I was drawn to this book as I enjoyed The Love Hypothesis, which the description reminded me of! It’s a cute YA story, women in stem and enemies to lovers! I enjoyed this read a lot!

Thank you Netgalley, Holiday House and Alexene Farol Follmuth for the ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This was really cute, we love WOC in STEM. At times though I found the two main characters boring and a little annoying but who isn’t a little annoying as a teen

I was not expecting to love this book as much as I do! It was a pleasant surprise. This was on my tbr for this year and when Netgalley put it up as a “Read Now,” I quickly clicked that button.

I fell in love with The Love Hypothesis and the blurb kindof reminded me of it.. and it did not disappoint. It’s very YA, but that didn’t take away my enjoyment at all!

Our main protagonist, Bel, is a transfer senior student. She has no idea what she wants to do, what colleges to apply to.. really she’s directionless. She hands in a last minute project that is very creative and that’s where it all begins.

I love the relationship she develops with her Bio teacher, Ms. Voss. She was so encouraging and a great support system. She encourages Bel to try out for robotics club where she starts to work with Teo.

I loved the banter and chemistry between her and Teo. She supported him and he pushed her to her full potential. There were so many cute moments between them. I loved Teo! I felt so much sympathy throughout the story in regards to his relationship with his father. These kids are under so much pressure.

You also have Bel dealing with her parents getting divorced and family dynamics.

The secondhand characters were great too! The friendships were sweet and I loved that Bel and the one girl come to an understanding.

I loved how the author explored the misogyny when it comes to females that want to/do participate in STEM and how hard it is for women to prove they’re just as good or smart and have many cool ideas.

The writing was easy and flowed and I loved being in both Bel’s head and Teo’s head.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book! I devoured it. I am shouting from the rooftops to anyone who will hear it: read this story! If you’re looking for a cute and wholesome read, pick this up right away!

I don't normally read YA, but this story was so fun and cute. My Mechanical Romance is an academic enemies-to-lovers story set in high school. I really liked the protagonists, Bel and Teo, as they were relatable and entertaining.
Their banter had me grinning from ear to ear, and the comedy aspect of this rom-com did not disappoint. Bel reminded me of myself in high school, and I'm sure many others in her situation can relate. Bel and Teo are complex characters, and I appreciated the authenticity of the author's portrayal of the high school experience. Contemplating one's future on top of the self-imposed pressure to succeed is a struggle many face, even past high school. I wasn't a fan of Teo initially because of his behavior towards Bel, but I ended up loving him and his relationship with Bel. The romance was so pure and sweet.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. The writing style and plot had me engaged from start to finish, and the protagonists were so well-developed and genuine. The pop culture references were also a nice touch. :-)

Thank you NetGalley and Holiday House for the eARC of this book!

Before you get any ideas about my rating, I really loved the potential as well as some elements of this book!
❤️ - The female-forward mindset of this book was off the charts awesome. Having two daughters, I want them to always know that they can do anything they want in life so this book spoke to me in that regard.
❤️ - The diversity was really cool too. There were a ton of characters with all sorts of backgrounds and the author took it a step further and even included different cultural references for the characters.

😕 - There were a lot of times I noticed my mind wandering and couldn’t really get into the vibe of the book. There were chapters that bored me to tears or seemed rather repetitive.

😕 - Okay, so my husband completely disagrees with me on this one as we had an in-depth discussion over this while drinking wine. 😂 For the record, I only attributed a 1/2 ⭐️ knockoff for this.
There was a lot of swearing (no F-bombs or anything), references to sex, and teen drinking in this book for it being a YA novel. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read many a book that has had its fair share of swearing and sex but none of which are YA novels. (Maybe it’s the mom in me….) It all seemed so unnecessary as the sex didn’t drive the plot forward and the teen drinking was portrayed in a relatively positive light. While in this intense yet friendly debate, I looked up the age range for YA books and didn’t realize that’s it’s a pretty gray area topic and apparently rather controversial. (I literally had no idea, did you??) Some say 12-18 years old while others say 18-24 years old which is a drastic age difference between the two sets. I started reading YA novels as young as 12/13ish and being the rather innocent and book-loving kid I was, I wouldn’t have been interested in reading anything with swearing, drinking, or sex references, and 12 and 13 years old seems too young for such mature topics anyways.
However! My husband, who was a high school/AP Chemistry and Biology teacher for 8 years, brought up some good points himself: He said the age doesn’t matter as much as the maturity of a child. He also asked me ‘Haven’t you ever read Catcher in the Rye in school?’ (I actually haven’t).

