Thanks to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
A fun premise along the lines of Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, My Mechanical Romance fulfilled its promise of being a fun, light rom-com while somewhat missing the mark with its emphasis on representation.

Though they went a bit fast for my taste, the interactions between Teo and Bel made for some fun and enjoyable romance with some very cute scenes here and there.

The overall characterization of both Teo and (especially) Bel did leave something to be desired. Parts of their personalities would be emphasized in some scenes and then never mentioned again. I kept waiting for resolution on what several exchanges between them hinted at, but that resolution never came, the book instead opting to ignore areas of potential conflict in favor of a smooth, romantic conclusion. The family situations of both Teo and Bel had the potential to add a lot to these characters and the story overall, but very little of it overall was resolved or even addressed (especially in Teo’s case).

The characterization of the side characters also left something to be desired. Dash had some depth, with bits of conversations between him and Bel or Teo showing that he was in fact something more than a samosa-munching fiend, but particularly towards the end of the book he took on the role of “blank slate supportive friend,” and nothing more. The situation with Jamie was similar.

But let’s talk about the STEM-girl representation. All of the familiar beats were there: Initially sexist boys’ club that sees the light when they realize how talented Bel is, the one other girl in the club acting as an antagonist to Bel (at first), the haters at robotics competitions being swiftly shown just how wrong they are. It was all extremely on the nose. But what I really, really took issue with was Neelam's characterization and how she interacted with others. I understand that part of the point of Neelam’s harshness was to contrast her with Bel and show Bel to be “naive” and not understanding how women are perceived in STEM fields. But to set her up as an antagonist to Bel with the logic being that Neelam feels resentful because Bel didn’t “earn her way through the boys club” perpetuates a genuinely harmful and outdated idea.

Overall, ⅗ stars for the fun, light romance and rather disappointing representation.

Thank you to Holiday House and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

OH MY WORD THIS WAS SO GOOD! I have not devoured a book this quick in quite a long time. This was addicting, adorable and everything I have ever needed in a book. Bel and Teo were just a fantastic MC/LI. This delightful tale is full of heart, growth, ambition and an adorable romance sure to leave you ready to try and build a battle bot.

Farol Follmuth truly exceeded my expectations for this book. I expected it to be an adorable YA contemporary ready to give me all the feels. What I got was so much more than that. The journey that Bel goes on (with a little help from her friends) is inspiring. The dynamic between Bel and Neelam does a phenomenal job to highlight the challenges in STEM for women and I loved how it played out. I loved the growth for Bel when it came to her parents and how to navigate her parents divorce. Overall, this book was incredibly well done. From the plot, to the characters, to the voice and prose, this book sings with perfection from page one. Bel's personality is fun, carefree and she is downright hilarious. I loved every second of this.

After spending days bingewatching Battle Bots, this book gave me everything I needed. Now, time to figure out how to have a meet cute at a battle bots competition. I think I should learn how to build a robot first. But, Bel and Neelam make me believe I can do anything!

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be--not in a predictable way, but in a perfect way.

In My Mechanical Romance we meet two narrators, Bel and Teo, who are seniors in high school dealing with issues around friends, school, their families, college, and, uh, robots. Follmuth (who you may also know as Olivie Blake), makes us fall in love with each of her characters, including the side characters (I would die for Neelam). Though the book starts out somewhat slow action-wise, Bel and Teo are such engaging narrators that I didn't mind at all.

The only criticism I have for this book is that I wish they had let the diversity and social justice-related topics discussed and experienced by characters speak for themselves. Something I've seen in YA fiction a lot lately are forced conversations using buzzwords (in this case, "heteronormativity"). But often they end up sounding forced and in this case are even used in the incorrect context, making it a little awkward. As a DEI professional I'm probably more bothered by this than most people, but it definitely stood out and made some dialogue feel forced.

That being said, I do love Follmuth's willingness to address these topics and write incredible non-white characters. Truly, books like this should be the norm across YA fiction.

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

Funny, interesting and cute. The main character Bel was enjoyable and relatable. It was easy to become invested in the plot and the characters. The dual POV was done well.

What a cute little book!

First of all, I want to say how much I like the cover and all the small details it has. Now, concerning the content of the book, the writing was the familiar Olivie Blake's witty writing style (Yes, Alexene Farol Follmuth is also Olivie Blake, in case you didn't know). The romance was very cute, and I appreciated the feminist message overall, even though it didn't always feel organic to me. I happy that this book exists and GIRLS IN STEM RULE!

**Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.**

Well, first of all, say hello to my latest YA contemporary obsession!!!

To say that I loved this book would be an understatement. I devoured it in less than 12 hours (while also doing a lot of other imp work otherwise, it was clearly a one-sitting read, it was THAT good)

Right from the first page, this book was so funny and entertaining! One of our main character Bel is the funniest MC I’ve read about in a while. Initially, that was what hooked me in. But also, there are so, so many more things that were discussed.

We got dual POVs with Bel and Teo, both of whom were strong, fleshed out characters. I absolutely adored their cute banter and how they pushed each other to be better and taught each other many things throughout.
The execution of their friends to lovers (?) romance was fantastic! Nothing at all felt forced. It was honestly one of the cutest romances I’ve read and I can definitely see myself going back to reread some of my favourite scenes!

Another thing I absolutely loved was how we also got a lot of back stories and character development for the side characters too even without their individual POVs. I was really so invested in all the characters of this book!

I also loved the fact that we got a kind of found family too! I have a weakness for unexpected but wonderful on-page friendships. They warmed my heart!

Since it was a high school setting, I felt pretty nostalgic reading the school bits. My high school experience was nothing like this but reading this book made me *want* one.
I definitely related to the exam pressure and how we’re forced to figure out our futures at such a young age.
I’m in a similar field so I really, really enjoyed the academic parts and all the nerding out! It was so refreshing and fun to read about!!

There were also discussions of sexism and how women in STEM still need to struggle so much to be taken seriously. I loved how it was portrayed and how inspiring and encouraging it was to see girls fight back against it.

All in all, I absolutely loved this adorable, fast paced, friends to lovers romance in an academic setting with women in STEM who fight back and make space for themselves!
I was so invested in the story that I laughed out loud many times, was giddy with excitement for the characters, sat at the edge of my seat due to anticipation and excitement and cheered out loud at some parts!


Thanks to NetGalley and Holiday Romance for my e-arc!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange of honest review.

“Life is long, with plenty of chances to start over.”

This book me feel like high-school again. Nerd is the new hot today, it includes Teo Luna, the leader of robotics team, an A+ student, a soccer player, and mostly have a plan for the future. While Isabel Maier, an A+ student, have an incredible talent for design engineering, and a person who haven’t figure it out her future plans. This tackles a lot of pressure in to someone’s life, a person who hard works, a person who doesn’t know what to do in the near future, being a team leader, high-school romance, friendship, and believing in life.

This was a great book, with a wonderful STEM-based concept, excellent writing, and really engaging characters.

I really enjoyed the writing style and while it’s a bit more “expressive” than I’m used to it read like a teenagers voice. The characters felt really well developed and each had their own little personality. Not being a teenager myself at present (or ever again) I did find some of the characters choices a bit ehhh and “OMG, WHY?! WTF” at times. Having said that I can totally understand and in fact envision my own awkward, unsure self having done them. I think that this is a great sign of the authors connection to the character and their unique voice, and see how a younger generation would relish in it much more.

The story overall deals with some pretty big themes that women still experience even to this day, STEM is a boys club still. But not for long, not with presentation like this and I LOVED that aspect of the book. I also really enjoyed Bels self development and her learning that you don’t have to have everything figured out. The things you plan for may not always go according to plan, and that’s okay. I think now days people are more focused than ever on planning everything to the T but life just doesn’t work that way.

My not criticism… feedback? … was that the time felt a bit strange. This is in terms of where the last chapter ended and the next one began. I can sort of understand why it was done but sometimes it felt like events and chunks of info had been glossed over only to have a mention briefly.

Anyways, that’s it. A great book and definitely worth the read (4.5 / 5). Thanks for reading my rant and thanks NetGalley for the free eARC.

Book: The Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
~Releasing on May 31st 2022~

I usually never read books that are primarily set with characters still in their teens, however I am pleased to say that this one exception I made was completely worth it. It was so much better than what I expected, a little slow, but was written so well.

The characters were well rounded and you can see that they were not perfect, but overtime grew into strong individuals. First we have Mateo Luna, he is the robotics mentor/ lead and believes he has complete control of what happens in that robotics room and as a male he easily gets the respect and encouragement from the educators/mentors. On the other hand, we have a new recruit, Bel, who is forced into joining the team in her senior year, she has the knowledge and skill sets but struggles with communicating the knowledge to her peers.

