A review by ashylibrarian
My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth

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. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings