I though that this was going to be academic rivals and enemies to friends to lovers but it was more like i dislike you for a stupid reason to im annoyed that you are smarter then me to sorta friends to ohhh i like him to lovers. But as the nights of after–schoolwork grows longer, Bel and Teo realise they've made more than just a combat–ready robot for the championship: they’ve made a connection themselves. There is a big, bold message that women have a place in STEM and its done in a really lovely and empowering way. Creating a book where this is well represented while having room for the reader to recognize subtle sexism made it such a powerful message. So, I'm not that into robotics and engineering and all that stuff, so during the inventing parts I was kind of skimming, because I didn't really understand, and so I did miss out on a few pieces of information, so learn from me: TRY NOT TO SKIM.

Overall, this was such a lovely book with lots of important topics, mostly concerning college and leaving high school, which should be represented more.

While she was yelling at me her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were wide and she was like, actually alive, which is the version of her I find way more interesting than this one.

Like, both are great, and you can’t really have a non-supportive friendship, but you don’t HAVE to be friends with someone to support them. While I do not want to go into such a science-specific field as most of the characters, I love seeing women in STEM be represented in all books as I will be going for the same. The romance was very sweet and cute, and I liked how the final conflict between them was negotiated. All the boys ignore Bel—and Neelam, the only other girl on the team, doesn't seem to like her either.this was a bit of a slow burn and it was like with every interaction I was waiting with anticipation until they got together. It all seemed so unnecessary as the sex didn’t drive the plot forward and the teen drinking was portrayed in a relatively positive light. They were academic rivals turned friends to lovers and it was so cute to watch them help each other in robot building while also falling for each other. Obviously it’s great when marginalised people can support each other but the automatic assumption that people marginalised within their context are obligated to be instant best buds is … kinda messed up. My Mechanical Romance shines a light on the struggles bright young girls face in STEM fields, and combines it with an adorable romance that will leave you warm and smiling long after the last page.

The audiobook is enjoyable overall, but the voice the female narrator gave Bel's friend Jamie is very annoying. But as the nights of after-school work grow longer and longer, Bel and Teo realize they’ve made more than just a combat-ready robot for the championship: they’ve made each other and the team better. Sometimes romance in these types of books makes me feel like it's unrealistic, but I think this was written in a very mature way. The banter is great and while I found Emily Henry to have great one-liners it never felt like how people actually talk whereas the conversations here seem like you could actually be hearing them in a high school hallway. You might think “oh Naleem is a bitch” but when you read her story and see how Mateo and the other guys treat her, you see why she had to grow a thicker skin.The insta-love in the book annoyed me a lot, not to the point that Gilded did, but this one was still so annoying. Similarly, the AP physics teacher into whose class Bel is transferred is initially is … how can I put this … a non-ideal teacher for her, albeit in subtle and unintentional ways, for example he (unconsciously) prioritises the boys in the class, is more engaged and responsive with them, encourages them in ways he doesn’t the girls, positions benches for the boys nearer his desk, is always happy to be asked for help but never volunteers assist to the girls the way he does instinctively for the boys, things like that. I started TAS a couple months ago and I wasn't liking it as I thought I would (I've read all of these good reviews and thought it was gonna be great, but hehe life, right? My husband, who was a high school/AP Chemistry and Biology teacher for 8 years, brought up some good points himself: He said the age doesn’t matter as much as the maturity of a child.

Believe me, I have not enjoyed many an excellent book, and my individual lack of enjoyment has not made any of those books less excellent or (more relevantly) less successful. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read many a book that has had its fair share of swearing and sex but none of which are YA novels. The characters and their friends just had such great connections with each other, and it was interesting diving deeper into the side character's lives.I felt that was a subtle and unusual relationship dynamic to explore, especially in YA, especially as regards women in STEM.