Very cute YA novel. Although there was not that much of enemies-to-lovers?

Overall very good read. Bel is a very smart girl and I liked the representation of girls/women in STEM. The story was at first a bit hard to get into with all the rambling sentences, but I got used to it and enjoyed it.

i absolutely adored olivie blake's ya debut under a different pen name with its focus on woc in stem. i found myself in eccentric bel maier, one of our two high school senior mains though definitely not as much of a mechanical engineering whiz as she is. as smart as she is, she goes through the motions in life with a lack of motivation to aim higher particularly at the start of the book with putting important things off that makes her stress even more thinking about her future. teo luna on the other hand, with being the son of a tech ceo and expectations from not just his parents but everyone around him, he works himself to the maximum in order to live up to them. but also in the beginning struggled with teamwork on their robotics team in listening to others input, so glad bel contributed to his development in realizing a lot of aspects he needed to work as a team. not just teo, both of them also struggle with a lot of weight on their shoulders in terms of expectations in making their parents happy with what they choose to do in life and where to go to college. bel with her divorced parents along with her mom asking her about college constantly and teo with his dad wanting to maintain his image.

the romance aspect of this story gave me so many butterflies, i'm just a sap for a good ya romance at times. but bel and teo were the cutest along with how they helped each other grow individually coming to realizations about choices they can make for themselves and accepting each other how they are, not being influenced by outside perspectives of who they should date. side note, particular details i personally loved, was the filipino representation! bel's mom being full filipina, making bel half, it was just so great to see tagalog and food references in ya genre that i didn't really see growing up. was endeared with the scene of bel's mom being the usual filipino mom in instantly persuading teo to eat with them. with its stem main focus my mechanical romance was everything that was needed to change things up in ya romcom genre. if you're looking for a quick read but different to one's usual ya romcom i definitely recommend picking this one up!

These kinds of books aren’t my thing and as it goes, this was a predictable read for me. It had the clichés I thought I’d see but this didn’t really annoy me. The simplicity surprised me, the prose most especially; it wasn’t as flowery as I thought it’d be. I couldn’t speak for the accuracy of the physics and engineering parts of this and I’ll be on the lookout for opinions.

I actually liked many things here. Bel and Teo’s characterization felt on point. I unexpectedly related to Bel’s experiences and insecurities. Teo’s not so much but they were both believable either way, I enjoyed their development. I liked the message of taking up your own space, how people have limits, and it’s okay to share the burden sometimes.

This did touch up on the issues Bel and Teo had going on. I could say I liked the way it was handled but I wanted more depth. For me, the issues here were just resolved too quickly or simply brushed over. I wanted to know more about these characters and I ended the book not having felt that satisfaction, that said I still did appreciate the ending as well as Neelam’s character, who did grow on my overtime.

In a nutshell, this was a cute and simple book with good characterization. Teo and Bel and the robotics team definitely brought this up for me.

YA enemies to lovers in STEM. I absolutely loved reading this romance book. Mateo Luna captain of the club and Bel who accidentally reveals a talent and now practically forced to join the team. They butt heads a true enemies to romance. This book was everything I have been looking for and more swoonworthy for sure

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth is an excellent introduction to YA. This book had EVERY trope us readers love: new girl meets popular boy, academic rivals to lovers, boy-obsessed, opposites attract, and a good representation of women in STEM. Though it did have my favorite tropes, I was bored for the first half of the books because I wasn’t feeling the story, which could have been due to the slow burn. However, as the story progressed, things got so much better and I ended up loving it. Overall, My Mechanical Romance is a great novel to read if you need a break from NA, especially if you’re a Swifty.

Thank you NetGalley for the earc!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for giving me an EARC of this
I loved the book so much. As a senior who's in the scientific field I related to lots of things that the characters went through also the author is so clever diving in problems we all face like the pressure of feeling like we must be perfect in literally everything and that we constantly have to just focus on our academic life and nothing else also having lots of expectations thrown on us that sometimes it feels suffocating. Another problem the author tackled is the gender discrimination in certain fields the author explained it in such a good way it was so empowering to read. The characters were all so good no exceptions even the side ones. The author managed to make a cute romance story with the perfect ending while also tackling huge problems. This is certainly one of my favourite reads of the year and I strongly recommend it.

A couple that builds robots together and overcomes the odds, stays together 🫠❤️‍🔥
(Teo and Bel can live in the soft, romantic part of my brain rent free!)

