Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley + in exchange for an honest opinion. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!


I realized in 10% into this book that this book's going to be a bright 5 stars.

The first ARC that I read in 2022. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I got this book as an ARC from Netgalley in February 2022. I have been planning on reading it but still haven't got the 'right' time. After reading Heartstopper, crying the shit out of myself, and angsting myself, I picked this book. The blurbs are interestingly good.

I really like the chemistry and banter of both main characters, Bel and Teo. They have their own problems and things start to escalate slowly. The way they started from strangers to academic rivals to 'I want to kiss you but can I?' stage to lovers. I have been having a hate-and-love relationship with Young Adult books in general so when I started this book, I have my own doubt. BUT IT'S SO SO SO SO GOOD.


How I wish I got myself a boyfriend like Teo.

I like all the characters here, even the side characters.

The ending maybe not as good as I thought it would be but I'm still a huge fan. My favorite moment is the holi ARC. I really swoon over them.

It's a fun, fluffy, cute, and romantic book of nerds in STEM who fall in love. I need a bonus chapter tho after the epilogue.

This book is safe with only some kiss scenes but no SMUT whatsoever. There is a mention of something 'more' but the author didn't elaborate.

What a marvelous debut book! I will definitely read more books by the author! I also hope that I can find more books about nerds in STEM who fall in love with each other.

Thank you to the publish and NetGalley for this arc.

I really loved how fleshed out both Bel and Teo felt. Their own personal insecurities felt very real life - I have quite a few quotes of their inner monologues highlighted. They were both self aware and self reliant, and it was very refreshing to see from both protagonists in a contemporary novel. The author showed how in depth she can explore her characters, and It was because of this that I felt that their “breaking point” towards the end of the book was too quickly brushed over. We never actually got a conversation where they resolved the situation that they were in. Letting this go, I did like seeing their journey come full circle from rivals who respected each other’s intelligence, to being on the same team, back to a friendly rivalry again.

One final thing that I wanted to appreciate was Neelam. I didn’t expect how much I would come to like her character. She’s intelligent, stands up for herself and is unforgiving of it. She wasn’t mean for the sake of being the designated stereotypical character who has the mean girl arc - and I liked how her relationship with both Bel and Teo isn’t instantly fixed in one small unearned moment that forgets their whole past.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute YA book about high schoolers who find love on the robotics team.

It’s sweet, but the focus on the heroine navigating participation in a STEM program just rubbed me wrong. I’ve been in her shoes, but I did not connect with her experience. It really took me out of the story. It was a good attempt, and I’m all about girl power and I think it’s great to see as many stories as we can about girls excelling at science and engineering, but this wasn’t it for me. Towards the end of the book, another girl on the robotics team lays into the heroine, and I found myself on team: the other girl.

All this being said, I appreciate the spirit of the story, and I recognize that we all walk different paths, so maybe other readers will identify with it. It was well written and the characters were interesting enough that I formed strong opinions about them. I also love all the nerd positivity. I would definitely check out another book by tags author.

I received this arc and honestly it’s nothing like anything I have read before. I honestly truly enjoyed it. It took me back to high school, it was sweet and fluffy. I like bels quirkiness, it was refreshing, I would give this a 4 out 5! The story brought in a lot of mechanics and robotics elements that at first were hard to understand but I got to understand a lot of it and it was interesting to read. It also helped that as bel learned we learned what things were too. This was a really good idea on the authors part. I’m happy I read this to start off my month.

I WILL NEVER STOP SCREAMING ABOUT THIS BOOK. At first there was something about the characters that I just couldn't place a finger on. Somehow I didn't really like the characters. But then, halfway in I realised why. They were almost too realistic. And that's exactly what I ended up loving about this book. I found myself in it.

My Mechanical Romance follows the main characters Isabel (Bel) and Mateo (Teo) as they navigate their senior year of high school and the looming responsibilities waiting for them. After Bel is forced to join the robotics team after showing immense potential within the mechanical engineering field, she meets Teo, a genius who seems to have planned exactly what to do with his future. Starting off as academical rivals, they somehow find to have more things in common, and love blooms.

I will praise the author for crafting such a realistic story. Even though it's young adult, Follmuth doesn't shy away from writing about the blatant sexism found in the engineering field in such a masterful way. Cause it's how the real world works, I should know. In my physics class of 20 students, I am one among three girls attending. The rest of the class are boys. Fortunately, I haven't experienced sexism while in class, but these comments about girls and technology is something I'm familiar with. So I really do appreciate how the author sheds a light on this topic.

