Thank you to Holiday House and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely adored this book! I was never much of a math nerd and I know nothing about robotics, but I was genuinely interested in the robotics happen in the book! But of course, the main show was Bel and Teo and their sweet romance story. Bel was an MC I didn't know I was looking for, because she is the perfect amount of fun, smarts, meme-ing, and lovability! Teo, on the other hand, was a beautifully written boy, being someone who does carry some privilege (as far as being a boy in STEM and having A LOT of money) but was very self-aware of this. He was competitive and elitist, yes, but he was also thoughtful, reflective, and considerate! They were a really fun match, and I found myself really compelled by their third act conflict. It's very rare for me to say in a YA Romance that I would have forgiven and gotten back together if I was in their situation, but I can confidently say that for this book! By the time I finished reading, I knew I was going to be placing a preorder so I can own this wonderful book! I cannot recommend highly enough, and please look out for it when it comes out May 31st!

I enjoyed reading this book. The characters were so easy to connect to and understand and having a book that has characters who are in STEM is amazing for younger audiences. I absolutely loved reading these nerds fall in love and I am so excited to recommend this book to the readers that come into my store. It was so easy to connect with these characters. My young POC readers would truly enjoy reading this book and so would adult readers.

Bel is new to a school. She doesn’t know where she will apply for college. Her teacher gets her to join the robotics club. To her surprise, she is accepted and she did nothing to be accepted. She has difficulty to make her place. Mateo Luna is the one who accepted her on the team. He is the captain of the club. He is great with her until she didn’t think like him. It’s at this moment the rivalry start and working night with robot begins. Who will fall first?

Nerds are so hot. Especially battle robot building nerds.

This book is a beautiful surprise! This STEM romance is well written and you will fall for each character. If you have loved The Love Hypothesis you will love this book. I love that we are able to see ourselves in Bel. The fact that it's hard to find your way through life and it's hard to be vulnerable to first love. Bel personality is great. I would have seen myself friend with her. She bit all the stereotype. A girl, no matter her ethnic, can do anything if she wants.

The enemies to lovers romance with Mateo was cute. He is cute. He tries to please everybody, but he forgets himself. The relation with Bel, make him understand that. Normally, I'm not into slow romance, but this book persuades me to give this trope another chance. My favorite scenes were during the overtime at the robotics lab, Mateo begins to help Bel. They get to know each other. I never expected to cry and I did. Without a doubt a sign that I was truly invested in the relationship. A great first book for Alexene Farol Follmuth.

The review will also appear on Instagram Monday, April 18th and on amazon, when he comes out.

4/5⭐️

THIS BOOK WAS EVERYTHING TO ME
THE TROPES
THE BANTER
THE ROMANCE
THE REPRESENTATION
LITERALLY PERFECT I OOVED IT SO MHCH AND. DEVOURED IT IN ONE DAY
my new obsession<333

This book was warm, laugh-out-loud funny, and full of incisive observations about identity, being a young woman in STEM, and more. I picked up this book because I loved THE ATLAS SIX, and even though the genres and age categories are so different, Farol Follmuth's characteristic humor and voice shine through perfectly. The best of what YA contemporary can do.

Thanks to NetGalley and Holiday House for providing me with an eARC for this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Why is turning 18 so stressful? Having to think about your whole future and knowing what you want to do FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?!

For Bel, thinking about the future is just impossible. She can’t even convince herself to apply to Colleges. Starting at a new school for her last year, a turn of event makes her join the robotics club. For Mateo Luna, everything is planned out. He definitely knows what he wants and has pretty much everything, his life looking so perfect. Did I mentioned he’s also captain of the robotics club? The two will have to work together and discover that there is more than first impressions and they will help each other with the struggle of being a young adults along the way.

Let me start with the fact that I’m in love with the cover of that book and that’s what made me curious about it. And then I saw this book was everything I could ask for:
Enemies to lovers, yes.
Double POV, yes.
First love, yes.
Lots of diversity, yes.
Girls making their place in STEM, yes!

