When there are Taylor Swift song references in and robot fights you know this is going to be an amazing book. I enjoyed this so much it has everything you want in a teenage romance novel.  Robot fights , rivals to lovers, girls in STEM . I love the way Bel dresses , weird but super cool, it even confused Teo at times but he still loved her. This book was so inspiring I really enjoyed it.

This is a 5 star read

4.5/5 rounded to 5

🤖Duel POV
🤖Academic Rivals to lovers
🤖STEM - Robotics
🤖Female Power
🤖Diversity
🤖Taylors Swift References
🤖High School Romance

I adored this book; the arc format was super challenging to get through, but in the end, IT WAS WORTH IT. I would have demolished this book if it was easier to read. The female supporting female was fantastic in this. Plus, our main guy learns the entire discography of our lord and savors Taylor Swift to make our girl smile... UMMM SWOON. This is the YA version of the love hypothesis for me.

A full review with spoilers will be posted on my blog on May 31st

Thanks to Netgalley, Holiday House, and Alexene Farol Follmuth (Olivie Blake) for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

I found the book slow, and whilst the premise of it is good, I just couldn't get into it. I am someone who is always up for a romcom, and whilst some hit the spot, My Mechanical Romance did not - also every time my friend sees the name she tells me to remove it from my goodreads as it doesn't seem like something a YA romance should be called, as it eludes to smut.

Although I did enjoy the banter between some of the characters, and the way the book itself was written, this isn't something I would recommend to people as I couldn't get through it - I DNF'ed at around 30%.

I enjoyed the fact it was promoting females in STEM, as well as the way Bel (our female protagonist) was headstrong and forward thinking throughout, but I suppose I didn't really get far enough for Bel and Luna to really get to know one another, and have the 'enemies to lovers' side start.

Lots of people have said that the book gets better in the second half, but I cannot force myself to continue otherwise I will be in the longest reading slump. So with regret, I say the first half of the book is extremely slow and boring, but the second half is supposedly great, but I wouldn't know, because I do not plan on finishing it.

Book received for free through NetGalley

I really loved this book! It did take me a bit to get into it but once I did it was awesome. Perfect amount of women in stem and keeping your place. Thanks for the read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Holiday House Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC. This honest review was based off my experience reading an ARC, which in no way biased me.

I love this book, I didn’t at the beginning, but it grew on me, so much that I was INVESTED IN ROBOTS.

I believe my qualms with this book is that I didn’t think I was the audience this was written for. I haven’t been a senior in high school in quite a long time, but this book brought me back. The author was able to capture high school students’ voices so well.

The growth that we see from both Bel and Teo was amazing to see. They bring out the best in each other and they are better together than apart.

This book is more than a feel good YA romance. It talks about diversity in male dominated fields. And as a woman in a male dominated field, this is exactly the kind of book I wish I would have read when I was 16. It inspires girls/women to take up space and be heard. There’s a scene at the end where a younger girl sees Bel and her other female teammate on a robotics team and the girl “thought girls couldn’t build robots”. Bel and her friend walk away with the hope that they inspired that young girl to pursue her dreams and that will inspire other girls and women to chase their aspirations and it hit me straight in the heart.

Yes, this book covers misogynistic/sexist/young adults/even full grown adults, and unfortunately nothing that was mentioned here is something that I haven’t heard myself personally or an experience a friend has had.

I have a feeling Bel would be listening to “The Man” by Taylor Swift on repeat.

Anyway this was a great time and it deserves the 5 star rating I am giving it. YA romance isn’t my usual go to, and I picked this up because of the author. I definitely do not regret it.

Although this book took me some time to get into I really enjoyed it. I love a good enemies to lovers trope and this books was well written. Normally I don't like the whole high school setting, this book had showed it very well. It showed the relationship with women in STEM well and that Bel was a colored women was brilliant on the authors part. I'm glad that it showed Bel's problem with figuring out her future and how it showcased feminism in the book. The ending really wrapped up the book well.

Thank you Netgally, Holiday House, and Alexene Farol Follmuth for and earc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Holiday House and Alexene Farol Follmuth for providing me with an E-Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

When I heard that Alexene Farol Follmuth aka Olivie Blake was going to make her debut in YA, I was already sold.

‘My Mechanical Romance’ is a lighthearted, funny and inspiring story with academic rivals to lovers that explores the challenges girls of color face in STEM everyday, the pressure to choose the ‘right’ path at a young age and the vulnerability of first love with unfailing wit and honesty only like Alexene Farol Follmuth can do it.

