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acdom's review against another edition
3.0
In reading the description of this book, it should be everything I love: YA, speech and debate, Boise, enemies to lovers, secret pen pals. But, in the end, he writing was blah (more much more telling than showing), there was no chemistry between the main characters, and there were so many annoying plot details I just couldn't get over. I appreciate the effort, but it just wasn't for me. I'm just going to spoiler cut everything below.
-I don't understand why Quinn hates Grayson so much. I get that they're competitive, but he hasn't tried to burn her house down or get her to throw a round. She's so preemptively angry with him about absolutely nothing. As teammates, even if they're competing in the same event, they'd help each other out and deal when one takes a better rank over the other. There's no reason for her to hate him so much.
-Why doesn't Quinn just tell her friends she's staying in state and going to BSU? She lies to them about it for no reason other than to serve the ending plot drama. And why would Carter care so much that she's leaving? It feels so over the top and dramatic.
-There are big jumps in time that clearly just move the plot along, instead of actual events moving the plot along.
Speech and Debate Issues
-I've been part of this community as a coach and judge for a decade and I know there are differences in speech and debate in other states, but there were so many things that annoyed me...
-Why are the kids in charge of getting food sponsors and organizing volunteers for the state tournament? State is put on by the local speech and debate association and they take care of those things? Not to mention an earlier tournament was canceled because they had no food sponsors. I've never seen that happen, again where are the adults in charge of things?
-"Students were on their own for dinner at all the meets." Uhhhh, at an out of state tournament? Where the hotel isn't close to any food? And they have to way of getting there? And with no adult supervision? I have so many issues with this.
-The ending drama about missing the final round made no sense. Grayson found Quinn while the round was still going on. You can still show up and compete if the round hasn't ended. Kids are often double entered at tournaments, so they show up late to rounds all the time. I've had rounds I've judged where I've had to wait around when all the other kids have finished for the final speaker to show up to compete. You don't get penalized for this and you certainly wouldn't be disqualified from a final round.
-No way would Coach (does she have a name?) have told Quinn if she won state. That's so uncool to take away the surprise and shitty to other competitors.
-They aren't called score sheets, they're called ballots. Maybe this is a nitpicky state thing?
Spoiler
Plot Issues-I don't understand why Quinn hates Grayson so much. I get that they're competitive, but he hasn't tried to burn her house down or get her to throw a round. She's so preemptively angry with him about absolutely nothing. As teammates, even if they're competing in the same event, they'd help each other out and deal when one takes a better rank over the other. There's no reason for her to hate him so much.
-Why doesn't Quinn just tell her friends she's staying in state and going to BSU? She lies to them about it for no reason other than to serve the ending plot drama. And why would Carter care so much that she's leaving? It feels so over the top and dramatic.
-There are big jumps in time that clearly just move the plot along, instead of actual events moving the plot along.
Speech and Debate Issues
-I've been part of this community as a coach and judge for a decade and I know there are differences in speech and debate in other states, but there were so many things that annoyed me...
-Why are the kids in charge of getting food sponsors and organizing volunteers for the state tournament? State is put on by the local speech and debate association and they take care of those things? Not to mention an earlier tournament was canceled because they had no food sponsors. I've never seen that happen, again where are the adults in charge of things?
-"Students were on their own for dinner at all the meets." Uhhhh, at an out of state tournament? Where the hotel isn't close to any food? And they have to way of getting there? And with no adult supervision? I have so many issues with this.
-The ending drama about missing the final round made no sense. Grayson found Quinn while the round was still going on. You can still show up and compete if the round hasn't ended. Kids are often double entered at tournaments, so they show up late to rounds all the time. I've had rounds I've judged where I've had to wait around when all the other kids have finished for the final speaker to show up to compete. You don't get penalized for this and you certainly wouldn't be disqualified from a final round.
-No way would Coach (does she have a name?) have told Quinn if she won state. That's so uncool to take away the surprise and shitty to other competitors.
-They aren't called score sheets, they're called ballots. Maybe this is a nitpicky state thing?
ndjrpgs's review against another edition
2.0
Hmmm I find it quite difficult to rate this. I liked it in the beginning but wished in the end that
a. the whole speech and debate thing would have played a bigger role
b. the story wasn't as similar to our beloved 'You've Got Mail' inspiration (why can't for once the girl find out the secret first?)
c. the whole Carter situation would have been dealt differently! The resulation seemed lazy and an easy cop-out.
Overall yes it's a cute and fluffy young adult contemporary but the heart is missing.
a. the whole speech and debate thing would have played a bigger role
b. the story wasn't as similar to our beloved 'You've Got Mail' inspiration (why can't for once the girl find out the secret first?)
c. the whole Carter situation would have been dealt differently! The resulation seemed lazy and an easy cop-out.
