Scan barcode
A review by whatjasread
My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
2/5
I will preface this by saying I'm not a young adult, so definitely didn't expect to love this, but I had gone into it thinking it'd be... better. Considering we've seen what Follmuth can do in The Atlas Six (Olivie Blake being her pseudonym for adult works), this reads very much as an amateur piece of work, but that could just be me. I think the premise and the overarching message of the book are great - we always need more women in STEM, bonus points from me if there's a romance involved - but the execution was very far off the mark.
I didn't like any of the characters - Neelam was just plain annoying and I don't like a women v women story arc; Bel grated on me with her constant umm-ing and ahh-ing, and I think the quirkiness just wasn't for me; Teo was an asshole and nothing could've redeemed him for me.
The book touches on themes such as divorce and figuring out family dynamics thereafter, and it was those elements that really heightened the experience for me. But the romance lacked any kind of chemistry for me and I just wasn't convinced by the book at all, unfortunately.
TWs: divorce, alcohol consumption (underage), reference to sexual content, adultery (before book)
Tropes/rep/themes: filipino-american fmc, latino american jewish mmc, women in stem, enemies to lovers, found family
I will preface this by saying I'm not a young adult, so definitely didn't expect to love this, but I had gone into it thinking it'd be... better. Considering we've seen what Follmuth can do in The Atlas Six (Olivie Blake being her pseudonym for adult works), this reads very much as an amateur piece of work, but that could just be me. I think the premise and the overarching message of the book are great - we always need more women in STEM, bonus points from me if there's a romance involved - but the execution was very far off the mark.
I didn't like any of the characters - Neelam was just plain annoying and I don't like a women v women story arc; Bel grated on me with her constant umm-ing and ahh-ing, and I think the quirkiness just wasn't for me; Teo was an asshole and nothing could've redeemed him for me.
The book touches on themes such as divorce and figuring out family dynamics thereafter, and it was those elements that really heightened the experience for me. But the romance lacked any kind of chemistry for me and I just wasn't convinced by the book at all, unfortunately.
TWs: divorce, alcohol consumption (underage), reference to sexual content, adultery (before book)
Tropes/rep/themes: filipino-american fmc, latino american jewish mmc, women in stem, enemies to lovers, found family
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Alcohol and Sexual content