A middle grade book with queer rep and autistic rep?!? Yes, I knew that I needed to read this book. Getting to take part in Rockstar’s tour for this book is very exciting and I am so pleased that I was able to read this book. I was beyond excited to be able to host a spot on THE TROUBLE WITH ROBOTS by Michelle Mohrweis Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out
my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About The Book:
Author: Michelle Mohrweis
Pub. Date: September 27, 2022
Publisher: Peachtree
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 288
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org
Evelyn strives for excellence. Allie couldn’t care less. These polar opposites must work together if they have any hope of saving their school’s robotics program.
Eighth-graders Evelyn and Allie are in trouble. Evelyn’s constant need for
perfection has blown some fuses among her robotics teammates, and she’s worried
nobody’s taking the upcoming competition seriously. Allie is new to school, and
she’s had a history of short-circuiting on teachers and other kids.
So when Allie is assigned to the robotics team as a last resort, all Evelyn can
see is just another wrench in the works! But as Allie confronts a past stricken
with grief and learns to open up, the gears click into place as she discovers
that Evelyn’s teammates have a lot to offer—if only Evelyn allowed them to
participate in a role that plays to their strengths.
Can Evelyn learn to let go and listen to what Allie has to say? Or will their
spot in the competition go up in smoke along with their school’s robotics
program and Allie’s only chance at redemption?
An excellent pick for STEAM enthusiasts, this earnestly told narrative features
a dual point of view and casually explores Autistic and LGBTQ+ identities.
Reviews:
"Full of girl power without ever showing them as
outsiders in robotics because of their gender, this brings a diverse team to
the page and shows the various skills needed to make a team succeed."—Booklist
"Unsubtle but not overwrought, with genuinely inspiring kindness and
collaboration found amid pain."—Kirkus Reviews
Rating: 5/5 stars
Review:
I absolutely loved this book. Michelle Mohrweis has a way of writing that immediately drew me in and kept me invested in these characters. Even when they were annoying or I thought that there was something I didn’t want to pay attention to. They have a pleasant way of writing that kept me calm and invested but also made the struggles of the various characters feel real and authentic. I am very much looking forward to read more books by this author.
These characters. I love all these characters. The major POV characters are Allie and Evelyn but there is also the rest of the robotics team, Evelyn’s moms, and Allie’s grandmother plus some various people in the school. All of these characters added to the story and none of them felt like a write-off. They all felt fleshed out even if their motivations weren’t made explicitly clear in the book. Varsha and DJ are probably my two favorite minor characters in the book and I absolutely love them. I will admit that my favorite side character is probably Ayleen even though they were only in the book for a handful of chapters.
Evelyn and Allie are both amazing characters and I found myself growing attached to them really quickly. I found it easier to relate to Evelyn than Allie, but I found Allie to be a more generally likeable character. Evelyn is an absolute sweetheart, but she struggles a lot with her interpersonal actions. I related to that very heavily so I had a lot of sympathy and understanding for her. Allie is kind of standoffish and angry a lot at first, but it’s written in an amazing way where you can see and feel the buildup. You understand what’s causing her to get angry and what she’s feeling when she gets mad.
The robotics in this book was absolutely amazing. I loved the author’s way of describing the robots and the process of working together as a team to build the robot and compete. It did leave me really wishing that I had a robotics kit, and I don’t so know I’m sad. The only thing that could have possibly made this book better would have been sketches of the robot and characters. I want the notebook they turned into the judges to be published as a standalone book so I can just geek out over it for a while.
I did have one minor issue with the book but it wasn’t anything to do with the writing or plot necessarily. I struggled at first to like all of these characters. Even Allie and Evelyn who’s POVs the book is told from. And it’s because these are messy characters. They are all going through things and they aren’t necessarily reacting well to the things going on around them. I really found that I had an issue with the first robotics competition they went to. Definitely because I understood where Evelyn was coming from and where the rest of the team was coming from, but I struggled to reconcile just leaving the area during the competition. This is all definitely personal to my own reading experience and I eventually grew to love every character on the robotics team. When they started working more like a team, it was amazing and they meshed so well together.
This book was everything that I wanted it to be and more. I think it’s an absolutely amazing debut novel and I am itching to read more by this author. There was only one thing that I really struggled with in this book but it was mainly in the beginning. By the time the middle of the book rolled around, I was over it and was invested in the growing friendship between these characters. This story was engaging and contained so many different things that I liked in it: queer rep, autism rep, robots, and rivals-to-friends. I was drawn into the story and it held my attention through the entire book and I found that the author’s writing style was engaging and soothing. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who’s even slightly interested, because I just love it.
About Michelle Mohrweis:
Michelle
Mohrweis is a STEM Educator and space enthusiast. When not writing, they can be
found launching paper rockets down the middle of their street. They live with
their husband and two dogs in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking and hogging all
the best spots beside the heater when it gets too cold. Follow them on Twitter
@Mohrweis_Writes and visit them on the web at MichelleMohrweis.com.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Goodreads | Amazon
Giveaway Details:
1 winner
will receive a finished copy of THE TROUBLE WITH ROBOTS, US Only.
Ends October 4th, midnight EST.
a Rafflecopter giveawayTour Schedule:
Week One:
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9/19/2022 |
Excerpt |
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9/19/2022 |
IG Spotlight |
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9/20/2022 |
Review/IG Post |
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9/20/2022 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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9/21/2022 |
Excerpt |
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9/21/2022 |
Excerpt |
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9/22/2022 |
Excerpt |
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9/22/2022 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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9/23/2022 |
Review/IG Post |
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9/23/2022 |
IG Review |
Week Two:
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9/26/2022 |
Review/IG Post |
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9/26/2022 |
Review/IG Post |
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9/27/2022 |
Review |
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9/27/2022 |
Review/IG Post |
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9/28/2022 |
IG Review |
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9/28/2022 |
Review |
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9/29/2022 |
IG Review |
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9/29/2022 |
Review/IG Post |
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9/30/2022 |
Review |
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9/30/2022 |
Excerpt |
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