Title: My Mechanical Romance
Author: Alexene Farol Follmuth
Pub date: May 31, 2022

Rating: 4/5
Highlights:
-Women in STEM
-Academic enemies to lovers
-cute banter
-YA version of Love Hypothesis

Review:
The cover and title is immediately eye catching. I loved the creativity and the character depictions.

Review:
The cover and title immediately caught my eye-this cover art is amazing.

I started this book excited for a quick, easy romance to read, and this book did not disappoint. Once we jump into the story, we meet Teo and Bel. Bel is easy-going and putting off thinking of college. Teo is a rich kid and team captain with his heart set on MIT. I adored Teo and Bel’s relationship. They were so witty and always bantering back and forth. The author also touched on some topics I was not expecting like divorce, distant parents, and women’s difficulty in STEM.
Ms. Voss, Bel's mentor, ends up being one of my favorite characters. She encourages Bel to "take up space" in her life and pursue her passions. I think a lot of young girls can relate to Bel's struggles in the book and be encouraged.
The reason why I gave 4 out of 5 stars is that book often relies on telling the reader instead of showing the reader. For example, The book uses frequent parentheses to explain character's thoughts and situations.

Overall, My Mechanical Romance was a standout YA debut for Alexene. I am excited to see what she does next!

4.5/5 stars rounded up

This was such a joy to read! WOC in STEM, dual pov, lovable characters, and an enjoyable plot with robots.

Bel was such an enjoyable character. She was funny, weird, and relatable. Her fashion sense was immaculate and her quick smebacks were hilarious. I loved Bel and was rooting for her in every way.

Teo was definitely a bit arrogant in the beginning. He thought he was a little better than everyone but he definitely got better as the book continued. Also he was just so relatable as well. He felt he had to hold everyone up at his own detriment.

Their relationship?! Absolutely adorable! They lifted each other up and helped each other when down. Also the Holi scene? One of my new favorite kiss scenes, I adored it. Bel and Teo cared for each other so much and their my new favorite couple.

The story also had some important conversations about WOC in STEM and would recommend reading some reviews by WOC to expand on it.

Overall, I loved everything about this book and recommend it to everyone

I really enjoyed the book and the romance in it. It was nice to read an academic centered romance and the challenges the characters faced were somewhat relatable.

A cute and tender romance, but this story is more than that. It expresses the machismo and the fight that women who want to dedicate themselves to engineering, science, mathematics, and other professions that society views as men's jobs must carry out; And how this same idea that is instilled in us from childhood makes us believe that we are not intelligent enough to get ahead in that environment. It shows how sometimes people are not even aware of these sexist microaggressions that they commit and how they favor men.
Another of the topics it touches on is the pressure that adults put on teenagers about their futures, and how difficult it is to find what you like when there is always the fear of disappointing, failing and not being enough.
I also think that the family complexity that the characters have adds to the story and its development.
The romance? very beautiful, I was dying of anxiety and anticipation until they finally kissed. The author developed it so well that I believed everything that happened; It never gave me the cringe (and that's quite an achievement) and it really felt like something that could happen.

This book had me smiling the entire time. I’ don’t usually pick up romcoms but this one caught my eye and i’m so glad i read it. The writing and the story was excellent and well told and I look forward to reading more books from this author.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I’m so happy I got to read this book…I literally finished the whole thing in half a day! I felt I could really relate to this book and the main characters

You’ve got the enemies to lovers, high school romance, as well as the science theme running through.

Something I loved about this book were all the modern references which makes you feel as though you’re in the same world as the characters.

There was the perfect amount of humour and wittiness between characters which I really enjoyed too. I found Bel, the main character, really likeable and I enjoyed her dialogue.

Overall, I thought the book was really well written and I would definitely recommend, so snap it up when it’s out!

An enjoyable academic centred romance that although wasn't one of my all time favourites, will be right up my students street.

3 Stars ⭐️
This book was wholesome, enlightening, and very cute. I really loved reading this book, but I think it could have been better.

Bel is a Senior that just moved to a prestigious high school, and like many 17 year olds she has no idea what she wants to do with her life. Bel gets involved in the schools robotics team and that is were everything begins to take shape. She meets the team captain, Teo a boy that carries the world on his shoulders. He is very dedicated to his academics and knows exactly what he want out of life. They could not be more opposite, but somehow they make a connection.

The plot, the characters, and the story was amazing. There was a great message throughout the book about, women equality and how women are treated in male dominated fields. Bel and Teo really showed the different sides of adolescence. There was also so much diversity and different cultures exposed in this book and I loved that about it! To be honest this book had so much potential and I really enjoyed reading it, but it was done very poorly.

I hate to have to say that this book felt unfinished. The writing was confusing and I felt lost a lot of the time. If I would describe the writing in this book I would say it was similar to when you tell your friend a story and you forget a bunch of key details to get to the point. The book felt slow, but also rushed. I believed at some point that I may have accidentally skipped a chapter or forgot to read something, but that was not the case.

I’m not sure if I would recommend people to read this book. It was an enjoyable experience, but the book was not well written. If you can get past a lot of confusing storylines and writing strategies, for a good plot and interesting characters, then I highly recommend!

Thank you so much Net Galley for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

The book had the academic rivals trope which I absolutely love! I thought it was a cute YA romance with great representation for women in STEM. I loved being able to read the evolution of both characters. It was a quick and fun read with double POV. Although, I love double POV I felt like POV switched between both characters a little too much.

My Mechanical Romance is a cute YA Romance that has a great representation of Women in STEM. This book was a very cute read that had the enemies to lovers trope in it. Bel and Teo started as academic rivals and eventually get to know one another after working closely together. I loved how this book shows the struggles a woman in the STEM field faces. I also really enjoyed watching the character evolution of both characters. Bel learned how to stand up for herself and really work as a team while Teo was able to see the many obstacles his female teammates faced in the STEM field. Thank you to NetGalley, Holiday House and Alexene for this arc !!

Thank you so much Net Galley for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars.

My Mechanical Romance is a romance, ya book about two STEM student named Bel who is trying to look and find herself in the said course which is a male dominant field, and Teo who is a smart, athlete, rich kid who loves being in a robotics team.

This book is surprisingly good! Oh my gosh! I love the writing! Though I do feel like that the pacing is too slow but it was good and fun to read. There are moments where I laugh at some chapters, I was truly immersed with the story.

I love how natural the conversations are between characters and I also love that there’s two point of view here which we get to see both the pov of Teo and Bel. I also can’t believe that the character, Bel, is half Filipino! Ahh! As a Filipino, I am so so happy to read this and I love how accurate the description made for her and her family. I also love how the author uses our local language. This is just so good! Especially during the time I reached probably half of the book, I can’t stop reading it! I think the chemistry between Bel and Teo is so strong and I love that Neelam was able to shine in the book at the end because I just thought that she’s just going to be just some prop for the story to be better. I also love how the relationship of Teo and Bel grows in this story. I think it was natural and sweet. I really love how it ended as well!

I am definitely recommending this one! This is probably one of my favorites now! If you want a sweet and entertaining YA read, this book is for you!

I really really adored this book! It's definitely one of my favourite romances now I'm obsessed with it and everything about it!! I highly recommend reading it

4.25 stars ☆ An academic rivals to lovers and in STEM?! YES PLEASEEE.

I’m not gonna lie, I did struggle reading this book at the beginning because this story didn’t click or catch my interest that quick which made me put it off for a while (idk is it because I’m not used to reading YA romances that often) buttt when I did picked up again around 40%, the book was getting so freaking good.

I did enjoy reading this even though I’m not into or relate to STEM but this book made me feel like I’m a part of their robotics skills and it made me feel lowkey smart lmaooo. I also loved the diversity here.

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 for me was totally relatable. Oooh and the fact that she’s half filipino?! ahhh I was so happy that I can relate to her. My fellow filipino <3 (I also love her mom speaks a few tagalog words in the book which made me smile)

Teo, he doesn’t really interest me from the first half of the book but the second half?? he’s actually so sweet and I was just in love 🥹🫶🏻. He’s amazing.