The story has a dual-pov, following the stories of our main characters: Mateo Luna and Isabel Maier (Teo and Bel for short, respectively).

Teo has spent his entire life destined for greatness; His parents, friends and classmates have always trusted that everything he touches turns to gold. Captain of the soccer team and the Robotics Club, he has everything that universities are looking for, and thus has ensured that his academic life is one of success and medals, although that can sometimes be lonely and heavy.

Bel on the other hand, she's never been sure what she wants to do with her life, much less what her future holds after high school. She’s more of a loose canon, doesn't even pay much attention to her academic work, so when a teacher encourages her (rather she tricks her) to try out for the school's robotics club; where, without even meaning to, her natural talent for robotics slips away which forever changes her perspective, her future and what she really wants to do when she truly knows and uses her full potential.

Their character development is also something that it beautifully taken shape throughout the book and was a delight to read.
The story deals with a lot of serious issues including what it’s like to be a woman in a STEM background, complicated family dynamics, and finding out your true worth while not letting other people define you for what you can or can't do.

Bel and her indecisiveness about herself, discovering the potential of her abilities, right down to her amazing and unique style; Teo with the weight of the world in his shoulders, who despite having his whole life planned out, is a people pleaser that felt the inevitable pressure of being a team leader and the perfect son all the time.
And the way the story moves forward as we see them overcoming their struggles together and growing to be better was delightful.

The way Alexene Farol Follmuth breathes life into her characters is truly amazing. They are alive, real and honest. You may find yourself relating to them in the smallest details, in the ones that matter the most. There are stories that are important to tell. And this is one of them.

I love every single minute of reading this book, so I encourage you to read this book if you get the chance! You won't regret it!
I know I'm securing a copy when it comes out in the world, May 31st!

this book was amazing! i’m so excited about it that i don’t know where to start! enemies-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes and i loved the banter between bel and teo when they first met each other. but as they spent more time together, you can tell how comfortable they are working as a team and they’re so adorable! all the characters are extremely relatable and i felt for them as they juggled their academics with their extracurricular and college applications (it’s a tough time!). bel’s character evolution was the best thing (aside from their romance) to witness. she may have started as a shy student just passing by, but with the motivation of her teammates, she becomes a confident engineer!

think of this novel as high school musical but just the engineers. i loved the representation among the characters AND how it showcased women in stem! one of my favorite things about it is how realistic it is. there’s nothing flashy or over-the-top dramatic going on… just a group of teenagers figuring out how to chart their futures. bel and teo have their own family baggage to take care of and i adored how they supported each other through it without taking the spotlight away from their romance. the epilogue alone gets five stars; filled my heart with so much happiness and it tied everything together

I initially wanted to read this because the title made me think of My Chemical Romance (and there was a nod to the band in the book!). Plus, who doesn't love nerd romance, very enemies to lovers? But what I read was deeper and sweeter than your average romance novel. Bel has no idea what she wants to do after high school; starting a new school in her senior year, what she most wants is to be unnoticed. Teo cares TOO much - as the only son of a successful tech developer, he has significant pressure to succeed in all areas of his life. When Bel joins the robotics club, they're forced to work together despite the fact that they don't seem to have anything in common. Of course, a romance builds, and well, you'll have to read it to find out what happens next.

The thing I loved most of all about this novel was the focus on each character's needs. Follmuth worked hard to make each character both sympathetic and understandable; it's never a question that they care about each other, but each needs to grow as a person before they can be the best versions of themselves. But no one is a terrible trope either - every character has genuine reasons for their actions. I loved the focus on the relationships between the girls in the novel as well; the novel deals well with the themes of racism and sexism in STEM. As a girl who did robotics in high school, it felt good to read a novel that not only acknowledged those frustrations, but also where the girls came out on top! I read the novel in a single sitting - highly recommended.

I am in a STEM reading mood at the moment and this book just fits right in. I love how we get to see another side of STEM, Engineering and Physics which is so amazing. I really love the chemistry in this book. Everything about this book is just.... Amazing!


Full review to be shared here:

When I first read this I thought it sounded really good and some aspects of it was really good but I kept having to reread it a lot of the time, I was just confused the majority of reading this and I still have no idea what happened

I really wanted to like this as I’ve heard amazing things but Personally to me,, I just couldn’t get into it.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this arc!

Imagine a new transfer student girl-in-STEM protagonist and a Mr. Popular robotics team captain have to work together to avoid disaster in the robotics club. If any of that sounds interesting to you, you’ll love My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth.

To start off, I really liked the book’s discussion of women in STEM and the issues they face in those fields because it revealed a side of STEM that most books don’t highlight. Bel was a real and present protagonist that received plenty of ups and downs. I related to the way she dealt with her problems which made me like her even more. Bel is a strong, independent lead for this book.

The next major part of this book that I liked was the romance. Duel POV academic rivals to lovers?? Sign me up. Teo has single-handedly raised my standards once again. Bel and Teo complement each other and push one another to be their best self. The way they helped each other through their problems was really nice.

The only issue I had with the book was it took me a few chapters to get into the writing style. Follmuth uses a lot of parentheses to include a character’s extra thoughts toward something. At first, it felt a little clunky to me, but I settled into it very quickly. Other than that, I really had no other issues with the book and enjoyed it very much. I would definitely recommend My Mechanical Romance to everybody.

4.5/5 stars

Okay, wow.

First, I wanted to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this eArc in return for an honest review.

I went into this not knowing what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised. This was seriously so cute. It was a fast paced YA contemporary romance.
I loved that it was an academic rivals to lovers and can we just talk about another WOC in STEM??!
This was so wholesome and sweet.

Just READ IT!!

Bel is a senior in high school with freshly divorced parents and no clue about what to do with her life once she graduates. After transferring to a new school, she quickly captures the attention of her physics teacher, who coaxes her into joining the robotics club. There, she meets Teo, president of the club and son of a multimillionaire software engineer, who has his future carefully planned out and is determined to prove everyone that he is deserving of the opportunities his last name has offered him.

My Mechanical Romance was an easy and enjoyable read, but I felt that a lot of its potential was left unfulfilled.

Starting off with the positives. With Y/A romance, usually one of my main complaints is that the love interests don’t actually have anything in common and are only brought together for the purposes of the story, with no real reason as to why they are even supposed to like each other. This was not the case here. I really enjoyed how Bel and Teo’s weaknesses and strengths complemented each other, as well as the pace at which their relationship developed.

Another thing is the dialogue between the teenagers in the book. Generally, I dislike Y/A books that include text messages between the characters, as the authors often go overboard with the slang and it ends up very cringeworthy. But this book was great at balancing the conversations and references to pop culture, and made it feel very realistic.

However, as someone who is currently studying towards an engineering degree, I felt that the discussions surrounding the struggles Bel and her friends faced were very surface level. Considering that a lot of the marketing for this book focuses on the “girls in STEM” aspect, I really wished it would have been explored more deeply. One thing that I would have loved to see is Bel discussing this with Teo, who seemed pretty oblivious to these issues (specifically the apparent favouritism for the boys in their club by their teacher).

Lastly, the pacing of the story felt a bit odd towards the end, and I would happily have read 100 pages more of this book if it meant some of the subplots would have been more fleshed out and wrapped out in a more satisfying way, especially the relationship between Bel and Neelam.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a cute, light-hearted Y/A romance read.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ratings: 4.5
Character development: 4.5

One of the most incredible books I have read this year. If you want to get out of a reading slump, I cannot recommend it enough.

It has been ages since I read such a great high school romance story. Moreover, it's just not a high school romance story, it's more than that. The author has beautifully shown how much pressure a high schooler faces. She especially showed a light on the issue of how girls struggle in STEM or in this case, particularly in mechanics.
How well it was shown that the main female character Bel and the side character Neelam, struggle to fit in the all-boys group of robotics. Even how teachers do the partiality in such cases, favoring boys over girls in these fields. This all was well-shown in her debut novel.

Apart from that, there was another issue that the author has shown a light on. Of how some students, just like Mateo, are supposed to stand up to others’ expectations and sometimes completely forget to live through their childhood. It’s the pressure that has been put upon them that makes them responsible but also almost completely ruins their mental health. These students always feel the need to fulfill everyone’s expectations even if it takes ignoring their own needs, which is absolutely unhealthy thing to do with kids. I really appreciate and applaud the author for bringing up such a matter in a fun kind of way, that is in a novel.

Although, I do feel there wasn’t much written about Teo’s suffering and stuff that probably should’ve been done. And that’s the reason for the 4.5 ratings. The author could’ve written more on the topic, but since the MC was Bel and the author chose the issue of women struggling in STEM, she wrote it really well in that aspect.

Regarding the character development region, we see a great development in Bel, our female MC, throughout the whole book. From being insecure about her talents and not knowing what to do with life to recognizing her potential and realizing what she wants to do in life, she showed enormous changes. Although the whole story was dual POV, the story was fixated on Bel mostly. But it was definitely shown how Teo realized that he doesn't need to be the only player on the team and how he realizes his true passion instead of just standing up to people’s expectations.

That’s it, these are my thoughts on this book. And needless to say, it stood up to my expectations. It was a fun, cute, and nice ride into the life of Bel canto (iykyk) and Teo. Kind of like back-to-school stuff. And Bel’s in-thoughts, are hilarious! I’ll be honest, I am gonna miss these characters. Even the side characters have my heart.
Jamie the stick-up friend, Lora the mom of the group, Neelam the hard nut to crack but you’re going to end up liking her, Dash the careless kid and moreover, Luke the teasing but all the way caring, big bro. Teachers like Miss Voss exist in this world but not too much, Teachers like MacIntosh exist too, but most don’t change in the end as he did. And lastly, Teo the supportive and loving boyfriend, lovely.
So, Overall, if you liked The love hypothesis, you’re gonna love this one too.

Before starts this review I want to say thank you to NetGallery to make available this book.

I tried to, I really tried to but it not worked for me, I didn't like the characters, they were so annoying, I just can't. In the truth I dnf the book (I have stoped in 73%) because it wasn't working for me.

I intend, some day, finish it and (if it be possible) I am going to change my review. Even though, the only motive this book had win two stars it's because was easy to read in English, that haven't my fist leanguege. I hope when I try read it again my opinion had been changed.

The second I saw a STEM romance book, I hopped on board. I was not disappointed. This was a cute, sweet romance novel which is what I was expecting from the summary. It was a little slow, but enjoyable. I know nothing of robotics, but that didn’t hinder my reading experience. This was a wholesome nerd love story and the characters were well written and likeable to me. Bel is so cool and I wish I was more like her honestly. This story involved the female STEM struggle and didn’t just focus on the love aspect. Teo was a fun nerdy boy and that’s always my type. This book was very enjoyable and I’d recommend it to anyone.

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. I did initially find this book difficult to get into because I found the main two characters a little bit hard to like at first, but as the storyline continued Follmuth's development of Bel and Teo and there storyline made me fall in love with them and their story! I was then hooked and found it hard to put the book down! This story has all the highs and lows of a good high school romance with the addition of STEM! If you loved the Love Hypothesis you are going to love Follmuths take on a STEM romance. Follmuth has accurately portrayed how difficult it can be for women in the heavily male dominated world of STEM and the struggle that many teenagers face trying to deal with the trials and triumphs of high school all while trying to figure out what they want to do for the rest of their lives.

First of all this book is so wholesome! Alexene writes characters in a way that you want to know More about them and not in a way that is because you're left hanging.

I feel like this book accurately depicts the struggles of teenage girls in a "boys world" of robotics and engineering both in how the boys treat Bel in class but also Neelams sense of rivalry, I felt the communication between Bel and Neelam was one of the most important parts of Bels character development and over all growth. Although a lot of this book focuses on Bel making it as a girl in a club full of boys it also very nicely demonstrated the beauty of girls having other girls backs and not feeling the need Stand Alone in order to make it.

The relationship between Bel and Teo managed to be both light hearted but deep and realistic. These characters felt their age and also felt like real people which I feel like can be lacking in a lot of romance novels even more so in YA. There was times where the characters made reference to the genre ( "OMG enemies to lovers!!!) which normally is an instant cringe for me however in this book it felt very true to their age.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by my enjoyment of this book and I keep hovering between a 4 or a 5 star so I think im going to land it nicely at 4.5

Thank you to Netgalley and Holiday House for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

This one was so adorable!! Like other readers, I did struggle to connect with it, but once it hit the 50% mark, it was amazing. The characters, the romance, the plot - every bit of it was amazing.

Very rarely do I find myself inspired by books. But this one, this one inspired me. Bel's journey was everything I wanted. She was a woman in STEM, and even though she faced challenges, she never faltered. It was inspiring, and has me ready to go build robots (I'd fail completely)

As for the romance, I audibly awwwwed at some points. It was so cute!! Teo and Bel had their highs and lows, but they were so adorable together. That epilogue had me beaming, it was the perfect ending. Their romance was the perfect mix of enemies to lovers and sheer happiness, and I'm not ready to let go of them.

The nuance of the characters was another thing I loved. Which is odd, because I didn't love the characters the entire time. Teo and Bel frustrated me. They had character flaws. But this made them even more loveable, because they felt real. They made mistakes, and they weren't always fixed easily. They felt like people, which is really the sign of a good author.

If you've ever even thought about picking this one up, I'd definitely recommend it! It was adorable, inspiring, and the perfect cozy read.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!