Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - My Mechanical Romance

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth

42 reviews

bookishlucy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense 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

4.5

Content Warnings

helvars's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.5

Content Warnings

sweetsxrrxw's review

Go to review page

funny hopeful 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

4.0

the main reason why i picked up this book is because it was one of the shortest in my tbr. it took me about 4 days to finish it, not gonna lie, but still it was a nice read.

overall the book was really sweet. i felt like the main characters (even some of the side ones) were well-built and three-dimensional. like, i don't know, it was easy to understand them and see where they were coming from. (this is dedicated to kai, i dont care if they portrayed him as someone who was constantly panicking or stressing about stuff, he is so me)

both teo and bel were really relatable characters. i could totally understand bel's struggle of not knowing what to do with her future and never really having anything planned. i would be totally lying if i said i stopped being like her. i do not have a filipino mom, divorced parents or an older brother who i should look up and, what the hell, im not even a stem girlie, but it was super easy to understand bel.

btw, i loved the fact that she ended up not attending mit. it was a nice way to prove that, even if your plans fail, you can still succeed and/or be happy with your path.

and what can i say about teo? a character who feels the need to fix everything and not ever letting anyone down? someone who believes people will stop loving them if he stops being perfect? HE IS SO ME. and if we take into account the love for his girlfriend and how he would do anything to spend time with her or see her smile, he just turns out to be one of those characters you can't help but love.

however, even though i know this was a short romance novel and that she lowkey did so, i am kind of disappointed that the author didn't deepen more in that topic. but i guess we can forgive that because of the sick confession!

but it has to be said that the romance plotline was a bit fast-paced and partly ofr-screen. i can understand why, though. i believe that since this is a book focusing on women on stem, it had to show the struggles they face.

one detail i really loved is how neelam, the character who had probably faced more of that sexism (mixed with racism because, yeah, it happens) never really changed her personality. although she becomes friends with bel once she understands why neelam acts the way she does, by the end of the book neelam hasnt been sugarcoated or anything and is still true to herself. AND OF COURSE, i was super happy when bel let neelam be the driver. i truly did not think about that option for a few pages, but it was nice to see a female friendship boooming

so, yeah, i am not sure if this is one of the best romance books i've ever read or whatever but it was truly nice to read; it was cute, funny, empowering and inspiring... each thing at the right time. and the diverse cast of characters is definitely a big plus so i would truly recommend this if you're in the mood for a stem-themed ya romance <3

ps: when i added this book to my tbr i had absolutely no idea it was from the author of the atlas six. i guess this counts as my first olivie blake book, lmao.

Content Warnings

puddleshoes's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Content Warnings

annikaa's review

Go to review page

adventurous inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Content Warnings

lottsofplots's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful 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

3.75

Content Warnings

onthesamepage's review

Go to review page

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Books with women in STEM always draw me in because I'm part of that group, and it's rare to see that represented in fiction. On that level, this was a very satisfying read. I really enjoyed all the focus on building robots for competitions, because I am a nerd and I like reading about other nerds doing nerdy things. It helps that I liked the characters as well. Bel has a real talent for engineering, even though she doesn't see it that way. She is encouraged to try out for the robotics club by one of her teachers, and I actually really liked the dynamic between them. Bel finds herself turning to Ms. Voss more than once when she has doubts or needs advice, and I liked that the author gave that relationship room to breathe within the story.

Teo is a natural leader, to the point where everyone seems to be completely dependent on him. But he doesn't deal well with criticism, and faces a lot of pressure from his father, who expects him to devote all of his time to becoming the best at everything. Of course, Bel throws a wrench into his plans by pointing out flaws in his design, which forces Teo to come to terms with some of his more problematic behavior, including how he dismisses Neelam, the only other female member of the robotics team.

“Do you think anyone has ever asked Ravi if he needs his numbers checked?” she hisses to me. “Or Teo?”
“I have literally no idea,” I grumble, stung, though even when I say it, I know I’m lying.

The misogyny within STEM is a pretty big theme within the book. From the way other robotics teams talk to Bel and Neelam when they compete, to the dismissive attitude of their own team and the way the team's mentor, Mac, easily sidelines them, it paints a pretty frustrating picture of what STEM can be like for someone who doesn't identify as male. I actually really felt for Neelam; she's less likeable than Bel, and because of that her talent gets consistently overlooked just because she refuses to play nice.

“If you really want to be an engineer, then get ready,” she says with a glare at me. “Get ready to hear no. Get ready to hear you can’t. Get ready for I just don’t like her or she’s not likable. Sure, you’re lucky, you’re pretty and bubbly and people like you,” she adds with another look of annoyance, “but you’re even worse off than I am for that, because they won’t take you seriously. This team? This team only takes you seriously because Teo Luna did, and lucky you.” She practically spits it at me. “Lucky you, because he doesn’t take me seriously, and thanks to him nobody on our team ever will.”

The relationship between Teo and Bel develops at a pretty good pace. Their interactions and inside jokes are cute, and I even thought the third act conflict was reasonable considering their situations. I do think I was just missing a bit of that swooning that I want to feel when I read a romance. I also think that Bel had a much better growth arc than Teo—by the end, she really learned something about herself as a person, and made choices that both reflected that new insight and even pushed it further. Teo, on the other hand, was forced out of his comfort zone by something out of his control. He doesn't actually make a choice to rely on his team instead of doing everything himself. He also doesn't deal with his relationship with his father, even though we've seen the impact it has on him and on Bel. It's just never spoken of again.

I did like the way this ended, although I wish the epilogue had been a bit longer and less open to interpretation, because Bel would totally win in a robot fight and we all know it.

Content Warnings