I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

HOW TO SPEAK BOY by Tiana Smith is a fun, light read -- perfect to take your mind off of things.
Well written and funny, teens looking for a rom-com will adore this book!

The book has the possibility to be a cute "you've got mail", Cinderella, mistaken identity, but it fails to deliver. I had such high hopes too. Characters lacked depth.

I received an e-arc through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rated 3.5/5 stars

How to Speak Boy is about two rival speech participants who discover that they can be rivals at a meet but can have a spark on paper.

I really enjoyed the secret pen pal aspect of the book and watching their relationship grow both on paper and in person. It was very interesting to have those relationships developing at the same time as the penpal version would be the competition for the real person without even knowing it. I also found myself questioning at times who the penpal recipient was as our main character kept guessing even though I was about 100% certain I knew who it was.

The one aspect of this book that really dragged things down for me was the jealousy of her friend. It seemed at times that he was completely overstepping and just being straight up rude and an awful friend. I think I would've enjoyed my experience reading this even more if his character wasn't portrayed in this way.

Other than that this book was overall enjoyable though I did find myself forgetting a lot of details soon after reading.

I thought this would be a good book because of the author. But it seems I don't really like speech and debate. And the whole concept of falling for each other via getting the wrong assignment back doesn't seem too realistic.

I enjoyed reading several aspects of this book! The pacing was wonderful, characters were well drawn, and the reading experience on the whole was delightful.

Super cute rivals to lovers romance with plenty of great chemistry. Loved the interactions between Quinn and Grayson and the way their relationship developed. A great contemporary read with plenty of heart.

How to Speak Boy is such an adorable rivals-to-lovers story! I loved watching Quinn and Grayson try to one-up each other while their relationship slowly changed. Their banter was fun, and I loved the secret notes they unknowingly sent to each other. Also, there’s speech and debate—this was the first YA book I’ve read with this extracurricular!

This book was really adorable and contained one of my most favorite book tropes. Love the secret identity/letter writing/you’ve got mail story trope - simply love. It also doesn’t hurt that Quinn and Grayson were both super adorable and I was touring for them both from the start. This is a short book and a quick read and I couldn’t put it down once I started. It made me smile and laugh and maybe even want to slap one of the characters (but not gonna say who (if you’ve read this then you know! If you haven’t then read it so you can know!)

Quinn is serious, hardworking, and in desperate need of a little fun, but she’s vying for President of the Speech and Debate Club against her arch nemesis, the utterly swoon-worthy Grayson, so fun isn’t on the agenda. She’s as competitive as she is smart, but unfortunately, nothing comes easy to Quinn. She has to work twice as hard as Grayson to be successful, or so she believes. That makes it hard for her to let her guard down around him. Even though he’s adorably perfect. Quinn’s two closest friends, Naomi and Carter, have their own ideas about Grayson. Naomi is pro-romance and Carter is dead-set against it. Apparently Grayson has a reputation of sorts and wants to protect Quinn. But the more time that passes, the more it becomes clear that Carter has an ulterior motive in keeping Quinn and Grayson apart. Underlying it all is a mysterious student who Quinn corresponds with the old fashioned way — pen to paper. With three boys vying for her interests, she’s not sure where to turn or who she can really trust.

Plot
The main plot is the romance between Quinn and Grayson, but there are a number of subplots that involve Quinn’s college future, the mysterious letter writer, her speech performance at the state finals, and her relationship with Carter. All expertly weave into the main plot to drive conflict and up the stakes. Although the reader knows who the letter writer is, well, if they read the synopsis, it’s fun watching Quinn try to figure it out. But it also adds an element of wanting to see if they’re just going to tell each other, that made turning the page to see what would happen compelling. While it did take me a good few chapters to really get into this story, because I’ll admit, speech and debate didn’t interest me in the least, once I was invested int he characters, I was all in to the story. So don’t let this aspect of the plot detract you from picking up this really awesome book.

