I love how the author managed to write such differently complex characters that complemented each other regardless, I think my only issue was with the pacing. I was hoping for things to play out more, especially towards the end, It was all a little too rushed for me, but nevertheless really good! The quotes were all so incredibly cute too. In all, I definitely would recommend this book!

4.5 stars!

*thank you to NetGalley, Holiday House, & the author for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review :)

Quick Description:

Bel is new to this school and she is quickly forced into joining the robotics team when they see her potential. She struggles with being taken seriously as a girl on the team, but Teo eventually sees her as a great asset. Teo balances a lot in his popular high school life: being a star of the soccer team, and captain of the robotics club. Told through alternating POVs, these two connect through their joint love of robotics in this fun academic rivals to lovers romance.

My Thoughts:

This book surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. It is cute, nerdy, and has some great messages overall. The characters are all realistic, diverse, and their interactions with each-other are written so well. Also who doesn’t love a good rivals/enemies to lovers romance?!

If you have watched the show Never Have I Ever on Netflix, let me tell you this book reminded me SO much of that! Teo is basically Paxton & Ben combined. The romance between Bel & Teo felt so similar to that show, with the academic rivals trope.

The exploration of challenges faced by women and POC in STEM was so well done. The strong female characters are what I really enjoyed about this book. It was easy to connect with the academic setting and easy to root for them. I’ve seen many people describe this as being the YA version of The Love Hypothesis, which I haven’t read yet, but I can definitely understand the connection.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to try out a new YA romance that will leave you feeling so wholesome in the end. The multitude of themes explored such as: the stress of life after high school, complicated family dynamics, and the difficulty of first love were so beautiful. Plus, there is a few Taylor Swift mentions along the way! 🤍

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I reached about 30% of the book and unfortunately I had to stop for two reasons.
The first is that the story did not involve me and at times I found it trivial.
The second, which for me represents the main problem, is that I found the writing difficult to read as there are so many abbreviations and words of the youth language that are difficult for me to translate and since the book does not drive me crazy I decided that not it's worth the effort ...
I really wanted to like the book and I'm sad I didn't. Surely others will appreciate it more than I did

🇮🇹🇮🇹
Sono arrivata all’incirca al 30% del libro è purtroppo mi sono dovuta fermare.
La storia non mi ha coinvolta e a tratti l’ho trovata troppo banale.
Ma il problema principale è che ho trovato la scrittura difficile da leggere in quanto ci sono tante abbreviazioni e parole del linguaggio giovanile che per me sono difficili da tradurre e visto che il libro non mi fa impazzire ho deciso che non ne valeva lo sforzo…
Volevo davvero che il libro mi piacesse viste tutte le recensioni positive. Sono sicura che altri potranno apprezzarlo di più di quando non ho fatto io!

4⭐️
This book was so so cute!! I honestly think every girl in high school should read this. This book will be extremely relatable for any girl who has ever had experiences in STEM, especially someone with predominantly male teachers. Even as someone in university, I still deal with some of the things Bel faced. Simply being one of the only girls in a group of boys can be incredibly frustrating. I totally understood her anxiety when making suggestions, as I’ve felt the same so many times.
Though it was kind of a minor topic, I also loved the discussions of Bel’s struggles with divorced parents. As someone whose parents also separated when I was in high school, I really reacted to the issue of coming to terms with one of your parents doing something awful to your other parent while thinking about all the good memories you’ve had of that parent from your childhood.
Most of all the romance was so so cute and I am so grateful to have gotten an arc of this book!

This was such a quick read!! As a woman in STEM myself, I really appreciated the representation in this book! I also loved the POC representation as well!! Bel was such a fun character and I enjoyed seeing her relationship unfold with Teo. The rivals to lovers arc is truly one of my favorites!

Even though it’s YA, I appreciated that this book did not shy away from discussing the heavier themes. The author did a great job with the dual POV and developing both characters as well!

I did have a few minor issues with the book. I’m not the biggest fan of first person, so that took a bit getting used to. I also felt like maybe the pacing of the book could have been different. The start was quite slow and then the ending felt a bit rushed to me.

Overall, this was a really great read!! The perfect romance to binge read.

I honestly have no words for how much I adored this book. I thought going into this that it was a woc stem rep romance book but it was honestly so much more. This book was easily funny and the characters were so well written. There were so many times when I wished I could go through the pages and give them all hugs. The romance was great as I expected and I want what Teo and Bel have 100%. On top of these things I loved how Alexene covered the experience of women in stem in a very male dominated space. The way that it was covered and the growth of the characters made me feel so seen. Honestly
didn't know if I was going to understand what was happening with the robots or even get invested but I really did and loved every second of it. I would recommend this book to people who love a great romcom, fabulous characters, and a romance that makes you swoon!

ARC provided by NetGalley for a honest review

Academic rivals to lovers you will always be famous!! Just from the summary I knew I was gonna fall in love with this book and it did not disappoint. As someone who goes to a super competitive highschool and is currently stressing over college, this book was perfect for me. I could relate to some of the character's personal struggles, specifically Bel and Teo. They were compelling MCs and I absolutely love them. Their relationship was also really cute, especially their banter.

