Olivie Blake, or in this case, Alexene Farol Follmuth, is quickly becoming a favourite author of mine. I absolutely LOVE The Atlas Six series (you can read my review here) so, I was very excited to read her other novels. My Mechanical Romance, is her debut YA Contemporary-Romance novel that was published back in 2022 (note that her other novels are adult novels NOT young adult), and here is my review:
The world is not very helpful to a smart girl. More often it will try to force you inside a box. But I urge you not to listen.
My Mechanical Romance
Yup, this is a library book. Remember to support your local library. Libraries and librarians are magical.
This novel follows Bel and Teo. Bel is not ready to deal with the future, she has no idea which college she wants to go to or what she wants to do when she is older.
But, when she accidentally reveals a talent for engineering, she is thrown into the robotics club where she's essentially ignored.
The captain of the robotics club, Teo, recognises Bel's talent and knowledge and thinks she's the key to the club's success. However, they don't get along at all. Bel couldn't care less about the robotics club and Teo cares too much about the club. But after spending so much time together building a battle-ready mini-robot, they realise just how good of a team they are and that more girls in STEM will benefit everyone in the end.
Okay so, hear me out: I don't hate this novel but I don't love it either. This is one of those novels that I feel neutral about.
This novel has a lot of positives: we have a WOC main character, an exploration of what it's like being a woman in STEM AND the sexism faced by women in STEM. These general themes and plot points of this novel I love! And I do appreciate the representation of women in STEM because let's face it, it's hard being a woman in STEM, a lot of changes need to take place and we definitely need more women to get into STEM to help these changes happen. So, I have no issues with these points.
Also, there is a lot of diversity in this novel! The main characters are both bi-racial and there is also a lot of Indian characters and representation (they celebrate Holi together!!). So, I LOVE the diversity.
The reason why I feel neutral about this novel is because of the writing style and banter in the novel. The writing style is very different from Olivie/Alexene's adult novels (which I prefer), which is understandable since it is for a different age group. Unfortunately for me, it does mean that I didn't engage with this novel as much as I would have liked to. Also, some of the banter and dialogue between characters felt flat and uncomfortable. I'm probably being a bit too picky on this point but I just wanted to bring this up.
Overall, this novel is still enjoyable. It's not for my age group but I think teenagers would enjoy reading this novel. Thanks for reading my review and I hope you have a lovely day.
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