Characters
The characters are what I loved most about the book. Quinn is so relatable as an awkward teen who strives to do her best in everything, but keeps coming up short. Her growth comes across as authentic and organic. Her BFF, Naomi is the everything Quinn’s not but wishes she was, making her the perfect sidekick. Carter was a little annoying, but necessary. Not every character needs to be likable, and who doesn’t know at least on Carter? Grayson was adorable as the self-assured son of the the Governor who seems to have everything he’s ever wanted, but underlying it all is a vulnerability that only adds to his attractiveness.

What I Enjoyed About HOW TO SPEAK BOY
1. Quinn. She’s adorkably awkward and utterly endearing. I couldn’t help rooting for her.

2. Grayson. He’s sweet, smart, and hot. The perfect BBF.

3. Quinn’s Mom. I love their relationship. She’s the proper blend of confidant and authoritarian, just what Quinn needs, when she needs her to be.

4. Letter Writing. In a digital world, it was a refreshing throwback to my own high school days.

5. Speech and Debate. Okay, so I’m still not sure I’d ever join this club or find going to these events interesting, but the way the author wrote about these moments, definitely piqued my interest.

What Didn’t Quite Work for Me
The story and characters were amazing and I loved the speech angle. But the ending fell flat for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a HFN ending, but I didn’t have quite the bang I was hoping for, what I felt it was building up to. That said, the author wraps everything up in a satisfying conclusion.

Bottom Line
A cute contemporary romance with adorable characters you can’t help pulling for.

Ever since the days of You’ve Got Mail, I absolutely love romances where the characters fall in love, without knowing they’re falling in love with each other. Through these anonymous notes, Quinn and Grayson are able to see the real person behind the competitive rival they’ve always known. This is one of my favorite tropes because it lets you see the romance develop without all of the sensory things like attraction and sex (and I DON’T like sex in my high-school YA romances. Just. No.).

I also appreciate that Tiana Smith was able to share a high-school YA romance without sex.

I love any book where the characters start out hating each other, only to realize as the book progresses that perhaps the other person isn’t quite as horrible as they thought. This is just the case with Quinn and Grayson, making for a very enjoyable read.

How to Speak Boy definitely has characters that were very well developed. They were characters I could relate to and enjoy reading about.

How To Speak Boy is an enticing YA contemporary read about rivals-turned-lovers! The trope itself is an exciting one that would raise everyone’s interests. Competing leads with witty banter, mixed in a You’ve Got Mail type of set up. In fact, knowing that this was within students that are members of the speech and debate team reminded of me of Candy Jar, a movie that I watched on Netflix.

I was expecting lots of soft and fluff for this YA romance, and definitely, this is what I got. If you want something that is tooth-rotting adorable and sweet, try this one. How To Speak Boy is a read where you will know after the few pages that they already have feelings for each other and are in extremely deep denial. This might make you scream in frustration, but the cuteness is actually worth the wait.

The interaction within the two leads are cute and fluffy, but there’s something about the personalities of all the characters in this book that does not really stuck to me as much as I wanted to. Some scenes are a little disconnected, too, and lots of the story is too predictable.

The worst part, I realize, is that the blurb has already spoiled everything but the two characters are clueless. It would have been perfect to be as clueless as them throughout the story, for a little thrill, a la how the reveal was perfect during Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda.

But there’s no denying that this book is a quick read, I was able to read it for 3 to 4 hours. I recommend this read for people who love a quick read cheesy and clean romance and witty banter between two characters.

How to speak boy is my favorite kind of YA: swoony, somewhat predictable, and filled with likable characters you want to root for. It follows two debate team rivals: Quinn and Grayson.

Quinn is the protagonist and the story is told in the first-person from her perspective in a quintessentially YA romance fashion. Quinn may be the captain of the debate team, but she’s not doing great at AP American Government. When she checks her mailbox at school and discovers that her test has been swapped with another student’s, the two become a kind of pen pal, leaving notes in the box of the other. There’s only one problem, she doesn’t know who her mysterious pen pal is. But Quinn has enough problems, namely her team co-captain Grayson. The two have always been competitive, but now it’s their senior year and all bets are off. As the two compete they develop an unlikely friendship and Quinn must decide how much she’s willing to risk to follow her heart.

I really liked How to Speak Boy. I’ve never read a book in which characters were members of debate and between that and the fact that it’s set in Boise, Idaho, it had a unique feel. I also loved the two main characters, especially Grayson. He’s the perfect mix of competitive and sweet.

