Reviews with content warning for Classism - My Mechanical Romance

Reviews tagging 'Classism'

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth

16 reviews

roshanreads's review

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House Books for the eARC!

If there’s one book you should read this year, this is it. I love this book. It’s definitely one of my favourites this year, possibly ever. My Mechanical Romance has everything I possibly could have wanted in a book; dual POV, girls in STEM, a diverse cast, and characters that fail sometimes, and quite badly. Once I picked this book up, I could barely put it down. Obviously, it was a five-star read without hesitation, and that’s a rating I don’t usually give to romance novels.

My Mechanical Romance is the story of Bel Maier as her talents for robotics and doing her homework the day it's due lands her in an advanced physics class and gets her a place on the school robotics team. She’s not particularly happy with either of those events, which is understandable considering the less than warm reception from some of the other robotics team members. However, over the course of the book, she finds her place and her natural talents begin to shine as the team prepares for the biggest robotics competition of the year.

I have so many good things to say about this book that I almost don’t know where to start, but that doesn’t help convince people that they should read the book (you really should, by the way). I loved this book so much I basically forgot to make notes because I was so focused on finding out what was on the next page and what was going to happen.

Bel and Teo are so cute. I love how they worked together as rivals and when they didn’t see eye to eye, and then still competed with each other after they were together. They talked to each other about the problems they were having, and they worked so well as a team! Also, how could I not ship them after reading the line ‘Because wherever I am, I want her close by’? It would be literally impossible. Spoiler time, even when they broke up, they still cared about each other and believed in each other.

Now, time for even more spoilers because I want to talk about everything that happened in this book to whoever will listen.

The problems the characters face in this book seem so real. Neelam talking about how women in STEM aren’t taken seriously and have to work so much harder to prove themselves made me tear up a little bit more than I want to admit, and Neelam and Bel crushing Richardson and his bot after the comments he made was phenomenal. I’m so glad Neelam and Bel became friends towards the end of the book after their rocky beginning.

Even the breakup felt realistic. The pressure on Bel to get into MIT was building, from Teo telling his father about Bel getting in, to Neelam telling her that she shouldn’t expect to get in just because she can build a good robot. There was even a conversation about how incredibly hard it is to get into a super prestigious college if you don’t have the right start in life, and how unfair it is to expect people to compete with someone with all the benefits in the world.

I love how Bel goes from having, like, zero goals beyond high school and avoids doing homework and assignments until the last possible minute, only to win a robotics competition and have a college seek her out specifically because she’s so good at what she does. I love that Bel didn’t get into MIT when she applied with Teo, and I love that her plans didn’t work out exactly as she wanted them to. Despite the fact that I was devastated for Bel, it was a nice reminder that happy endings don’t need to be exactly as you envision them. </spoiler?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, read this book. You won’t regret it at all. This book alone makes me want to auto-buy anything and everything Alexene Farol Follmuth writes. I gave it a five-star rating, and it’s the reason I made a 2022 Favourite Books list. Read My Mechanical Romance.

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solouncapitulomas's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"Sometimes I think I'd rather be forty and wondering where my life went instead of seventeen and relentlessly hounded about my future."

This is one of my favorite authors so you can imagine how I felt when I got approved by Net Galley for the arc I LITERALLY SCREAMED and decided to drop my cr (sorry Jane Eyre, I'll be back now) and pick up this one (which I read in one sitting, y'all)

My Mechanical Romance tells us the story of Bel and Teo, opposites in every sense but complementary (btw they are ACADEMIC RIVALS, I will say no more about that; but if you know you know) I was laughing the whole time reading this and even tho it is a funny and entertaining read it also goes into some topics that should be ALWAYS discussed, like misogyny in STEM and the effects of divorce on children, how parents can make their kids (even if they are not kids) take sides and the toxicity of it all. Oh and btw, it is dual pov, DUAL POV.

