After Bel's parents separation she starts a new school her senior year. When a forgotten assignment has Bel scrambling to get it done she catches the attention of her teacher that suggests she try out for Robotics club.

I really enjoyed this one! I loved the dual point of view from Bel and Teo. I'm a big fan of "rivals to lovers" and this one was super fun and cute while also discussing big topics as well. It was a fun easy read!

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

This story follows Bel a girl who hasn’t figured out what she wants to do with her life, and Teo a boy who is very driven and knows exactly what he wants to do with his life.

The story captures exactly what it feels like to be 18 and not have your future figured out, but at the same time the opposite. Knowing exactly what you want and having the pressure of what everyone else expects of you. Both Bel and Teo learn to find balance in between who they are and what people expect of them, PLUS THE ROMACE!!!!!!

Very innocent in the way that both deny their feelings yet start caring about each other. I was so captivated by how wholesome it all was. Their first kiss was AMAZING!

3.25/5 Stars

My Mechanical Romance is a new YA story that revolves around a high school robotics club. Bel is a new transfer at this school and she gets the chance to join this club thanks to her talents and knowledge. She's not sure at first, but then something truly clicks and we see her fall deeply in love with robotics and engineering. I appreciated seeing her fight for her place in the club and being vocal about the injustices she witnesses, it was refreshing and definitely a behaviour to look up to.
Teo is a character that I didn't appreciate fully. There were things that he started to realize only after Bel made him notice and even though I thought it was great that he finally realized them, I also thought it was a bit absurd that nobody made him aware of them before or that he wasn't aware in general.
The overall plot was okay, don't expect to be surprised, it's a pretty straightforward story and the romance is cute but nothing more. Nonetheless, I would recommend this novel if you want a cute and entertaining YA book which focuses on girls in STEM and robotics.

this was just so nerdy and cute and perfect!!! i absolutely adored everything about it. teo and bel were such complex characters and the discussions about privilege, sexism and elitism were so important.

i loved all the side characters as well, especially dash, jamie and neelan. they were all just so well rounded and i loved the dynamics between everyone on the robotics team. just awesome and fun!

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth
RATING: 4.5 stars
272 pages
I was instantly sold by the idea of romance and stem together and this book did not disappoint at all. The premise of the book WOMEN IN STEM was very well executed; I found myself not wanting to put down the book at all.
Bell instantly became one of my favorite female lead. the way everything seemed to be going "wrong" for Bel. How she ended up in the robotics club. The hardships she had to endure, the realistic obstacles she had to deal with, her perseverance, and how things ended up in a very positive place for her. This book does not solely focus on the love story' but rather covers important issues like 'gender inequality and also about the uncertainty on what your passion or what you want in your life, withholding the tradition of being an accomplished child for parents, and so forth.
The characters are very relatable; I however enjoyed the cute and witty banter between the leads the most. I loved seeing character growth and development from start to finish & the realistic depictions of teenagers, without it being forced. You’ve got found family as well as the challenges of navigating the relationships within your own real family.
I absolutely enjoyed it and can't wait to read more books by the author.

This is my first ever read from the author and i was so excited to read this book.

Both the characters are well written and the way author has showed the issues women face in STEM was so good. The way the author showed how women get treated in college/work space was so close to reality.

While i didn't understand all that robotics language and everything ( you can clearly see how science is not my fav subject ), i loved every aspect of the book.

My Mechanical Romance is a cutesy like rom com. It’s your enemies to colleagues to lovers.

It’s such a cute book that’s more realistic in mores ways than one. With the struggle some women may face in a place where male is a dominant gender, and how a certain situation ended. I fell in love with Bel and Teo’s relationship. I would totally recommend if you just need a book to smile and feel some sort of comfort.

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗/5

<I>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 for yourself.
This one is ours.</i>

Story 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is actually a school enemies to lovers to rivals (kinda? 😜) trope.
It’s about Bel who gets pushed into the school robotics team, after a teacher saw potential in her.
But what started with a really good first impression with the team leader and most popular boy - Teo, is followed by a lot of frustration on both sides.
But after a while Bel and Teo do find a common ground. And something different too.

This story was so cute and even though it does mention a few important topics, it’s still light hearted in some way.

What themes were mentioned in this book?