Shoutout to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

3.25⭐️ .’ve seen some people who have just adored this book so check out other reviews or give it a shot yourself! 🤗

Bel is the new girl at a distinguished private school for her senior year. When she reveals a talent for engineering she is pushed by her teacher to join the robotics club. Here she meets team captain and golden boy Teo, but after a promising first impression they don’t get along as well as they first thought.

This book definitely relies more on its characters growth than on big reveals or plot twists. But it manages to keep a fast pace, making this a perfect read for anyone in a reading slump (like myself).

The writing is beautiful yet simple (in a good way) and the dialogue doesn’t feel forced at any point, instead it feels realistic and natural.

I was first intrigued by the beautiful cover and I’m glad to say it didn’t disappoint.

At it’s core this book is a love letter to girls in STEM.

It is about being 18 and scared. Scared of failure, scared of love, scared of the future. It’s about trying to find your place as a new girl at a new school, as a women in STEM, as a young person in the world.
And I believe it handles these topics very well.

P.s.: I need DEFINITELY a sequel of them in College (or maybe a Jamie/Neelam college spinoff?)

Big thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc!

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and I’m leaving an honest review.
It was a fast and easy read, with some really cute moments.
It was written a lot as if you’re reading exactly how they think things and how they say them in normal everyday conversations (please tell me this makes sense to anyone else as well, because it does make sense in my head) and not as if they had been adapted for written conversations, which might feel chaotic at times. I found it refreshing to see this kind of thing inside a book but a few times it was a little too exhausting, and some dialogues felt unnecessarily awkward.
Still a very enjoyable read.

4.25 stars !! big thanks to NetGalley for providing an arc for an honest review.
My mechanical romance follows Bel, who moved into a school and was requested to join a robotics club and got scouted by Teo, who picks her on his team to compete for the nationals against other schools. I loved the representation of the main characters, Bel (Filipina mc) and Teo (Jewish mc). Reading this book was so much fun and I loved their funny moments and how they help each other out to provide solutions to their robot. I'm joyed to read dual perspectives from them. Other than the fact that this is romance-focused, I got engaged with this book because of how they're both struggling with their lives and how they're keeping up with them. I related a lot to Bel more because of her current situation with her separated parents and how she's stressed from college applications. Other than that, it brings a lot of topics about misogyny because of how people shame women for joining a "boy-thing" activity.

I loved Bel and Teo's moments before and after their relationship, it was so fun & cute to read when they were helping each other out, how he kept reassuring her that everything will be fine, and their moments when they started dating.

I enjoyed this book... well for the most part. Women in stem, and a robotics club? sounds fun. I did like a couple of the characters too. Jamie, bel, and Lora were nice, But I really disliked Teo. I just didn't vibe with him tbh.
The plot was nice enough, but I just Didn't connect with the romance. Don't get me wrong, they were cute but I didn't love LOVE them.
This book was also described as academic rivals to lovers, which It really isn't? like they clashed a few times, but they never felt like rivals.
I also felt like the last 20% of the book was seriously rushed. The last chapters and epilogue just left me feeling so unsatisfied. I would've preferred if there was say 20-30 more pages in it.

6.5/ 10 would recommend

This book was so cute!! I loved it so so much and reccomend it to anybody wanting a fast paced romance.
- Enemies to lovers in stem?? yes
- Representation of women of color in stem? yes (Filipino)
- Character growth? phenomenal
- Plot? also phenomenal

4.25/5 STARS
This was such a cute book! Such a wholesome read. I enjoyed it very much even though I didn’t understand most of their “building robots” part because I’m an English major but still I was screaming and all hyped for the competitions.
It was such an easy, fun read with a very interesting plot. I loved the characters and their dynamics and how almost every character gets a development. It made me love them more. High school, especially in senior year, is all about truly discovering yourself and what you want to do for your future. It can be an enormous struggle. God knows how much I struggled, but in the end, you will make a decision that will feel it’s the best one. Bel is very relatable. I feel like I saw some of me in her. She is not afraid to stand up for herself. Bel’s character and her journey were well written. I honestly at first was annoyed with Teo but this boy makes sympathizing with him very easy. He is flawed but the more you learn about him it's going to be easy to love. As a couple, Bel and Teo were adorable!! I wished we got to see them go on their first date, but still, I devoured every single moment they had together. The rivals to friends to lovers relationship were amazing. You see the progress of their relationship and I was giggling at their every interaction. The side characters were well written and loveable. However, as much as I understood Neelam why she acts the way she does, I still think that her reactions were overdone. Dash is the sweet boy. I want to protect him. He is THAT funny and cool best friend.
I gained some knowledge about robotics and the best thing in the book is I the epilogue!! It was so cute. Overall, would highly recommend if you like academic rivals to lovers, women in stem dual POVs and fluffy romance
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

