5/5⭐️ this author can do absolutely no wrong. I was extremely grateful to receive an eARC from Netgalley and Holiday House in exchange for a review.

There was so much about this novel that I loved. And in all honesty, I was a bit nervous that it was going to fall short because it was YA and the previous works that I’d read from this author were NA. This novel did not disappoint. I found myself giggling at 3 am reading this book until I could keep my eyes open anymore.

This book gave academic rivals to lovers and WOC in STEM. I found it very important they the romance aspect of the story between Bel and Teo did not take away from other themes of the novel. This book touched on academic stress, home-life stress, friend, teacher and familial pressure. It was also shown that community college is a great option for multiple reasons, that you can have time to figure things out. Not only did we learn about Bel and her struggles, but we got understand Teo and his struggles through the dual POV. On top of that, even though this novel was dual POV between the two love interests, we still learned a lot about the other characters, such as Dash and Naleem(which gave so much understanding to pressures of women in STEM).

True to her writing, the author is very character based and makes you understand each character and their importance. The writing style is also detailed enough that even though I know very little about robotics, I did not feel lost through the novel.

There was so much substance to the storyline and to the characters. I understand what Bel and Teo were going through even when they felt confused for themselves. You read Bel step into a person she didn’t believe she could be, while forming friendships and relationships, and finding a place in her family where she thought she no longer fit. What she was going through wasn’t easy and she needed someone to believe in her so she could work on believing in herself and that’s what we saw. With Teo, we got to see him learn that the weight of the world was not truly on his shoulders and I think that is something a lot of younger people need to know.

I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book and to recommend it to anyone and everyone that I know!!!!

4.25 stars!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a great young adult romantic comedy. It reminds me of the love hypothesis so much. This book is well-written and I laughed out loud a couple of times while reading! I was truly immersed in the story and highly recommend it. Bel, I loved her personality, her compassion for doing the things she loves beside her struggles at first on what she wanted to pursue and everything to consider as you leave high school which is totally relatable and there's a HOLI PARTYYYYYYY!!! Teo was so sweet and I loved him. I loved all the side characters in this book.
Thank you to NetGalley, Holiday House and Alexene for this arc !!

I did not know what to expect when I started reading but this book is utterly phenomenal and I loved every single second. But first can I mention that for the first time ever, I saw a character that had my name, MY NAME! I have never read a book with a character that has the same name as me and she was a STEM girl!

Take up your own space, Bel. Don’t let other people tread over it.

This book has my whole heart, it discusses all the things I am passionate about and we get all the nerdy banter too! Through Bel and Teo we see how misogyny creates barriers for women to succeed in STEM careers and how much harder they have to work to get even a tenth of the recognition that the men get. How Neelam is constantly dismissed and belittled, how she is made to feel inferior to Teo and how hard she has had to fight for her place and even then her ideas are ignored. Even the teacher and how his language changes depending on whether he’s speaking to the girls or the boys. How this is so normalised that speaking against is seen as making a fuss. I felt this all deep in my soul.

You don’t have to make the world perfect just so people will love you.

Another really great discussion was how as teenagers when we barely understand ourselves, we are expected to have our whole life planned out and that it is seen as failure if you haven’t. The pressure that we and the adults put on ourselves to know what we want to do and yet so many of us just don’t and that should be okay too. It was also great to see how socioeconomic factors affects how “prepared” a young person is by 18 to have their lives mapped out. If we have been denied opportunities and a better education because we can’t afford it then how is it our fault that our choices are limited and we don’t know what it is we want to do. Combine that with expectations from parents and it can be very stressful for the person. I loved seeing this all discussed in the story without it becoming too heavy.

If I want the world to recognise what I am truly capable of, I have to show them.

I loved Bel from the moment we meet her but Teo took me a few chapters to really like, he seems like the usual arrogant boy who thinks he deserves all the special treatment but as the story progresses we see that he isn’t actually like that, though he does have some prejudices towards how he treats Neelam. I loved how much he changes and grows throughout the story and learns to let others in and help him and that he can trust other people and even how he views Neelam.

