Talia Hibbert will never cease to entertainment. Adult or YA - all of her books have been incredible! I adore her writing and her storylines are always so cute! Thank you for this ARC of Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute!

Oh my gosh y’all this book was so good! I am really into young adult books so when I heard Talia wrote one, I knew I had to read it! I loved the hilarious and adorable banter between Celine and Bradley throughout the book. I was literally giggling or smiling the whole time. Talia touched on a few deep topics such as OCD and family issues but wrote about them so delicately and honestly. This was such a great story about becoming of age and self discovery. Also, I can’t get over how gorgeous this cover is!

Celine is a conspiracy theorist who marches to the beat of her own drum. Brad is a sci-fi fanatic whose life seems to be perfect. They used to be friends until Brad decided being popular was more important. Although rivals, Celine and Brad find themselves being forced to work together to win a scholarship in the Breakspeare Enrichment Program, a nature boot camp that launches its graduates into successful careers.

I found this book absolutely adorable. I already consider myself a huge fan of Hibbert's, and was so excited to read her YA debut. It did not disappoint! Brad and Celine are wonderful characters and I appreciated how this book was as much a story of self discovery as it was a cute romance. As always, Hibbert is the master of witty banter between characters and I thought the dynamic between Celine and Brad and how their relationship changed was so well written. The side characters were also a really great addition. I adored Brad's dad and Celine's mom and sister.

Another thing that I appreciate about Hibbert's writing is how she writes about many different types of people and does so in such a natural way. Her writing features POC, neurodivergence, chronic illness, different body sizes, and queerness without making anything seem forced. I really adore this type of inclusion and representation in books and hope that more authors can follow Hibbert's lead when writing characters.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a cute romance, but also think that it is a great read for young people who may be struggling with decisions about future career paths.

Everything about this YA novel was adorable. The title is *chef's kiss* since this books literally was unfairly cute. I haven't read a lot of YA books that have a dual POV and I really enjoyed this! I bet the audio version is going to be also....unfairly cute!

Warm and fuzzy, like an adorable kitten, a cup of hot cocoa....a delight!

4.5 ★

I loved this!! What a beautiful book filled with great mental health representation, coming-of-age themes, and characters that feel like your best friends. The best friends > enemies > lovers pipeline will always make me feel giddy and this was done SO incredibly well!

As someone with OCD, Bradley's inner monologue and spiraling echoed a lot of my own and it felt so real to my own experience. It's so nice to have a character feel like they are written specifically for you, and that's how Bradley's character made me feel. This book would have made my 17-year-old self feel less alone, and I know it will do that for readers who also pick up this book.

These characters were well-developed and perfectly flawed, you couldn't help but root for them in their own personal journeys as well as for their relationship. The cast of side characters we so much fun and I hope we get to see more of them in the future! Various family dynamics came into play and I think there is a little something for everyone in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, RandomHouse Children's & Joy Revolution for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’m a huge fan of Talia Hibbert’s adult romance series, The Brown Sisters, so when I heard she was writing her YA debut, Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute, I knew I had to read it. I’ll admit I was a little nervous going in, just because I haven’t had great luck with YA books this year, but I’m happy to report that I needn’t have worried. Talia Hibbert, as always, has delivered in every way. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is a funny, heartfelt and charming story that I devoured in less than a day.

Hibbert excels at creating complex, multilayered characters that will capture your heart, and Bradley and Celine in this book are no exception. I adored them both from the moment we meet them. Celine is smart, sassy, and academically driven. She also loves a good conspiracy theory and has garnered herself over 30,000 followers on her popular conspiracy theory Tik Tok account. Unfortunately, her internet popularity hasn’t translated to real world popularity. Celine has a few close friends, but that’s it.

Bradley is also smart and academically driven, but where Celine is sharp and sassy, Bradley is more of a soft cinnamon roll. He has also been diagnosed as having OCD and works hard to keep that from holding him back. Bradley also has a big secret. Even though he says he’s going to study law in college, what he really wants to do is become an author. He has a real passion for writing and has a secret stash of novels he has started writing but is struggling to finish.

