Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for providing me with this ARC in return for my honest opinion

Bel's life changes when her parents get divorced and she is enrolled in a private school her senior year. She starts off fairly aimless, just trying to get by until a Woman Science teacher sees potential in her. Bel is pushed into trying out for the robotics team and despite not wanting to join it becomes life changing. Teo, the leader of the robotics team, is a genius with the weight of the world on his shoulders. The two clash at first but begin to see that they may be building towards something great together.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
I loved the way this Young Adult Romance took on the way girls are discouraged from trying in STEM fields. Bel is such a realistic character and watching Bel grow and learn to believe in what she has to offer was beautiful

The robotics elements of the story were exciting. I was getting super into it. The book had just the right amount of robotics/science and always kept it to a level a reader without much knowledge could enjoy.

The Romance was a slow burn but adorable. The dorky banter between Bel and Teo was everything. The characters complimented each other , including the secondary cast.

Overall, I loved it. This is a book I would recommend if you love female empowerment, teenage romance, and think nerds are so hot right now.

This one is available for pre-order and comes out May 31st.

#arcreview #youngadult #youngadultromance #girlsinstem #romancereadersofinstagram #bookreview #bookreviewersofinstagram #bookstagram #mymechanicalromance #robotics #hotnerds #talknerdytome #windycitybookstagrammers #bookishpost #bibliophile #marchreads #bookwormsunite #debutbooks

I knew I would love this book when I finished the first chapter. I instantly felt connected to Bel. I loved reading her point of view. Her character development was done so well. I love how authentic and creative she is. She likes to wear colorful and sparkly outfits, unique jewelry, and even makes some of her clothing pieces herself. I appreciate reading about a character who isn’t afraid to embrace her passion for style. At the beginning of the book, she doesn’t really know where she fits in or who she wants to be. She struggles with finding her place in the world. Reading about this specific struggle felt like receiving a hug, it was so comforting. I think this book is exactly what I needed when I was in high school. I’m in college now but it took me a long time to choose what I wanted to study and what I wanted my future to look like. I was rooting for Bel and wanted to see her succeed. It was great to see her find passion and inspiration as she explored her interests. Bell is brilliant and intelligent. Who doesn’t love women of color in STEM? This topic was written beautifully and realistically. Bel wasn’t given the same treatment as her male teammates and even though this initially discouraged her, she quickly proved how she was just as capable as them, if not more. The topic of elitism and classism is also discussed well. As a woman of color myself, I saw firsthand the opportunities I lacked and the challenges I would have to overcome in order to be successful. I relate to Bel so much, even in the simple aspects of her character. The friendships in this book are amazing! I wanted to be part of the girl group so bad. And the romance was just as awesome. The academic rivals to lovers trope is one of my favorites. It was so cute! It captured all of the feelings that come with falling in love. Teo was a great boyfriend. He was thoughtful and respectful. It was so apparent how in love he was with Bel. There was also so much depth to his character and I like how his point of view also felt authentic. As book lovers, we love smart boys and like the author said, nerds are hot. I don’t make the rules but that’s a fact. I strongly urge you to pre-order this book now! It is out May 31, 2022. It’s one of my favorite reads of the year so far. I will not know peace until I own a physical copy of it. I’m pre-ordering it now!

I guess I'm not exaggerating when I say it's the sweetest book I've ever read.
First of all, I would like to thank NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.
The genre of the book is "Teen romance", so if you're tired of the repetitive adult romances, you're in the right place.
I had read the author's The Atlas Six before, and although the genres were completely different, I did not miss the similarities. In the book, our main characters Bel and Teo are high school seniors at a private school and they are both interested in robotics. Naturally, be prepared to hear occasional physical remarks, which I find quite sincere; It shows that the author knows what they're talking about.
Apart from the sweetness and harmony of Teo and Bel, I especially admired Bel's character design. We all know those classic "I'm not like other girls" stereotypes. Here's Bel, the person those characters wanted to be but couldn't be. She is such a unique character that deep down I wanted to be her too.
Let me quickly mention that the book has the tropes "academic rivals to lovers" and "boy falls first" 😉.
The book will be released on May 31, until then I hope you can wait because you should definitely read it 🤍

Had really high hopes for this book, because The Atlas Six was an immediate all-time favourite (same author, different pen name!). And objectively, the writing style was strong and recognizable, but it didn't work for me at all. It made the book feel overwritten, because it felt like every single line needed to be as snappy as possible, and that made for an exhausting reading experience to me. On top of that, no matter how much I loved the concept of girls in STEM, I just found the story to be really uninteresting, and it couldn't hold my attention.