To my fellow readers who seek an enemies to lovers romance with a SOLID storyline about overcoming one’s fears/expectations, misogynistic views, AND proving once again that women in science are true baddies, this is the book for you✨

My Mechanical Romance really surprised me because:
A.) didn’t realize the author Alexene Farol Follmoth is non other than Olivie Blake herself 🫢
B.) the way this story was written it doesn’t feel like it’s a YA romance, but more than that. The way this story was able to tackle subjects like believing in yourself, fear of the future, learning to let go, misogyny with women in science (and other fields), and just soo much more I can’t put into words✨
C.) the writing was just beautiful when it came to expressing Teo and Bel’s inner thoughts and just putting themselves out there and being vulnerable was soo beautiful to read.

I want my own copy so I can add all the highlights and annotations I put on my kindle! Truly loved this story and definitely something I think everyone should read. One of my favorite reads of the year🥹💕

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House/PeachTree/ Pixel+Ink for providing me with an E-ARC for an honest review.

I could not put this book down! I received an arc of My Mechanical Romance and I was obsessed with this story. Bel and Teo have such a cute relationship and I loved the conversation revolving around women in STEM. The author does a great job with Bel's coming of age story. Bel starts out the story really lost with not a lot of direction and she is pushed by a teacher to join the AP Physics class and the robotics club. Bel really grows as a character though her senior year. A great YA romance read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review (i have always wanted to say that)

WHERE TO WE START TEOBEL MY BABIES. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. i think it is so important to show strong women in stem and have that narrative be told. i loved that there where diverse characters and the inner monologue was actually reminiscent of what my thoughts about school were like. i also hate how the mc always happens to fall into the right thing and never works for anything so i liked that bel had to hold her own and do what she needed.

teobel are the cutest couple i have ever seen, all i am gonna say is: first kiss happens during holi. thats all you need to know i was SOLD. i honestly was super impressed with olivie (alexene’s alter ego). i am a huge fan of her work so i was of course super excited to read this but i wasnt sure what it was gonna be like, but i was pleasently surprised. this is a huge change from her NA stuff of course but i feel like libby and bel would get along which makes me like them even more.

i think the story is something that is needed in the genre right now, it had romance of course but that was not the central point it was very much a coming of age story first. so i am very happy with the way this read went, heres to more woc in stem!!!

This book was so cute and sweet and everything my STEM loving heart needed.

I loved both of these characters and the story. I can only lament that I didn't have this.

4.5 stars

first of all thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC

this book was literally everything and its my new obsession !! the characters? amazing and i mean all of them, the plot ? incredible. i love me some women in STEM and the banter between teo and bel? everything 😩 it’s official i’m never going to stop talking about this book and cannot wait for everyone else to read it! Grab it as soon as it comes out you wont regret it i promise. i miss belteo already

Enemies to lovers in STEM! Yes please. I was lucky to get approved to read this ARC and I'm super impressed, it was incredibly wholesome and I enjoyed the entire time I was reading.

I really liked the diversity shown in this book, there were so many characters with different backgrounds and there were quite a few cultural references as well which was fun to see. I also enjoyed the female forward mindset that we can get anything we want in life; it's not just a ‘boys club’.

I had so much love for the MC’s, Mateo was by far my fav, he was so straight forward and even though he had his own flaws his character was so multidimensional and he sucked you in and made you love him. I did like Bel as well, she was very compassionate and super smart, I wasn't a fan of how she communicated, she almost seemed to be ‘meek’ compared to her inner self, but I feel like this did improve with the character development towards the end.

Overall, this was a fun and easy read and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a cute academia rivalry romance.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

I will start off my saying I love this authors writing style. It's definitely not for everyone, but for me personally I will find it super fun and interesting to follow along. However I did not make it through this book. As an engineer myself I was so excited for something a little more relatable and with POC characters however this did not deliver the fast paced read I was expecting, the kind I got from other romance centric books. The plot was slow to develop and the characters were largely vague and not necessarily unique. I was skim reading sections in order to get to the thick of it, and unfortunately this process took longer than I would have liked. However, I also feel as though I was not the targeted audience and that perhaps a younger demographic still in school would much appreciate this book, what with all its epic highs and lows of high schoolery.

3.5/5 stars rounded up.

I'm a little conflicted about this book, to be honest. I genuinely loved reading it, it was short and easy to read, but some of the pieces felt a little unfinished; particularly Teo's arc and the teacher, Mac.

I think the message of this novel was wonderful, but just missed the mark a couple of times. I'm not longer a teen, but if I had read this as one, it would have been the only book I'd really read where it genuinely encourages young women to take part in a STEM program while also showcasing some of the harsher realities.

The biggest thing I would have loved to see in the book would have been more development for Teo. It's pointed out in the story multiple times that he doesn't necessarily listen to the young women (our protagonist, Bel, and fellow robotics member Naleem), that he talks over people and feels entitled to, that he doesn't necessarily work as a team player etc. It was addressed at points, but I don't feel like I necessarily saw the growth in him stopping, more like it just kind of happened as he entered a relationship with Bel. I would have love to have read more introspection from his point of view. I still enjoyed his character and his story, but I wish that had felt a little more fleshed out.

