My Mechanical Romance is a delightful and tender story but doesn’t shy away from its main message: that women need to take up space in the STEM world, and the sooner they start the better.

Bel is finding her place at a new school after her parents’ divorce and trying to figure out what to do with her life. When her science teacher Ms Voss sees Bel’s talent for engineering she encourages her to join the school’s robotics team, led by the overachieving and very serious Mateo.

Mateo has no interest in letting anyone new into the team. This is his last year, and he wants to win. He needs to keep his head down and focus on his goals if he wants to get into college and prove to his dad that he’s capable and reliable. But when Mateo sees Bel’s talent, he knows they need her on the team (even if he thinks she’s weird and unfocussed, his total opposite).

The characters are all nice and likable, even Neelam who is also on the robotics team and gives Bel a hard time. They’re all normal teenagers trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do but the biases between genders and cultures are dealt with in a sensitive way, which feels realistic.

This is a YA debut for Alexene Farol Follmuth, author of the hugely successful ‘The Atlas Six’ fantasy series. While it’s a departure, her fans will enjoy the feminist themes in the book, that don’t come at the expense of the romance.

Reviewed by Anabel Pandiella
Age Guide 12+

Read a review of The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake here.

Follow Alexene Farol Follmuth on Instagram here.