Overtime, the book represents how everyone deserves the opportunity and reveals what some of the things that females in engineering endure in school or in a workplace setting.

In all, I would highly recommend this book, especially if your interested in STEM, romance, spice, cultural references/traditions and drama.

(Btw this review might be a little biased because I’m currently studying engineering and was a lead on a hs robotics team)

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me with an arc of the book for an honest review.

Okay wow was this good.

Plot:
Women in robotics? Indian rep? Academic rivals to lovers? Cute swoon worthy romance? Count me in!

Characters:
This was where I thought the book was lacking just a little. The book was well-written, but I just feel that Teo as a character could have gotten more depth. I mean, we see that his father and mother aren't very present, and that they expect a lot and stuff, but like I don't know there was still something lacking. Maybe it's just me.

Writing style:
This book's writing style was SO good! I loved it- this was probably my favourite thing about the book!

Definitely looking forward to more books by the author!

P.S.-1 Can we have a book with a romance for Neelam, please?

P.S.-2 The inclusion of Holi was everything for me.

[Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for providing me the arc in exchange of an honest review]

Even if the story isn't anything special, I liked it more than I would thought. The writing is perfect for YA, easy to understand and pretty relatable when you're living that high school phase and how big every little problem seems at that age.

I can't say I completely loved the characters because they didn't resonate with me a lot and that probable was the only thing that made me shy away of giving this a better rating.

Still, I would recommend this book because it's fun, fast-paced, has great representation and it will definitely give you a great time.

This book took me longer than normal to get through. It was a very cute premise and a good change on the enemy to lovers trope. I think if I had a little more interest in STEM romance I would love this book.

Dear Alexene Farol Follmuth - You had me at “dystopian-flavored LaCroix” (I’m still giggling). This book, which I received a free advanced copy of via NetGalley (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review, was just wonderful. This is the story of two high school seniors who meet on the robotics club (our heroine is a reluctant participant) and slowly fall in love while building robots. So if your high school physics teacher ever showed you that video of the college robotics championships and you thought it looked cool (or if you would like to see it - I think this book works equally well for 14 year olds and 44 year olds), this book is for you. Bel was so much fun, and so real, and Teo was also very relatable as a too-serious, overly stressed out high schooler. The banter is delightful, the sexism is maddeningly recognizable, and it’s a truly excellent enemies-to-friends-to-lovers. Also shout out to a beautifully done platonic male-female friendship (Bel and Dash) where he asks her out and she says no and they stay friends. Loved the strong female friendships, loved the complicated family dynamics. Didn't totally love the easy way the kind of dick-ish, subtlely sexist, kinda condescending physics teacher was just suddenly redeemed at the end. It didn't feel like he earned it with one two random positive comments to Bel. I thought there was the beginning of an effort to explore the subtle, and often unintentional ways that men can exclude women and make them feel unwelcome in predominantly male spaces simply because they're more comfortable with other men, other people like them, but it didn't completely succeed for me. I also didn't love Neelam telling Bel that she hadn't "earned" her place because she hasn't worked twice as hard as the men. I completely understood why Neelam would feel that way, and would feel resentful of Bel for that reason, but I wished the author had pushed back on that a little more, because I see that a lot, and I really hope that our goal as women who have made some space in male-dominated industries is to make it so that if a woman is recognized as having talent early on, she doesn't have to struggle, and she's supported so that it's not any harder for her than it would be for her naturally talented male colleague. That being said, those were small quibbles, and the story is really great. The writing is clever and heart-felt, and I highly, highly recommend.

I am not one to normally read YA, being in my 20s I like to read my lets say um adult content😉, but occasionally every once in a while I like to dabble in the genre to read about the simpler times like being concerned about teenage angst or puppy love. Its been actually a while since I have actually read YA romance but I am glad I gave this book a chance. I have absolutely zero regrets. It turned out to be a great read after all, I love it when a book surprises you and exceeds your expectations. This book was that.

It was not just about teenage angst, high school drama or fluffy puppy love it was much more than that. It was about a teenage girl finding her place in STEM, a male dominated field. Isobel "Bel" Maier is in her senior year, and has transferred in her final year of high school to a new school, not the most ideal time to be transferring especially when its your final year in high school.

Bel navigates her senior in a new school with fresh faces in sight some friendly ones and others not so much. One of those faces happens to be that of Mateo "Teo" Luna, the hot nerd and golden boy at Bel's new school who also happens to be Bel's eventual love interest.