First: Pressure from the outside world and especially parents and teachers.
<I>The pressure to belong to one or the other—plus the idea that my dad thinks he and I are perfectly fine, and the fact that my mom is working so hard for me— leaves me hurling myself out the door.</i>

That you don’t have to measure your worth by the way people perceive you.
<I>but now I feel like the way people perceive me should be based on a lot more than whatever I choose to wear. There’s no rules saying I can’t have birds and ribbons on my pants and still be a great freakin’ engineer,</i>

The fact that everything scientific doesn’t have to be dominated by men. There are a lot of women who can do it too, maybe even better.
<I> others look at me and automatically assume I must be struggling with the material because I’m a girl</i>

Characters 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

<I> Still, I’m worried if I tell her that she’ll try to explain it to me, and I’d rather figure it out on my own.
Always best to look stupid in private, in my opinion.</i>

Our main character is Bel, a young half Filipino teenage girl who has a talent for designing and working on different things.
Whereas her family always supported her (especially her dad and her brother Luke), she never thought about doing more than just a bit of a hobby with her talent and interest.
I loved the way they portrayed her as this strong, confident and smart girl, but also showed that the characteristics above doesn’t mean she’s not overwhelmed by the future:

<I> Everyone at this school has plans, and then they want me to have plans, and I’m just so overwhelmed by their good intentions that I constantly feel the need to lie down for a solid five minutes before trying again.</i>

But then a teacher gives her a little shove in the right direction and even though it’s hard sometimes and not everything is perfect, she starts to have fun and actually enjoys it.
I loved Bel for her smart mind, her badass strong attitude and her cute outfits.

Teo is her partner in crime, aka the enemies to lover to rivals second part of the trope.
He’s perfect. In every way.
At least from the outside.
He’s under a lot of pressure and you can see how much that formed his whole behavior and the behavior of the people around him.

I loved that the author showed him in many different perspectives, especially the vulnerability was a favorite of mine.

<I> “You’re just . . . you’re never like ‘screw it, that sucks,’ you know? It’s why you take losses so hard, like at Regionals. You take everyone’s expectations and their worries and fears and absorb them like a sponge, but what about you?” […]
“You don’t have to make the world perfect just so people will love you,”</i>

The side characters - starting with the friends, aka other robotics team member to the family members actually pushed the story forward.

I especially loved Neelam with her moody broody but also strong attitude.
<I> “No matter what Mari or anyone says, I don’t owe it to anyone to smile and act like I’m happy when I’m not. And I know you think you’re being nice,”</i>

Dash - Teos best friend - is my favorite character in this book.
He’s like a adorable golden retriever puppy. Loved him 🥰

Relationships 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Those two are really, really cute.
I loved their supportive and cooperative way towards each other.
Loved how they saw through each others facade and actually cared in every way.
Those two were really two cuties.
Loved them.

But I especially loved, that the romance, wasn’t the main plot point bringing the story forward.
It was the character development in its own small ways.

<I> And Teo did pick me. For whatever reason, he picked me. But just because a boy picked me once, that will never be enough. If I want the world to recognize what I am truly capable of, I have to show them.</i>

Writing 🌟🌟🌟🌟

<i> “He’s a dick,” says Jamie to a freshman girl who’s sobbing over a boy. “And a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.”
“And you look really pretty,” I add, because even if Jamie’s too intellectual to make this about serving looks, it’s still important to build each other up.
Intersectional feminism and all that,</i>

I actually really liked the modern touch of the writing, the references to many different themes, music, books, celebrities etc.

<I>need to start writing down some of Jamie’s performative femininity takedowns for situations like this.
She has very strong Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez energy (which includes both AOC’s congressional-grade oration skills and, when necessary, her sorry-not-sorry red lip).</i>

But: I know some people actually hate references like that.
(Not me though, at least with this one)
I liked the little chat messages, it loosened the writing a bit.

All in all i thought that the writing was perfect in its own way for the story and I really liked reading it.
It was entertaining and I enjoyed it.

I'd like to start off by thanking NetGalley, Holiday House and Alexene Farol Follmouth for the ARC in exchange of my honest review.

This book was unlike anything I've previously read. I've got absolutely no knowledge in anything that has to do wth robotics, engineering, etc., but throughout the book I oddly never felt like I was confused or had no I idea what they were talking about (even though I had no idea LOL).
The setting of the book was in the characters senior year of highschool, and Alexene did an AMAZING job at portraying what conversations, life events and difficulties might actually be like for people of this age.