I adored both Celine and Bradley separately and became fascinated with their story as soon as we first encounter them in a high school philosophy class and it becomes clear that they really do not get along, at all. They both act like it’s physically painful to have to sit next to each other and that it’s actual torture when they are forced to partner for an assignment. They are clearly academic rivals, but the tension between them clearly runs deeper than just academics and I was dying to know what had created such a sense of mutual loathing between them.

I have to admit that my heart broke for both Celine and Bradley when it’s revealed that they actually used to be childhood best friends before their big falling out. I’m a sucker for a good enemies to lovers story though and Hibbert doesn’t disappoint here either. She throws in a fantastic academic competition that neither Celine nor Bradley can resist even though it forces them to work as a team. I loved every aspect of the competition, especially how it forces both Celine and Bradley to not only confront their past issues with one another but it also forces them to reexamine their goals for the future and whether or not they are pursing them for the right reasons. The competition also features a hilarious and adorably brainy group of friends that I couldn’t get enough of.

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is a delightful read that has a little something for everyone. It’s both a fun enemies to lovers romance and a heartfelt coming of age story that touches on the importance of following your own dreams rather than someone else’s. If you enjoy hilarious sarcastic banter, sassy heroines, and cinnamon roll heroes, you’ll want to check this one out!

"Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute" is the first book that I have read by Talia Hibbert. I loved it! Celine and Brad are childhood friends who had a falling out. They attend the same high school and end up at the same survival course in the woods with a grand prize of a college scholarship. They are both there for different reason - Celine to prove herself to her absent father and Brad so that he can afford to not have a roommate in college to better control his OCD. This book touches on many hard topics but is well balanced with hilarity and of course, romance.

I will definitely be going back and reading Hibbert's back list.

Thank you to NetGalley and Joy Revolution for an advanced reader copy of this book.

I wanted to love this one since I love Talia Hibbert and young adult books but I never fully clicked with it. I appreciated how she handled parental problems, OCD representation and discussion of therapy, but I didn’t love Brad and Celine as characters. While they occasionally had quippy one liners, their back and forth bickering felt repetitive and dragged the story a bit.

A cute YA overall but I think my expectations were too high. Thanks NetGalley and Random House Children’s for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

I think I literally screamed when I got approved for this ARC, Talia HIbbert is one of my all time favorite authors and seeing her YA debut on NetGalley about sent me into a panic attack. The weeks of waiting for approval were torture but I was blessed by the ARC gods in the end thankfully.

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is Talia Hibbert's YA debut romance and it was absolutely fantastic. It was so cute and funny and romantic and inclusive I couldn't get enough. Celine and Bradley used to be BFFs but at a certain point they had a fight when Bradley went to meet new people and try new things and left Celine behind. Now in highschool they are enemies to the very core..until Bradley accidently causes Celine to fracture her wrist and takes it upon himself to make it up to her and in the process become friends again. They are forced to work as a team in a wilderness survival contest for a scholarship and all manner of shenanigans occur while Bradley is figuring out his future and Celine is hell bent on getting revenge on her dad who walked out on her family.

I really loved both Bradley and Celine, they were real people and their dynamic was unbelievably cute. I laughed so much reading this book, the way Celine is such a grumpy gus but how Bradley sees right through her and showers his sunshine-y personality all over her. I really love how Talia always includes such diversity in her books and reinforces the mantra that marginalized identities need honest and positive representation. Bradley is soccer star living with an obsessive compulsive disorder and getting just a tiny glimpse into how an OCD brain works was very interesting and eye opening.

I really don't think Talia could write anything I would ever hate. She is so talented and makes me laugh and swoon every time. She's become one of those comfort authors you can always come back to for a guaranteed good read. I can't wait to see what she comes out with next.

