Opposites attract in this battle-robot-building YA romance from the NYT best-selling author of The Atlas Six.

Bel would rather die than think about the future. College apps? You’re funny. Extracurriculars? Not a chance. But when she accidentally reveals a talent for engineering at school, she’s basically forced into joining the robotics club. Even worse? All the boys ignore Bel—and Neelam, the only other girl on the team, doesn't seem to like her either.

Enter Mateo Luna, captain of the club, who recognizes Bel as a potential asset—until they start butting heads. Bel doesn’t care about Nationals, while Teo cares too much. But 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.

In her YA debut, Alexene Farol Follmuth, author of The Atlas Six (under the penname Olivie Blake), explores both the challenges girls of color face in STEM and the vulnerability of first love with unfailing wit and honesty. With an adorable, opposites-attract romance at its center and lines that beg to be read aloud, My Mechanical Romance is swoonworthy perfection.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Great book about girl power! Honestly I really liked this book. This book follows Belle a high school senior who transferred schools and found herself trying out for a team she never anticipated joining. Mateo is the team captain and he finds himself drawn to her despite being her opposite.

This book has a great message for women in any male dominated fields as we see our main character learn and struggle the dynamics of being a women in STEM. There are many obstacles to overcome and her budding romance does not help the situation. While you root for the characters to find love you also root for them to find their way in the world and find their true self. What I like about this book (besides the main message) is that the romantic relationship does not solve every and all problems they encounter. Although it does help lead them down the right path both characters have their own obstacles that they have to navigate and work their way through.

One thing I wish they had gone into more was the relationship with their parents. Both character have a less than normal home dynamic and although it is briefly mentioned it does not dive into it. Especially with Mateo. His relationship with his dad and the expectations he feels he has to meet would make for an interesting part of the story. I would have loved to see an argument or for Mateo to stand up to his dad. But I get that it would have been a lot to cover especially with both characters having to overcome things at home.

Overall, enjoyable with a great message. Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book.

[Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review]

This was such a cute story and really heartwarming, i think my 15/16 year old self would of like just adored this book and i think even now this book just felt so personal and i would recommend this book to every student, i felt really emotional while reading the end of this book and knowing that just like a week ago i had a small meltdown about school.
i'm graduating in a week like and that's actually just shocking to me how fast time moves, knowing that the bel the main character felt the same way i felt about school made me feel a lot better :)

3.5 stars ⭐️
thank you netgalley for the arc!

As an engineering student, I loved understanding every physics and CAD reference. Their relationship was very adorable, and I loved how the story tackles the bad side of being a woman in STEM: men acting like they run the whole thing when they don't.

I wish Mateo had told his father to back off a little bit though, I feel like he never got to set boundaries with him. Bel's relationship with her parents didn't actually change at all either, I would have liked to see her have a talk with both of them and telling them that she wasn't going to choose any sides.

Also, I would have liked this book better if it was situated in college instead of highschool but that's just my personal preference. It was still very enjoyable!

This adorable YA romance is a must read for every woman in STEM or in typically male-dominated fields or want to go into any of these fields!

We meet Bel, a senior high school student, who’s new to a private school full of extracurriculars geared toward getting into the Ivy Leagues with no direction for college herself. In comes a science teacher that sees something in Bel and voluntells her to join the robotics club. Bel is hesitant to say the least…

Then comes Tao, the captain of both the soccer team and the robotics club who has the weight of the world on his shoulders as he tries to manage everything to get into MIT early admission. These two definitely clash at first but eventually come to a truce and become friends and maybe even more…

This story was so adorable and more than just a YA romance as the author addresses the struggle that comes with being a woman on STEM including topics like sexism and elitism. I highly highly recommend picking up this book when it releases at the end of this month!

Thanks to NetGalley and Holiday House for this ARC!

This is probably one of the easiest reviews I have ever had the pleasure of writing. Because I absolutely loved it! So a huge thank you to Recorded Books (RB Media), Alexene Farol Follmuth and Netgalley for giving me a change to review My Mechanical Romance before its release on the 31st of May 2022.

