I really enjoyed this fun young adult romance! The banter between Brad and Celine was top tier and I genuinely enjoyed reading this book because I could really tell that the two had amazing chemistry which I feel is sometimes difficult in a young adult book. Although I loved both of the main characters Celine really stole the show for me her grumpiness and wittiness somehow reminded me of myself and I loved her individualism and how she wasn't willing to water down her personality for anyone even Brad. The mental health rep in this book was also a really big highlight for me because I think it's important that characters in young adult books are having these complex conversations because it is very realistic to the things many people in that age group are experiencing especially with the addition of transitions from being a teenager to a young adult. Overall I highly recommend this book to my young adult romance book fans because it was adorable and humorous and truly everything I could ask for in a ya romance.

I am a big fan of Talia Hibbert's romances and was thrilled to see her come out with a YA romance. While I still prefer her adult romances, This was a cute, modern romance that young readers will enjoy and relate to. It contains enemies-to-lovers, plus size protagonist, feminism, OCD/mental health, and bi-representation. There is a lot young readers will be drawn to and it is easy to like the protagonists, Celine and Bradley, and root for them as they reach for their dreams and find romance. I did struggle with some elements of the plot that didn't flow smoothly for me, seeing her dad, the wilderness survival element, what made them start despising each other, and there was something off with how their relationship developed so quickly/well.

Thanks you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing with me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun story, I loved the characters and the plot was fun. Hibbert showed she can write a cute and fun romance for any age.

There's the enemies-to-lovers trope and then there's the best-friends-to-lovers trope... and then there's bringing these two together and throwing the two people into the wild, literally. The book did a great job of capturing what a messy time that would be while making their make-up satisfying and fun.

I really enjoyed this book! I listened to the audiobook, and the two narrators are great. If you’ve read other Talia Hibbert books, I would say this is less steamy than other books I read but very age-appropriate for the context. This book is told from two points of view - Brad and Celina. They were formally best friends and had a falling out. Now they have been put together due to an opportunity to win a scholarship. They are both in their finaly year of high school and have spent the last four years as sworn enemies. Before that they were best friends that knew everything about each other.
I really enjoyed the over the top internal dialogue of both the characters. It brings you back to high school, when everything was so much bigger thatn it really was.
If you want to read a cute story about high schoolers, this one is incredibly adorable and cute.

This was so so so wonderful. I really loved both Celine and Bradley and found myself rooting for both of them and all of their friends. I love Talia Hibbert and will read absolutely anything she writes!

I loved this story! I really enjoyed reading about all the different representations in this story. The banter and chemistry between the leads was so good. The ending was a bit rushed but still very much enjoyed this one

I wanted to love this book (as I have enjoyed Talia Hibbert's romance novels for adults), but I felt this one was lacking. It just felt like a less interesting version of one of her adult books.

anyone who knows me knows i absolutely love the childhood best friends to enemies to lovers trope, and celinebradley having that trope mixed with the academic rivals trope was just perfect.

i loved that this book was dual pov and we got to see a deeper look into both of the characters' personal lives and the progression of their feelings towards each other. i also thought the plot was very fun and unique - i personally could not be caught stuck in the wilderness for a scholarship, but it was fun reading about kids who would :D and celine and bradley's banter was so funny and cute, and i enjoyed seeing their relationship develop through the book.

Talia Hibbert does not disappoint!!

This black love YA romance between ex best friends turned nemesis in their last year of high school that sign up for the same program to win a scholarship was truly an amazing and fun read.

I love how the author writes inner monologs and banter between the main characters, it's so fun and cute and makes you really get into the story and want the relationship to thrive.

Both main characters have a great character development and put in the effort to make their relationship succeed but they're also teens so things are on their level.

I loved their intimate scenes and just....ughhh they're so cute

Highly recommend this book

5/5 ⭐️ I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did! I don’t read a lot of YA so I was skeptical but Talia Hibbert’s writing never fails to draw me in.

This literally had me giggling and laughing and it just felt like a warm hug. It was just so cute and funny and surprisingly emotional. Both Celine and Brad were very vulnerable and I felt so connected to them. Their struggles, fears, and dreams felt like my own.

I just loved every minute of this book. Celine and Brad’s banter was hilarious! I literally had a smile on my face whenever they bickered 😁.

This was friends-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers and it was done so well. It is evident that although they are “enemies” they are both obsessed with each other. It was just the cutest thing ever 🥹❤️.

One of the things I thought would bother me was the pop culture references. I usually don’t like them in my books but oddly enough, I didn’t mind it here. It wasn’t OTT.

Overall, this was such an amazing read. I loved the characters and the romance was really cute!

I reviewed this on Book Riot's All the Books podcast. Here is a rough transcript.