I loved seeing Bel grow throughout the story too as she finally finds something she truly enjoys and is passionate about and how she fights for it. I also loved the conversation between her and Neelam near the end of the story where we finally see why Neelam was hostile towards Bel at first and they learn to understand each other better. I also loved seeing a teacher that truly saw Bel’s potential and guided her without shaming or guilting and spoke to her respectfully, we all need teachers like this in our lives.

I think about how much I want them all to succeed in life; to go far, as far as possible, until every girl who succeeds is a beacon of light for all the others.

One of my favourite things was seeing the female friendships and women supporting women. How Bel and her friends truly want the best for each other and don’t try to stab each other in the back to progress themselves because there is space for all of them. I just truly loved that we see this in the story, it brought me so much joy.

This book is absolutely incredible and once I started I could not put it down reading well into the night. I loved these characters and that epilogue was everything! I really hope we get to see more of them in the future.

It was a good book with likable characters. After reading some spicier books, it was nice to read something more wholesome. The characters being nerds make them very relatable.

What a fantastic read! I absolutely loved this book. The one and ONLY thing was that at times i felt somewhat too old for the contents in the book, as it was, and to be expected, very teen oriented (i dont read much YA). Which honestly i would say is just a fault of my own, but I think after reading this I may take a look at some more YA! However, once I got past that I was able to enjoy this book for what it was. I cant resist enemies to lovers, and throw grumpy sunshine in the mix - its a perfect combo! The romance itself in the book was really sweet and honestly very realistic - which again I loved that. It is always a bonus when the cover is as cute as this one!
(4.5 stars)

oh my gosh infinite stars i'm in love with this book so when I found out this is the same author who wrote the Atlas six I was not surprised!!

So this book follows 17 year old Isabel Maier (who goes by Bel) who doesn't want to think about her future, so when she gets forced to join the robotics team by her psychics teacher. The books focuses on women in stem and the misogyny that follows that.

Bel was such a likeable character! She is so real with every thought she had, I love characters that are just unapologetically themselves and don't try to fit in this perfect mc role.

I loved Teo's storyline the most, of course the book focuses on the difficulties of women in stem and although I loved that very much I also enjoyed reading about the team leader who is just everyone's go to and needs to help everyone and the pressure of that.

Protect my babies Neelam and Dash. 🥰

Neelam was so amazing, at the beginning I might have been a bit unfair to her but after getting her whole story I totally understand where she is coming from.

She is mad at the world and rightfully so the way society treats women in stem like they are always going to have to prove themselves is just not fair. Women are just as capable at engineering as men. I'm just so sick of the narrative that if a man knows what he's doing he is a team leader and assertive and when a women does she is a bitch and uptight.. 😒

UGH im always sucker for ademic rivals to lovers, the romance was just so adorable, the way Teo was just ALWAYS thinking about her. Ugh the way he trusts her more than anyone in his life I can't...

ALSO am i the only one who just wants to join STEM just to fight the patriarchy😩😩👊🏾
Anyways read this book
*Thank you to Netgalley and Holiday House for an earc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I thought I was going to enjoy this book but I ended up loving it! I'm very glad I was about to read this book because I genuinely felt invested in these characters and their blooming relationship. It was written so well that reading this book took me back to my highschool days. Thank you so much for letting me read this book!

I fell in love with this book slowly and then all at once.
I love characters that make me feel soft and like I wanna protect them if I could. And the author provided that for me. I can say without a doubt that I enjoyed every single character in this book even when mistakes were made.
Also the writing is beautiful but I wouldn't expect anything else from this author.

"Welcome to robotics, Bel Canto,” Teo shouts to me over the sound of our teammates cheering, so close I can almost taste the triumph from his lips.
At that exact moment, I know I’m absolutely wreck."

aka the moment I knew I was wrecked

<i>"It’s probably really stupid how much it unravels me to look at her right then, but I’ve never seen eyes that make me think about the mysteries of the universe the way hers do. It’s like walking through the redwoods. Like feeling the earth beneath your feet while know- ing there are things flying free above you, and things living and breathing below you, and for a moment you just feel connected to everything. Like there’s some sort of unstoppable tide of existence and you’re part of it, even for just a second."