Overall yes it's a cute and fluffy young adult contemporary but the heart is missing.
randilong's review against another edition
3.0
This had a lot going for it. I love academic rivals turned lovers and this in a sense did that. But execution was awful. I didn't like any of the characters. Quinn was selfish and whiny. Greyson had no real good qualities. And Carter was just an uncessary plot device. They ruined a good friendship for no real reason. I wasn't invested in this at all. I did like the anonymous letters aspect and It was a quick read so that part was nice!
lenni_loves_literature's review against another edition
5.0
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.
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.
mku0l's review against another edition
4.0
This book held my favorite trope of all time, and I think Tiana did a really great job of covering it!
Carter was really disappointing to me in the end after he sabotaged Quinn's speech. And he definitely gives off Nice Guy ™ energy throughout the entire book, so ladies, if you know a guy like Carter, RUN.
Carter was really disappointing to me in the end after he sabotaged Quinn's speech. And he definitely gives off Nice Guy ™ energy throughout the entire book, so ladies, if you know a guy like Carter, RUN.
kaitmary's review against another edition
2.0
Apparently I am THAT GUY because lots of other people seemed to like this one, but for me, the characters were dry, the pacing was off, and it used popular tropes in all the wrong ways. Let's dive in:
- I picked up this book at YALLfest because it was described as enemies-to-lovers, a trope I will die for. It's really not, though. Grayson is smitten with Quinn from the beginning. She finds him a little pompous and sees him as her competition, but they never truly dislike each other. In fact, their mutual attraction is established very early on.
- There's also a secret admirer angle. The reader knows Quinn and Grayson are writing to each other, they think they're writing to other people. But even their letters aren't particularly flirtatious or endearing. I wanted to get swept up in them, but I didn't feel the chemistry.
- Characters repeatedly do things for the sake of plot rather than the sake of sense. For instance, Quinn repeatedly lies to one specific friend about her not-at-all-controversial college of choice for NO PARTICULAR REASON other than for it to become a point of contention later. Grayson lets someone spread an ugly rumor about him and never speaks in his own defense because "It's just not worth the trouble." Yeah, ooookay.
- Quinn and Grayson are hardcore speech and debate club kids, yet we never see a single speech nor debate, even in their personal lives. But fear not! There's plenty about ordering food for an event and coordinating volunteer judges-- ya know, the fun stuff readers really care about. As far as school activities go, speech and debate is a tame option, but there's a chance to use it for storytelling flair that's completely squandered.
- Overall, what it comes down to is I just didn't feel a connection to the characters and the plot dragged on. Nothing endeared me. Nothing surprised me. No one has a struggle of any significant value. Everything in this one is just super cut and dry.
- I picked up this book at YALLfest because it was described as enemies-to-lovers, a trope I will die for. It's really not, though. Grayson is smitten with Quinn from the beginning. She finds him a little pompous and sees him as her competition, but they never truly dislike each other. In fact, their mutual attraction is established very early on.
- There's also a secret admirer angle. The reader knows Quinn and Grayson are writing to each other, they think they're writing to other people. But even their letters aren't particularly flirtatious or endearing. I wanted to get swept up in them, but I didn't feel the chemistry.
- Characters repeatedly do things for the sake of plot rather than the sake of sense. For instance, Quinn repeatedly lies to one specific friend about her not-at-all-controversial college of choice for NO PARTICULAR REASON other than for it to become a point of contention later. Grayson lets someone spread an ugly rumor about him and never speaks in his own defense because "It's just not worth the trouble." Yeah, ooookay.
- Quinn and Grayson are hardcore speech and debate club kids, yet we never see a single speech nor debate, even in their personal lives. But fear not! There's plenty about ordering food for an event and coordinating volunteer judges-- ya know, the fun stuff readers really care about. As far as school activities go, speech and debate is a tame option, but there's a chance to use it for storytelling flair that's completely squandered.
- Overall, what it comes down to is I just didn't feel a connection to the characters and the plot dragged on. Nothing endeared me. Nothing surprised me. No one has a struggle of any significant value. Everything in this one is just super cut and dry.
lifeofaliterarynerd's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars
This was a lot of fun and Quinn and Grayson has a great and flirty enemies to lovers situation which is always enjoyable. This was such a quick and engaging read - super addicting and pure fun. My main complaint is the big time jumps that happen within the story, it makes it a bit harder to buy some of the development between the characters. And I could have done without Quinn's friend Carter, but other than that this was an enjoyable read that had a quintessential romcom feel.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This was a lot of fun and Quinn and Grayson has a great and flirty enemies to lovers situation which is always enjoyable. This was such a quick and engaging read - super addicting and pure fun. My main complaint is the big time jumps that happen within the story, it makes it a bit harder to buy some of the development between the characters. And I could have done without Quinn's friend Carter, but other than that this was an enjoyable read that had a quintessential romcom feel.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.