Bel is such an amazing characters and so it's Mateo but we also get amazing secondary characters (including a girl that I could only define as Paris Geller from Gilmore Girls, she is the kind of "mean girl" you cannot help but love and truly enjoy, the embodiment of female rage) also I really loved Dash, he is hilarious and such a great friend and Jamie is basically how I wanted to be when I grew up.

I think Alexene does a great job of showing us how the stress of "figuring out the future" can drive one crazy, it is ACTUALLY realistic and the fact that we get Taylor Swift reference and Lizzo like c'mon THIS IS GREAT CONTENT (the girls that get it, get it) I will read everything this author publishes, truly. EVEN A COOKING BOOK.

I'm glad that we truly get to see the depth of the characters, not just a superficial conflict but we say their day to day struggles and become a part of it with them.

I hope this review was helpful and that y'all give it a read, it comes out this 31st of May and I am telling you it is a 100% worth the read.

Here are some quotes I really liked to see if I can convince you:

"And now I understand how Rome was able to distract everyone from destitution and starvation with gladiators. There's a real trill to carnage, even if it's just metal parts"

"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."

"Collect all the keys, pass Go" (reminded me of Alone With You in the Ether)

songs that I thought about while reading: Enchanted & The Man by Taylor Swift

PD: the chapters have TITLES, BRING BACK BOOKS WITH TITLED CHAPTERS

'kay, I'm out
Bye

Content Warnings

ashylibrarian's review

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funny inspiring lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

**Thank you to NetGalley, author Alexene Farol Follmuth, and Holiday House for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

My Mechanical Romance is a story that brings together family, friendship, women in STEAM, and learning how to explore the future without fear. Told through a dual perspective, readers are immersed in the senior year of Bel and Teo, along with their friends, as they navigate friendship, college applications, and budding romances.

Bel moved schools for her senior year and is not eager nor excited to be thinking about the future. AP courses? Only if she has to. Filling out college applications? Yeah right. Joining clubs? No thank you.

It is not until Bel's physics teacher, Ms. Voss, gives her the ultimatum of receiving a poor grade on a project that Bel neglected or moving up to AP physics and joining the robotics team that Bel realizes she might actually be able to enjoy her knack for building and tinkering as a future career. With the encouragement of Ms. Voss, Jamie (Bel's best friend), and Lora (Jamie's friend), Bel enters both AP physics and the robotics team…with a few reservations.

Robots, romance, regret, and restart. Those are the words I think of after reading My Mechanical Romance.

Much of this book is focused on young women in STEAM and the realities of having to fight for space in a male-dominated field. Author Alexene Farol Follmuth intertwines the intricacies of wanting to take up space in this field while also earning that space among other women.

At the beginning of the novel, Ms. Voss (an underrated character whom we need more of in the real world) tells Bel that she needs to be confident and bold. That she has the talent, smarts, and determination to succeed in what she wants but she needs to apply it. Ms. Voss tells Bel, "Take up your own space, Bel. Don't let other people tread over it." (29). Yes! We can use more characters who will encourage women, historically marginalized groups, minorities, and those less confident to - Take. Up. Their. Own. (Deserved.) Space. It takes Bel most of the novel, and a raw heart-to-heart with a teammate, to really take and truly understand this advice. But once she does, Bel’s character grows and expands in wonderful ways.

The female characters in this novel are all so independent of eachother and take up their own space in the storyline. This was really refreshing to read and made the underlying theme of empowerment naturally powerful. The relationship between Bel and Neelam was one of my favorites because they both had their minds set on accomplishing a similar task, however, they approached things differently. Neelam, through tough conversations, helped guide Bel to be a better version of what she (Bel) wanted.

I wanted to also touch on the fact that Teo’s character, though not my favorite young adult love interest, was a strong representation of what pressure, stress, and societal expecatations can do to young people. Multiple times throughout the novel, readers are reminded of everything Teo is expected to be - a leader in robotics, the team captain of the soccer team, the MIT early admittant, and a perfect, loyal son. These expectations were set forth on him by many adults, including his father and his teachers. Interestingly enough, however, it was his friends and peers who noted that he does not have to be perfect, he does not have to be the leader of everything, and he is allowed to take a break. Though I didn’t love the way Teo’s “break” was written into the story (without spoilers, it just felt a bit rushed and random, almost), I am glad it happened to show him that he can trust in others and doesn’t need to be at the center of everything all the time.

