• This was such a cute YA novel 💖 I’ve seen that this was promoted as an enemies/rivals to lovers story but I saw it more as a bad first impression turned to friends to lovers trope. I guess I just had different expectations prior to reading it. I admit I wanted to DNF this book at first because it took me a while to like it but once Bel and Teo became friends, I started to really get into the story!
• Bel was such a relatable character! She’s half Filipina and although there were only a few Filipino 🇵🇭 details in the book, it’s great to see something that I can personally relate with ❤️ I like that they showed how Bel was affected by her parents’ divorce, especially since she’s also trying to figure out what to do after high school. On top of that, she also had to experience what it’s like being a woman in STEM, especially in a male dominated field such as mechanical engineering. It felt like Bel was going through a lot in this novel, but I’m happy that she found her own way in the end 👏🏼
• I really liked Teo’s POV! I can relate to his character too because people’s expectations of him affected how he prioritized and view things in life.
- Overall, I enjoyed reading this YA novel. I really liked a lot of things about it but I didn’t become fully invested in the story until the last 40% of the book. I guess I was just looking for more scenes that will give me butterflies or any scenes that will surprise me but it was a good read and I liked it 😊

Special thanks to Holiday House for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars

I'm still sort of trying to figure out how exactly I feel about this book. There were a lot of things that I did end up enjoying and I think there's potential for this to generate great discussions amongst its readers but the parts of the story that irritated me *REALLY* irritated me to the point where I just felt a lot of angsty anger! To be honest, this had a really rough start. The writing was fun, very young and sassy/sarcastic in a way that I can imagine won't work for everyone. It took a while for me to warm up to it too and there were times where it still came across as trying too hard, but I did find it cheekily entertaining and the style added some levity to the more serious subjects addressed. My Mechanical Romance isn't simply a fluffy academic rivals-to-lovers romance but it also talks about complex biracial family relationships and the issues that women and WOC in STEM face. It also sheds light on education inequality and the unrealistic expectations placed on teenagers to have it all figured out by the time they finish high school.

What I liked:
- There's a very empowering vibe that runs through the story and the author's acknowledgement at the end made me appreciate it more. The misogyny, micro-aggressions, condescension, prejudice, and the pervasive imposter syndrome that these young women of colour experienced in STEM was infuriating, relatable and sadly, not surprising. That said I loved how the author addresses the issue through empowered young women who refuse to let the patriarchy have the last laugh. These characters were so driven and it was pretty inspiring.
- Other than maths and the sciences, I never had STEM specific classes in school and although they were probs my least fave subjects, I actually really enjoyed reading about it in this book. These kids were so passionate and driven and though the competitiveness was a little wild, I loved to see how they got really creative with solutions.
- Though most of the characters took their time to grow on me, grow on me they did. There were a few I loved from the beginning including Dash, Jamie and Lora, and I absolutely adored their positive and enthusiastic energy. Our MCs, Bel and Teo took a little longer for me to like but I thought that they were realistically portrayed teenagers who had a lot of personal issues to deal with and who experienced considerable growth as the story continued.

I wish that Bel had been a little less apathetic at the start but though she required a lot of pushing from others to become a little more proactive, it was great to see her start taking up more space. She's incredibly smart, has a very inquisitive mind and I loved that she was so comfortable in her own skin, quirks and all. I 100% related to her situation with college and not knowing where to apply or what program to apply for. It sparked some discussion with the friends who I read this book with about the unrealistic expectations that are placed on teenagers to have their lives figured out at such a young age. I can't believe we expect 18yos to know what they want when I still struggle to figure it out some days! I'm glad that Bel was able to figure out what she wanted by the end but I've no doubt many readers will be able to empathise with her.

I wasn't sure that I'd like Teo at the beginning as his arrogance and misogynistic attitude was quite off-putting. However, I did sympathise with his home situation. He has so much pressure on him and I felt sorry for him at times because of how that made him feel like he had to be in control all the time in order to ensure he succeeds. He does care about others and wants to see them succeed but he felt he was the only one who knew the best way to do that. It was aggravating at times but he was open to learning and I respected that about him. I thought the romance between him and Bel was pretty sweet. I like that Bel was unafraid to call him out on his BS even if he hated it and it made his ego feel fragile. I think she grounded him in a way and I think he helped her feel more confident in her abilities whenever she felt like an imposter in the group.