Thank you so much to Random House Children & Joy Revolution for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like this book was missing something it was a very well written book but I kept finding my self bored I love the overall theme and message this book came with it though

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so ridiculously perfect. I've read three other Talia Hibbert novels and loved them all. Her books are fun and funny, romantic, emotional, and just amazing.

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is her first foray into the YA genre. I am blown away. This novel is as good as her adult novels and include everything she's known for, with the exception of the spice.

I laughed and cried and swooned as I read. The characters had an undeniable chemistry that I could feel through my tablet screen. The side characters were all well developed and didn't distract from the overall plot.

HSAUC is set in the final year of high/secondary school which means the main characters are making decisions about their futures. As someone who went through this only a few years ago, I was shocked by how much it affected me. I felt all their hopes and fears. There were a lot of difficult conversations, also ridiculously well written.

You know what truly is unfair? How amazing Talia Hibbert's writing is.

This is definitely a book I will be recommending.

This book was cute. Definitely had to remind myself it was YA at times, which made some of the things that happened make more sense!!

Thank you NetGalley for eARC in exchange for an honest review

Unfairly cute is a very apt description here 😊 this was my first full length Talia Hibbert read and I throughly enjoyed it. I found the premise interesting, the story itself cute, our characters and their challenges compelling, and the banter and representation here to be irresistible. It all really came together for me and had so many notable features.

Highlights:

💖 Celine and Bradley - I loved each separately and together. They both had a strong voice, personality, experiences, hopes and challenges. Each felt authentic and well rounded. They each had unique assets and flaws.

💖 Mental Health Representation - not only a great glimpse into the experience of OCD and managing it, but also a glimpse into anxiety and affirmation of seeking help and resources and the positive way it was handled.

💖 Slow build / burn of a relationship, realistic reactions, fears and conflicts

💖 Banter and texting - I really enjoyed the banter and sarcastic exchanges between our mains. I also love when a book has at least a bit of texting interactions, it just feels real 🤷‍♀️😊

I enjoyed so much of this story, it was sweet, fun and managed to deal with some heavier topics. Not everyone had the experiences or wants, not everything was tied up in a pretty bow. That’s life, I was happy with how things were left with a certain dynamic for Celine. I liked seeing different family experiences and dynamics reflected on the page as well. Overall, a really enjoyable read and one that I will recommend and share with others. I gave Talia Hibbert’s Brown Sisters books on my TBR and cannot wait to give them a go.

Thank you to NetGalley and Joy Revolution for the opportunity to read an early copy of this lovely read! All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and offered freely.

3.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I love Talia Hibbert’s representation of mental health through her writing, and her first YA book is no exception. Bradley has OCD and Celine experiences anxiety. I thought Bradley was a really well written character, but Celine fell flat for me. After reading the acknowledgements and the author mentioning that she also has OCD, I thought that might be why. Bradley just seemed more real to me. Overall the story was cute and I found myself rotting for the MCs.

I read this book as a free galley from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Talia can write no wrong. Her books always hit, and this first foray into YA is a master class. This book is well researched and the descriptions of OCD and teenage gifted perfectionism are on point. As a high school teacher, I eagerly will recommend this novel to my students. The best TH book yet!

I was excited to read this Talia Hibbert book being that I have loved all of her previous ones and this one did not disappoint! Celine and Brad’s connection was obvious and so natural. Their conversations made me laugh and their friends to enemies to lovers was executed perfectly!

P. S. I really want to read the McDonalds scene that Sophie and Brad discuss at the end, so Talia Hibbert please write it!

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is a seriously cute read that has fantastic banter! Bradley stole my heart from page 1 with his love for Celine combined with his quirky and fun personality. Celine’s grumpy, heart of gold, and out there character makes for a very interesting point of view. Talia Hibbert really made for a great match when she brought these two characters together! I loved all of their caustic moments just as much as I loved the sweet ones. This is such a fun romance to read!

I was about 35% into this book when I went and preordered it because it was giving me SO MUCH JOY I need to have it in my hands as soon as I can! I don't typically like contemporary YA books but I knew if Talia Hibbert was writing it I would enjoy it and my expectations were blown!