I really enjoyed the addition of the epilogue in this story and felt that it wrapped the robots and romance up nicely. I am happy I read this one and will keep it in mind for future recommendations.

Content Warnings

dlrosebyh's review against another edition

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funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Women in stem. Need I explain more?

Firstly, I’d like to thank NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of My Mechanical Romance in exchange of an honest review.

The cover was the first thing that drew me into this book. Then there's the synopsis. See, I'm not a big fan of science. Actually, if I'm being completely honest, I despise science, especially physics. That being stated, I was undecided about whether or not to request this book. At the end of the day, I was fortunate to pick this up.

Teo Luna and Bel Maier are two "nerds" who are compelled to work together in My Mechanical Romance. Teo has been the robotics club's captain for several years. He has a reputation for being serious, studious, and a nerd. Not just any nerd, but a really attractive one. Bel, on the other hand, is a new student who is working hard to maintain her GPA in preparation for her future.

This book covers misogyny, sexism, and racism all at the same time, which are important topics. To be honest, it's rare to come across a romance book that tackles these issues without relying on preconceptions, so kudos to Follmuth for that.

The romance in this novel made me laugh, cry, and scream all at the same time. To avoid spoilers, I'm not going to say much more— but academic rivals to lovers and forced proximity? Excellent tropes. Did I mention Teo memorized Taylor Swift's discography in order to make Bel laugh?

In terms of the characters, each one is relatable in their own manner. Bel is the character with whom I have the most in common. Her academic aspirations, her love for Taylor Swift, and her Filipino heritage? Yes, she is unquestionably one of the most relatable protagonist.

Overall, I love this book. Please don't mind if I start using it as my main personality right now.

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viillanelle's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

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marylinaris's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Brilliant title, gorgeous cover … and an authentic, inspiring STEM high school romance. This book really won the amazing-book-bingo!

We follow Bel, who has only recently changed schools and is pushed by her teacher to join the robotics team. Her parents are divorcing and we see how it impacts Bel and her relationship to her family. Bel feels a little aimless, like she hasn’t quite figured her life out just yet and is faced by all these big decisions a teenager has to make before graduating. She soon meets Teo, who is the captain of the robotics team. He takes things a little too serious and is overall just trying his best: pleasing his parents, as the captain to the robotics and the soccer team, in school and in trying to get into MIT.

Both of them were great characters with a lot of depth and interesting stories. Not quite knowing what you want to do in life and the (self-imposed) pressure to achieve success were to highly relatable storylines. I really liked how they were developed throughout the story, with Bel’s story being overall really refreshing and inspiring (it might feel like you’ve got to have it all figured out at eighteen but damn if you can’t change your path in life … and then change it again and again).

This book felt like deeply authentic to the teenage experience, the way the characters acted, their thoughts and struggles felt like being thrown back to my teenage self in the best of ways. This authenticity does not, however, make the book feel childish or unrelatable to older audiences.

Teo and Bel also had a very cute romance. This was also where the aforementioned teenage authenticity shines for me especially, they had all of the fast crush, complicated feelings and awkward dancing around each other teenage-vibes I feel like many of us experienced that age.

I loved the entirety of the plot centered around women/girls in STEM. It was subtle enough to not beat you over the head with the struggles and roadblocks women are facing when entering the field and the author also managed to weave characters coming to a position of understanding about this in a natural way. I liked that it was portrayed as a little messy and how the female characters as well need time and perspective to see the problems and find ways of dealing with them. (I loved loved loved Ms. Voss, the female teacher who pushed Bel to join the robotics team, and hope that every young girl finds her own Ms. Voss as a guiding adult in their life. We really need more teachers like her!)

I was provided an e-ARC by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

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