me eyes gloss over, this was a fun book to dive into. Especially after meeting Bel and Teo. These two had some serious nerdy tension and I couldn't wait to see what would happen between them. Also, the robot creating and fighting was entertaining too.

While reading this, it definitely reminded me of the show BattleBots. My dad used to be obsessed with that show while I had no desire to watch it. Now reading about it sort of gave me the same impression but Bel and Teo made it a bit better to digest it all. Other than watching these two dance around one another, I also enjoyed the friendships, teasing, and bantering throughout as well.

In the end, I'm happy with how everything turned out. The drama was a little predictable and the romance could have been a bit better in my eyes. They definitely had cute moments and some weird/awkward ones too. I'm so happy that I got the chance to jump into this and look forward to the next book Alexene writes!

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

This book was adorable and such a fun read and easy read.

The STEM romance was incredibly exciting to read. I’m in no way a robotics genius, I’ve never read og worked with anything like that, but I was never bored and not once did it feel too complicated.
The author does a very good job of writing it in a way that makes even me understand it. And I loved how it set the foundation for Bel And Teo’s romance.

I loved how Bel got to kick some ass in what is a predominantly male-dominated field. And it was amazing to see how the girls/women in this book had each others back and supported one another (for the most part)

This book has such a diverse group of characters, who are all so unique, and it makes for such an interesting dynamic. Both in the robotics lab and outside of it.

4,5/5 stars

Special thanks to Holiday House for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars

I'm still sort of trying to figure out how exactly I feel about this book. There were a lot of things that I did end up enjoying and I think there's potential for this to generate great discussions amongst its readers but the parts of the story that irritated me *REALLY* irritated me to the point where I just felt a lot of angsty anger! To be honest, this had a really rough start. The writing was fun, very young and sassy/sarcastic in a way that I can imagine won't work for everyone. It took a while for me to warm up to it too and there were times where it still came across as trying too hard, but I did find it cheekily entertaining and the style added some levity to the more serious subjects addressed. My Mechanical Romance isn't simply a fluffy academic rivals-to-lovers romance but it also talks about complex biracial family relationships and the issues that women and WOC in STEM face. It also sheds light on education inequality and the unrealistic expectations placed on teenagers to have it all figured out by the time they finish high school.

What I liked:
- There's a very empowering vibe that runs through the story and the author's acknowledgement at the end made me appreciate it more. The misogyny, micro-aggressions, condescension, prejudice, and the pervasive imposter syndrome that these young women of colour experienced in STEM was infuriating, relatable and sadly, not surprising. That said I loved how the author addresses the issue through empowered young women who refuse to let the patriarchy have the last laugh. These characters were so driven and it was pretty inspiring.
- Other than maths and the sciences, I never had STEM specific classes in school and although they were probs my least fave subjects, I actually really enjoyed reading about it in this book. These kids were so passionate and driven and though the competitiveness was a little wild, I loved to see how they got really creative with solutions.
- Though most of the characters took their time to grow on me, grow on me they did. There were a few I loved from the beginning including Dash, Jamie and Lora, and I absolutely adored their positive and enthusiastic energy. Our MCs, Bel and Teo took a little longer for me to like but I thought that they were realistically portrayed teenagers who had a lot of personal issues to deal with and who experienced considerable growth as the story continued.

I wish that Bel had been a little less apathetic at the start but though she required a lot of pushing from others to become a little more proactive, it was great to see her start taking up more space. She's incredibly smart, has a very inquisitive mind and I loved that she was so comfortable in her own skin, quirks and all. I 100% related to her situation with college and not knowing where to apply or what program to apply for. It sparked some discussion with the friends who I read this book with about the unrealistic expectations that are placed on teenagers to have their lives figured out at such a young age. I can't believe we expect 18yos to know what they want when I still struggle to figure it out some days! I'm glad that Bel was able to figure out what she wanted by the end but I've no doubt many readers will be able to empathise with her.

I wasn't sure that I'd like Teo at the beginning as his arrogance and misogynistic attitude was quite off-putting. However, I did sympathise with his home situation. He has so much pressure on him and I felt sorry for him at times because of how that made him feel like he had to be in control all the time in order to ensure he succeeds. He does care about others and wants to see them succeed but he felt he was the only one who knew the best way to do that. It was aggravating at times but he was open to learning and I respected that about him. I thought the romance between him and Bel was pretty sweet. I like that Bel was unafraid to call him out on his BS even if he hated it and it made his ego feel fragile. I think she grounded him in a way and I think he helped her feel more confident in her abilities whenever she felt like an imposter in the group.