What I struggled with:
- Again, Teo wasn't always the best guy to everyone but Bel. For example, how he treated Neelam was horrible and yes, I wasn't a fan of her either, but one of the main reasons she had difficulty in the robotics club was because he didn't take her seriously and everyone else followed him. He does have a moment of acknowledging this to himself at the end but I wished had a moment to acknowledge it with her as well.
- Neelam. Oof, I really... Did not like her and tbh, I hated the decision to make her so horrible. There were moments that I sympathised with her because yes, she was treated horribly but what I didn't like was how she treated Bel horribly in return because she felt like she didn't deserve her place in the club. I hate when girls/women are pitted against each other and this irked me the most in this book. Neelam might have had to work harder than Bel to "earn" her place in robotics but is that really a reason to tarnish or degrade someone else's achievements or hard work? They could have been there uplifting each other for a more powerful 'girl power' moment and instead, one is made to be bitter and the other to be insensitive. I'm over that whole line and it REALLY bothered me that her character was done this way.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty good contemporary debut by the same author who wrote the extremely popular adult fantasy, The Atlas Six. I'd definitely be interested in reading what else she puts out in the future in either genre.

I'd like to say thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I'll admit, I was initially a little nervous to review this ARC. Whilst the plot seemed to be right down my alley (hello, STEM nerds), I was curious as to how this book would handle relationship growth in a stressful, competitive high school environment. As it turns out, I was wrong.
This book is everything you'd ever want from a geeky teenage romance. The two leads have adorable chemistry and the sweetest relationship, and it made me wish for a Teo of my own.
Maybe to some people, the inclusion of complicated physics and robotics terminology may be a detractor, but it just increased my enjoyment.
Every interaction between Teo and Bel is extremely well written, and you can feel their shared passion as a reader (as well as for other things, not just robotics!)
Personally, I really enjoyed Bel's journey of self-discovery, which I identified with on a personal level, as well as Teo's academic determination.
To anyone who is thinking of reading this book, I would highly recommend it, and I can't wait to see where Follmuth's foray into YA leads to next!
Rating: 5/5

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review 😊

This book was such a fun and cute YA read!! I was a little nervous going in because I didn't know anything about robotics but I found it so interesting and loved the representation of women in STEM. I hope more books get written about it because it's so important! I loved how Alexene showed the struggles that women face when joining a club which is mainly male dominated and how they have to work so much harder to be taken seriously. I found this so relatable and loved that the main character Bel learns to be confident in her abilities throughout the book. Shoutout to all the amazing women in this book 🙌

Bel was a strong and funny main character and she never apologised for being who she was. I completely saw my high school self in her, having all this pressure from parents, teachers and friends to know what career you want to go in. It was great seeing her friendships develop and the support system she had. When Teo chooses Bel to join the robotics team the relationship from sort of enemies to lovers is such a cute ride 💛 I loved that we got Teo's perspective and to see the societal pressures he feels constantly from his family and friends to always be at his best. Bel and Teo were perfect for each other, the way they understood each other 👏

I liked some of the pop culture references but sometimes it took me out of the story especially the abbreviations. Did it have lots of cheesy moments? Yes but it was so cute and gave me YA Love Hypothesis vibes👩‍🔬

For me, this was absolutely YA perfection. I was intrigued by this because of the content: a story around a robotics competition, since I have a child that participates in this type of competition as well. So, I knew I would love it for that aspect alone. But this was so much more! It’s so well-done, perfectly combining STEM and fun, and the teen/family dynamic that I love in a YA read. The characters were well thought out and their struggles were handled perfectly. I think this is a great book that really addresses the stresses teens feel in the later part of high school… and the romance was absolutely adorable!

Thank you netgalley for the advance copy

Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was such an incredibly cute YA romance that had me hooked right away. Bel and Teo are a STEM academic rivals to lovers story, they were very much first love/high school romance but it felt so genuine. Both character were so cute and awkward and watching them go though the whole ” do they like me” “do I like them” was so funny. In addition to the romance this book deals so well with complicated family issues and especially the difficulty of women/girls in STEM. I’ve been avoiding YA romances because lately they’ve been very hit or miss for me but i’m sooo glad I gave this one a shot because it did not disappoint at all! Also just wanted to add that i’m so happy with the epilogue because it felt so fitting for both characters.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC copy in exchange for a review .
3.5 ✨️
This book turnes out to be a surprise for me !
Say woman in stem , and I AM IN !
And academic rivals ??? give me more !
This book is a young adult story about a team of students who are in their senior year; a senior year that entails fears, ambitions, passion etc.
It was such a cute read!
And dual POV tied everything.

