How to Speak Boy was everything I could’ve hoped for! It had the perfect humor, the adorable romance, and the perfect ending. In fact, in the last couple chapters, I was so invested with the characters that my heart was racing to find out what happened next!

This book is perfect for fans of “Tweet Cute” by Emma Lord and “Alex, Approximately” by Jenn Bennett. It has the anonymous romance element, and you can find similar senses of humor in both.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

After reading this book and Smith's debut, Match Me If You Can, I can state, with certainty that she writes my kind of books - super cute, filled with great characters, and adorable, swoony romance.

Quinn and Grayson seemed to always be in direct competition with each other, and when it came time to select the newest debate team captain, they were forced to share the role. It meant more time working together, and that meant lots of fun banter for me to read. I felt like Quinn saw Grayson as the enemy, but he didn't seem to feel the same way. Yes, he enjoyed winding Quinn up, but it felt more like flirting, if you ask me.

It wasn't just their banter that I loved, I adored both these characters, and though I learned some about them, as they interacted with each other, the real, deep revelations came via their anonymous letters to one another. The "You've Got Mail"-like plot line worked so well for me. I was enamored with the missives they wrote! They quickly became quite confessional in nature, and were sticky sweet to boot. I couldn't get enough of them!

Can we talk about Grayson? Grayson, Grayson, Grayson - what a great love interest! He was charming and witty, and I could feel the electricity between him and Quinn. I thought he was the perfect foil for someone like her, and they complimented each other so well. If I were a teen girl, I would have swooned from some of the things he said. But he wasn't all pretty talk. He was also a man of action, and that made me love him even more.

I was delighted by Quinn and Grayson separately, and I also loved them together, but there were many other things that kept me flipping the pages. One element, which is very important to me, is family, blood or found, and Smith gave me some wonderful examples in this book.

Quinn didn't have a ton of people in her life, but she had some high quality people. Her best friend Naomi was wonderful. These two young women were there to support one another, while still keeping it real. Quinn also had a fabulous mom. I loved the way Quinn was so invested in her mother's success, and how she worked hard to help her mother achieve her dream. Grayson was also pretty lucky. Yes, his parents had high expectations for him, but they were extremely loving and approachable, which I thought was important.

This book had a great rom-com feel, and I was left in a state of elation upon finishing it. Seriously, it was entertaining, engaging, and enjoyable from the very first page to the very last page.

4.5 ⭐️

Quinn and Greyson are competitive rivals. But, when they are forced to spend more time together as co-captains of the speech and debate team, their banter easily turns into friendship, and possibly more. There’s Carter, Quinn’s friend for many years, who obviously has a crush on her and tries to steer her away from Greyson. And then, wait for it, a mystery pen pal that Quinn stumbles upon after a test mix-up, and she starts to like him, too. Call it a love square, instead of a triangle, but who does Quinn trust and ultimately has feelings for? Does she figure out who her pen pal is?

Oh my word. This was such a cute YA romance! I went back and forth as to who this secret pen pal was that Quinn started falling for, while she was having feelings for Greyson. This has got enemies to lovers, a love triangle, forced proximity, and frankly, the tropes meshed nicely. But, though the ending approached 10/10 on the predictability meter, I still loved it! If you are a fan of To All the Boys and The Kissing Booth, be sure to check this one out.

I decided not to finish this because I didn't care for the protagonist. It's probably me, not you. I've got a lot going on right now. I decided not to finish this because I didn't care for the protagonist. It's probably me, not you. I've got a lot going on right now. I decided not to finish this because I didn't care for the protagonist. It's probably me, not you. I've got a lot going on right now.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and Swoon Reads for the advance reader copy How to Speak Boy by Tiana Smith, in exchange for an honest review. What I really liked about this novel is Quinn’s passion for debate and speech; she was one of the best; she knew it and worked tirelessly to be the best and become captain senior year. Only problem was Grayson; he is always her competition and the way Quinn sees it; Grayson gets things way too easily and she has been told countless times that he will do anything to win. Could it be his good looks (even Quinn notices) or the fact that his mother is in politics that make everything Grayson does look effortless? I really enjoyed the assignment mix-up in the wrong cubbies! Quinn was a dominating presence so the reader did not really get to know Grayson, except through others’ eyes and here say. I really wanted to see more of his character and personality. I liked Quinn’s drive but wished she was able to transfer this to her interactions with boys (friend, Carter and also Grayson); being insecure when it comes to boys she did not listen to her friends and family when they saw and realized things and Quinn did not. Readers will enjoy the surprises at the end of this fun rom-com. I loved the resolution of this fun, enjoyable romance.

cute contemp YA romance. enjoyed it and would recommend to those who enjoy that kind of thing.
thanks to the publisher for an ARC, this is my honest review.