This book is simply ADORABLE. I honestly had high hopes for this, which, for me, can either result in being extremely disappointed by the book cause I imagined it was so much more or being totally impressed by how it did not let me down and was everything I hoped for and more! Definitely the second scenario here! It was so good. Lovely story, characters full of personality, double POV (which I’m a sucker for). If you like young adult romance, YOU HAVE TO READ THIS (even if you don’t like young adult romance, just READ IT ANYWAYS!).

3.5 ⭐️ Thank you NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for an honest review!

This was such an easy and a super cute read! I loved seeing Bel and Teo’s relationship progression throughout the story! It was so cute seeing them go from strangers to friends to lovers.

It was also nice to see Bel and Teo navigate their place in the world as their relationship blossomed. I loved the lesson that life is short and you should make the most out of the time you have with a person! It was nice to see Bel navigate her hobbies and interests in a male dominated industry and how she was finding herself.
I definitely related to her in the way she needed to find her voice, stand up and take up her own space without people treading over her. This book had really great messages throughout and it is perfect for those trying to find their way. :)
I also enjoyed Bel’s friendships and how they were able to support each other!

There were parts in the middle of this book that did seem a little slow for me while other parts like the last chapter/epilogue that felt a little rushed. Overall, this was a good book!

I came for the STEM-girl power, and this book delivered on it. As I was reading, I recalled my personal experience with my high school physics teacher telling me girls didn't belong in physics class, and him intentionally marking things that were right as wrong on my assignments in order to award me a lower grade. I went to engineering school and then worked in IT a bit where I encountered similar bias. But that was the late 1900s! Sad to see this is still a thing in 2022, but happy to see it called out in this book. I gobbled up all the science bits and was happy to see Bel grow over the course of this book. There were a few things that didn't work for me, but I know there are readers who enjoy that sort of thing.

While both Bel and Teo both rubbed me the wrong way in the first two chapters, Follmuth does a really good job expanding on those qualities and shows you why they think that way. Dash is definitely my favorite character with his sometimes over the top love for food. Not to mention the WOC and women in STEM representation. Follmuth does a great job showing the struggles of being a girl in a male-dominated extracurricular. It was a really fun and easy read that got you invested in the world of high school robotics.

Thank you to Holiday House for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Since this is Alexene's debut YA, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I love a good YA contemporary, especialy with girls in STEM!

I thought this was cute, and once the story picked up, I really enjoyed it! I did think that it dragged a bit in thebeginning, which means I struggled to get into it, but I stuck it out because I LOVED The Atlas Six! I think my problem with the beginning is that it was difficult to see the difference in characters because it took some time for their personalities to really pop, but once the characters were established, I did really enjoy it!

I thought it was sweet and realistic, and the ending really reminded me of my own choices with college and the difficulties one might experience going to school with a wealthier crowd. I also loved to see girls persuing engineering. All in a, a great YA debut!

4.5 ⭐️
I loved the book it did feel a bit slow at times some moments but it was so worth it. I was super excited for this book because it was academic rivals to lovers, and for the STEM romance .It was a great YA romance. I loved Bel and Teo’s relationship so much
Thank you Netgalley for the arc!!

Meeting the possible love of your life in the robotics team? yes please, him being Teo Luna? absolutely yes.
This book was amazing, it brought me the bad memory of being good in maths but having no one to push me in the field, so I really hope this book could give the girls the push they need to become part of any field in STEM. I was hopping for more info about Teo's relation with his father, but that doesn't make the story less good.

It’s a solid 4 for me it’s a cute wholesome read with a little rivals to lovers even though it’s describe as enemies to lovers. Though I think the term rivals works better in this case than enemies. I knew I was going to like the main character when she was describing things she liked and being right was one of them

Really cute YA romance. I liked this book because it was a fun and easy reading.
I read it all in a couple of hours and would recommend it if you like this genre.

There is something so refreshing about ya romances. The writing was amazing, the characters were lovable and complex on their own and the plot behind it all was adorable and meaningful. I hope teen girls read this and know that they can make it in male-dominated industries. I really hope the author considers writing more of this genre in the future.