Despite being a YA romance, My Mechanical Romance discusses topics concerning elitism, racism, classism, etc. My favorite one was regarding the problems women in STEM go through and I personally would love to read more contemporary books that is centered around it.

For the cons, I had an issue with the writing style, it's not horrible or anything but you're either going to love it or hate it. I also wasn't a fan of the dual POV thing (although I'm not a fan of first person POV in the first place, so that just might be on me). I was really interested in Neelam's character but other than her convo with Bel at the end we didnt't really get to know much about her life (fingers crossed on a spinoff), but overall I enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend!!

First of all i want to say thank you to Netgalley and holiday house for giving me the arc or this book. I enjoyed reading this so much, it was fun, cute and wholesome. This book is perfect for teens who wants a romance book mixed with family and friendship. I so love stem and the robotics club! <33 The characters development are chef's kiss, and not to mention that i am overwhelmed with the Filipino representation.

the wordle today was trope (not to brag but i got it in two) why i got it in 2 u may ask? bc i was reading this book right before i played and this book is filled with amazing tropes 😫 academic rivals to lovers >>> i’m a huge fan of this author and my mechanical romance did not disappoint. the name is amazing the characters are amazing the banter is amazing the plot is amazing, i’m pretty sure u get my point ;) bel and teo are SJCJSKSOCOANDJISIXIAJS !! i am obsessed. the robotics in this is SO COOL!! and everybody’s character development is so realistic i love ❤️ the ending is so sweet and i literally cannot this book was so good ! anyways 4.5 stars everybody read it por favor

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher of My Mechanical Romance for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and feelings.

I went into this book nearly blind, with just a very vague concept of what the storyline would hold and the knowledge that it was a STEM revolved plot and an enemies to lovers, dual point of view novel.

Part of my reasoning behind going in blind was because I’m, historically, not the biggest fan of both dual POVs or enemies to lovers as a trope. I don’t hate it, but it’s not one of my favourites.

Well, I guess me and that trope are also enemies to lovers, because ‘My Mechanical Romance’ exceeded my expectations tenfold.

My main issue with any kind of dual point of view in books is that, sometimes, the main characters don’t feel as fleshed out due to the only having a set space of time each.

I also often feel that it makes the plotline jump around a lot, or feel a little bit all over the place at times.

However, I didn’t find that with this novel at all.

Both of the main characters were well fleshed out, with insight into not only who they are and what makes them tick, but the lives they lead outside of their usual habitat and when they’re apart.

Out of the two characters, Bel was definitely my favourite. Her drive, her passion and zest for life, her ability to just…not care what others thought, never afraid to stand out and set herself apart from the masses drew me in, but it was her gentle heart and unique way of seeing the world, mixed with her quiet heartache that she experienced at home that made me love her the most.

That being said, Teo was a really interesting, dare I say encapsulating, character to read too. His story felt less intriguing and integral to the plot though, which I think was likely intentional.

I also loved a whole heap of the side characters and the friendships, too.

But the relationship between Bel and Teo was something truly beautiful.

The contrast to how they act as individuals with how they act together at the beginning of their story versus the togetherness and the united, team front that they show towards the end of the book really shows not only their individual character growth, but their ever growing love, respect and understanding of one another too.

All in all, this was a great read. I loved the characters, - lead and otherwise - but especially the main two. Their bickering, heartwarming (and at times frustrating) relationship was definitely the heart of the book.

‘My Mechanical Romance’ was a wonderfully written joyride that took me by surprise. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did, and that is a true testament to the writing ability and the warm glow of joy that the story itself emanates.

4 stars! 🌟

An entirely too fun, cute, quirky romance between two poc hs seniors. I very much enjoyed both characters and their individual development. It felt like looking through a time machine to my senior year with Bel's storyline :,)

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC copy in exchange for a review

First of all, this book was super cute. And the tropes in this book was amazing, I mean you get; academic rivals to friends to lovers AND WHO DOSEN'T LIKE THAT??!!

Bel and Luna were so freaking cute together and you see who they develop as a person. I thought this book was where good because it took up some topics i never really have read about before like; divorced parents, girls in STEM and dealing with confusing over the future.

So basically, the story is about, yes you guessed right; Luna and Bel. Bel is this weird girl but in a good way, she is super talented in almost everything she does. She is good in school but is unsure of her future but somehow, she ends up in the robot club. And there you meet Luna the captain of the club who is indeed intrigued by Bel and her creativity. Luna have had his whole life planed out before him and knows exactly what people wants from him but sometimes it gets too much even for Luna. And he finds himself healing somehow when he is with Bel.

I really recommend this book and for you to know about all the cute scenes in this book you will simply have to read it. It's totally worth it and perfect if you're in a reading slump because the book is pretty short.

Bel starting a new school in her senior year of high school. She has no plans for the future, nor wants to make any. And so her teacher encourages her to join the robotics team as she sees her “potential”.