What I struggled with:
- Again, Teo wasn't always the best guy to everyone but Bel. For example, how he treated Neelam was horrible and yes, I wasn't a fan of her either, but one of the main reasons she had difficulty in the robotics club was because he didn't take her seriously and everyone else followed him. He does have a moment of acknowledging this to himself at the end but I wished had a moment to acknowledge it with her as well.
- Neelam. Oof, I really... Did not like her and tbh, I hated the decision to make her so horrible. There were moments that I sympathised with her because yes, she was treated horribly but what I didn't like was how she treated Bel horribly in return because she felt like she didn't deserve her place in the club. I hate when girls/women are pitted against each other and this irked me the most in this book. Neelam might have had to work harder than Bel to "earn" her place in robotics but is that really a reason to tarnish or degrade someone else's achievements or hard work? They could have been there uplifting each other for a more powerful 'girl power' moment and instead, one is made to be bitter and the other to be insensitive. I'm over that whole line and it REALLY bothered me that her character was done this way.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty good contemporary debut by the same author who wrote the extremely popular adult fantasy, The Atlas Six. I'd definitely be interested in reading what else she puts out in the future in either genre.

I'd like to say thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I'll admit, I was initially a little nervous to review this ARC. Whilst the plot seemed to be right down my alley (hello, STEM nerds), I was curious as to how this book would handle relationship growth in a stressful, competitive high school environment. As it turns out, I was wrong.
This book is everything you'd ever want from a geeky teenage romance. The two leads have adorable chemistry and the sweetest relationship, and it made me wish for a Teo of my own.
Maybe to some people, the inclusion of complicated physics and robotics terminology may be a detractor, but it just increased my enjoyment.
Every interaction between Teo and Bel is extremely well written, and you can feel their shared passion as a reader (as well as for other things, not just robotics!)
Personally, I really enjoyed Bel's journey of self-discovery, which I identified with on a personal level, as well as Teo's academic determination.
To anyone who is thinking of reading this book, I would highly recommend it, and I can't wait to see where Follmuth's foray into YA leads to next!
Rating: 5/5

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review 😊

This book was such a fun and cute YA read!! I was a little nervous going in because I didn't know anything about robotics but I found it so interesting and loved the representation of women in STEM. I hope more books get written about it because it's so important! I loved how Alexene showed the struggles that women face when joining a club which is mainly male dominated and how they have to work so much harder to be taken seriously. I found this so relatable and loved that the main character Bel learns to be confident in her abilities throughout the book. Shoutout to all the amazing women in this book 🙌

Bel was a strong and funny main character and she never apologised for being who she was. I completely saw my high school self in her, having all this pressure from parents, teachers and friends to know what career you want to go in. It was great seeing her friendships develop and the support system she had. When Teo chooses Bel to join the robotics team the relationship from sort of enemies to lovers is such a cute ride 💛 I loved that we got Teo's perspective and to see the societal pressures he feels constantly from his family and friends to always be at his best. Bel and Teo were perfect for each other, the way they understood each other 👏

I liked some of the pop culture references but sometimes it took me out of the story especially the abbreviations. Did it have lots of cheesy moments? Yes but it was so cute and gave me YA Love Hypothesis vibes👩‍🔬

For me, this was absolutely YA perfection. I was intrigued by this because of the content: a story around a robotics competition, since I have a child that participates in this type of competition as well. So, I knew I would love it for that aspect alone. But this was so much more! It’s so well-done, perfectly combining STEM and fun, and the teen/family dynamic that I love in a YA read. The characters were well thought out and their struggles were handled perfectly. I think this is a great book that really addresses the stresses teens feel in the later part of high school… and the romance was absolutely adorable!

Thank you netgalley for the advance copy

Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was such an incredibly cute YA romance that had me hooked right away. Bel and Teo are a STEM academic rivals to lovers story, they were very much first love/high school romance but it felt so genuine. Both character were so cute and awkward and watching them go though the whole ” do they like me” “do I like them” was so funny. In addition to the romance this book deals so well with complicated family issues and especially the difficulty of women/girls in STEM. I’ve been avoiding YA romances because lately they’ve been very hit or miss for me but i’m sooo glad I gave this one a shot because it did not disappoint at all! Also just wanted to add that i’m so happy with the epilogue because it felt so fitting for both characters.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC copy in exchange for a review .
3.5 ✨️
This book turnes out to be a surprise for me !
Say woman in stem , and I AM IN !
And academic rivals ??? give me more !
This book is a young adult story about a team of students who are in their senior year; a senior year that entails fears, ambitions, passion etc.
It was such a cute read!
And dual POV tied everything.

"I've never seen eyes that make me think about the mysteries of the universe the way hers do."

But I wanna say that the ending was super rushed. like everything was resolved in last 15 pages !

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth: this book was honestly so much better than i anticipated. Its opposites attract. It also takes on a lot of relatable issues in the world through the characters, ex: society. The friend group in this book was so cute. The epilogue was so fitting. I can't wait to buy a physical copy and annotate it when it comes out.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love how much of a hobbyist Bel is. Right away, she’s like “Yeah, I built that. What like it’s hard?” Okay, so that wasn’t the exact language used, but that’s the impression. I loved that immediately. It was interesting that she was discounted by the robotics team because she doesn’t know the right words. Throughout, it felt like a classist observation since it looks like her previous school was not regarded academically.