We will come back to our lovebirds eventually.

But for now lets discuss Bel and her journey in engineering.

As a result of a teacher witnessing Bel's potential in engineering, she is transferred into the AP Physics course and eventually joins the school's robotics team (per her teacher/Ms. Voss's encouragement).

Robotics or AP courses are the last thing on Bel's mind when she enrolls in a new school, one that is much more different than her previous school. Here academics are the focus and sure while Bel was interested in STEM, it was not something she considered herself doing at her new school, however thanks to Ms. Voss, we see Bel flourish in both robotics and Physics, furthering her interest and passion in STEM.

Bel is smart, more than people give her credit for, especially her male teachers and classmates. I felt Bel heavily on this and I think many female students too have unfortunately doubted their potential in a given subject or field. I remember being in high school telling one of my teacher's that I wanted to eventually pursue law one day but he said that "I think girls like you are more suited to studying fashion no?". I won't ever forget that. The sexism and the judgment. Sadly that didn't stop in high school or university or now at grad school. I have had asshole professors who don't take female students seriously and dismiss us as if we aren't any more intelligent than our male colleagues. I don't mean to get carried away but I am sure my experience along with Bel's will hit close to home for some of us who suffered the judgement of our teachers that are supposed to guide us and not diminish our potential.

I loved Ms. Voss and her constant encouragement of Bel's goals and ambitions. We all need a Ms. Voss in our corner especially when we are just starting out our lives and are planning for our future.

In terms of the romance in this book it was cute af. I loved how we get to see Teo and Bel go from I guess "enemies"-to-friends-to-lovers. They are both so adorably nerdy, awkward and precious. Their interactions were so pure and innocent. Despite Teo being the golden boy, he knew Bel was intelligent and in his own way he always encouraged her to live up to her potential even if at times it was felt differently by Bel.

Both characters have complicated family dynamics and being a teenager while trying to deal with all of that and your future at the same time... is a lot. Too much pressure. In Teo's case, I felt for the kid, I really did. I feel like he never got to be a kid, always trying to please everyone around him. I think I liked him best when he was with Bel. He noticed everything about her, from her weird/adorable fashion sense to her building things. Just absolutely adorable.

Bel didn't have it easier at all, a working mom, divorced parents, trying not to pick a side while trying to figure out your life at 17 is not ideal. But despite their struggles, these two confided in each other and got through high school together. <i>*sobs due to their cuteness*😭💕</i>

Their friend group was also entertaining. I was not a fan of Neelam at first, you will see why but let me just say this girl surprises you and will eventually win you over.

I also liked Dash who is Teo's friend, he added much humor to the story and shipped Teo and Bel together.

Overall, this was a heartfelt YA romance that touched upon the difficulties of women in STEM, complicated family dynamics, discovering your own potential, making new friends and finding romance when you least expect it.

I think you will find yourself enjoying this as much as I did or at least I hope you do!

You will not regret it💕.

***Much thanks to NetGallery, the publisher and the author for the arc in exchange for an honest review***

Oh! My! STEM!!!!

First of all, thank you Holiday House for the advanced readers copy of this book!

This book was so good! It was the perfect mix of a romance and a girl finding her way in STEM!

Bel and Teo were so entertaining and their banter was top tier! And the dual POV really helps us to see both perspectives!

Watching Bel and Teo fall in love after denying their feelings was such a rush! Completely opened me up to YA Romances again!

As someone who graduated high school fairly recently it was definitely relatable in the sense of feeling pressure to know exactly what to do with your life and applying to college!

The tension is so good at the beginning especially reading how both Teo and Bel had crushes on each other!

Also the physics aspect in this book was very well executed! It never got too dense and people who took introductory physics courses would be able to follow along for the most part!

Overall this book is the perfect mix of the stresses of senior year, falling in love, and being a woman navigating a mainly male dominated field in science.

5/5 and I’m definitely preordering this book!

I enjoyed the focus on STEM and robotics! The depth the book went into the mechanics gave it depth and showed the background the author has to the field (or the research they did!), and how it touched on being a girl in the field and how you were automatically taken less seriously than the boys.

I liked Bel's character a lot - she was also different and I liked how she knew how to build things so well but didn't make a big deal out of it, and her "quirky" personality wasn't something that ever came off as a "not like other girls" / "this character is so special" situation because Bel was so genuinely who she was and held so many other insecurities as well. Bel's relationship with her brother Luke was perhaps one of my favorites in the book, though I did like Bel and Teo's relationship.