Guys, this romance was super cute and fun! The STEM enemies to lovers was so good! I loved reading Bel and Teo realize they have feelings for each other! I enjoyed every oh do I like them? moment and it made me smile. They were such a first love/high school romance thoughts and it was cute. I also found Bel and Teo very relatable. Maybe because I was both of them at different points in my life.

As a woman in stem I really appreciated how being a woman in stem was talked about. I enjoyed seeing that there’s not just one type of stem woman. Like Bel and Neelam had two very different personalities, but both were super smart successful women and I loved it. Also Neelam deserved better from every guy in that school! I loved Ms. Voss and how she pushed Bel to be better.

Overall this was a good, cute story that I enjoyed! Would recommend!

Academic rivals to lovers???? Dual POV??? POC main characters??? POC side characters???? Women in STEM??? SIGN ME TF UP!!!!

I just know this book will be very popular. The diversity, the story, the talks about real issues that women go through on a daily, ESPECIALLY in STEM. It showed friendship, trust, and family (in a way ish).

This book was like a breath of fresh air. I absolutely loved it. I was hooked from start to finish. It was cute, it was funny, and it was sweet.

Teo and Bel are complete opposites but they still make it work with their robots. It was nice to see how in the end, they rediscover themselves in a sense, the character development was amazing for both.

Overall, this book delivered and gave you more than just cliches!!

4/5 🌟
I really liked this book. It was a sweet ya, where also heavier themes were included like to be not good enough or not to know what you want to do with your life after school. It was sweet to follow the two mc with their blooming first love, they were just too cute 🥰.
I can just recommended when you are in a reading slump and need something to get you into reading or if you just want something which you can devour in one setting

(DNF 25%)
I know I might not be the target for this book since I'm in my late 30s but I usually enjoy some YA, however this one sadly I didn't. It was filled with clichés all the way through. Starting by the romance between two opposite characters and ending with a tournament which results were foreseeable.

Ahh my heart is snatched!!

First I'm extending all my love to Netgalley and the author, Alexene Farol Follmuth for this eARC in exchange of an honest review. This glorious book will be released by the end of May, and I'm crossing my fingers hoping that it would gain the brilliant recognition that it deserves.

And on the rant we gooo!!

I am positively floored, explicitly stunned at how exceptional this book is. Enemies to academic colleagues to lovers done to perfection (note that I'm so grinning typing this up). It's sweet, witty, empowering, and stupid cute!! Truly I couldn't fault one single thing. I'm all beaming and grinning like a fool having just finished it. And may I say, I wish it's way waaay longer. Why must great things come to end so quickly.

My Mechanical Romance (even the title is a touch of genius!) is a radiant example of contemporary romance done so so right. It's realistic, every single reaction between the characters are written so organically that nothing feels amiss. The climb towards romance for Bel and Teo was steady, it wasn't rushed nor forced. Their relationship made sense, their trials were relevant. Girl meets starboy, ended up considered as mere distraction trope, finally done right.

"Like... you're new, you know? You're this new color I didn't know existed and now I see it everywhere and I'm like, thank god I see it now."

I never knew robotics club is so worthy of such fictional romance!! I have to say lovers in STEM setting always hits differently, mostly because it's so close to home. But also seeing nerds doing adorable nerdy things together. Made my day, month, year!!

"I've always believed that there's a possibility for everything in the world to collide for a single perfect moment, and that sometimes, if you're lucky, you get to have one for yourself."

Another huge cookie point goes to the highlight on women's struggle in academic setting, particularly in such male-dominant field such as mechanical engineering. The way this book talks about the never ending frustration women have to endure in such setting, the constant belittling despite probably having more qualification than other male colleagues. Its so grounded in reality that it boils my blood just reading about it.

"It's a lot to ask of anyone to succeed when most people in the room are waiting to see you fail."

Reading this has been wildly entertaining, and I'm so damn glad that I came across it on Netgalley. 5 shining, brilliant stars for My Mechanical Romance!!