I have nothing but praise for My Mechanical Romance. Lovable characters, an enemies to lovers high school romance written perfectly (LIKE PERFECTLY IN ALL CAPS) and a team of students entering a robotics competition?! Sounds fun right? It was everything I wanted and so much more. Plus the narrators (Amielynn Abellera and Christopher Salazar) are a perfect match to both points of view. They really make the story come alive and I hope to hear them both narrating more YA books soon.

I would definitely recommend the audiobook without a shadow of a doubt but I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy too!

A sweet and meaningful romance with a lot of heart to it. The main characters and their individual developments are excellent, and the narration brings everything together wonderfully.

I felt like a dinosaur while reading this, though this is not the book's fault.

I received an Advance Review Copy of the audio book, and was excited to dive into this romance YA novel. 'Women in Science' is interesting in general, and I really appreciate the overall message of the book: girls have as much right to be in STEM as anyone. The troubled family background of the main characters sounded like real life too.

Yet I felt the audio version was not the right choice for me, as I found the narration annoying, especially the chapters told by Bel. Being 18 doesn't mean that you speak like a whining kid (Jamie) or a morose (Luke). I don't think teens have as shallow conversations as in this book.

Thanks NetGalley and RB Media for this ARC.

i was lucky enough to receive this book as an ebook and audiobook, and that just improved my enjoyment of this book! i love switching between digital and audio often, especially books with multiple povs that have different voice actors for each character, and i loved jumping between these two copies. i felt these narrators were really well suited to these characters and this was one of my favourite audiobooks i've listened to recently because of this.

but in terms of the general review, i'm really not sure if this is a 3.5 or a 4 because i really enjoyed it but it took me a but to get into, and there were some things that felt like they pulled me out of the story. i did read the last 50% in one go, however, and refused to put it down even while i was getting ready to go out and on the bus. i found myself sitting at the bus stop because i was there too early and wanted to finish this book right then and there. the last 50% really gave me everything i needed to be thoroughly consumed by this book and the characters. and i did love most of the characters, bel was perfect to me and teo was an experience i'm glad i had, but it felt like side characters could have been developed better or even just written better, they had the right formulas but the execution was a miss. overall, i did enjoy the STEM romance, i loved experiencing these moments with the characters and i do recommend it, even if there was just a few too many things to take this away from being a 5 star read like i so badly wanted it to be.

An illustrated cover with good reviews? Say less, I’m in. This is a YA romance, set around two kids that are I guess academic rivals in robotics club. The beginning was a little slow but once Bel and Teo started interacting more. It was a cute story. I definitely had a few, oh yup I’m 30 and these characters are 18 moments but that’s to be expected I guess.
If you’d like a YA romance in an academic STEM setting, check this one out. Release date is 5/31!

Thank you to Holiday House and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this Audiobook.

I am reviewing this YA romance with a young, High School audience in mind.

This adorable story comes from the brilliant mind of Alexene Farol Follmuth who has written some of my top adult fiction/fantasy books, including The Atlas Six and soon to be published, Alone With You in the Ether.

We get a 2 person point of view, between Bel and Mateo. Bel is a young teen, thrust into the robotics world after her talent for engineering is discovered. Her relationship with Teo is strained from the beginning, but we all know and love that enemies to lovers trope!

The first 50% of this book was a slow burn, with some quirky, cute moments. The second half picked up but still felt very young for me personally. The writing is beautiful, nerdy and factual (CAD is brought up in this story and my husband who is an engineer loved the reference). It flows great, the relationship between the two MC's develops in a nice way and I appreciate the girls in STEM and representation of POC in this book. I also loved that Alexene wrote about how your dreams in High School don't always go to plan once you graduate, but that you can still be happy and successful.

This book will be loved by many, I'm sure. I highly recommend you check this book out if you are a young teen and especially if you love reading about nerds falling in love. Grab your copy on 5/31, only 5 days away!!

Lastly, if you choose to listen to the audio book, Amielynn Abellera and Christopher Salazar did a great job narrating.

