A review by onthesamepage
My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth

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. 
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