Lastly, I absolutely loved how much diversity is involved in all of the main characters, and how female driven it is.

My hope for this book is that it reaches the hands of many young women and gives them not only the drive to pursue their dreams, but the confidence that they can do anything they set their minds to,

My rating for this book is a complete 5 stars, and I most certainly recommend it to everyone who sees this review once its released!

For some reason, I wasn't a huge fan of either of these Main Characters. I found Mateo's privilege hard to get by and his audacity. The thought that he ignored everyone else thought and ideas and took over most projects Because he thought he was the best was hard to reconcile with the idea that Bel mention that he took on other issue and tried to fix them. I just found him self centered and unaware of anyone beyond himself
I found Bel didn't know when to fight her battles - she let a lot of Mateo's ridiculous moments go and I think those should have been addressed.

I found she had no personality of her own - she just went along with Mateo

The storyline was good I just wish I liked the main characters more

My Mechanical Romance is such a refreshing take on the YA contemporary genre.
This book had such a great mix of familial drama, teenage romance, and the impending doom of the unknown future. Throw in some fighting robots and you have an amazing novel.
Reading from Teo's perspective and how he viewed Bel was so cute, the way he noticed the glitter makeup and the different outfits. I have read from a male's point of view in a YA before but Follmuth has completely outdone anyone else I have read.
Bel's parents are split and there was one quote that sums up my feelings as a child of divorce, "It’s really, really hard to recognize someone as the villain in someone else’s life when you’re pretty sure you love them both." That one sentence hit me hard and I just knew I was going to love this book.
All in all this book is absolutely amazing and I recommend it to fans of Tweet Cute by Emma Lord.

5/5⭐️ this author can do absolutely no wrong. I was extremely grateful to receive an eARC from Netgalley and Holiday House in exchange for a review.

There was so much about this novel that I loved. And in all honesty, I was a bit nervous that it was going to fall short because it was YA and the previous works that I’d read from this author were NA. This novel did not disappoint. I found myself giggling at 3 am reading this book until I could keep my eyes open anymore.

This book gave academic rivals to lovers and WOC in STEM. I found it very important they the romance aspect of the story between Bel and Teo did not take away from other themes of the novel. This book touched on academic stress, home-life stress, friend, teacher and familial pressure. It was also shown that community college is a great option for multiple reasons, that you can have time to figure things out. Not only did we learn about Bel and her struggles, but we got understand Teo and his struggles through the dual POV. On top of that, even though this novel was dual POV between the two love interests, we still learned a lot about the other characters, such as Dash and Naleem(which gave so much understanding to pressures of women in STEM).

True to her writing, the author is very character based and makes you understand each character and their importance. The writing style is also detailed enough that even though I know very little about robotics, I did not feel lost through the novel.

There was so much substance to the storyline and to the characters. I understand what Bel and Teo were going through even when they felt confused for themselves. You read Bel step into a person she didn’t believe she could be, while forming friendships and relationships, and finding a place in her family where she thought she no longer fit. What she was going through wasn’t easy and she needed someone to believe in her so she could work on believing in herself and that’s what we saw. With Teo, we got to see him learn that the weight of the world was not truly on his shoulders and I think that is something a lot of younger people need to know.

I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book and to recommend it to anyone and everyone that I know!!!!

4.25 stars!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a great young adult romantic comedy. It reminds me of the love hypothesis so much. This book is well-written and I laughed out loud a couple of times while reading! I was truly immersed in the story and highly recommend it. Bel, I loved her personality, her compassion for doing the things she loves beside her struggles at first on what she wanted to pursue and everything to consider as you leave high school which is totally relatable and there's a HOLI PARTYYYYYYY!!! Teo was so sweet and I loved him. I loved all the side characters in this book.
Thank you to NetGalley, Holiday House and Alexene for this arc !!

I did not know what to expect when I started reading but this book is utterly phenomenal and I loved every single second. But first can I mention that for the first time ever, I saw a character that had my name, MY NAME! I have never read a book with a character that has the same name as me and she was a STEM girl!

Take up your own space, Bel. Don’t let other people tread over it.