This is Talia Hibbert’s debut YA romance.
I love the Brown Sisters series.
In fact, it really changed my perspective on romance.
It showed me how much I could love it.
But even though Talia Hibbert has written plenty of other books, I haven’t read any of them.
I think I’ve been nervous that they won’t be as magical of a reading experience.
But when I saw she was coming out with a YA romance out Jan 3rd, I had to read it for this episode.
But there weren’t any review copies, so I emailed the publisher and requested one.
And they never emailed back.
But then, when I had lost all hope, only days before recording, they made review copies available.
And I’m so glad, because I really enjoyed this one.
This follows Brad and Celine,
Who were were best friends years ago,
And are now bitter academic rivals.
When a scholarship opportunity opens up at a Wilderness Camp —
One run by Celine’s environmental lawyer hero —
They both jump at the chance.
But they’ll have to figure out how to work together if they have a chance of winning that scholarship.
This was such a fun mix of friends to lovers, rivals to lovers, and even some second chance romance elements.
They used to be so close, but then Brad started making new friends and generally not being a weirdo, which Celine took as betrayal.
Now, she runs a semi-popular TikTok account about conspiracy theories and he plays football, and they are in completely different circles.
Of course, Celine’s reaction to Brad wanting to make other friends might have something to do with her dad’s abandonment of their family.
They haven’t spoken in years.
But she has a plan.
She’s going to become a corporate lawyer, just like he is,
But she will be a better lawyer,
And he’ll have to see her face everywhere, and always feel that guilt,
And that will be the perfect punishment.
All she has to do is get perfect grades, round out her extra-curriculars, and get hopefully get this scholarship. No problem.
Neither Brad or Celine is excited about the wilderness camp element.
Brad has OCD, and there are a lot of things in the forest that trigger his fear of contamination.
And Celine is just not an outdoorsy kind of person.
But they’re both willing to brave it for the opportunity.
And might I say that this is, while believable, a ridiculous way to test someone’s academic or professional qualities?
It reminds me of my high school gym teacher, who told us to learn from the high jump winners, because they were really going to go far in life.
But back to Brad. In the author’s note, Talia Hibbert explains being recently diagnosed with OCD and how it runs in her family.
I appreciated how we see Brad dealing with it.
He was diagnosed before the book started and has found the right combination of therapy, drugs, and techniques to manage it most of the time.
We see him talking himself through his strategies countering his obsessive thoughts, which I really appreciated.
On the other hand, Celine has not learned healthy methods of dealing with her fear of abandonment, and it’s affecting a lot of her life.
Her dad’s company is one of the sponsors of the wilderness camp, and that means he’ll probably be at the ending party, which will be the first time she’s seen him in years.
She doesn’t see how she’s letting him control so much of her life, just to spite him.
But this is a romance, and I haven’t even talked about that part yet.
I really liked Celine and Brad’s relationship.
They have that staple of a rivals to lovers romance: good banter.
And even after they get past that animosity, there’s still a good reason for them not getting together, which is something I need from a romance novel.
Celine’s fear of abandonment not only makes it hard to commity to someone else in general,
But they’re only months away from graduation, where they will be going to different schools.
Still, despite her logic, she can’t help being drawn to him,
And they end up in a friends-who-kiss situation that they both want more from but can’t articulate.
I really felt for Celine.
She wants so hard to protect herself from heartbreak, but it’s already too late. It’s impossible to not open yourself to be hurt by people, unless you completely isolate yourself.
Brad and Celine had a great dynamic, and this definitely lived up to the standard set by her Brown Sisters series.
Also, Brad is bisexual! More bisexual men in books, please.
Honestly, my only complaint in this whole book was a brief conversation about Kanye, and I imagine that was written before some recent remarks.
So if you like friends to lovers or rivals to lovers YA romances, definitely pick this one up.
And that’s Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

I loved this book! The characters were well-drawn, the writing was smart, and it was really funny. Will definitely recommend and read anything Talia Hibbert writes!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to the free advanced digital copy of this book.

I loved Talia Hibbert's Brown Sisters Trilogy so very much! This was the first book outside of that trilogy that ive read of Hibbert's books! I really enjoyed it and even found that it had that same energy as the Brown Sisters, which was a huge win for me! I'm absolutely going to be picking up more of her books!

I really wanted to love this book, especially because I love Talia Hibbert books. But I think they author needs to stay in adult romance world.

This book was not interesting to read. Started from the very unlikeable MC Celine. I’ve read books where I didn’t like the main character but the usually grew on me. Celine did not. She got worse as the book went on. Bradley was much more enjoyable and I think if he didn’t have his own POV I would have DNFed the book. I did find that he fell for Celine quicker than I’d like. I’d have preferred more angst between them.

The overall plot seems very random and unlikely to every happen. A camping competition to win a scholarship? Odd.

As I’m writing this review a week after finishing the book I realize that I don’t remember most of what happened in the book. It was bland and forgettable. There were moments where the witty banter was funny and cute. But overall I really didn’t enjoy this book. I’m honestly surprised I’m not rating it lower.

Thank you to penguin teen Canada for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Such fun and romance. It's the perfect camp read. There have to be camp reads if there are beach reads, right? I will definitely recommend it and have done so on my TikTok. I enjoyed it.

I thought this was a really cute read from Talia Hibbert. As a fan of her adult romance, this YA romance was cute and fun and easy to read. Although YA isn’t really my genre anymore, I don’t have anything negative to say except how enjoyable Celine and Brad were. Going from friends to enemies to friends to lovers was so fun to read and just seeing them grow together again was amazing.

Thank you again to NetGalley for inviting me to read Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute!

Talia Hibbert is one of the authors that got me into reading romance. Her Brown Sisters trilogy was excellent, so I knew I had to grab this one. Even though it was more YA than her normal books, it was still an excellent and cute read!

What a wonderful romantic story of former childhood best friends turned intellectual rivals. Talia Hibbert well written high school coming of age pair of Bradley and Celine. Both were quite relatable and young adult readers could put themselves in their shoes. I loved that it gave the reader a look inside in the lives of teenagers in the UK.