It has been a while since I read a YA book and I enjoyed reading this one! It was a cute, fun, and fluffy romance. I loved the enemies to lovers (or academic rivals to lovers) trope. In this book, we follow Bel, a transfer student in her senior year navigating her way in life with college applications, friendships, and family relationships. Bel's teacher sees her potential in engineering and encourages her to join the robotics club. She meets Teo, the captain of the club and to no surprise, they don't get along. Despite their rocky start, they eventually start to get along as they work together in the robotics club and their friendship begins to blossom into something more. I really like the dynamic between the two, especially the banter. Apart from the romance, I loved how authentic it was, touching on topics such as the struggles of women in STEM and the journey to discover your gift and further your passion.
Thank you to Netgalley, Holiday House, and Alexene Farol Follmuth for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a cute, wholesome high school romance!!

First of all, the diversity of the characters! Yes, yes and YES! The female lead is half Filipino, the male lead is half Mexican, there is mention of Korean food and Holi (an Indian festival). *Back in the days*, we did not have such a wide range of representation in teen/YA books, how incredible it is to finally see diversity in books now!

The premise of this book is about a young girl in STEM and how she is patronised by male students and her male teacher. Even if there were no intended ill-will, just an unconscious act of asking a girl if she “needs help” when you would not ask a guy the same shows how deeply-rooted the stereotype that “girls are not as good as guys” is.

It is just personal preference that I gave it 3⭐️s instead of higher. I did get lost with the tech and robotics talk, but that is just because I am clueless when it comes to this stuff. I appreciate how the author incorporates these tech elements in, as it made the characters and plot so much more real! Also, this is obviously targeted at a younger audience. However, reading this innocent high school romance made my old heart so happy. 🥲

All in all, a great read that I would recommend to a younger teen/YA audience!

Thank you Netgalley, Holiday House and Alexene Farol Follmuth for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 GLOWING STARS

nerds are hot. UM, YES THEY ARE!!!

god, this book makes me feel SO neon-bright. this was literally the best YA rom-com i've ever read. i sobbed, i laughed, i cried. these characters mean the world to me and their journeys are so so special. the main character, bel, is a badass who wears jeans with sparrows on them and has a knack for engineering and design. when one of her teachers sees potential in her and encourages her to apply to be on her new high school's robotics team (which is set up extremely similarly throughout the novel to FIRST Robotics, a real program that i was in throughout high school), she meets local heartthrob teo luna. teo is fawned over by every girl within a six mile radius of him, but he struggles with a desire to fix everyone else's problems and frequently takes on too much responsibility. he's also very arrogant (especially about his robot designs)... except bel doesn't take any of his shit!!! nor does teo let bel get away with not learning actually robotics. and they start working together, and their relationship is just so endearing, and they are SO CUTE oh my god. this book is just everything. AND IT'S DUAL-POV, AND TEO BASICALLY FALLS IN LOVE FIRST AND I JUST. AHH

EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY

[4.5 stars]

Thank you, NetGalley, holiday house, and Alexene Farol Follmuth, also known as Olivie Blake, for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

In short, I REALLY LIKED THIS BOOK

academic rival to lovers? mc of color? women in stem? NEED I SAY MORE?!?!
this book 100% exceeded my expectations considering it was the first-ever YA romance book I've read.

Bel Maier
I related to her on so many different levels. She doesn't know what she wants to do going forward with her life or what she wants to study in college. Until her teacher suggests she joins the robotics team where she falls in love with engineering even though the whole team basically doesn't want her there.

Teo Luna
I also related to Teo multiple different times and for me relating to not one but BOTH characters were new. At the beginning of the book, Teo kind of reminds me of Connor Cobalt from the addicted/Calloway series. Very suck in his ways and only has one goal, SUCCESS. He's the team leader of the robotics team and during tryouts picks Bel to join the team despite the other member's objections as he sees potential in Bel.

