⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
i love a good STEM based romance, and it has dual pov!!! this is one my favourite books now. this was a very cute and easy read and i’ll definitely be reading more from the author asap!!

We love a YA book. We love STEM rep. And we love nerds. This was a fun YA read! I loved the opposites attract vibe of the MCs and thought they were so sweet! The female in STEM aspect was interested too!

I was given a complimentary review copy from the publisher via NetGalley. this did not affect my rating.

I'm slapping myself for not reading this sooner!! WoC in STEM + academic rivals to lovers sign me up.

My mechanical romance follows two high school seniors, Bel and Teo. bel is a transfer student who doesn’t know what she wants just yet. Teo is the son of a CEO and has grown up being told who he should be. he’s done high school robotics all three years so far, and going into his fourth, doesn’t expect the quirky new girl to be just what his team needs.

This was a very wholesome read. I enjoyed it so much. The first 100 pages were a bit hard to get into but after that, I binge-read the whole thing.

I loved this, it was so cute. I just believe the romance was too quick for my liking. i think this would be a great book for everyone looking for a book featuring characters that are interested in STEM, especially girls in STEM.

I really wanted to like this YA rom-com because of the premise and the characters being super smart robotics nerds. But I stopped reading at about 25% and have yet to want to go back and finish the story. The two main characters didn't pull me in or make me want to care about them. Their behaviors, especially Teo's, didn't seem to come from a relatable or understandable place. They reminded me a bit of Alexene Farol Follmuth's (Olive Blake's) Atlas Six characters - wholly unlikeable for no particular reason. I just didn't think those types of characters fit well in what is supposed to be a young adult nerdy romance.

🤖📓📖 ✨I wish my younger self had this book!✨
After moving to a new school, Bel finds herself in a situation where she has to join the robotics team or fail. This is where she meets Mateo, a young man born into privileged house and is incredibly smart.
I love how this book depicts class, race, gender, and income. There is a teacher who believes in her student and pushes her.
The characters resolve conflict meaningfully, and there is no putting others down. The ability to learn how to communicate effectively is heart warming.
I recommend this book to anyone in the STEM fields.

I loved the main characters and the story building. The story was so wholesome. Bel was the sweetest. I loved the representations shown in the book. At first glance you find Neelam extremely annoying but as you read and put yourself in her shoes, it all makes so much sense.
The characters could have used a bit more depth but overall I really enjoyed reading it.

I really enjoyed this book, and I feel like it has a great message for girls interested in STEM or any field they’re told is not for them. The book is both cute and humorous, and manages to balance a few different topics all the while. It’s a bit of a quicker paced read (which I’m sure some will really enjoy), and dual POV (always pretty fun). A nice light hearted read with a good message. Also the cast of characters were fun to follow, too.

AAAAAASSHHHSDHFJFDBHSDHFjfFaafgGALASNAHSDF (me throughout this book. yes, the incomprehensible keyboard-smash feeling never ends. i have proof: this is still me rn after finishing this twenty minutes ago).

ALEXENE (OLIVIE BLAKE) DOES IT AGAIN . when i first picked this up after months of "i-can't-wait-till-the-end-of-MAY-for-this", you betcha i DEVOURED it. this has everything a good romance book has, especially the pivotal point for me that really distinguishes the awesome ones from the un-freaking-forgettable ones: it's not all about the romance. i had no idea this would be as empowering as it is, but it is and i am so here for it. GIRL POWER FR. in your face, richardson!!!! i ate all this right up, so you bet alexene knows what she's doing (however we've all learnt that lesson that hard way i'm sure).

AND TEOBEL . T E O B E L. i don't know what to tell you, except they are everything you've ever dreamed of and more. they surpass all the basic romcom expectations and they're most certainly in a field even beyond, right up there with all the romcom couple legends. i don't think i've ever read a book where the two main characters are more made for each other than they are!!!! and speaking of romcoms, reading this really felt like a cinematic experience, like teobel and their robotics club and friends and the whole STEM scene was right up there on screen, having me mesmerized and on the edge of my seat. because this, the plot, the writing, the characters, the dynamics, the lessons—everything—are all romcom material. like, if this was an actual classic romcom movie, it would win an oscar, AS IT SHOULD. the way each scene unfolded and ESPECIALLY the holi festival scenes made me feel all sorts of things and was just nothing short of BEAUTIFUL. MAGNIFICENT. DELIGHTFUL. JUST SMASHING. TAKE ALL MY MONEY. plus, SO MANY BROWNIE POINTS FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!! it made me tear up. several times. and also full on bawl . like, twice. or a couple... definitely less than five, though.

