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 made more than just a combat-ready robot for the championship: they’ve made each other and the team better. Because girls do belong in STEM.
One of my favorite things about YA as a genre is seeing characters find out where they belong. Whether that’s a place, a group of friends, or a hobby they want to pursue as a career, I love seeing people fall in love with their future.
I really enjoyed seeing Bel fall in love with robotics and getting her chance to shine throughout this book. Despite the challenges of being a girl in a male-oriented field and having to prove herself to not only the guys in the group, but also the other girl on the team (who was simultaneously fighting to get her own voice heard by the guys), it was easy to tell that engineering was something Bel loved and excelled in, even if she didn’t know it yet.
That being said, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the romance in this book, which truly felt like its weakest part. As Bel learns to fall in love with engineering, she is also falling for Teo, the captain of the robotics team. There wasn’t anything necessarily wrong with their romance, but when paired alongside a story of female empowerment and girls in STEM, the romance felt basic and lackluster.
I feel like this book’s best quality is how inspiring its storyline is. I can definitely see this book helping teens put their best work into the things they love and put serious consideration into career paths they might not have considered normally, and so I can’t help but really appreciate this story!
KiiitasticBooks 