I enjoyed this story a lot. Her friend Carter was kind of an interesting character and I think the book would have been better without his storyline, but that’s about the only thing I disliked! The banter of the main characters was really fun. It is a somewhat predictable rom-com but it was fun to see exactly how the story and relationship would unfold. If you enjoy Kasie West or Jenny Han, I think you’d enjoy this too.

I throughly enjoyed this book. It was a quick read for me. I loved the characters because they were relatable, fun, and genuine. I found it refreshing that while Quinn was great at debate, she still struggled in other areas of school and wasn't a genius. It made her seem more normal and down to earth. As for Grayson, he is fairly good at most things, but that's due to family pressures and studying from what we can tell since it's told from Quinn's perspective. I wish we got more insight to his life and saw how he interacted with friends. It seemed as if he had none.

I liked Quinn's best friend Naomi and thought their interactions were fun and supportive of each other. There was one scene in the book that was a bit heart-wrenching, but otherwise the book is lighthearted, fun, witty, and smart.

If you like enemies/rivals to more, You've got Mail, and/or competitive MC's, this book is for you.

I was not the biggest fan of this, I just couldn't get into the story. Oh well, maybe her next book will be for me :)

I loved this sweet YA book! I loved the letters they wrote to one another, this is an innocent sweet light hearted love story & I couldn’t get enough of it!

4.5/5

This is a quick, easy read that would be perfect for high school girls. It follows the typical formula of a romance novel. The reader figures out the catch long before the characters do, and the rest of the book is filled with that great frustration of yelling at characters who are so willingly ignoring the obvious.

Quinn is competitive. She's not just a little competitive; she is ultra competitive. She will do almost anything to win, except cheat. She's definitely not a cheater.

However, it looks like her biggest competition IS a cheater. Grayson seems to win at everything he does without even trying and rumor has it that he's cheated a few times to do it.

Now Quinn and Grayson have become the co-captains of the speech and debate club so they have to work together. Quinn could finally learn the truth about Grayson and his winning ways.

But she gets a little distracted when her AP Government teacher accidentally mixes up Quinn's essay with someone else's. With that simple mistake, Quinn now has an anonymous suitor who lifts her up and makes her stronger, even as Grayson seems to be trying to beat her at every turn.

Who is the letter writer who keeps leaving notes with perfectly timed messages in her box? And who is Grayson, really?

Final thoughts: Cotton candy all the way and totally fun to read. This book is the YA version of The Shop Around the Corner and You've Got Mail. Everything is pretty predictable but it's still an enjoyable few hours spent.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC.

A charming YA rewrite of You’ve Got Mail that had me at Speech and Debate. Quinn is a determined heroine who isn’t perfect, doesn’t know everything, and isn’t a super model. She is refreshingly normal with plenty of spunk. Quinn makes her fair share of mistakes as she navigates her college applications, the state speech tournament, friendship, and her love life. But you can’t help but cheer her on.

This is a witty and wonderful romcom that will appeal to both teens and adults.

And #Netflix ... this would make a great movie!

If you loved the movie You’ve Got Mail than this is the book for you. What’s not to like about this adorable story. Two great characters you’ll love to get to know and root for till the end. Of course it’s very easy to figure out how it ends but it still was an enjoyable read,

Great read and will be adding it to our collection as I am always looking for good Contemporary YA love stories to keep up with demand!

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was a simply delightful YA contemporary romance. I enjoyed the relationship building between Quinn and Grayson. Their dialogue was real and witty. I appreciated that the author kept this book clean from sex and swearing. I will definitely recommend this book to others and can't wait to read more by this author!!!!

This book was received as an ARC from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group - Swoon Reads in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Now this is what I call a teen romance novel. How to Speak Boy was brilliantly written in reflecting today's society and how two unlikely people and in this case enemies can forge friendships even they could not expect just from a AP Government class and exchanging notes without even knowing who each other are. Because of the unique approach Tiana Smith took and that it was brilliantly executed, our teen book club will be ecstatic to read this and I can't wait to share this title with them and tell the rest of the community about it too.

We will consider adding this title to our YFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.