And wow the characters. I will be honest when I say that I disliked some characters. And like I said earlier, it may be because they were too realistic. They could be someone I knew, or I could find myself in some of the characters. Most of all they made some really stupid decisions sometimes and made mistakes. However, they're teenagers, or soon young adults. They're meant to make mistakes. And all of the decisions they took were quite realistic. I didn't really like how they treated Neelam, and how she acted sometimes. Mr Macintosh (Mac) really pissed me off sometimes too, as he reminded me of a typical low-key sexist teacher. But as the book progressed they changed and learned from their mistakes. They all grew up. I'm really glad I came to understand them more.

Most importantly, we have Bel and Teo. The author avoided some typical tropes which I usually hate, and I'm glad for that. Moreover, their individual journeys are such a sight. I loved their growth throughout the book, and how they learned to find themselves and heal from everything they've been through. Ahahah I'm trying really hard here not to spoil anything from the book. But I promise you, the budding romance between the two is also super great.

Moreover, the theme and message of the book is wonderful and inspiring. All of the characters go through their own individual journeys, where they are not too dependant on each other. They all learn from their mistakes, and learn to grow. The world is not ending at high school, there's so much more left to do. And what's important is the lessons we learn from each other, which makes us better people. What I really treasure about this book, is really the characters and their own journeys. No characters were left behind, even side-characters didn't fall into the typical "only exists for the main characters", as they all had their own desires and plots outside the main characters. The writing style was something I had to get used to, but as I became familiar with it I began to love this book.

Overall I will say that this is one of my favourite books so far in 2022. I really loved it. And since I kind of am a STEM person, this book felt tailor-made for me. I will be screaming about this book forever. I loved it so much. And the ending was so good. Ah I'm so happy! Will definitely be checking out more books from this author!

Over and out. -Nora<3

While tackling challenging topics, such as sexism and classicism, this book remained a lighthearted and sweet read. This is a book that I wished existed when I was in high school!

This book follows Bel, who falls in love with robotics and engineering “too late,” causing significant academic pressure about college applications and her future. She is forced into robotics club, which Teo is the captain of. Unlike Bel, Teo has always had a plan for his future, which he is constantly, and rather intensely, working toward. She isn’t afraid to call Teo out for mistakes in his design, which eventually leads to them working on a new robot design together.

All of the characters are so well developed. I loved watching Bel gain confidence and allow herself to take up space in a room. I also loved all of the side characters. Neelam’s anger about how she is treated hit home for me. The banter between Bel and Teo, as well as with Dash, felt true to how high schoolers interact with each other. I appreciated Bel and Dash’s platonic friendship as well.

While I did not understand the STEM conversations at all, Follmuth’s rich descriptions about the robot and competition made up for it. I certainly appreciated all the Taylor Swift references!

Overall, this was a super quick and fun read. I especially loved the epilogue. I think this book will be very impactful for readers!

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

thank you to netgalley for an arc of this book!

once i found out this was written by the same person who wrote atlas six i had to read it. i never been the robot type of person but this book made me have a newfound respect for them. the plot was very interesting and i thought it was cool to have engineering/robot stuff included bc not many book really talk about it. also, the characters were really good especially bel. i liked the fact that her character was so relatable to teenagers now. not everyone knows what they want to do at 18 and i loved that in the book it shows that some things may not always work out the way you planned. some parts of this book i found a little corny and sometimes it moved a little too fast paced but other than that i thought it was really good. again thank you to netgalley! 4/5

For months, I had been dreading reading this book, and I can't believe I just finished it in one sitting. This was a fantastic book to read. The story was particularly relatable to me at this age, when adolescence was at its peak, especially in terms of societal expectations and 'finding oneself.' This book forced me to consider my past experiences and life choices. The rivals to lovers trope was pretty short-lived, but it was still entertaining to watch their romance develop. You should absolutely check this book out! This is a must read.

I geuinely had a fun time reading this book. I really enjoyed the book. Perfect for those looking for a fun and quick read

I was only 30% into this when I realized that this was definitely going to be a 5 star read. And it was.

I love this book so much. I've been looking for more academic rivals to lovers books, especially in high school settings such as this one after finishing Today Tonight Tomorrow. And this one really takes the cake for me. I loved it so much that I practically devoured this in a day, and I honestly cannot wait for people to be as obsessed with them as I am right now when this book finally gets published in May.