I really enjoyed My Mechanical Romance!! It was a quick, easy read with main characters and friendships with fun dynamics. The story is told through the perspectives of high school seniors, Bel and Teo. Bel wants to go with the flow and not have to worry about the pressure of whatever is out there after high school while Teo is quite the opposite and feels like he always needs to have the solution to everything in order to have his life together. But you know what they say... opposites attract and these two find themselves learning to work together on the Robotics team. The more they work together, the more you can see how their relationship helps them find a balance between being too chill and too uptight. Bel and Teo have great banter and natural chemistry which made both of them so easy to love.

I loved the strong female characters in this story. Not only did Bel have good qualities as the main character, but other female side characters did as well. Whether it was her mom working to support the family; her ambitious, kind, and loyal friends and supportive female teacher. The representation of women in STEM and the struggles they face in a male-dominated industry was done so well especially showcasing it at the high school level where they haven't even started their careers yet. It is such an important topic and I hope many young girls will read this book and realize they deserve to take up space early on. I also appreciated how the story showed the struggles girls face in a variety of ways because while girls are already at a disadvantage, not everyone's experience is the same and at the end of the day we need to support each other! (Bonus points for the Filipino representation with Bel being half-Filo go women of color in STEM!!!)

Thanks to Holiday House and NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this book! I thought this book was a carbon copy of all the middle grade romcoms I read when I was younger. I think it does what it sets out to do, but it is nothing spectacular.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for providing me with an advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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

Girls in STEM!! Boys who are nerds and also idiots!! Complicated family relationships and fear of the future!!

For all intents and purposes, I read this in one go. I absolutely could not put it down. In the beginning, I wasn’t totally certain I’d love it, but even then I was hooked and invested and, shocker, by the end I was crying and obsessed. The plot is somewhat slow to start, but it picks up quickly and everything builds until suddenly you’re reliving long-buried high school memories and for some reason you’re okay with it. It makes you nostalgic for that high school rush and, for me at least, made me proud of how far I’ve come from the senior scrambling to have everything figured out. The romance is sweet and adorable and it was so easy to root for Teo and Bel all the way through. Did they put my emotions through the ringer in the last half? They sure did, and I loved every second of it.

Every single one of the characters is unique and endearing and I couldn’t get enough of them. The emphasis on women (and WOC) in STEM and on women supporting women warmed my heart, and on the flip side watching Bel face all the sexism that comes with the field made me angry and sad and so proud of all the big and small ways the women in the book all pushed back against it.

As much as I want to keep this review somewhat short for once, I can’t not talk about Bel. I saw so much of myself in her, both in terms of myself at her age and myself now, and it just made everything hit that much harder. Even the very basics felt eerily similar: I did robotics, I was good at math even though I didn’t like it or want to be, etc. And that’s without even touching on the deeper stuff. Even if you don’t relate to Bel as much, her emotions come through so clearly on the page and she’s so easy to sympathize with and root for and I love that teenage girls will have a character like her.

Frankly, I would read anything this author writes, which is saying something because it’s not easy to get me to read YA contemporaries. While this felt definitely distinct from her other books, it still had all the excellence and emotion that I look forward to. There’s a moment towards the end of this book where a younger girl sees Bel at a robotics competition and is inspired by her. Bel recognizes that she only has to inspire one person to choose STEM, and that person in turn only has to inspire one person; that everything builds and this is how change starts. This, I think, sums up both the book itself and how I hope this book will affect teenage girls considering STEM.

i’m in awe of how cute this book is! the pace was little slow in the beginning but it was honestly worth it when it started to pick up! i wasn’t sure what to expect when i started reading but i’m so happy i continued it! the relationship between bel and teo was so wholesome and i loved seeing their little moments and glances before they even got together. you could tell they cared so much about each other. also, this book is dual pov so we got to see the thoughts of both bel and teo!