Same this with the teacher, Mac, and how his dismissal of our female characters was kind of brushed over with a quick solve at the end, when he acknowledged Bel and Naleem as they were driving the bot.

The romance was well paced and believable, the characters were fun (for the most part) and I really enjoyed Bel and her anxiety about the future (very relatable).

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would pick up another title by this author.

To start off I would like to thank NetGalley, Alexene Farol Follmuth and Holiday House for providing me with this review copy. Everything published is my own opinion.

Unfortunately this is going to be a DNF review. It has absolutely nothing to do with the writing style. Just the setting off this book wasn't it for me. Going in I thought this book was set in college/ work and not in high school. So this was for me the first ick. Our FMC is Bel (Isabel - but DO NOT call her that!) and she just transferd to this school and is just getting to know everything. The first few lines she was described was like this "I'm not like other girls"-type of girl. And I can't stand this. You do not have to emphasise that you are "different". We all are unique and special in our own way. This was putting me off a lot. The MMC ist Teo. He's like THE popular guy at school. Leader of de mech club, the soccer team and also the son of a model and a tech ceo. I wasn't vibing with his type of personality either.

I dnf'd the book at about 22%. I always give a book a 20% chance. If I don't like it after these first few chapters I don't continue it.

This was a cute, quick YA read. I finished it in less than a day (mostly in one sitting) because I didn't really want to put it down. The writing was very contemporary with lots of fun pop culture references, which I enjoyed. I was honestly a bit surprised by how complex the characters and themes were in this book. Through the POVs of the two main characters, it tackled the effects of divorce on children, the hardships faced by girls and people of color in STEM, how others' expectations can shape who we think we should be, and the negative effects that high-stress academic environments can have on children, among other issues. Both of the main characters kept me engaged with the story, and I liked that the story came from a combination of their two very opposite POVs. However, my favorite character was Dash, the funny, friendly best friend who needs to be protected at all costs. These types of secondary characters are often my favorites, and while reading, I found myself really wanting a book with that type of character as the star. So, if anyone has any recommendations, let me know! Although I enjoyed the depth and personal growth of Bel and Teo and think the messages in this book are important and well-delivered, I couldn't help but feel like their romance was a little lackluster. It didn't begin until pretty late in the book, and I didn't find there to be a ton of nail-biting build up to it either. The relationship felt like it took a back seat as the catalyst to the characters' personal journeys, which was fine but just wasn't what I expected from a book with romance in the title. Overall, this was an enjoyable YA novel with powerful themes and an important message about the importance of working hard to make your life what you want it to be regardless of others' expectations. I enjoyed it quite a bit despite my reservations about the romance element. Therefore, I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review, honestly this book was such a fun and easy read, i love the representation! as a half filipino myself i enjoyed that tiny little detail! because i rarely see that in the books i read! the characters were lovable even though i understand nothing in robotics it was interesting to read about! also! enemies to lovers in stem? GIVE IT TO ME YES !! overall this was a wholesome read i enjoyed it very much

Thanks to NetGalley and Holliday House for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m going to be honest, I was really excited to read this book because I’ve been wanting to read this author’s adult books for a while now and was kinda of disappointed and not hooked on the story for the first 40% of the book. Guess I was expecting cute nice characters but absolutely NOBODY was likeable at first, which is not a bad thing at all but it caught me off guard. And throughout the whole book it had a LOT of technical terms and long paragraphs about robotics that my old little brain did not understand much at all. But, again, not a bad thing and not unexpected since I already knew what this was about.
Once the romance starts developing between Bel and Teo it did flow a lot better to me and they truly are the cutest thing ever. Wish their cultures were more explored, I felt like it wasn’t a grand part of their lives.
I overall liked the book very much, once I was hooked, the romance is cute and I loved reading about girls in STEM even though I didn’t understand much of the technicalities.

It took me a while to get hooked into the story, the pacing was a bit slow the first part of the story and I'm not a fan of the writing style.
Fortunately, things pick up in the second half part of the book.

The characters are a bit hard to like but eventually they grow on me and I ended up liking them even more in the last few chapters.

I love reading about the main characters romantic relationship, how they started to open up to each other. However, I don't feel the academic rivals to lovers here, nevertheless I still love it.

While it can be view as a light romance reading, it also highlighted a couple of important topics that will appeal to teenage readers.
Personally, I feel some relatable things here because I thought the same thing as Bel when I was in senior high school preparing to step out to the real world.

Overall, this is a simple, enjoyable, entertaining, cute young adult contemporary romance!
Really love how the book talks about women in STEM, how to let go of holding control, and finding out your place in the world - all of that was written really well.