"Because I think about her all the time. Because she surprises me, because she makes me laugh, and because this, whatever it is with her, is the only thing I ever do that’s easy. Because wherever I am, I want her close by."

"If I want the world to recognize what I am truly capable of, I have to show them."

"What he and I have together is the best thing we’ve ever built."<i>

q: bel was it good?
a: i think good or any words that describe how good the book was, are all understatement. -bel (costan, not maier. but still valid)

i'm currently on post-series depression because of my mechanical romance (i'm fully aware it's a standalone but whatever)

i already knew i need this book before i even had a single clue about the book.

there are lots of things to list.

1. the heroine's name is bel (ppl used to call me bel but due to confusion between me and my sister's name we changed our nicknames. but turns out only my nickname has changed. ok whatever some people still call me bel)
2. the heroine is half-filipino (i'm chindo, which little relatable because we're both part south east asian. no i'm not going to talk about the fact that if i took dna test, the result will be 100% chinese)
3. filipino cuisine!!! (pretty similar to indonesian's. we have lumpia too)
4. woman in stem (this remind me i have to work on my physics and biology project and prepare myself for informatics presentation)
5. FEMINISM (another book that do justice to my romantic and feminist part. WHO RUN THE WORLD? GIRLS!!!)
6. light academia (have i mentioned that i really love light academia since forever?)
7. academia rivals to lovers (i don't think it's really the trope, but most of times they're arguing because of school stuffs. i have a fantasy about this trope since i was about... ten? so i basically have a soft spot)
8. THE HEROINE IS A SWIFTIE (this is important. really important. i'm literally obsessed with taylor swift's discography)
9. the heroine youngest of 3 (very relatable. truly. as your family's last and only hope to do things right this hits me truly deeply)
10. the hero is a hot genius nerd (have i mentioned i'm always into nerds?)
11. the hero is badly amazing (if you know, you know)
12. the hero is also an athlete (oh i dislike athletes irl but i can't deny most of them has ideal body. yes of course it's the body i'm talking about, duh)
13. the hero feels guilty about privilege (YES finally there's a representation of this. what do i have to explain anymore)
14. they are both smart-ass (i'm currently manifesting another smart-ass in my life)
15. the hero literally listened to entire taylor swift's discography (i feel like it's a bare minimum for someone whose spouse is a swiftie but still i'll give anything to have someone to listen to taylor swift's discography just so they know the reason i'm still smiling although sometimes i don't feel like it)
16. slow-burn romance...♡ (the tension oh my goodness)

and i think this is enough from my personal perspective and feelings to convince everyone to read this book. (of course, there are more reasons why i really love the book, but those are really personal and private stuffs)

thank you to my booktwt friends to convince me to read this book. you guys are so convincing. and i'm still going to buy the copy of the book anyway.

and sorry to my best friends if i rant too much about the book in gc. i know you guys still love me.

here's my bawling my mechanical romance reading thread on twitter: https://twitter.com/belcynes/status/1511598393826578433?t=hQvqD24oGAoYhs8m225zjA&s=19

***got an arc from netgalley in exchange of honest review. thank you netgalley!

This was a fun read, although at times it was a little too young for me.