bel is the cutest ever! i love how throughout the entire book, she never stopped being herself. she was such a relatable character to me personally and it meant a lot being able to see her grow. in the beginning, you could tell she wasn’t sure what she was doing but throughout the book you see her become more confident in her abilities and it was amazing to see!

teo omg! i swear i just wanted to give him the biggest hug. this man was so kind and generous and always wanted the best for everyone. he always wanted to help and take on others problems before his own. such a selfless character! and he had such a soft spot for bel and it was so sweet!

overall, this book was absolutely adorable and aside from the romance, the message it gave across was amazing! i 100% recommend this book if you are into cute, fluffy romances and robotics! happy reading!💗

What an easy read! Very pleasant.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for providing me with an arc of this book

"The world is not very helpful to a smart girl."

Storyline/Plot: I think the storyline is super realistic for a high school girl to have to overcome. I remember when I was in my senior year, and even now just 6 years later, the stress of trying to find out what you were going to major in and what you're future would be like, I mean I still don't know. It has been a long time since I've read a whole book about high schoolers, and it does make me realize it feels like those themes are on the younger side, for me personally, which makes me feel super old. The writing style is very fluent and easy to understand, and it's such a short book, it definitely helped me get through it. Really I just had troubles really connecting to the story with how young it felt, and I did find myself just wanting to get the book completed.

"Because wherever I am, I want her close by."

Romance: I enjoyed the light romance progression in this book. I think that it was easy going, and fairly stress-free even in the heated moments. Of course, it's not the height of the story, and the development of character for Bel and Teo is really where the focus is.

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

Characters: I enjoyed the character development, especially for Bel. Her finding her own voice and making her future her focus, and not what other people think your future should look like. I also enjoyed watching Teo realize his feelings. But of course, these are high schoolers, so I had an extremely difficult time connecting with them because it felt like children.

World-Building: The world-building is based on a real place, so I don't have too much to say.

"You're dangerous, Bel Canto."

Overall, it was a light, nice, read. But I didn't really feel drawn in. When it truly releases, I don't believe I will reread it. It was worth it for the time being, but I have other things on my TBR I am more focused on rather than a reread of this.

Ah what a cute little read! This YA novel about a girl in ROBOTICS and a Romance with the “hot” nerd it just drips with adorable-ness.

Received an advance copy from NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review.

The overall boom was very cute as I said before BUT the pace was a bit slow and I kept putting the book down because I was ready to fall asleep a few times HOWEVER once Bel and Tea finally got together the pace picked up and things really happened all in all super cute little book

I. Love. Nerds. I also love STEM romances. Even better the female character working in Robotics? Sign me up...TWICE! I did need a glossary for a few parts but overall I loved this story. It was developed very well and I felt like I was working in the field. Likeable characters definitely make a book so much more enjoyable.

Really great YA Contemporary read! Robotics, check. WOC in STEM, check. Smart main character and love interest, complete with witty banter, check. Parental and societal expectations causing realistic and relatable issues, check. This one is lots of fun.

Thanks to NetGalley for this advanced reading copy.

I had a great time reading this book. At first, I remembered my time at high school. I connected with Bel because I also had a hard time deciding which university to apply to and which career.

As a chemical engineer, it makes me happy to read about women in STEM. The author did a great job representing all the difficulties for women that want to study or work in that area.

The characters are very likable and we get to know both Bel and Teo on a deep level (their dreams, fears, etc.) At the end of the book, we can see their development.

In general, I liked the narrative. But the language was sometimes a little difficult to understand, mostly when they were building the robots.

Finally, the romance: I liked the way how things happened. The main characters were really cute and I enjoyed their story.

Final thoughts: it is a well-written book that can be read fast. I highly recommend it.

My Mechanical Romance is a story that will conquer you more and more chapter after chapter.
Here are some tools the author used to write this tremendously cute story:
🛠 high school romance;
⚙ girls in STEM;
🪛 hot nerds;
🔧secret tutoring;
🧰 academic rivals to lovers.

This is the story of Bel and Mateo.
Bel is a girl who doesn't know what to do with her life. She wish life could point things out to her and magically make her understand the right thing to do.
Mateo is captain of the robotics club. He's extremely focused on always being the best at everything. He's the one everyone else rely on. That means he can never fail.
Once their paths collide, Bel finds out she likes building bots and challenging Teo makes her feel alive. Teo, on the other hand, discovers the only thing that he can easily do with no pressure: be with Bel.