This book follows our two main characters Bradley a popular, football player who has OCD and Celine who is obsessed with conspiracy theories and with becoming a powerful lawyer. Brad and Celine used to be best buds back in their younger years but had a falling out and have been bitter rivals ever since. In their last year of high school Celine and Brad both find themselves signed up for a survival course where they have to not only survive the woods but each other if they want a chance at winning the scholarship grand prize.

I adore these characters and you can tell they were written with thought and care. I feel like a lot of YA characters can come off gimmicky or stereotypes of teenagers but in this book the characters felt natural and real. Celine's journey with accepting love and the feelings she had towards her father were very relatable to me and had me crying thinking of the times as a teen I felt the exact same way. Her mother's words to her at the end were just perfect and I LOVE HER!! Brad's OCD and bisexuality were written very naturally and with respect. Having a glimpse into how people who have OCD can still have intrusive thoughts even if they seem to have it "managed" was very interesting and I thought it was great to see how Brad uses different techniques to cope with the OCD.

The banter between the two main characters was SO FUN! I can't decide if I liked their banter when they hated each other or loved each other more!! The romance was so sweet I loved it and their own personal journey as well.

My only wish was that the ending was... more! I needed confirmation on somethings!! Overall VERY much enjoyed and I can't wait for my friends and family to read it!!

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

Highly Entertaining and Incredibly Cute.

Wanting to get into YA romances but you’re not sure where to start? Please look no further, because everything you’ll ever want is right here. Bestselling author Talia Hibbert comes back with the cutest YA debut to ever exist!

After a falling out ages ago, the only thing ex-best friends Bradley and Celine have for each other is petty insults and academic rivalry… That is until they find themselves competing for a scholarship in the middle of the woods, where they are forced to work as a team for a grand prize. As they work closer and closer, their past comes sneaking back along with some teensy, tiny (and repressed) feelings that were (un)successfully shut down.

Ever since the author announced her new book and showed us the beautiful cover, I was SOLD. Not only was the storyline incredibly interest but unique too. With Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute, Talia HIbbert is debuting Joy Revolution, a brand new imprint of Random House Kids, focused on bringing diversity and representation to the Young Adult genre written by people of color about people of color.

Now to the actually review;

I don’t usually read Young Adult and the times I do is mostly Fantasy books but I loved this so, so much! It has taken the favorite spot on my YA list.

It usually takes me a little bit to get into books so I wasn’t preoccupied when it happened with this one because I just had the biggest feeling I was going to love it. I was excited to meet Celine, who is this nerdy, sassy, and incredibly intelligent girl and is on her last year of high school. She was fantastic(!) of course, and a force of nature, I had a blast being in her head and getting to know her.
I loved Brad so much too. Super cool, hilarious boy with who I want to be best friends with. Same with Celine.

From the first moment you could notice how these two people were completely made for each other. Bradly is the calm to Celine’s chaos. Their personalities were so in tune and I LOVED seeing them find their way back to each other and step back into their best-friends shoes. Their inner dialogue is freakin’ hilarious especially because they were so completely gone in love with each other.

I really enjoyed the whole scholarship aspect, I got to meet so many girls and guys who were part of the competition and witness the friendly rivalry that ultimately united them all and created an amazing group of friends.

I also want to talk about the familial situation in the book. Celine’s father abandoned her, her sister and her mom when she was little, leaving Celine’s mom as the sole provider and parent. Of course, Celine is affected by this and it leaves a tiny speck on her soul. But I won’t say much except that Talia handled it beautifully. This types of situations in books often leave me feeling frustrated for a number of factors BUT not in this one, which is a win for me.

I loved and adored both Bradley’s and Celine’s families. They are such supportive and great people. Their interactions throughout the book were always entertaining and funny. I had a great time with them.

Thank you so, so much to Joy Revolution for gifting me an advance creder copy in exchange of an honest review.

This book was soooo good, Talia Hibbert wrote a fantastic book. This book was a feel good story and had great representation in it.