The ending and epilogue were both satisfying! As someone who considered going into engineering but didn't have the requisite background, it made a lot of sense to me, and I liked the realistic feel over if she had made it into MIT (a top school, with her lack of math and computer background, and the only school she applied to). I liked seeing where Bel ended up and how she had gained skills and confidence.

I really love this book! Bel was an amazing and relatable protagonist, I love her so much. I think the characters are developed so well, al of them (including Neelam) were amazing.

I adored the relationship between Teo and Bel and being able to see the development of the relationship between the two of them made me very happy. The were so cute together.


Something I really enjoyed about this book is that it shows us the challenges of being a female in a male-dominated field.

I received a copy of this book as an advanced reader copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I wish that My Mechanical Romance had been written when I was in high school. This is a bit cinnamon-roll but with a little bit of something extra. The premise of the book is Bel (our female MC) has just transferred to a new school in Los Angeles. She seems to not think she is a good student, yet her mechanical/physics aptitude is inherently strong. Early on, a teacher, named Ms. Voss, takes notice that Bel has untapped potential, and encourages her to try out for the high school robotics club (think high school Battle Bots!). Meanwhile, Teo (our male MC) is the straight-A, all honors/AP, soccer star, leader, and hot nerd at the school. Teo is the lead of robotics club, and at tryouts he instantly notices Bel (not only how good she is, but how pretty t00). And so begins a story of senior year friendship to something more, and robotics competition.

I genuinely liked this story a lot. It's a quick read at 272 pages, and has dual perspectives (Bel and Teo). There is a bit of breaking the fourth wall through parentheticals, which could be awkward, but Follmuth executes well in this book. This book does more than just have a cute fluffy friends-to-lovers romance though. It talks about gender-bias in STEM. It talks about whether kids should take life so seriously so early on. It talks about family dynamics (divorce, semi-absent parents). It talks about friendships and diversity. Some other books may feel like this is a lot to pack in such a short book, but it's woven in nicely, no threads untied.

I'm so glad to see that being smart is now something appreciated and popular in today's teens. This felt fresh, fun, and interesting. I would definitely recommend this book, especially for early high school girls interested in STEM.

I saw academic rivals to lovers and I had to have it, and this book did not disappoint. The cover is so pretty and the writing style made this book so easy to read.

The dual-pov made knowing and loving the characters so easy. The development of the romantic relationship was a slow burn, but so perfect. The developments of all the relationships involved made this book an absolute delight to read.

Bel was so witty and quirky. I loved when I found out that she's half-Filipino too. I've never read a book where the main character was at least a little similar to me. This book had so much diversity in general, which was perfect. The girl power in this book was great. STEM can be such a hard area for women to want to go into, and this book highlighted perfectly why. The only thing I would have liked more would be more Bel and Teo. I would so so recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book. All views expressed in this review are completely my own.

Bel would rather die than think about the future. College apps? Extracurriculars? No thanks. But when she accidentally reveals a talent for engineering at school, she’s basically forced into joining the robotics club. Even worse? Everyone on the team ignores her, apart from Teo Luna. Unfortunately they clash a little when it comes to building bots. As the nights of after-school work grow longer and longer, Bel and Teo realize they've made more than just a combat-ready robot for the championship: they’ve made each other and the team better. Because girls do belong in STEM.

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

Synopsis: Main character Bel would rather die than think about school, the monotony of college applications, extracurriculars - no, thanks! But when she accidentally reveals a hidden talent for engineering in school she is forced to join the robotics club, or fail. What's worse? Everyone ignores her on the team, except for Mateo who recognizes her potential asset - until they begin to but heads. As they work towards Nationals, Bel and Too realize they have built more than just a combat-ready robot for the championship, they have made space for each other and themselves.

Personal Review: 4 Stars

Not normally a fan of Young Adult Romance, but enemies to lovers trope and STEM oriented. This novel was a slow burn academic rivals to lovers tale and so much better than I expected. The cover is beautiful, and the writing, as well. The characters were so relatable in high school, and I enjoyed watching their friendship and romance evolve throughout the book. Bel is quirky, smart, witty, and quick on her feet - girl power! I found it interesting to read the academic elements in this novel- as I am way past my high school prime! My only qualm is that I needed a bit more in terms of the relationship between Bel and Teo, but overall a cute, appropriate YA quick read novel.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel through Holiday House and NetGalley, the opinions expressed in my review are solely my own.