I love the characters. I love Bel, she's such a fun character and I relate to her not having long term plans like her other peers in her new school apparently do. I also love Teo - he's my new favorite character in YA honestly. If I were to meet him in real life though, I would definitely judge him like Bel did in the first half. I would also try to lock him up in a room and tell him to rest because this boy definitely had way too much things going on in his life.

I liked that this was in dual POV because being in both their heads was fun. I liked the way Bel doesn't want to admit her crush on Teo during her POV, and I also liked being in Teo's where he's so unabashedly praising and talking about Bel in the most lovesick way in his head. The guy falls first is definitely a favorite trope of mine and I just love Teo's take on it so much. I also really loved their banter - I think out of all the academic rivals to lovers romance, the banter in this one is my favorite because they felt very realistic.

The romance in this is also god tier. I'm definitely being subjective about this and I don't care because I spent most of the time reading this smiling and giggling to myself. I love their development (also again, very realistic. I can see some of these scenes happening to my high school friends) and I love that they're so comfortable around each other and the fact that they have each other's back. I also just love how they both learned from each other from the start, and how they're not afraid to have these hard conversations before finally coming to terms and understanding each other. There's this one part in the middle that I highlighted all the way through in my kindle with the color pink and kept rereading for 10 minutes because it was just such a great scene.

I also love the friendships in this!!! I love Jamie, Lora, and Dash. I love Jamie's messages and conversations with Bel SO MUCH. They're so funny and Jamie Lora Bel really captured female friendships in high school (well at least mine) very well. I also love Dash, and his absurdity that Teo talks about in his POV.

Another thing I loved was the way STEM was captured in this. I haven't read much STEM romances but this one was just amazing. STEM here isn't just like a little background thing in the back to add to their personality (like some romances do), but instead played a huge part in the plot. I have no idea whether its accurate or not (but knowing that the author's husband is a professional in Physics and helped her a lot in this aspect, I definitely believe it's accurate) but the way physics and the technicalities in the Robotics were explained was really great (although I hated that subject back in High School so my mind kind of shuts down every time Teo starts talking about torque or velocity). I also just think the author has a way of explaining these subjects wonderfully like she did in TA6, even though the subjects and topics were so different from each other. I feel like I'm an intellectual every time I read her books. I also liked how this book also touches on topics such as the difficulty and prejudice that girls have to face for being in STEM, and all the double standards that apply to them because of it.

I would definitely recommend this to people who wants to read realistic academic rivals to lovers romances set in high school. If you liked books such as Today, Tonight, Tomorrow; Not Here to Be Liked and Meet Cute, you'll definitely love this one.

Now I gotta try and make my local bookseller stock this book on their stores when it's out because I will definitely be buying myself a copy and telling everyone I know on booksta to do it as well. Mark my words.

I really do not know how to put into words just how much I LOVED THIS BOOK! Omg it was so so so good.

I usually am not a romcom/romance lover so I was really not expecting to like this book, but I absolutely LOVED it! It is only March and this just might be one my favorite reads of the year!

My Mechanical Romance was such a cute romcom. I loved the unique premise of the robotics/mechanics part of the book. The main characters were lovable and relatable. The relationship was seriously so wholesome and adorable.
*slides off cliff*

Anywayyyyyy. Would recommend.
-comes out May 31st, 2022

Thank you so much to netalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Cute story. Wasn't really for me, but I know other readers, especially fans of YA will really like this one.

This is the kind of YA romance I want my daughters to read. Badass girls and robots—I mean, need I say more? I’m a huge fan of the author, and this book didn’t disappoint. It highlighted the tiny little things that add up into bigger problems that women face everyday in a way that was relatable and also hopeful.



Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC version of this novel! This review is my honest take on this delightful story.

•I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as i did. It started off slow and i was confused cause i couldn't tell if it was based in college or Highschool but then like half way i came to the conclusion it was based in highschool but yoh the things these kids studied i was asking myself what kind of highschool is this cause you are pressuring these kids but again i can't say much maybe that's how things are done in the states.

•I also try to avoid reading books about charcaters based in highschool cause its really hard to relate to them anymore and sometimes the writing isn't always that good i end up asking myself why the author didnt just make it a college romance cause of all the things that go down. They always make the characters have like these parties and its always about the football/hockey jock and the shy/new girl etc we all know how those go...the drama, but this was so refreshing the ML may play soccer but his main interest is robotics and i may not know much about it but i really enjoyed reading and learning about robotics. And when the FL also finds her love for robotics it was just so cute as to how they showed love for what they wanna do. i don't regret reading this cause it was relatable for highschool kids ...and if i was still in Highschool I'm sure would relate to it.