Teo (I'm going to be honest, every time I read his name, I first read Tuna) - He was a wholesome character. I really liked how he noticed small details about Bel.
Bel - In the beginning, she kind of annoyed me. "And girls aren't usually into robots." Says who? It's 2022, can we please not. She obviously changes her stance on that by the end of the novel, but just having that, in the beginning, gave me the ick. Although, I appreciated having the representation of women in STEM, especially a "girly" girl.
Mrs. Voss - love her, we all need a Mr. Voss in our lives.
Dash - loved him, felt bad for him when he got rejected by Bel
Jamie - loved her, very quotable.
I enjoyed most of the characters, although the side characters were kind of better than the main two, in my opinion.
The romance was a little too YA for me, I think. Although I really liked the academic rivals to lovers trope, and the romance was mostly cute, it was also a little cringey. The ending was cute and realistic, I guess, so I can't really complain.
Most, if not all, of the male characters said or did misogynistic things to their female counterparts. I got a little annoyed that their behaviour was not fixed/addressed. Mac did say that he learned something from Bel but I still feel like it should have been more addressed. (Although I did like the scene at the end with the sister)
I liked to see how high schoolers are put under a lot of pressure, family expectations and not knowing what to do. Deciding on what you're going to do for the rest of your life is hard (I say when I still don't know and am in my 20s).
Overall, a fun read, I would recommend it to a younger audience rather than to someone in their 20s.

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth
RATING: 4 stars

(I believe this is the same author who wrote Atlas Six so if you liked that one I recommend reading this one too)

It's a cute contemporary YA romance that also focuses on the patriarchy within the STEM course.
It follows our female main character, Bel, who at first is unsure of what she wants to do after school. Then a teacher at her private school suggested her to the Robotics Club, which she immediately got into. Teo Luna is the main male character in the book and is the leader of said club. Both characters start developing a relationship with each other whilst creating a bot for a competition.

I really liked the book for quite a lot of reasons.
Firstly, I really relate to Bel's circumstances towards what to do in the future as I, myself, am afraid of making such a big decision in my life. Second of all, I like how the talks about feminism and misogyny did not feel forced nor do they randomly turn up for the sake of the book to have these topics. Most of all, the problems or issues the characters face in the book are not dragged out too much but also not quickly resolved.

One of the characters I particularly liked is Neelam. She didn't make a good first impression on both the main character and the readers as she is quite mean and bitter. However, I grew to like her when she and Bel had a conversation in the last few chapters. It's true that some people did not have to work hard compared to the others who had to and I appreciate Neelam for being open and blunt towards Bel. I am also quite pleased that Bel gave her the chance during the competition because Neelam deserved it and I feel like if Bel had taken control of the bot, her character development would've been just cliche.

I enjoyed Bel having this hidden talent or potential she didn't know about and yet still remained somewhat imperfect. It really gives a well-written characterization.

Teo and Bel are also pretty good characters and even though, in hindsight, they don't have much in common, being both intelligent aside, they are able to talk about their own significant family problems is one of the things that attract them together. The romance in this book is pretty solid. Though I didn't exactly love it nor hate it.

Did I mention good representation? This is my first time reading a book with a Filipino main character and it makes me so happy.

.If you liked "Not Here to Be Liked" and "The Love Hypothesis", I would like to recommend this to you. I think it has a little bit of both from what I heard about the two books.

I've been a huge fan of Alexene's work for many years and this book did not disappoint!

The academic rivals, enemies to lovers, slow burn romance was executed perfectly. It's exactly what you want in a YA romance. I loved the banter between the characters, which in other YA novel can sometimes come across as cringy and stilted, didn't in this instance.

Great, quick read!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Such a fast and easy read!
The things that I enjoyed:
- the romance tropes --> enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine!
- the representation --> so much diversity in the cast of characters! So refreshing!
- the funny banter and found family energy
- the main characters were very unique and really stood out as distinct characters in my mind
- the romance was cute --> loved the first kiss!
- robots --> who doesn't love a good robotics competition!?

The things that were less enjoyable:
- how long the romance took to develop --> only got real romance 1/3rd of the way through the book!
- the academic environment was very toxic at times which was stressful for me (a female STEM major) --> made it difficult for me to get lost in the romance when I was frustrated with the behaviours of some of the characters

Cute YA novel about a girl struggling to find out who she is in her senior year. What I personally struggle with is how NO ONE previously noticed how insanely smart Bel was/is before starting at the private school. Overall, it is a book that touches on women in the engineering field that is male dominated. Sprinkle in some romance and you have a sweet YA novel.