I adored this book.
I loved the honest, concrete way in which Bel and Teo build their relationship. Yes, the love story is really cute and kinda makes you say "awwww" aloud more than once. Still, it is not trivial at all. It's not like one day they can't stand each other and the next one they're madly in love. On the contrary, they spends hours, days, months studying each other until they find the perfect tools to use in order to build a relationship with strong foundation.
I also think that in this book the author did an amazing job in dealing with the gender equality issue. I happened to read it during World Women's Day and it couldn't have been more perfect! I felt so empowered by every single female character's story. I'll leave you with my fav (and very explanatory) quote: "I think that maybe if Neelam and I helped one girl believe she could do it - and that girl helps another girl - and that girl helps someone... I glance over my shoulder and see Ms. Voss who holds up a a glittery sign: WHO RUN THE WORLD?"

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

“The world is not very helpful to a smart girl,” says Ms. Voss. “More often it will try to force you inside a box. But I urge you not to listen.”

This cute fluffy book was such a fun read.
Exactly the element I was looking for in a rom com romance. And its about STEM. Like come on, as if that isn’t the perfect reason to explore this book.

Reasons to absolutely pick this book:
1. As I already said, its about STEM especially women in STEM.
2. Romcom fluffy romance
3. (sorta) enemies to lover, I repeat, ENEMIES TO LOVERS
4. Academic
5. Short read

Also, look at the cover! I could fawn over the cover all day and they look so cute<3

The story follows Bel who is in her senior year and has no idea what to do with her life. Unlike the other students in her year, she has no plans for her future and hadn’t chosen any college yet. All this changes when one of her teachers find her potential in engineering and insists her to take AP Physics and join the robotics clubs. Find out her journey from here as she deals with the hardships of being a girl in STEM that too of colour.

I loved the fact that the characters are actually realistic. They have their own flaws and it was relatable. The diversity is *chef’s kiss*. Like them celebrating Holi is all I needed to satiate my desi heart.

Mini Love Hypothesis

“I like to think I have eccentric tastes in most things, but I like Taylor Swift, too. I’m human after all.”

The fact that the main character is a swiftie just adds to it✨✨✨
I’d totally recommend this adorable book.

This was such a fun read. I loved all the characters so much and miss reading about them already. I laughed out loud multiple times while reading. The side characters and friendships and family relationships were just as wonderful as the main romance. All the characters felt fleshed out and flawed in very realistic ways. It's a low stress read with characters who are doing their best and making mistakes and learning from them. There were times when THE MESSAGE of the story felt a little heavy handed, but I didn't really mind because it was such an enjoyable read overall. This didn't stray too much into the whole boys vs. girls thing for me, though I'd have liked some mention that gender isn't a binary. If you're looking for a funny and lighthearted YA romance with very little drama and quite a few laughs, this fits the bill perfectly. I hope to read more by this author in the future!

The difficulties of high school, friendships, and fitting in are the context for Bel's senior year of high school at a new-to-her private school. A teacher pressures her into joining the robotics team, and she participates actively on the team as she makes friends and learns how to be a team member. A fun read for strong-minded girls!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. From time to time I find myself reading ya and I am so happy I picked this up. This book served everything it was supposed to serve, from the representation to the plot in general, it was truly a wonderful reading experience. I loved the portrayal of women in male dominated fields because it extraordinary how hard they have to work to be acknowledged or have their opinions taken into consideration.

I loved this book! The romance was wonderful, as was the addressing of the discrimination against women in stem. The characters were very relatable and the book was easy to read. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a quick read with romance and important topics.

Just like most people on booksta and booktok, I absolutely fell in love with the joy that was The Love Hypothesis last year. So seeing My Mechancical Romance with a focus on physics (which I study at university) and robotics, I was hoping for a very enjoyable and fun read that I could relate to a lot.

Unlike with most of my other reviews, I will use a lot of quotations for this one, but please be aware that they are taken from an advance review copy and may not or not fully be representative of the published book.