•Also can we appreciate that it has women in stem💃🏾💃🏾
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC

OMG I LOVE THIS BOOK! I was really into it and it was such a great read. The plot was overall good & so are the characters. The story wasn't dragging which makes it good, i'm thankful to read this book & I super enjoyed it

Many, many thanks to Holiday House and NetGalley for providing me with this digital ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

My professional review:

I am so glad that I loved this book with my whole heart because at the beginning I was really skeptical of the story but Alexene Farol Follmuth aka Olivie Blake definitely did not disappoint.
Firstly, the plot is so interesting - it's surely not only a romance as I expected. As a woman in STEM, I really appreciate the commentary on sexism and elitism of the field as they are very well-represented in my opinion. The story about academic validation also amuses me a lot - as I relate very much to some of the characters in this regard. Furthermore, the way AFF wrote the succession of the events is very smooth and it really helps with the reading after the rough beginning (at least for me).
Next, the characters and their development, without surprise, were well-executed. Every character has their own flaws at the beginning, and it's quite satisfying to see their evolution and how their relationships helped them with it. Indeed, the development can be considered "rushed", but I am definitely not mad because it's a short book, and overall, very consistent.
Finally, the romance. As expected from the one of only Olivie Blake, it's *chef's kiss*. I love how their relationship played out, and how the spark of the yearning period doesn't disappear after the relationship started. The competitiveness of a classic-academic-rivals-to-lovers arc, the tension, the yearning... Everything was perfect. After that rough beginning, Bel and Teo indeed became one of the couples I am gonna think about for a long time.
However, I do have some small complaints. As previously said, the beginning was hard for me to get through because it felt very juvenile and disconnected from the rest of the book. Additionally, while I have never really hated Neelam, I find her actions around Bel kind of unjustified. Other than that, this book was a solid 4.75/5 for me. I really hope Olivie Blake will write more YA romances because her writing in this book is so good.

Anyways...

My unprofessional review that CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS:

1. ACADEMIC VALIDATION IS THE BEST FORM OF VALIDATION BITCHES
2. *cries* He calls her "bel canto" *SCREAMS*
3. kisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskiss...... OH MY FUCKING GODDDDDDDDD BWJSWJJSJNSJWJSJJSJ
4. Kai my little sunshine
5. Confident, unapologetic girlbosses in STEM who aren't afraid to take up space >>>>>>>>>>>
6. If she doesn't make you a mechanical sparrow bot, does she even love you?
7. The reunion *cries*
8. Do I want to date them, or do I want to be them...?

This book was beautifully written and a quick read. The subject matter was unique and intriguing to me. At times I found it difficult to distinguish the voices of the two main characters. I also found some of the male characters infuriating, but that was the point. I LOVED the feminist aspect of this story. The graciousness between women and the support that they gave to one another was beautiful. I’m not a woman in STEM, but I believe we need more women in STEM, and this book will help encourage women to get there. There’s nothing I love more than a book that showcases the power of females.

This was a really fun read! I enjoyed all of the representation of different cultures and backgrounds in it and I think that it made this book much more relatable and realistic. I loved Bel and I liked how she was truly just one of those high schoolers who were lost because they aren't written about enough. I really liked reading from Teo's perspective as well since I got to see who he really was instead of just how he presented himself to everyone else. The relationship between Bel and Teo was super cute and I liked how the progression of their relationship was realistic and gradual and the connection between them was believable. This book gave some insight into a lot of different cultures since Bel is half Filipino and Teo's is Mexican. There were also a bunch of side characters that were a part of different cultures and I loved the little details this book had about parts of them. I loved the relationship/conflict between Neelam and Bel, I thought it was very realistic and I think this book captured the struggles of girls in STEM really well.

3 stars

nerds in love!! "my mechanical romance" is a YA romcom that follows bel and mateo. bel joins the robotics club mateo is captain of. the two immediately butt heads yet as the novel progresses, they start to see in another light.

this was a really cute romcom with a focus on STEM. the way bel and mateo's relationship developed was cute (academic rivals to lovers >>) but i do think it was kind of rushed. the formatting knocked some points off for me. the way the arc downloaded on my kindle made it kinda awkward to read and it really lessened my enjoyment of the book.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the copy :)

this was so cute!! a fun and quick read about a teen romance, i liked the focus on engineering and how it presents the struggle that woc in stem face. bel is a relatable character, and i loved to read her development; also the ending was perfect, although i felt like it happened a bit too fast. but still it was good, finished in a sitting