"I've never seen eyes that make me think about the mysteries of the universe the way hers do."

But I wanna say that the ending was super rushed. like everything was resolved in last 15 pages !

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth: this book was honestly so much better than i anticipated. Its opposites attract. It also takes on a lot of relatable issues in the world through the characters, ex: society. The friend group in this book was so cute. The epilogue was so fitting. I can't wait to buy a physical copy and annotate it when it comes out.

I loved this one so much🤧 it was super cute and funny, at first I was worried I might not like the characters or find the high school setting immature but I end up loving all of the characters so much and i didn’t mind the teen angst lmaooo and teo and bel?? the best enemies to academic colleagues to lovers lmao

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

I love how much of a hobbyist Bel is. Right away, she’s like “Yeah, I built that. What like it’s hard?” Okay, so that wasn’t the exact language used, but that’s the impression. I loved that immediately. It was interesting that she was discounted by the robotics team because she doesn’t know the right words. Throughout, it felt like a classist observation since it looks like her previous school was not regarded academically.

I didn’t like Teo. From the very beginning, he came off as the smartest person in the room, but that’s because he doesn’t let anyone else speak. It was infuriating to get through this book with that. Also, he believes he has to be in control of everything, but that seems more like a role thrust on him. If his leadership has been assigned to him, then he hasn’t earned that role and everyone automatically assumes he’s the smartest in the room (I totally get where Neelam’s coming from by the way). His sexism doesn’t hand wave itself away when it gives the impression he only listens to Bel because she’s cute. If that been changed to “not cute to cute once engineering involved” I may be more lenient.

I think I know what the author is trying to do with Bel and Teo’s arc. She needs to take up space and he needs to release some stuff because he’s not responsible for everything. However, Bel is the only one who works on that throughout the novel. She keeps making conscious efforts to take up space whereas Teo is forced to release stuff.

So much sexism by a majority of the male characters that I wanted to gag. The female characters are top notch and I wish the focus was more on them than the relationship (especially Bel and Ms. Voss). Ultimately, the romance aspect of this failed for me, except for the epilogue which I liked. Don’t get me started on all the adults (non-students) in this book. They put too much pressure of all of them and for what? Competitiveness, sexism, and stress?

Is this academic rivals to lovers? Umm… not really? If it were Neelam and Teo, then I could see it. I wish this was more focused on Bel realizing her voice, being friends with some engineers, and navigating something she’s done as a hobby to a potential career.

Absolutely loved this book. Especially loved how the author made sure to include the aspects of engineering and physics as much as possible in the book, which to me was what made the book different and a fresh read. Can't wait for the book to be released.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review .

I LOVED everything about this book. It champions the issues women encounter in STEM and challenges gender stereotypes without being too blunt about it.

I really enjoyed the character development and how friendship is portrayed throughout the book.

it took me quite a while to actually pick up this book. not because i was busy but because i wasn’t in the mood for a high school romance until about mid-april. im not a fan of stem and this book had a lot of that to go around. i took a small break about halfway through this book to tear through another and then came back because i couldn’t leave bel and teo alone for too long.

i really liked them both individually and together as a couple. they were very honest and straightforward with each other when it really came down to it. bel was funny and weird and teo was besotted by her weirdness bc his best friend, dash, is the exact same lmao however, their relationship didn’t feel like it was developed well enough to reach the “i love you” stage. something more was missing.

teo trying to look the other way when it came to the misogyny and sexism that surrounds bel and neelam really annoyed me though. and mac? still hate him. bel should not have “forgiven” him so quickly. just because she gained the approval of a man who was being such a passive-aggressive misogynist towards her for most of the school year doesn’t mean he actually realizes all the wrong he did. and neelam? i wanted to like her character but i couldn’t. the bitter, fiercely intelligent woman in stem trope? drag it out back and take it out of its misery already. i’m not saying she had to be all happy-go-lucky though. she just didn’t need to act so much like <italic>that</italic> that others didn’t seem to like her even one bit. it’s so easy for people to say you’re difficult to work with when you truly are difficult to work with and are too jaded by the environment to try and change that.

the complicated relationships with parents was a nice touch. i still don’t like teo’s dad though. i feel like the author was trying to cook up a specific angle about teo’s relationship with his dad and then decided to turn off the heat just as it was beginning to sizzle. a lot of the book felt like that by the third act to be honest. not to say this was awful, it just wasn’t groundbreaking or life-changing is all.

oh, and luke? has my whole heart. hope he’s thriving!

all in all, i’d rate this 3.25 stars!