Thank you NetGalley and Holiday House for gifting me a arch for a honest review.

First of all I really enjoyed this book I found I was engaged the whole time and didn’t find my mind wonder while listing to the audiobook (a problem I have with most audiobooks)
So this book is a STEM YA romance and I love the Nerdiness of the it just made my heart warm and fuzzy. I loved the woman supporting woman in STEM and just a female view of what working/studying in a predominant masculine subject.
I loved seeing bel work out how she’s gonna fit into the world as she’s 18 and let’s be honest it’s rear to know the exact path you want when your that age and its a lot a pressure on students. I also loved seeing all the differ cultures and learning about celebrations Iv never heard of before.
Okay now the robots! I really enjoyed this sections it reminded me of a show I used to watch with my dad called ‘robot wars’ so I could picture it so well and it was really fun. The romance in this was cute as most ya romance books are and was just a fuzzy teen romance was so nice to read and experience bels friendship and relationships develop though out. I would recommend this to anyone that wants a fuzzy romance with nerd dashed into it it was a lot of fun.

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth

Due to family strive Bel is to transferred to a new school for her senior year. She finds herself unwillingly thrust onto the school’s robotics team after an accidental show of her engineering skills. Even after getting on the team, she doesn’t feel like she belongs. The boys treat her as if she doesn’t know what she is doing and the only other girl on the team is hostile. But when she starts spending late nights with Teo, the team captain, working on the robots, she’s determined to prove that girls do have a place in STEM.

A fun YA novel filled with all the things you love about women in STEM. This book has diversity, brainy women (my favorite kind), a little romance, and a growing sense of self.

The audiobook version was fun to listen to. I love when they have different readers for the different voices. It had smooth transitions and kept me engaged.

Content Warning: mild language, kisses

Love book where the girl is intelligent and wants to make something of herself in a man driven world. There wasn't anything to special or original, but it was cute, fun and quirky.

My Mechanical Romance is a cute YA romance novel about Bel and Mateo. Bel is a new student at Teo’s high school who, after messing up on a project, finds herself encouraged to try out for the robotics team. Teo is the captain of the robotics team, as well as the all-around golden boy of the school. Both are struggling with their senior years. Bel feels lost after her parents have split up and she dreads thinking about where she's going to go to college or what she wants to do with her life. Teo has had his whole life planned out for years - win Nationals with his robotics team, go to MIT, become an engineer. Together, they're able to balance each other out. Bel teaches Teo there's more to life than robotics and Teo helps Bel find her passion for robotics and engineering.

This book was really cute! It's a very senior year of high school type romance - Teo and Bel are super awkward around each other for awhile, then they're planning their futures together when they don't really know where their futures will lead. The first few chapters are slow - I don't know if I would have struggled quite so much with them if I had read the book vs. listening to the audiobook, but I had to power through to Bel and Teo actually connecting and becoming friends. After that it was so much better.

One of the biggest things this book has going for it is the discussion around women of color in STEM fields. There's a really beautiful moment where a little girl watches Bel and Neelam in a robotics competition that made my heart sing, but there's also so many microaggressions (and at times very blatant moments of sexism) towards the girls - even by members of their own team and their teacher. I loved the moment that Neelam gives Bel a real insight into what it's been like for her to grow up loving math and engineering, something that Bel is new to. I can see why people may not connect with Neelam, but she was actually one of my favorite side characters. It was heavily hinted at why she acted the way that she did and I loved that at 17/18, she wasn't changing who she was to make herself more palatable to others. I also appreciated that despite her being new to robotics and STEM, Bel helped Teo see his privilege a lot, even if she couldn't always recognize her own.

The books also definitely touches on the pressures that kids, especially seniors, face in high school. While they both handled things differently, I thought it did a good job of presenting the different ways that kids deal with pressure and how it can affect them.