I didn’t like Teo. From the very beginning, he came off as the smartest person in the room, but that’s because he doesn’t let anyone else speak. It was infuriating to get through this book with that. Also, he believes he has to be in control of everything, but that seems more like a role thrust on him. If his leadership has been assigned to him, then he hasn’t earned that role and everyone automatically assumes he’s the smartest in the room (I totally get where Neelam’s coming from by the way). His sexism doesn’t hand wave itself away when it gives the impression he only listens to Bel because she’s cute. If that been changed to “not cute to cute once engineering involved” I may be more lenient.

I think I know what the author is trying to do with Bel and Teo’s arc. She needs to take up space and he needs to release some stuff because he’s not responsible for everything. However, Bel is the only one who works on that throughout the novel. She keeps making conscious efforts to take up space whereas Teo is forced to release stuff.

So much sexism by a majority of the male characters that I wanted to gag. The female characters are top notch and I wish the focus was more on them than the relationship (especially Bel and Ms. Voss). Ultimately, the romance aspect of this failed for me, except for the epilogue which I liked. Don’t get me started on all the adults (non-students) in this book. They put too much pressure of all of them and for what? Competitiveness, sexism, and stress?

Is this academic rivals to lovers? Umm… not really? If it were Neelam and Teo, then I could see it. I wish this was more focused on Bel realizing her voice, being friends with some engineers, and navigating something she’s done as a hobby to a potential career.

Absolutely loved this book. Especially loved how the author made sure to include the aspects of engineering and physics as much as possible in the book, which to me was what made the book different and a fresh read. Can't wait for the book to be released.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review .

I LOVED everything about this book. It champions the issues women encounter in STEM and challenges gender stereotypes without being too blunt about it.

I really enjoyed the character development and how friendship is portrayed throughout the book.

it took me quite a while to actually pick up this book. not because i was busy but because i wasn’t in the mood for a high school romance until about mid-april. im not a fan of stem and this book had a lot of that to go around. i took a small break about halfway through this book to tear through another and then came back because i couldn’t leave bel and teo alone for too long.

i really liked them both individually and together as a couple. they were very honest and straightforward with each other when it really came down to it. bel was funny and weird and teo was besotted by her weirdness bc his best friend, dash, is the exact same lmao however, their relationship didn’t feel like it was developed well enough to reach the “i love you” stage. something more was missing.

teo trying to look the other way when it came to the misogyny and sexism that surrounds bel and neelam really annoyed me though. and mac? still hate him. bel should not have “forgiven” him so quickly. just because she gained the approval of a man who was being such a passive-aggressive misogynist towards her for most of the school year doesn’t mean he actually realizes all the wrong he did. and neelam? i wanted to like her character but i couldn’t. the bitter, fiercely intelligent woman in stem trope? drag it out back and take it out of its misery already. i’m not saying she had to be all happy-go-lucky though. she just didn’t need to act so much like <italic>that</italic> that others didn’t seem to like her even one bit. it’s so easy for people to say you’re difficult to work with when you truly are difficult to work with and are too jaded by the environment to try and change that.

the complicated relationships with parents was a nice touch. i still don’t like teo’s dad though. i feel like the author was trying to cook up a specific angle about teo’s relationship with his dad and then decided to turn off the heat just as it was beginning to sizzle. a lot of the book felt like that by the third act to be honest. not to say this was awful, it just wasn’t groundbreaking or life-changing is all.

oh, and luke? has my whole heart. hope he’s thriving!

all in all, i’d rate this 3.25 stars!

This was a cute read! It was cute and simple, and overall, an alright read. I wish there had been less focus on the 'girl power' aspect of the story and more on the romance, or at the very least made it seem more natural to the story VS. how out of place/character and forced it felt. The ending just was very fake girl power heavy- as far as how Bel gets into school and everything.

I did like it though, and I think it was a cute romance. I just wish it had more of the cute romance! And more enemies to lovers- that definitely felt lack luster. It felt more like mild annoyance to lovers.

I absolutely adored this book! It was such a quick, fun read. This book gave an perfect glimpse into what women go through in this industry. I work in the semiconductor industry, although not as an engineer, so I know that it can be such a difficult industry to break into. No matter how talented you are, the men are quick to classify women as “diversity hires.” Shout out to all you STEM girlies! You’re killing it!!

Bel was so odd but in the most endearing way! I loved her character. Teo was such a sweetheart. He definitely took life too seriously, but the adults in his life put so much pressure on him to achieve greatness. I think once Bel came into his life, she helped him find a balance. I loved the depiction of friendships, relationships and realistic family dynamics. The relationship between Bel and Teo was so sweet. I caught myself smiling so many times while I was reading this book. Their first kiss was sooo swoon worthy. This story was just so wholesome and heartwarming and I wish that I had books like this to read when I was in high school.

Thank you to NetGalley, Holiday House and Alexene Farol Follmuth for an advance copy of this book!