My Mechanical Romance

Books, Coffee & Passion
My Mechanical Romance was an entertaining, cute YA contemporary romance. Teo is a genius student, he's ambitious, and he has his entire life figured out. He also has a lot on his shoulders and he feels the pressure to be perfect in all the AP classes, soccer, etc. Bel is a quirky, sassy, genius girl who doesn't know what she's going to do with her life. She worries a lot about everything that's going on in her life, but she avoids making options. She thinks she's still too young to have it all figured out and she's struggling with her parents' divorce. Besides all of that, she hasn't really found her passion which makes her even more hesitant about college applications.

The beginning of the story wasn't the best. Teo was annoying and aloof and Bel seemed so passive and their interactions didn't make much sense at first. I don't think the rivals aspect of this story was done very well. I struggled a little with the pacing too. BUT then things started picking up and I started rooting for these characters.

I enjoyed most of the themes in the story, the differences between Teo's family (parents still married but too busy to be present in his daily life) and Bel's family (divorced parents that wanted to be present in her life) and how both of them navigated their feelings towards their families was super interesting. I also loved the discussions surrounding the fact that teenagers need to have everything figured out while they're so young and still in high school. Another aspect I really appreciated was the discussions about the discrimination girls face every day in STEM, especially WOC.

The secondary characters were interesting too, I loved Dash and Jamie and their friendships. Teo and Bel's relationship was great too (after a rocky start), I loved how their friendship evolved during the long discussions regarding the robots they were building. The way they opened up to each other was beautifully written.

Bel's character growth was amazing, it was great to see her find her passion and slowly become more confident in her intellectual worth. Teo played a huge part in this. That being said, I think Teo's character growth was less developed than Bel's. He had a few moments, towards the end when he understood certain things about himself, his father, and his behavior with Neelam but it felt somewhat flat and rushed. Also, Neelam was a tough character to like. As a female member of the robotics club, she was treated poorly by her male teacher and her male teammates. I was upset about that most of the book, which means this was done really well, and I wanted to like her but how she treated Bel during 90% of the story bothered me a lot. I totally understood why she wasn't exactly welcoming Bel into the club at first, I just don't think it made sense to drag that animosity that long.

Overall, a great YA debut. I enjoyed the diversity, the important topics discussed in the story, the character growth, and the romance between the MCs. On the other hand, the pacing wasn't the best and I think Teo's relationship with his parents could've been explored a little more. I loved the empowering message and the acceptance that it's okay to not have everything figured out at 17 or 18. I think this book will stay with me for a while.

Thanks to Holiday House for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.