My Mechanical Romance

Written by Alexene Farol Follmuth

Narrated by Amielynn Abellera and Christopher Salazar

Bel would rather die than think about the future. College apps? You’re funny. Extracurriculars? Not a chance. But when she accidentally reveals a talent for engineering at school, she’s basically forced into joining the robotics club. Even
worse? All the boys ignore Bel—and Neelam, the only other girl on the team, doesn’t seem to like her either.

Enter Mateo Luna, captain of the club, who recognizes Bel as a potential asset—until they start butting heads. Bel doesn’t care about Nationals, while Teo cares too much. But as the nights of after-school work grow longer and longer, Bel and
Teo realize they’ve built more than just a combat-ready robot for the championship: they’ve made space for each other and themselves.

Sharply funny with a slow-burn, all-the-feels romance, Alexene Farol Follmuth’s My Mechanical Romance explores both the challenges girls of color face in STEM and the vulnerability of first love with unfailing wit and honesty.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781705065969

Alexene Farol Follmuth

Alexene Farol Follmuth is a first-generation American, a romance enthusiast, and a lover and writer of stories. Alexene has penned a number of adult SFF projects under the name Olivie Blake, including the webtoon Clara and the Devil and the BookTok-viral The Atlas Six. My Mechanical Romance is her YA debut. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, baby, and rescue pit bull.

Reviews for My Mechanical Romance

[Andrea Author · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

High school senior Bel is a natural engineer who doesn't understand how talented she is. She's afraid of success and afraid of failure, so she feels most comfortable acting as if she doesn't care about academics. After a teacher convinces her to join the robotics club, she gets to know Teo. He's the perfectionist son of a tech billionaire, and way too serious about school. Bel and Teo start out as rivals, but over time, she helps him relax, while he helps her believe in herself.

I loved the diversity in this book and the girls-in-STEM representation. Bel and Teo were well-developed, plus the writing and story were good. It seemed a little light on emotion, but the romantic attraction was well done.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[sennebec · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A fine blend of romance, coming of age, and the challenges teen girls face when they have a passion or aptitude for something STEM related. All the characters are well portrayed and even Neelam is a sympathetic one despite her being cold and rude toward Bel for most of the story. It's a book worthy of a place on most library shelves.

[rute22-454415 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the e-ARC.I've been reading Alexene (AKA Olivie Blake) work since she self-published Masters of Death. Her fairy tale collection is amazing and once more she didn't disappoint with this really cute YA.This story happens during the senior year in high school of our main characters and all the things that come with being a senior and having to apply for college with no idea of what it is that one wants to do in adulthood. I wouldn't say it falls into the enemies-to-lovers trope, because they did not seem like enemies in the first place, but it is a nice way to show how young adults can fall in love.I find the story well paced and the characters are definitely relatable and having two points of view made it even more relatable. I really liked the strong female characters, that are both Bel and Neelam specially for having such different personalities.Also, "nerds are hot" and the ones who can build robots, even more xD