Scan barcode
A review by rachelkay1821
The Trouble with Robots by Michelle Mohrweis
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher Peachtree, and the author Michelle Mohrweis for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!
The Trouble with Robots was a delightful debut that I enjoyed way more than I expected! The book follows 8th graders Evelyn and Allie through chapters with alternating perspectives, two girls that could not be more different yet connect through their robotics class. Evelyn is autistic and loves robotics more than anything, but she faces challenges as the Team Lead with being too controlling. On the other hand, Allie has no interest in robotics but has to join the class if she wants to stay at her school. Throughout the novel, readers see both sides of the girls' stories and learn more about them as individuals and eventually friends while they work together to lead their robotics team to an important tournament.
I am hesitant about STEM/STEAM novels because it is not a personal interest of mine, and I feel that there is an oversaturation of anything related to these topics in the market. However, this one definitely stood out to me and had me hooked from the start. The characters are all engaging, and I liked that the alternating perspectives included someone who was not "all in" to robotics at first. Any reader, whether it be someone picking it up for the subject matter or someone just curious, will be able to relate to different aspects of the story. I genuinely found myself rooting for their team throughout and would love to see future stories that focused more on some of the side characters. There is SO much diversity throughout, with loads of LGBTQ+ rep (including aro/ace and nonbinary rep, which was AMAZING to see in a middle grade!!), as well as ethnic and cultural diversity. I also appreciated the representation of a character with autism and other major discussions of grief and mental health. Everything was handled in a way that is approachable and appealing for younger readers. I do feel that the girls' voices were not always distinct, and I would have liked to see some visual elements in Allie's chapters, since that was a big part of the storyline. Although not the most lifechanging book I've ever read, I think this has potential to be very popular with the middle grade crowd, due to the anime-style cover, diverse characters, and STEAM subject matter. I am curious to see if this becomes a series, and I look forward to future works by Mohrweis!
The Trouble with Robots was a delightful debut that I enjoyed way more than I expected! The book follows 8th graders Evelyn and Allie through chapters with alternating perspectives, two girls that could not be more different yet connect through their robotics class. Evelyn is autistic and loves robotics more than anything, but she faces challenges as the Team Lead with being too controlling. On the other hand, Allie has no interest in robotics but has to join the class if she wants to stay at her school. Throughout the novel, readers see both sides of the girls' stories and learn more about them as individuals and eventually friends while they work together to lead their robotics team to an important tournament.
I am hesitant about STEM/STEAM novels because it is not a personal interest of mine, and I feel that there is an oversaturation of anything related to these topics in the market. However, this one definitely stood out to me and had me hooked from the start. The characters are all engaging, and I liked that the alternating perspectives included someone who was not "all in" to robotics at first. Any reader, whether it be someone picking it up for the subject matter or someone just curious, will be able to relate to different aspects of the story. I genuinely found myself rooting for their team throughout and would love to see future stories that focused more on some of the side characters. There is SO much diversity throughout, with loads of LGBTQ+ rep (including aro/ace and nonbinary rep, which was AMAZING to see in a middle grade!!), as well as ethnic and cultural diversity. I also appreciated the representation of a character with autism and other major discussions of grief and mental health. Everything was handled in a way that is approachable and appealing for younger readers. I do feel that the girls' voices were not always distinct, and I would have liked to see some visual elements in Allie's chapters, since that was a big part of the storyline. Although not the most lifechanging book I've ever read, I think this has potential to be very popular with the middle grade crowd, due to the anime-style cover, diverse characters, and STEAM subject matter. I am curious to see if this becomes a series, and I look forward to future works by Mohrweis!