A charming novel about finding your place in high school and beyond, when your path already seems predetermined for you. It’s about paving your own way forward, making mistakes, learning from them, and being confident with taking up your own space in the world. Reading about stem majors in the high school romance genre really made me so happy, especially since they’re both POC. I’ve always loved Alexene Farol Follmuth’s writing, and this novel really shows range. With such a short book, I expected there to be more movement with the plot and I think that’s what was lacking. The ending also felt very rushed but it was still very much an enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Holiday House for an earc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you Netgalley and Holiday House for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Despite the title name, My Mechanical Romance was able to embrace other topics outside the romance--which was incredibly adorable, including feminism, gender equality, and family dynamics. Bel is a typical high school student who finds herself thrust into joining her new school's robotics club; here she meets Teo Luna, who is struggling under the pressure he's placed upon himself.
Their relationship may have had a rocky beginning but their blossoming into friendship and love is one that is deeply appreciated. These characters aren't afraid of confrontation and have struggles of their own, which are communicated in realistic ways, both to each other and the reader. Their complicated feelings on matters could be something many relate to themselves.
In recent times I've found myself drifting away from the YA genre but My Mechanical Romance was a must-read for anyone looking for a sweet, heartwarming book.

I absolutely loved this book! The storyline was so sweet and the romance unfolded in a realistic fashion. I liked the added touch of culture for both of the characters. It was a good glimpse of the stresses placed on teenagers to get into the 'right' college. Thank you for this opportunity to read!

This is a fun romance. If you love enemies to lovers trope like myself, you will enjoy this book. You can see the character growth throughout the book. I gotta be honest, I didn’t know what to expect when I got this book but I was really surprised how much I loved it. It’s also a fast read.

Before anything else, let me just say THAT COVER IS SO DARN CUTE.

Okay, back to my actual review: I love the diversity of the characters. As a Filipina, I felt seen. I badly wish there were more and better Filo representation in YA/adult contemporary books! Is that too hard to ask for? Sigh, anyways...

The struggles of being a female in a male-dominated field are accurately depicted. And oh, the female friendships in this! Chef's kiss! The feminism here doesn't feel forced or cringey in any way, which I love sooo much. Idk, I'm just so done with this trend of pseudo-intellectualism among YA novels lmao.

The complexity of familial relationships and the different attitudes of the characters toward college life were also portrayed realistically. Plus, you know an academia-themed book is done right when actual learning happens on the part of the reader. (I gotta admit all that physics and robotics talk made me feel dumb. Made me wish they taught us robotics in high school and that a cute nerd fell in love with me or something.)

Now, onto the things I didn't like about the book:
- when a character rambles for way too long
- bel and teo have chemistry but they don't have me invested
- the witty banter is there but it's not enough to pass as an enemies or rivals to lovers book
- the prose isn't as flowy as i'd like it to be but from what i've heard, that really is alexene/olivie's style (?)

Thank you Alexene, Holiday House, and NetGalley for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

ARC kindly provided by Holiday House through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I welcome you to another episode of family drama, (kind of) enemies-to-lovers, women in STEM, and (thank god) hot nerds in love.

This cover and synopsis hooked me at first sight, and the book didn't disappoint! I had high hopes for this book, and I loved it. The couple was funny and so cute, all I ever ask for whenever I read a YA. Bel was awesome, but what else can I expect from someone named (Isa)Bel?

Her journey trying to find herself and what to do with her future while facing problems in her family after her parents divorced and her insecurities were so relatable, especially with her teacher’s help. God bless this woman, seriously!!!! I can't put into words her significance.

The competition scenes were soooooooooo good I just can't! I'd like to be a little fly during these scenes, simply seeing Bel and Teo working together. All of their moments together were !!!!!!!

This book also featured some representation on our main characters. Bel is part South Asian, while Teo is part Latino. The author also included STEM in a scenario filled with sexism in several ways, such as “small” aggressions that many people don't usually notice.

Concluding, I really, really enjoyed this read!