First of all, I want to say that the representation of women and stem as well as their struggles in their professional lives are things I care very much about for obvious reasons. That being said, I honestly thought that Neelam was the more authentic character compared to Bel, and actually my favourite character in the whole book. But more on that later.

Instead, I want to start off with our love interest and male lead, Mateo (or Teo) - also known as the biggest snowflake I have ever encountered in any YA book, ever. He is the most arrogant, pretentious, stuck up and downright unlikeable character anyone could possibly have come up with. It's not just that he thinks he's so much cleverer than anyone else, but also that he makes mean comments without seeing what might be wrong with that.

„Well. Not to be a dick, but these look terrible. I think I just saw a junior walking by holding a catapult made up of 80 percent paper towel rolls and 20 percent inadequacy.“

Hah. Very funny, 'dudebro' (I didn't come up with that, it's one of Bel's quirky manners of speech). Not. People who do not care much for science or simply aren't good at it are not lesser people and you absolutely do not have to look down on them like that. What is wrong with you?

„...adding a new person to the team means the headache of me having to give yet another course on Welding 101. Being captain for both robotics and soccer is hard enough without being enrolled in six AP classes and working on my application for early admission to MIT, plus people are definitely expecting me to be social.“

Teo seems to see himself as the center of the universe upon whose shoulders the future of the soccer and robotics teams rest. (Extremely dramatic, I know.) This is enabled by his parents, his physics teacher Mac and, in part, his friends - and it's just ridiculous. I have now been studying physics for over three years and I have not even once encountered any really good or successful physicist who was not a team player (at least regarding other male physicists, often also female physicists). But maybe I'm the special snowflake here, who knows. But not to get distracted:

„...I basically am the robotics team. I've been there since freshman year and look, not to be an asshole about it, but basically everyone on the team who's any good only showed up because I recruited them.“

Wrong, my dudebro. You did not recruit Neelam and she's smarter than most of the boys on the team. Which neither you nor any of the other team members want to acknowledge, but I will discuss that when I get to the point of why Neelam is my favourite character in the whole book.

„He doesn't explain anything he's doing - he only lets Dash or one of his other friends talk to him while he's fiddling with the robotics software or the circuit boards [...] but it's pretty clear that the robotics team is Teo Luna.“

There we have it. Teo has been taught his whole life to think of himself as a very special snowflake without whom nothing ever would be achieved in any aspect of life, be it soccer or robotics or whatever really, and he's a control freak who can't delegate. The team would probably work just fine on their own and more efficiently as a whole if he only took the time to explain things and listened to their critique. And, as I said, he's being enabled by everyone around him:

„You know, everyone's willing to make excuses for you. [...] Lora said the same thing when I pointed it out to her, that you 'just' want things to be this or that.“

I guess I get where it all comes from, but I really couldn't stand Teo as a character one bit. His pretentiousness and superiority complex really irked me.

„I'm mostly obligated to throw these things so people can satisfy their curiosity about how a celebrity tech CEO lives. If I didn't, I'd be a widely resented snob, like the kid whose dad won an Oscar or something. (I don't know, I don't care about movies.)“

Oh, dear Teo, nobody would even think about calling you a snob, or resenting you - least of all for you hypocrisy when you go watch a movie with your friends later on.

What really disappointed me the most, though, was that Teo did not really go through any major character development in the end. He does appreciate his team more, but his overall stance on women in stem does not seem to have shifted much.

„Even if Mac was right about what I owe this team, Bel was more right, and so was Dash, I'm not the team; we are. We built those bots together, and it shouldn't have taken twenty-four hours of continuous vomiting for me to realize how much I trust them.“

Teo says, after suggesting on the previous page that the team might not even make it to the third round in the competition. So I had to take even that with a grain of salt.

And to wrap it up, the social skills on this dudebro are really blowing my mind:

„Today she's wearing a sundress that's kind of an ugly color, like rust or copper.“

So yeah, I guess that really highlights why half of this dual-pov book did not work for me at all. But let's move on to Bel, who I liked a lot better. One of the main reasons I like Bel is that her favourite food is lasagna. Okay, that's not quite true actually. But lasagna.

