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A review by little2wing7
My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
4.5
i loved this!!! it's my first YA novel in probably a decade and i'm so glad i picked it up
1. the writing! i loved that there were distinct voices for bel and teo that matched their character. that sounds stupid to say but you'd be surprised to hear about the disconnect between character and narration in many books, even in first person POVs. i loved that bel was so witty and funny.
2. i always love it when authors portray just how progressive teens can be these days. it's just also bleak how they've had to "grow up mentally" in that way and feel the stress of the world at an early age because the crisis is only worsening and the contradictions between powers sharpening.
3. i can't deny that i relate to the characters' language more because i'm also gen z albeit older (27 in 2025) but i loved that dash of familiarity and what is basically realism for me.
4. also i've been reading romance novels for a while now and it wasn't until this book that i realized that many millennial authors of contemporary romance don't really care enough to connect the language to their characters, like a millennial author will write a 24-year-old in 2025 and make her talk like she grew up in the 90s. it's just hard to suspend my disbelief sometimes. "i was born in the wrong generation" can only go so far. so i appreciate alexene farrol follmunth's dedication to accuracy.
5. i also can't suspend my disbelief sometimes when CR authors leave out the prevalence of social media in daily life. this book does it so well, but others not so much. like people have ended friendships over LIKES. you can't just make every character go "oh, i'm just not into social media.
6. as a filipino, thank you. i'm not fil-am, but i got excited when it was revealed that bel was filipino. there wasn't much portrayal of culture and i thought the lumpia was overkill (i might be biased because lumpia is hit or miss for me lol), but i always love a good filipino FMC. surprisingly romance authors don't write us as main characters enough, probably because most romance authors are white women. i get the hesitation to write outside your culture.
7. love a good filipino-latino couple!!! culture cousins. it was funny when teo made the sign of the cross without a second thought and bel being surprised about it.
8. maybe i'm just jaded, but it was a little hard to believe they stayed together in those 2 years, but i guess teo is just one of those rare men.
9. i truly missed the brightness of first love and a good YA novel
10. narrators did so well, loved their performance. they really captured the "teen voice."
11. i hope young girls who read this learn to take up the space they deserve :)
1. the writing! i loved that there were distinct voices for bel and teo that matched their character. that sounds stupid to say but you'd be surprised to hear about the disconnect between character and narration in many books, even in first person POVs. i loved that bel was so witty and funny.
2. i always love it when authors portray just how progressive teens can be these days. it's just also bleak how they've had to "grow up mentally" in that way and feel the stress of the world at an early age because the crisis is only worsening and the contradictions between powers sharpening.
3. i can't deny that i relate to the characters' language more because i'm also gen z albeit older (27 in 2025) but i loved that dash of familiarity and what is basically realism for me.
4. also i've been reading romance novels for a while now and it wasn't until this book that i realized that many millennial authors of contemporary romance don't really care enough to connect the language to their characters, like a millennial author will write a 24-year-old in 2025 and make her talk like she grew up in the 90s. it's just hard to suspend my disbelief sometimes. "i was born in the wrong generation" can only go so far. so i appreciate alexene farrol follmunth's dedication to accuracy.
5. i also can't suspend my disbelief sometimes when CR authors leave out the prevalence of social media in daily life. this book does it so well, but others not so much. like people have ended friendships over LIKES. you can't just make every character go "oh, i'm just not into social media.
6. as a filipino, thank you. i'm not fil-am, but i got excited when it was revealed that bel was filipino. there wasn't much portrayal of culture and i thought the lumpia was overkill (i might be biased because lumpia is hit or miss for me lol), but i always love a good filipino FMC. surprisingly romance authors don't write us as main characters enough, probably because most romance authors are white women. i get the hesitation to write outside your culture.
7. love a good filipino-latino couple!!! culture cousins. it was funny when teo made the sign of the cross without a second thought and bel being surprised about it.
8. maybe i'm just jaded, but it was a little hard to believe they stayed together in those 2 years, but i guess teo is just one of those rare men.
9. i truly missed the brightness of first love and a good YA novel
10. narrators did so well, loved their performance. they really captured the "teen voice."
11. i hope young girls who read this learn to take up the space they deserve :)