AND THE CHERRY ON TOP: the beautifully portrayed feminist themes. i don't know what to tell you, it's gold. it's most wondrous (yupyup i used the shakespeare language translator! except they didn't really have a word for awesomesauce, so i had to tweak my original word choice a little). every girl needs to read this, i swear. this book is a book about finding your space, finding your place in your own life, in others', in the world; about belonging and finding that balance between taking up space and standing up tall for yourself but also letting others shine and sharing that space, too. it's all a very delicate topic and situation, one that i'm sure everyone struggles with but maybe noone's ever really known how to put it into words, but this author has, and she's done it so, so well. she's really served once again, but then again, are we really even surprised anymore??? that's right, i didn't think so. okay, i've been having at this review for the past fifteen minutes or so, so i'm gonna wrap it up. this for sure is one of my favourite reads of the year, and if you've made it this far, you know it's not just because of the countless taylor swift references (although those definitely didn't hurt!!!).

i want to scream and yell and shout and yodel and proclaim and promulgate this book to all the world to read, but i haven't quite gotten to that level or means yet, so for now i'll share it with you guys. this is THE book you don't want to miss. i'll even swear it on bel's bird jeans and dash's fave dishes and cross my heart and hope to make my whole personality about this book and everything. wink, wink.

WHO RUN THE WORLD??? (you know the answer to that, say it with me!!!) GIRLS :')

I really love romance books with a twist. The book excites my feelings and just brightens my mood overall. Definitely recommended to my friends!

I didn't care about Bel and Teo was a sexist bully that thinks he's better than everyone else. They have zero chemistry and I didn't like the writing or care about the plot.

Sweet and realistic. The fight at the end was unnecessary and annoying, but I'll give it a pass because I did enjoy the book over all.

As someone who loves Ali Hazlewood, as soon as I saw this stem book I knew that I had to read it. I am so glad that I did, I think it is so fun and any story that involves women in stem make my heart so happy. Overall I loved reading this and have since forced my sister to read who also enjoyed it immensely. I cannot wait to read more by this author.

Headlines:
Cute
Nerds unite

My Mechanical Romance was cute but very familiar in that I felt like I'd read a version of this story a number of times before. There was some uniqueness related to the robot science-y fight club and I appreciated the swipes at misogyny the female MC faced, although that didn't go as far as I'd have liked to have seen. Add in parent troubles, different side of the tracks and it made for a sweet and predictable read.

If you enjoy a nerd-centric high school (18 year old protagonists) setting with intelligent characters, then this book will work for you. I don't think it's ultimately memorable but it was a quick and mostly satisfying read. I enjoyed the epilogue and time jump.

Thank you to the publisher through netgalley for the eARC.

we love a book that represents women in STEM. throw in opposites attract and you have yourself a cute YA book. i really did enjoy the writing in this book. this is my first time reading anything by this author and i would definitely read another book by Alexene. we love when the two mcs butt heads and then bond over their mutual love for something.

An enjoyable YA novel that focuses STEM, especially young women in STEM. I appreciated how the characters interacted with one another and developed over the course of the novel.

I absolutely adored this book!! It was so cute and so inspiring. We need more stories about young women in STEM fields. Stories like this will encourage young girls to pursue their dreams and see that they can be successful. I really loved that there wasn’t really an antagonist besides systemic gender inequality. Overall, I thought this book was so pleasant and felt like a breath of fresh air.

I’ve found this book a lovely read for young readers interested in romance involving women in stem. This enemies to lovers relationship started as a confusion between Bel and Teo and love that began with their proximity due to the robotics club. Bel is an inspirational character for young women in or interested in stem. Overall this book warms up my heart with the beautiful relationship between the main characters.

This book was absolutely adorable. I loved the academia setting and academic rivals to lovers! So cute and lovable and easy to read!

I still haven’t read an Olivie Blake book, but now I have read her YA contemporary!! This book follows Bel and Teo, who are seniors in high school. Teo is the leader of the robotics club which Bel ends up joining. Both main characters were a little frustrating at first, but I really drew to love them and root for them. Watching Bel discover her love for robotics and engineering was a lot of fun. This book is very heavy on robotics and the competitions and I had a good time reading it.