At first, Bel is very reluctant about joining the robotics team although she does hint at liking the whole concept of building and designing things, so it felt like what was really holding her back was the role she was trying to fill:

„...I've thought a lot about how I'll never live it down with my old friends if I join this school's robotics team. Or any team, or club. Or basically if I do anything on purpose,...“

I thought that was rather sad, but was relieved when she moved past all that relatively quickly. She is also scared of being judged by others, and feels very intimidated by everyone else having already figured out what to do with their lives which, honestly, is so extremely relatable.

„I just feel like everybody here already has everything figured out. [...] 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.“

Eventually, though, she embraces her new hobby and I liked that first part of the character development process she went through, and the way it distracted her from the absolute disaster that was her family life.

„I think working on my hydraulic pump today was the first time in weeks - possibly months - that I haven't felt like some enormous, invisible weight was slowly crushing my chest.“

Let's use this opportunity for a round of applause for the two alleged adults who spectacularly failed at parenting and managed to drag Bel into the personal drama of their divorce.

„...but the worst part is that I still like him, even though I know I'm not supposed to. [...] I like my dad so much, but he hurt my mom.“

I just don't have enough words for everything that was wrong with all the parent figures in this book. That was a lot to unpack and although Bel's parents end up being at least supportive of her instead of making her feel like she has to pick a side, and Teo's dad showing some sort of love for him, those family lives were just so messed up and weren't really resolved well.

Anyway, back to happier aspects, one of which being the friends that Bel makes along her way:

„Like...you're new, you know? You're this new colour I didn't even know existed and now I see it everywhere and I'm like, thank god I can see it now. Such a bummer if I never did.“

Jamie and Lora actually are great best friends and I really enjoyed their friendship dynamic, as well as that between Bel and Dash.

(I honestly feel like I'm just inserting quotes and connecting them with a couple of sentences at this point, but they do serve the purpose, don't they?)

Time to move on to the relationship between Teo and Bel. I hate to say it, but I had hoped that they would not end up together because, as I said earlier, Teo doesn't seem to really have changed by the end of the book and I feel like Bel deserves better than that. But let's start at the beginning, where Teo completely ignores Bel's input on what is wrong with his robot design and then continues to ignore her. And then goes ahead and presents us with this gem:

„At this point I'm 100 percent sure Bel is much smarter than she pretends not to be. Or, I don't know - it's not like she's acting, but there's definitely some mechanism catching incorrectly in terms of her participation on this team. I saw her going over some of the projectile motion stuff from class with Jamie and Lora, so clearly she understands the concepts well. [...] So what's the problem?“

You, Teo. You are the problem. You don't allow her to participate in the team because you think you are the team and everything revolves around you. Already at this point I wanted Bel to quit trying to make an impression on Teo, because seriously: lost cause. But she doesn't, or else we wouldn't have this book.

„I should probably be relieved that she's actually speaking coherently, but from the time I've spent watching her, I've noticed she only has two modes: super aggressive or super passive.“

Okay, wow. What does this tell us about Teo's view of women? Speaking coherently? Super aggressive or super passive? Assess your own behaviour and then we talk again, boy.

„Because she's acting like she knows me, and I feel like that's not fair. I've been enjoying getting to know her, but apparently to her I'm nothing new. I'm just some guy that people talk about, and what other people say seems to be plenty of information for her.“

Exhibit Y of Teo being an absolute snowflake, because yes, she does act like that. What do you suggest she should act like? Like you're the eighth world wonder and she should marvel at your existence? You're not that special, and people do have the right to choose not to want to get to know you any better, you know?

Then there's the whole jealousy-about-homegoing thing that I don't care for, but I guess that's a trope that just has to be included in YA romances at this point.

I really just don't get what this whole romance is supposed to be based on. Yes, Bel and Teo have their cute moments where they grow their relationship, but Teo behaves completely differently towards Bel compared to Neelam and if I was in Bel's position, that would have me running for the hills - and at the latest, his lack of actual support for women in stem in general rather than just me, when talking to his father or Mac:

„...but hope the whole thing's just a personality clash. I know that sounds naive, or maybe even unsupportive, but it isn't.“

Umm, yes it is. Discarding Bel's very founded dislike for Mac's blatant favoritism of boys over girls as a 'personality clash' is the most unsupportive thing I encountered in that whole book. He doesn't even tell Mac off later on when he suggests that Bel is distracting Teo from his studies - he does have an internal monologue about all the things that are wrong with that suggestion, but he doesn't open his stupid mouth to speak up for a woman in stem, not even when it's his own girlfriend.