Teo helps Bel out with learning various things about robotics and engineering. From there, their relationship grows and it was so ADORABLE and made my heart all happy, warm, and fluffy.

I loved the meaning behind the book that women and girls can be a part of robotics and stem also and it's not just for guys and boys. I loved seeing Bel's growth and this whole book was just overall fantastic and focused on not only romance or robotics but multiple different things.

This book did take me a bit to get into, but I am glad that I continued with it. It was a really cute book, and who doesn't love about reading about women in STEM?
While this book is shorter than the other books that I read, there is nothing that should have been changed. I think that there was just enough detail to make the story compelling and the characters good!

Okay I'll be honest, in the beginning of this book it took me a while to get into it. With that, I am SO GLAD I DID. It checks all the boxes: Dual POV, Enemies to lovers, AND Women in STEM. We love to see it!

I usually stray away from YA. However this book was much more than your "typical" YA romance. It had a lot more to it. The characters were compelling, especially the female lead! This book definitely exceed expectations and I would strongly recommend.

thank you to Holiday House and NetGalley for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

my mechanical romance? more like my mechanical breakdown !! omg this book was one of my favorite reads of this year so far!

first off, i loved loved LOVED the characters. from the moment i was introduced to bel i was immediately drawn to her. to me, she was incredibly likeable and relatable - with her creative fashion sense and lack of enthusiasm regarding her future beyond high school, i felt myself connecting to her character in a way i don't always relate to characters. then, teo - a cheeky little arrogant nerd, who was also really sweet and i loved seeing his development going from that boy who prided himself on his work ethic and doing everything himself to opening himself to the perspectives of others and accepting their help. both of these characters worked great as being the main characters, and i'm so happy we got to see both of their perspectives in this book. but the greatness of the characters was not limited to just these two main characters; i also really enjoyed their friend group! i loved the diversity of the friend group and the different personalities of all of them (btw, dash and i are best friends !). their ensemble was lovely, and i desperately wish i could join their friend group (is there a friendship application anywhere ??)

now, for the romance: I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!! the development of bel and teo's relationship, from being not-so-eager teammates to friends and partners to being significant others, didn't feel too rushed to me nor too slow. it felt very natural and realistic, and it was so so adorable omg. plus, i really appreciated the fact that they approached the conflict within their relationship in a mature manner; i feel that isn't always the case in ya romances, but i was pleasantly surprised that both bel and teo were emotionally mature here.

some of the other things i enjoyed about this book included the conversation of women in STEM. i think Follmuth did a great job at showcasing the struggles girls and women face in a heavily-male dominated field. another thing i liked was how the book explored bel and teo's relationships with their families and friends and teachers, and how all of those aspects affected them as individuals. i felt it added a great deal to bel and teo's characterization and personal development.

all in all, as an avid ya contemporary consumer, i found this book to be a wonderful contribution to my love of ya contemporaries. it was fluffy, moving, and engaging - i highly recommend everyone read it!

I was very hesitant at first to pick this when I found out this was written by the same woman who wrote The Atlas Six since I did not really enjoy that one. To my surprise, I loved this book!

- enemies to lovers
- women of color in STEM
- diverse and interesting characters

Overall, I enjoyed this. It was wholesome, adorable, and just a sweet young adult romance. It kind of dragged a little bit in the beginning but mostly I was entertained and found myself laughing at some parts.


(eARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher)

When Bel’s teacher convinces (read: forces) her to join the robotics team, Bel has no idea what to do. Even worse, everyone on the team ignores her! Well, all except Mateo, the captain, who thinks that Bel can really help the team - until she disagrees with his ideas.

First of all, a STEM romance? YES. As someone who took engineering for years and who has close friends on the robotics team, I loved all the engineering representation in this book. For someone who doesn’t know many mechanical terms, however, there were parts that were a bit confusing. I would’ve liked there to be more explanations for the technical terms.

I really enjoyed how Bel is just learning about robotics and finding her passion for it. I’ve read stories of how the female MC is super talented in the engineering field, but Bel is just starting to explore engineering, and she is still a flawed student who has much to learn. Bel’s character and her journey was really well written.

One thing I really loved is that by the end of the book, Bel still wasn’t an engineering genius. She had so much to learn still and she acknowledged this with how the final robotics competition turned out (no spoilers, but that Mateo scene with his family was very cute).

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy, review cross-posted on goodreads.