This book has my whole heart, it discusses all the things I am passionate about and we get all the nerdy banter too! Through Bel and Teo we see how misogyny creates barriers for women to succeed in STEM careers and how much harder they have to work to get even a tenth of the recognition that the men get. How Neelam is constantly dismissed and belittled, how she is made to feel inferior to Teo and how hard she has had to fight for her place and even then her ideas are ignored. Even the teacher and how his language changes depending on whether he’s speaking to the girls or the boys. How this is so normalised that speaking against is seen as making a fuss. I felt this all deep in my soul.

You don’t have to make the world perfect just so people will love you.

Another really great discussion was how as teenagers when we barely understand ourselves, we are expected to have our whole life planned out and that it is seen as failure if you haven’t. The pressure that we and the adults put on ourselves to know what we want to do and yet so many of us just don’t and that should be okay too. It was also great to see how socioeconomic factors affects how “prepared” a young person is by 18 to have their lives mapped out. If we have been denied opportunities and a better education because we can’t afford it then how is it our fault that our choices are limited and we don’t know what it is we want to do. Combine that with expectations from parents and it can be very stressful for the person. I loved seeing this all discussed in the story without it becoming too heavy.

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

I loved Bel from the moment we meet her but Teo took me a few chapters to really like, he seems like the usual arrogant boy who thinks he deserves all the special treatment but as the story progresses we see that he isn’t actually like that, though he does have some prejudices towards how he treats Neelam. I loved how much he changes and grows throughout the story and learns to let others in and help him and that he can trust other people and even how he views Neelam.

I loved seeing Bel grow throughout the story too as she finally finds something she truly enjoys and is passionate about and how she fights for it. I also loved the conversation between her and Neelam near the end of the story where we finally see why Neelam was hostile towards Bel at first and they learn to understand each other better. I also loved seeing a teacher that truly saw Bel’s potential and guided her without shaming or guilting and spoke to her respectfully, we all need teachers like this in our lives.

I think about how much I want them all to succeed in life; to go far, as far as possible, until every girl who succeeds is a beacon of light for all the others.

One of my favourite things was seeing the female friendships and women supporting women. How Bel and her friends truly want the best for each other and don’t try to stab each other in the back to progress themselves because there is space for all of them. I just truly loved that we see this in the story, it brought me so much joy.

This book is absolutely incredible and once I started I could not put it down reading well into the night. I loved these characters and that epilogue was everything! I really hope we get to see more of them in the future.

It was a good book with likable characters. After reading some spicier books, it was nice to read something more wholesome. The characters being nerds make them very relatable.

What a fantastic read! I absolutely loved this book. The one and ONLY thing was that at times i felt somewhat too old for the contents in the book, as it was, and to be expected, very teen oriented (i dont read much YA). Which honestly i would say is just a fault of my own, but I think after reading this I may take a look at some more YA! However, once I got past that I was able to enjoy this book for what it was. I cant resist enemies to lovers, and throw grumpy sunshine in the mix - its a perfect combo! The romance itself in the book was really sweet and honestly very realistic - which again I loved that. It is always a bonus when the cover is as cute as this one!
(4.5 stars)

oh my gosh infinite stars i'm in love with this book so when I found out this is the same author who wrote the Atlas six I was not surprised!!

So this book follows 17 year old Isabel Maier (who goes by Bel) who doesn't want to think about her future, so when she gets forced to join the robotics team by her psychics teacher. The books focuses on women in stem and the misogyny that follows that.

Bel was such a likeable character! She is so real with every thought she had, I love characters that are just unapologetically themselves and don't try to fit in this perfect mc role.

I loved Teo's storyline the most, of course the book focuses on the difficulties of women in stem and although I loved that very much I also enjoyed reading about the team leader who is just everyone's go to and needs to help everyone and the pressure of that.

Protect my babies Neelam and Dash. 🥰

Neelam was so amazing, at the beginning I might have been a bit unfair to her but after getting her whole story I totally understand where she is coming from.

She is mad at the world and rightfully so the way society treats women in stem like they are always going to have to prove themselves is just not fair. Women are just as capable at engineering as men. I'm just so sick of the narrative that if a man knows what he's doing he is a team leader and assertive and when a women does she is a bitch and uptight.. 😒

UGH im always sucker for ademic rivals to lovers, the romance was just so adorable, the way Teo was just ALWAYS thinking about her. Ugh the way he trusts her more than anyone in his life I can't...