Overall, I'd give this a 3.5 out of 5 (I'm rounding up to 4 because I did enjoy it and I think if I had read the book vs listened, I probably would have enjoyed it even more). Thank you to Net Galley and Recorded Books for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth follows high school senior Bel, who couldn’t care less about college applications and the future. Unfortunately, the deadlines are creeping in and she just accidentally revealed her knack for engineering to her teacher. Bel is forced to try out for the robotics club at her school, and to her dismay, she actually gets in. There, she learns what it means to be a team, discovers a little more about what she might want to do after high school, and maybe… finds love?
The audiobook for My Mechanical Romance was incredible. There were two narrators- one for each perspective. I found that the narration really made the book flow well and the pacing was great. It was very easy to tell when the narrators switched and when a chapter started/ended. The narrators both brought the book to life and it felt as if I was watching a movie or listening to a podcast. I definitely recommend the audiobook as it definitely helps to stay on task and pace your reading. The audiobook itself was one of the better ones I’ve listened to and I also recommend it on its own.
I really enjoyed Follmuth’s writing style and the pacing of the book. It was a really cute, easy read that any reader would enjoy. I love young adult romances and this one did not disappoint. Follmuth dove into some serious societal issues that I would love to see more books uncover. The discussion on misogyny in STEM based areas in this book really made the story more enjoyable and gave depth to the plot. I loved seeing the girls on the robotics team stand up for themselves and show others that women belong in STEM just as much as men do.
Overall, I really enjoyed My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth and I really appreciate NetGalley for sending me an audiobook ARC of this book.
You can find my public review of this book on my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/paperbackfrogs/) and on my Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/haleyyun). These reviews will be posted sometime in the week prior to the release day of My Mechanical Romance. I will also be talking about this book in an upcoming video on my YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS9Dcya1aVVxRvALp9FVKMw).

Oh my heavens! This was good. I mean really good. The author pulled off having a really great story without making it PG or R rated. It was brilliantly done with a new idea and wonderful characters that had a special romance. I loved Belle and Tao. So sweet watching them. All of it worked for me and I’ll be thinking about this for awhile. I highly recommend you put this on your summer reading list.
I started reading this and then switched to the audiobook. It was narrated by Amielynn Abellera and Christopher Salazar. They were awesome. Perfect for the story.
Thanks Holiday House and Recorded Books via NetGalley.

This was such an enjoyable read about a sweet teen love in the robotics team. It pointed out the hardships of women in STEM roles and the misogyny there. It also had a big focus on the pressure we put kids under in high school to have their lives all figured out before even entering college. I wish there had been more books like this when I was a kid because I felt that pressure so hard and was a perfectionist like Mateo, and no one ever told me it was ok to not have all the answers and make mistakes. This was an important read wrapped up in a cute romance with awesome side characters and an armful of robotics nerdery!

Read/Listen if you Like:
❤️ STEM as a topic
❤️ Reading Diversely
❤️ YA Romance

Audiobook Review:

This is a great option for YA readers that are a bit older or more mature due to the topics that come up when exploring a teenage storyline of high school seniors that have/go to parties so topics of drinking, sex, etc are discussed.

I liked the female empowerment and that women belong in STEM and can be a great asset.

The diversity of characters was also wonderful to have them of various backgrounds and that it was done in a way that it wasn’t one dimensional.

Thank you NetGalley, and RB Media for the ARC of this audiobook! I am so thankful to obtain a copy to read in advance of its release!

I enjoyed this YA romance. The main character, Bel, was very accomplished and intelligent and I enjoyed seeing her develop and flourish despite the challenges that she faced due to being a woman in a male dominated field.

The romance was sweet, if not a little predictable. I was initially a little disappointed with the lack of support from other female characters, but was really glad to see how it all turned out. What I really enjoyed was when the narration was from Teo's POV we learned new things about Bel that she hadn't told us about herself (such as her clothing) and vice versa, which gave me a sense of the romance developing even when they didn't seem to know it themselves.

I enjoyed both narrators here and I think it was perfectly pitched. For me their narration was slightly on the slow side, but it's easily fixed by cranking up the speed.

If you're looking for a fun YA romance with an accomplished female, this one is for you.