Enter Teo who is the bane of Bel existence.

You heard that right! This is an enemies to lovers!

The first part of this book was hard for me to get into because I don’t know anything about Robots or the terminology surrounding robotics but the author does a pretty good job of explaining things. Overall, you don’t need the terminology to still understand the book which I appreciated.

I do think that for a YA book there was a lot of big words. Words that wouldn’t really come up in daily life that characters were saying in their heads. This jarred me a little at first.

I absolutely loved the message that this book talks about with women in STEM. The diversity of the characters were great as well.

Such a cute fun read that had me smiling throughout!

Me duele muchísimo que no me haya gustado como quería.
El primer día que se anunció fui a gritar por todo Twitter de que iba a ser mi próximo libro favorito. Y si bien sabía que iba ser una opción arriesgada porque no suelo leer este género, tenía fe.
Cuando lo empecé a leer me pareció bastante bueno, no me encantaba mas me entretenía, pero a medida que iba avanzando me encontré aburrida, sentía que había partes que no me interesaban en absoluto o que no me generaban ningún sentimiento los personajes. Además de que está repleto de pop culture references y eso nunca me gustó en un libro.
Si tuviera que mencionar una característica positiva es que la primicia es interesante, es algo que por lo menos yo hace mucho no veo en redes sociales.

Okay, I absolutely loved this book! It was magical, funny, sweet and charming. The most perfect teen romance I have EVER read! It’s really supportive for girls in STEM, there’s huge amounts of diversity, and just an incredible book in general. Bel has moved to a new school, and is strongly encouraged to try to join the robotics team. After Teo gets her on the team, she’s different from the others, preferring to draw her designs rather than use the new computer designing software Teo has created. A gradual, enemies to friends to lovers and it was amazing! I would 100% read this book again, it has soared straight to one of my favourites, and I’ve already read it twice, after receiving it a couple of weeks ago!

STEM, Rivals to lovers, Academia.
Yes, yes, and yes. Fantastic story! Loved how the povs Isabel and Teo deal with trying to plan for their future as seniors graduating highschool: figuring out what they want to be, college apps and also learning out to juggle with family expectations. All nicely bundled in this plot and you have the conflict of Isabel joining the Robotics team and the challenges she faces as a girl in a predominantly male subject. Friendship, divorce, society pressures; just a few of the topics included.
A bit of a slow pace but it was very engaging the whole way through. Great chemistry between these povs, such a cute romance!
Thank you Netgally, for the opportunity to review this copy for my honest review.
👏👏👏👏👏📚

The last few contemporary romances I've read were disappointing so I went into this read with low hopes.and expectations.Thankfully this one was a hit! I love the stem representation and this enemies to lovers scenario. I did think the pace couldve been a bit faster but I was entertained and read this in 2 days.

i quite literally DEVOURED this book. im so in love with all the characters( yes, all the characters; not just the mc's) the plot, I mean RIVALS TO LOVERS IN STEM W POC, do i even need to say more??

the romance between bel and teo was so cute and wholesome and i liked how the author handled the whole issue with women in STEM. especially women of colour!!

i got so frustrated sometimes with the naivety or should i say ignorance of the boys and male teachers?? but that's the whole point i guess... and these emotions are part of the reason why this book is so perfectly written lmao.

i have nothing negative to say about this. really! ZERO CRITICISM, THIS BOOK IS EXCELLENCE ON PAPER GO READ IT RN

I’d like to thank netgalley and holiday house for the opportunity to read this early copy in exchange of an honest opinion.

Here we follow Bel and Teo in a dual pov story and I have to say it I’M COMPLETELY IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK OMG 😭😭😭 when i started reading i wasn’t so sure if i would like the book or not because i really know nothing about robotics and this kind of thing but it really surprised me, it was such a cute, fun and amazing reading.

I confess that I wasn’t completely into Teo in the beggining, he annoyed me a little bit but then I fell in love with him —it’s impossible not to— HE’S PERFECT (and no, I’m not exaggerating).

AND BEL!!!! I really loved her development throughout the book, the way she gained confidence and started to believe in herself was something special for me. Bel became one of my fav characters of all the books I’ve read, i love her 🥰

Also, I absolutely loved the way their relationship was built and their moments together were so freaking cute and adorable I couldn’t stop smiling, i was almost screaming with excitement whenever they were interacting.

I don’t know what else to say other than it was one of the best readings of the year so far for me and i strongly recommend it so don’t hesitate to pick this up, you won’t be disappointed, especially if you’re into STEM.

okay wait that was actually really good
I mean
robotics-
women in stem
witty characters
representation
uhh idk it was just super fun
I didn't love the main characters the mosttt, on the other hand, I absolutely LOVED the side characters
I loved the themes of family and friendship
and umm it was really fast-paced and not boring at all, it was super real so that it can be relatable
highly recommend!
(sad to admit this, but when I first saw the name, I thought it was gonna relate to my chemical romance :| lol)

<I>thank you Holiday House and netgalley for the arc, all opinions are my own :)</i>