Actual rating: 3.5⭐

Thank you to Netgalley, Alexene Farol Follmuth and Holiday House for granting me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Apparently I'm the only one but I just didn't like this and I thought the STEM representation was poorly done. I will preface this by saying there is a cute romance in here and if you're not really looking for the STEM piece or don't have much to personally compare it to, you'll probably enjoy it. However, I'm a female mechanical engineer who spent a good chunk of my time in college as the only girl in the robotics lab so maybe I set the bar too high but this really fell flat.

My main complaint about this book is Bel, I just didn't like her character and she didn't remind me of a single female engineer I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Maybe this was the point but really there aren't many books out there about female mechanical engineers so lets get something reasonable out there before we go trying to find the Elle Woods of engineering.

Bel's inner monologue and actions at the beginning were so ridiculous, I couldn't deal. When she got to saying they didn't think she could do it because she was a girl over and over again, I was actually rolling my eyes and may have stopped reading if I didn't have an ARC or if it was any longer. They don't trust you because you are the new person and every time you are asked to explain your reasoning or do something, you run away or don't say anything. So yes, you have to prove yourself and maybe you need to do so more because you're a girl but just showing up and expecting to be taken seriously and have everyone say you're brilliant is absurd. She was so arrogant about her abilities and convinced that her ideas were better than everyone else's and the only possible issue they could have with her is her gender. The way she went about applying for college was also similarly ridiculous but won't go into detail to avoid spoilers. She needed a reality check and it eventually did come but it was way too late for my liking.

I also hate that every female engineering or science character needs to be quirky and really this extends to books without STEM too. Why does every YA author feel the need to focus on the clothes of their female characters and how they're so different? I'm over it. Especially in this case it seemed like trying to go above and beyond to make her special or weird or I don't even know. I could deal with the glittery eyeshadow and bird jeans but spoon necklaces and weird socks with skirts just was too much and totally unnecessary. This is a 272-page book about a girl and boy falling in love building robots, we didn't need so many musing on her odd clothing choices. What's wrong with a girl in jeans and a t-shirt?

Some of the points being made about sexism in engineering were true but it was so heavy handed. The number of people who actually say you can't do engineering because you are a girl are limited, it happens in much more subtle ways. Only having size XL gloves in the mechanics lab, having far fewer women's bathrooms in the engineering building, having people talk to the guy beside you even when you are the one in charge. Even more obvious things like being the only female in a huge room of engineers or having a guy make a slight funny face when you tell them what you do. These types of things are my experiences and I would have liked to see at least one similar thing reflected. Yes, there are idiots like Richardson but whatever. There are 3 girls on this robotics team of 10? (I seriously couldn't keep track and the author didn't make it clear) people so not bad at all. Maybe there weren't any girls on the other teams but don't know, the only team they specifically said was all boys was from an all boys school so not really a sexism issue. Bel is also chosen for the team when she's the only girl to tryout and doesn't even do the tryout correctly. They try to point at Mac as sexist but it seemed like a stretch and typical complaining students always do that a teachers has favorites rather than anything specifically sexist (and his statement near the end had me fuming but no spoilers so I'll keep that rant to myself). There was some stuff in the sappy ending that did ring true but it took way too long to get there.

The other characters were better although still had some issues. Teo had some good points and some bad. I ended up almost liking him in the end. I thought the discussions of the pressure he was feeling were done well. My biggest issue with him was that he shows some sexist leanings and is never called out on it. It isn't in how he treats the girls on the team but in talking about Bel applying for college, he twice mentioned something about how they'll be looking for female engineers. This rubbed me the wrong way entirely as this is one of the things I hate the most about how people view women in engineering programs. It implies she'll get chosen for simply being a girl, not because she earned it (which granted she didn't). I hate this idea and the fact it was not called out at all really bothered me. There is no affirmative action for women in engineering, women aren't hired or promoted over men because they are women, it's simply not true and anyone who implies I got where I am because of my gender is going to get an earful from me. Given the situation, it was like Bel was hoping he was right and she would get chosen because of her gender and that's just not acceptable.

Neelam was my favorite character as I thought she was the most interesting look at women in engineering. She's still a stereotype but she did remind me of some classmates and colleagues of mine. Her discussion about what it was like for her as a girl who liked robots was by far the best and most realistic part of the book. The other friends and characters were fine, all pretty standard YA secondary characters.

Overall, I didn't like this one but think others will. I just hope a realistic view of women mechanical engineers will be written one day because this isn't it. I want the story of Neelam's experience. I want the story of a female Teo who is challenged by a new guy at school coming on the team. I want the story of the all girls robotics team. I don't need the story of a flaky girl who happens to be a secret genius with robots.

* I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. *