ALSO am i the only one who just wants to join STEM just to fight the patriarchy😩😩👊🏾
Anyways read this book
*Thank you to Netgalley and Holiday House for an earc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I thought I was going to enjoy this book but I ended up loving it! I'm very glad I was about to read this book because I genuinely felt invested in these characters and their blooming relationship. It was written so well that reading this book took me back to my highschool days. Thank you so much for letting me read this book!

I fell in love with this book slowly and then all at once.
I love characters that make me feel soft and like I wanna protect them if I could. And the author provided that for me. I can say without a doubt that I enjoyed every single character in this book even when mistakes were made.
Also the writing is beautiful but I wouldn't expect anything else from this author.

"Welcome to robotics, Bel Canto,” Teo shouts to me over the sound of our teammates cheering, so close I can almost taste the triumph from his lips.
At that exact moment, I know I’m absolutely wreck."

aka the moment I knew I was wrecked

<i>"It’s probably really stupid how much it unravels me to look at her right then, but I’ve never seen eyes that make me think about the mysteries of the universe the way hers do. It’s like walking through the redwoods. Like feeling the earth beneath your feet while know- ing there are things flying free above you, and things living and breathing below you, and for a moment you just feel connected to everything. Like there’s some sort of unstoppable tide of existence and you’re part of it, even for just a second."

"Because I think about her all the time. Because she surprises me, because she makes me laugh, and because this, whatever it is with her, is the only thing I ever do that’s easy. Because wherever I am, I want her close by."

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

"What he and I have together is the best thing we’ve ever built."<i>

q: bel was it good?
a: i think good or any words that describe how good the book was, are all understatement. -bel (costan, not maier. but still valid)

i'm currently on post-series depression because of my mechanical romance (i'm fully aware it's a standalone but whatever)

i already knew i need this book before i even had a single clue about the book.

there are lots of things to list.

1. the heroine's name is bel (ppl used to call me bel but due to confusion between me and my sister's name we changed our nicknames. but turns out only my nickname has changed. ok whatever some people still call me bel)
2. the heroine is half-filipino (i'm chindo, which little relatable because we're both part south east asian. no i'm not going to talk about the fact that if i took dna test, the result will be 100% chinese)
3. filipino cuisine!!! (pretty similar to indonesian's. we have lumpia too)
4. woman in stem (this remind me i have to work on my physics and biology project and prepare myself for informatics presentation)
5. FEMINISM (another book that do justice to my romantic and feminist part. WHO RUN THE WORLD? GIRLS!!!)
6. light academia (have i mentioned that i really love light academia since forever?)
7. academia rivals to lovers (i don't think it's really the trope, but most of times they're arguing because of school stuffs. i have a fantasy about this trope since i was about... ten? so i basically have a soft spot)
8. THE HEROINE IS A SWIFTIE (this is important. really important. i'm literally obsessed with taylor swift's discography)
9. the heroine youngest of 3 (very relatable. truly. as your family's last and only hope to do things right this hits me truly deeply)
10. the hero is a hot genius nerd (have i mentioned i'm always into nerds?)
11. the hero is badly amazing (if you know, you know)
12. the hero is also an athlete (oh i dislike athletes irl but i can't deny most of them has ideal body. yes of course it's the body i'm talking about, duh)
13. the hero feels guilty about privilege (YES finally there's a representation of this. what do i have to explain anymore)
14. they are both smart-ass (i'm currently manifesting another smart-ass in my life)
15. the hero literally listened to entire taylor swift's discography (i feel like it's a bare minimum for someone whose spouse is a swiftie but still i'll give anything to have someone to listen to taylor swift's discography just so they know the reason i'm still smiling although sometimes i don't feel like it)
16. slow-burn romance...♡ (the tension oh my goodness)

and i think this is enough from my personal perspective and feelings to convince everyone to read this book. (of course, there are more reasons why i really love the book, but those are really personal and private stuffs)

thank you to my booktwt friends to convince me to read this book. you guys are so convincing. and i'm still going to buy the copy of the book anyway.

and sorry to my best friends if i rant too much about the book in gc. i know you guys still love me.

here's my bawling my mechanical romance reading thread on twitter: https://twitter.com/belcynes/status/1511598393826578433?t=hQvqD24oGAoYhs8m225zjA&s=19

***got an arc from netgalley in exchange of honest review. thank you netgalley!