That is not to say that they didn't bond over their shared interest and had their cute moments and all that, but the overall feeling to the relationship and everything around it didn't work for me at all.

And that leads us to the topic that is women in stem, and how they are treated by men. The book really covered that topic in depth and in great detail, and the only thing I was missing was a supportive male scientist - but Ms Voss is amazing! The same can not be said for Mr MacIntosh, however:

„Mac favors the boys - inadvertently, I think, and in small ways, like giving them the best lab table or checking in with them more often, or pulling Kai aside to tell him he can do better when Lora, who got the same grade, didn't get a pep talk after class and therefore didn't improve when Kai did.“

This is no accident. And at the very least, once Bel raises the topic with him, he should check his privilege and think about his prejudice, instead of turning around and calling her out for not being enough of a team player, while never saying the same to Teo (who is the worst team player in all of history), and telling Bel and Neelam to

„Talk this out like adults.“

when they're having a perfectly normal discussion. Like I said, Teo does not take their side either and later even takes Mac's side concerning Bel's idea for changes to the robot (which, may I remind you, he has been building on his own):

„So that's it, then. I'm right, but because I didn't run it past them earlier, they're all getting a free pass to ignore me.“

Of course, we get all kinds of sexist comments as well:

„Must be a diversity thing.“

„"Oh, right," he says. "Diversity points. Got it."“

But the worst part for me was that once Bel was accepted by Teo, admitted to his sphere and privy to his attention, she just took it all gladly and didn't question the situation at all. She was just glad a male scientist thought it worthwhile to listen to her, grateful really, and forgot all about how unfair the situation was for her previously, basically becoming an asset to the whole thing. Until she fell flat on her nose and cried about the unfairness of it all.

AND HERE COMES NEELAM!

„"You got a taste of what it's like," Neelam says. "But I've been competing in math and science my whole life. I've been told girls can't win math competitions or can't build robots my whole life. My brothers are all pre-med, but I've been told told every single day to act like a lady, to smile and be polite, to be pretty and dainty - and what boy ever has to hear that? Not once," she snaps, "and what you don't understand is that when you come into this world unprepared and unfocused and without even a fundamental understanding of what you're doing, you have nothing to fight back with."“

THANK YOU, QUEEN! Gosh, seriously. THIS is the real problem, and Bel was too entitled to care for it for most of the book, until something inconvenienced her and she suddenly realised how difficult it really is for a woman to be regarded in stem for her own worth. I was so, so grateful for this paragraph because it finally, finally adressed the issue I had with the whole book up to that point.

And I wish that realisation had come much earlier and the book had then focused on what it's actually like to be a woman in stem. But Neelam was only got that small redemption in the very end and still is made out to be odd and not much of a team player, when actually it's the team that doesn't want her to be a part, as can be seen in other situations:

„"In LA it's mostly a matter of cultural appropriation," mutters Neelam. [...]
"Neelam, it's like seven p.m. on a Tuesday," groans Kai. "Can you not?"
"Yeah, um, actually Neelam makes a super valid point," says Lora.“

It really takes Lora, who for some reason is more accepted by the guys (probably because she's doing more of the management part than the engineering), to say something for them to listen to a very valid point? And even then they still poke fun at her and don't really take her seriously. It made me so angry.

I would also have liked, with all the nationalities thrown into the book (without that having much of an effect on the plot at all - we had Jewish, Filippino, Mexican and Indian heritages if I'm not mistaken), for there to be a bit of a focus on women of colour in stem, and the additional struggles that they face compared to white women. Sadly, that topic was not elaborated on at all.

Whew, that was a very very long rant, which could have been summed up with that quote by Neelam - the book had great potential, but focused on the wrong aspects by entitling Bel for most of the plot. I could absolutely not stand Teo and Mac, who both claim to have been educated towards the end, but don't act like it much. However, the book was well written and I flew through it. I can imagine that a lot of people love it, and as of now and judging by the other reviews, I am indeed the odd one out for not enjoying this book.

2/5 stars.