Overall, this book was a perfect, fun and lovely read. Thank you to NetGalley, Holiday House and Alexene for this arc !! 🫶🏻

Overall : 5/5 Stars
Characters : 5/5
Setting : 5/5
Writing : 5/5
Plot and Themes : 5/5

Being a huge fan of the author's previous works under her adult pen name (aka Olivie Blake), I HAD to check out her newest release, and I have to say that it's been a long time since I enjoyed a YA book that much. And how could I not ? Alexene's writing has always been appealing to me, and how she manages to build her stories never fazes yo amaze me.

"My Mechanical Romance" is a cute academic romance, about hot nerds, finding your talent, and figuring your life out. Oh and did I mention it has an enemies to lovers trope ? Well it is extremely well done, it was everything I was looking for in a YA romcom. Our female lead, Bel is energetic, compassionate, and resourceful and she manages perfectly to dive into this STEM male dominated world that she is thrown in - where she meets Mateo (her soon to be rival). He is an interesting lead as well, driven, ambitious and so endearing. Their dynamic together was so good, there was never a dull moment and their character development throughout the book was amazingly done.

Not to mention that it has a diverse cast of characters and besides its lighthearted, romantic aspect, its funny moments, this novel approached so many serious issues, making me relate to it (being a woman in STEM myself) and loving it every pages a little more. It was a pleasure to read it and discover our characters's emotional and physical journey.
A guilty pleasure of mine which made me enjoy it even more : the Taylor Swift references ;)

Overall, as expect Alexene didn't disappoint at all. She delivered the perfect rivals to lovers in engineering novel I was looking for, and didn't knew I needed and I will definitely reread. I suggest you all to secure a copy on may 31st.

Was this book super cute and maybe a little cheesy? yes. did i absolutely love it? also yes. I loved the plot and how fast paced this book was! I also really liked the main character and related to her a lot. Bel has such a unique and exciting personality and I felt like I didn’t know what she was gonna do next! And Teo Luna is definitely the super cute high school bf that I fall absolutely head over heels for in books.
Something about this book that I loved is the amount of depth each character has so we weren’t just reading about the same two people but you learn about the other people who are influencing their lives. Which most romcoms don’t have this many interesting characters.
I loved the plot, and although I’ve never taken any stem classes or know anything about robots it was easy to follow and very fun! And I like that the author had female and racial representation in the book which made it all the better!
An easy quick read and would highly recommend:)

Thank you NetGalley and Holiday House for this E-ARC in exchange for a honest review!

For someone who absolutely hates science, this book was AMAZING!! This academic rivals to lovers in STEM was so cute!

The characters are FILLED with personality, which I think is what made me drawn to this book. Bel’s POV was full of energy and compassion. Teo was made out to be not to perfect, even though most of the characters believed he was perfect. Most of the friendship dynamic was written well, even though my least favorite character was Neelam, especially in the beginning of this book. I gained a little bit of respect for her at the end of the book.

The amount of details that the author wrote about robotics made me feel like I was learning robotics but in a fun kind of way.

This book is not only about robotics and love, but it’s about finding out what you want, what you are good at, and how much you love what you do.

I had such an awesome time while reading this book! I have discovered a love for these kinds of clean and witty rom-coms and this one was by far the best yet. It never failed to bring a smile to my face but I also appreciated how raw it remained at times which is a hard thing to balance but it worked out so well here! The characters were so relatable and funny and I think that the dual view point narrative worked really well for the MC’s. I was here for the diversity of the cast as well which I though was awesome! What I liked about Bel was how confident she was in her individuality. I bet the author had a lot of fun thinking up her different outfits and it was really cool to see Bel not dress for anyone but herself. I also thought that the resolution of her college dilemma fit perfectly with her character and it did a great job of tying up the book.

I could also identify a lot with Teo’s character and how he felt responsible for the success of his team which caused the team to lean on him too hard at times and the freedom which he found in relinquishing that responsibility to those he trusted. Bottom line, both characters underwent positive changes that, in no way left them perfect, but in a much different and better place than they’d started which is always fun to reflect on as a reader! One cool thing I discovered while reading this book is that the author also writes under the pen name Olivie Blake whose books are blowing up on Tiktok and other platforms right now! I’m not really interested in the books she writes under that name but it was pretty neat to discover that they are one and the same person.