This was a cute read! It was cute and simple, and overall, an alright read. I wish there had been less focus on the 'girl power' aspect of the story and more on the romance, or at the very least made it seem more natural to the story VS. how out of place/character and forced it felt. The ending just was very fake girl power heavy- as far as how Bel gets into school and everything.

I did like it though, and I think it was a cute romance. I just wish it had more of the cute romance! And more enemies to lovers- that definitely felt lack luster. It felt more like mild annoyance to lovers.

I absolutely adored this book! It was such a quick, fun read. This book gave an perfect glimpse into what women go through in this industry. I work in the semiconductor industry, although not as an engineer, so I know that it can be such a difficult industry to break into. No matter how talented you are, the men are quick to classify women as “diversity hires.” Shout out to all you STEM girlies! You’re killing it!!

Bel was so odd but in the most endearing way! I loved her character. Teo was such a sweetheart. He definitely took life too seriously, but the adults in his life put so much pressure on him to achieve greatness. I think once Bel came into his life, she helped him find a balance. I loved the depiction of friendships, relationships and realistic family dynamics. The relationship between Bel and Teo was so sweet. I caught myself smiling so many times while I was reading this book. Their first kiss was sooo swoon worthy. This story was just so wholesome and heartwarming and I wish that I had books like this to read when I was in high school.

Thank you to NetGalley, Holiday House and Alexene Farol Follmuth for an advance copy of this book!

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC in return for my honest review.
I requested this book because I was curious to see how the author would tackle YA romance and I wasn't disappointed at all.

This was a light, fun read and I appreciated what the author wanted to do with this story.
There was a note of 'females shouldn't be underestimated' which I appreciate for a YA book because it gives that positive message that even if there are obstacles you can put your mind to it and accomplish anything.
I also loved that towards the end of the book, the main female lead's life didn't go exactly how she wanted but she adapted and worked hard to accomplish her end goals.

The romance was built up nicely and believably, there was no insta-love here which I appreciated.

SEE FULL TOUR STOP FOR TURN THE PAGE TOURS ON INSTA @delightful.reading on 4/29

As a girl in STEM, I'm really fond of books that have girl power + STEM. Some of Bel's experiences mirror my own: a really cool female physics teacher who inspires students to pursue engineering? I also had one of those, so it was exciting seeing this type of mentor on page. Also, robotics being heavily male dominated, especially in the competition realm? My own experience with high school robotic competition also had more guys than girls competing. Although my experience was different than Bel's, it's kind of neat seeing some familiar aspects in a novel. All in all, I'm kind of excited a book like this exists!

The book itself is really cute! I loved the portrayal of female friendships! Some of Bel and Jamie's conversations could literally be a conversation that I had with one of my best friends. I also liked Bel and Teo's relationship development! They have some really cute moments!

This book does tackle some of the challenges girls in STEM face. The little annoyances here and there. These challenges tie into Bel's character development, too. She has to not only face some gender-based microaggressions in robotics, she also has to decide if engineering is actually for her or just a crazy suggestion by one of her teachers. This journey of self-discovery was really neat to see, although I did get a smidgen frustrated with Bel in some parts because of it.

All in all, I really enjoyed this! I loved the robotics angle and the rivals to lovers trope. Also, I'm really hoping for a NA/college spin-off featuring some of Teo and Bel's friends.

Post Note: I thought there were going to be more than one reference to MCR but there was only one: someone off-handily mentions that they are listening to "Teenagers." So don't start reading this for MCR.

Such a cute, nerdy book. Will definitely be purchasing this for my library once it pubs. I know so many kids that are going to love this read.

My Mechanical Romance was a good read. It was light and full with young adult high school romance. I'd probably enjoyed reading this book more if I were my younger self. If this book adapted into series or movie I'd definitely watch it.

My Mechanical Romance started a little bit slow but the plot is very interesting. The book is well written. But there were chapters that bored me.

The characters are diverse with different backgrounds and the author even included the cultural references for the characters. That's the most interesting part beside the enemies to lovers trope.

Some people really adored this book and I respect that. After all it goes back to everyone's preferences. If you love high school romance and enemies to lovers or robotics or hot nerdy guy, then this book is definitely for you.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book.

girls in stem needs to be a MUCH bigger genre because i can NOT get enough. i loved that both the mc and li needed to go through character development and that the environment was still realistic without feeling disheartening. super cute read, hope there are sequels that either follow bel and teos journey, or any of the side characters