I thoroughly recommend How to Speak Boy to other fans of Young Adult Romance! It’s definitely one to check out!

Thank you to @xpressoreads, @swoonreads, and @netgalley for my review copy!

How to Speak Boy was a cute enemies to lovers, meets and falls in love with your pen pal love story but with a YA twist. We meet Quinn and Grayson, both of them are on the debate team. Quinn believes Grayson is her sworn enemy. Quinn got worked up a lot about various things in the book. She was so anxious she started to get on my nerves. This girl obsessed about everything imaginable. If it wasn't her nonexistent social life, her need to best Grayson at everything and college. Okay, these are typical things teenagers deal with daily.

I really liked Grayson's character. He was so self-assured and outwardly confident. He did have some insecurities and angst but it centered around his mother. His mom was the governor of Idaho and she had Grayson's life mapped out for him. Early on I figured Grayson had a major crush on Quinn and he wooed her. It was so cute.

Nia and Carter were Quinn's only friends and they were her only support system until she began writing letters to a mystery guy in her AP Government class. There was something about Carter that I did not like very early on and his behavior at the end of the book towards Quinn was so not cool. I was ready to strangle him myself. With friends like him who needs enemies.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and How to Speak Boy is a great addition to the YA genre.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Love a good enemies to lovers novel. I loved the authors release last year Match Me if You Can and was so excited for How to Speak Boy and it did not disappoint! This was one of my favorite reads of December. I flew through the pages. I seriously loved the chemistry between the two MC’s. I really also liked the ups and downs of the friendships. It made the story well rounded. Not everything was just going to fall into place and be perfect. This book came out in the world yesterday and I highly recommend snagging your copy. Thank you Swoon Reads for sending me a copy for consideration.

I found the decision to set this story in the world of debate to be a novel one. The characters were appropriately likable, and the climax of the story was especially well done. I plan to obtain copies of this for my middle school classroom.

**Review can be found at https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/

Quinn has goals that she plans to meet this year, starting with being named Team Captain of her debate team. But when she is named co-captain with her arch enemy, it seems like everything starts to unravel. When her History assignment gets returned to the wrong person, she ends up getting into a note exchanging relationship with a stranger that keeps her going. But the question is, does she really want to learn the identity of her mystery pen pal?

I was lucky enough to meet this author last year when she came to talk to my book club about her debut novel Match Me If You Can (which was so cute and adorable!) when she mentioned her next book was a YA version of the movie You've Got Mail where the enemies converse anonymously mixed with the drama of speech and debate, I knew I was going to read it. I am happy to report that the story lived up to mt expectations and it was such a fun story to get lost in.

While this was most certainly a romance, my favorite parts of the book had to do with the relationships between the main character and her mom and the main character and her best friend. She had such great relationships with both of them, so positive and supportive the way they should always be! I also really enjoyed how independent and straightforward Quinn was, she knew herself and her goals and was not going to stop just because she had feelings for a boy or was potentially made fun of. But of course there was a romance aspect to the story as well (which we all love!), and I was always a fan of her love interest with his charm and snark. There was so much going on in the plot but all pieces fit together so well for a cohesive story.

Tiana was able to create a sophomore book that was just as fun and cute as her debut story which shows me that she is going to be one of my go-to YA contemporary romance authors. I highly recommend this story for anyone who likes enemies to lovers, slow burn, high school drama, and great strong characters.

Fun YA read with a few twists that kept the story fresh and entertaining. Believable characters and setting.

This is one reason I love YA books!! This sweet story of enemies to more was so fun to read. I didn’t know much about debate and I found that part of the story entertaining. The side characters were good too and in all I would read this book again.

3.5 is more accurate. It was a lot of fun. I especially liked the speech and debate elements. And I dug the fact that this chick was all about the words... the speeches, the letters, the website for her mom, all of it. It was relatively believable, too, as a high school romp. Especially the overthinking! Ha! That was SO familiar.
It just wasn’t the best writing, if I’m being honest. Good story, below average writing. Bummer. 🤓💜📚