Overall, this book was so fun and refreshing and just the pick-me-up I needed. I am so happy to have discovered a new favorite in this one and would highly recommend grabbing a copy when it's released! Happy Reading :)

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the eARC in exchange of an honest review.
It is 4.5 ⭐ actually.

“What he and I have together is the best thing we’ve ever built.”

>What’s this about?<
Bel has no interest in thinking about her future. But that might change when she reveals her talent for engineering at her new school. She never thought girls could be in a robotic team, but there she is now, being one of the two women in the team.

The bad thing? Boys think the best thing is just ignoring Bel and Neelam because they are not good assets for the team. But Teo Luna, team’s captain, recognizes Bel has a lot of potential. After nights of hard work, Bel is starting to care more about robotic. And even more about Teo.
They realize that they are not building just robots, but maybe something bigger.

>What do I think about it?<
The title and the cover caught my eye right away. I knew I was going to like it. But I didn’t like it, I LOVED IT. The representation of women in STEM should be the main topic for more novels.

This is not a simple romance novel. Is a novel about how hard is being 18 and having so many doubts about: Where do you see yourself in the future? Are you good at this? Should you study that?
Having eighteen is the worst, and Bel and Teo represented that very well. Bel had so many doubts about college. On the other hand, Teo knew exactly what he wanted for his future. They are the representation of how a choice can change your entire life.

The relationship between them is the cutest thing. I thought it was an enemies-to-lovers but is more a colleagues-to-lovers. I have no complaints with them. Teo was so thoughtful as a boyfriend and as a leader. And Bel was so self-confident determined to discover what was best for her future.

I felt really identified with them. I was like Teo when I was eighteen, the leader that always had lots of work just to have the perfect grades. But, I also was like Bel, I lost a great scholarship just for not being complete aware of what I wanted for my future.

My highlight is the epilogue. It was just perfect.

So, why do I recommend it? Because it is perfect for those that are about to go to college and for those women that think that they can’t be scientists.

From Bel I learned that the college doesn’t define the person, you have to build your own future. From Teo I learned that sometimes you just have to let other to do your work. And from The Girls I learned that both men and women are capable to do the same things, like building robots or being presidents.

I want to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book before its release.

Rating:
5/5 stars

Tropes:
-Academic Rivals/ Enemies to lovers
- Grumpy/Sunshine
- Found Family
-WOC in stem

Favorite Quote: "Because she surprise me, because she makes me laugh, and because of this, whatever it is with her, is the only thing I ever do that's easy. "

I started this book with low expectations and did not think I would enjoy it as much as I did! Bel and Teo's relationship was downright wholesome. Their interactions made my heart want to combust due to all the feels and their back and fourth banter made me laugh. I liked that the story showed both characters developing individually while, also growing together from a relationship standpoint. We see Bel transitioning from a girl who feels a bit lost when it comes to navigating her future to finally gaining the confidence to "take up her space in life". Teo on the other hand feels he has to fix everyone's problem in life to slowly learning that is not always the case.

In addition, I also liked how this book did not only focus on the romance in story but, a variety of different issues as well. This book showcased the struggles women face when it comes to choosing a STEM career to the struggles of finding your passions in life. Overall, I definitely recommend this book! I can definitely see myself rereading this book and will spend the next month forcing all my friends to read it once it comes out.

This was a joy to read! I loved every minute I spent reading this.

This story follows Bel, a transfer student who is not sure what she wants to do with her life, and Teo, smart and mysterious bad boy type who has his whole life planned out. On a teachers recommendation. Bel joins the robotics team with Teo and a bunch of other amazing characters (Shoutout to Dash <3 ) Teo and Bel start out the story butting heads but when they spend some time together, they start to see the best parts of each other.

This book was so incredibly cute! I do not have a background or understanding of the engineering topics in this book but it didn't take away from my enjoyment. I loved seeing girls in STEM and the STEM aspect of the book was pushed to the background, it was a very important and present theme in the book. I can't wait to see what my friends think of this one when it comes out later this year.