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.

I really enjoyed the Brown sisters books from Talia Hibbert, so I was excited to give her YA debut a go. I'm glad to say that Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute has all the same warmth and wit I've come to expect from Ms. Hibbert.

When I read YA, my ultimate measuring stick is, "Would I recommend this book to my tween daughters?" It's a pretty high bar, especially for something romance-y, and this book definitely makes the mark. Smart yet perfectly imperfect main characters, surrounded by interesting and supportive friends. A fun friends-to-enemies-to-first loves, PG romance with a teddy bear of a leading man. Great body positivity and mental health rep for both MCs. I particularly loved following along as they are figuring out who they are and if what they are striving for (when it comes to school/career) is truly they want vs. what they think other people want. These are the type of themes I want my girls to read about! Yes, of course there's a HEA, as much as there can be one for 18 year olds. But it's not a fairy tale. These are real people digging into relatable challenges, showing resilience, supporting each other, and working to stay tuned in to their true selves.

I also adored all the British-isms, and loved the handy glossary at the beginning. Super helpful for US teens that are new to Brit lit.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC, in exchange for this honest review.

I loved Talia Hibbert's adult romances so I was excited to read her new YA. Just like it sounds it is a cute friends to enemies trope with witty banter and tension. I loved the outdoor setting and the mental health representation. I will say this is a hard-hitting YA, with the writing feeling childish at times. I felt the writing fit well with the story but is far different from her previous works.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the ARC!

One thing about me; if Talia Hibbert writes it, I’m going to read it. This story has everything that I loved about the brown sisters trilogy, just in a YA setting. Her characters are still believable. The relationship is sweet. As someone with OCD, the representation was beautiful to see and taken just as seriously as Talia Hibbert always does.

I'm sure I won't be the first or the last to say this, but it is HIGHLY suspicious how unfairly cute this book is! Talia Hibbert is easily a favorite romance author of all time. I was a little unsure about this one going in, because I am generally not a fan of teen books in school-related settings, but I should've known better. This book was so ridiculously charming and full of banter, and I totally couldn't put it down. Truly a perfect teen romance book!

As a big fan of Ms. Hibbert’s adult romances, I was hoping the YA category of this would just feel like one of her adult romances but for a younger audience. And it did and it didn’t. The wit and humor was there - the banter is top notch as always! But I found myself having a really hard time caring about 17/18 years olds relationships. Which is absolutely on me and not the fault of the book. I think I overestimated my enjoyment going in just because of the author. This was a perfectly fine YA contemporary romance and lovers of this genre will most likely find a lot of love about this book! I’m just too old, lol.



Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

Talia Hibbert does it again! I'll admit I was a bit skeptical with how steamy Talia's novels normally are to foray into the young adult space with her. But I'm very glad I took that risk. This was a thoroughly enjoyable novel with wonderful disability representation as usual. I also really love the britishisms throughout, the education system was like looking through a new cultural lens that many will appreciate. Adorable romance, highly recommend!

I love Talia Hilbert’s books but I was a little curious if she could make the crossover to YA. Well I’m happy to report that she did. This book is ridiculously cute. If you like the friends to enemies to lovers trope this is for you.

Brad & Celine were very well rounded main characters. I honestly can’t think of another Black OCD Bisexual character out there, let alone a male character. And I like how they didn’t go the typical route with Celine’s father’s abandonment.

I highly recommend this book, and thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's for this arc!

Adorable! Such a cute, fun, romantic read. Talia Hibbert always hits it out of the park. She’s definitely written an amazing YA debut.

As the title suggests this was a super cute book. I loved the dual POV, really helped relate and understand both characters.

If you don’t already know this, Talia Hibbert writes some of the best books that’s out there. I adore her style and her characters and her words and just everything. I loved Bradley and Celine and found them to be so relatable. Their relationship was really compelling, and you just couldn't help rooting for them. This was easily one of the best books that I've read lately -- I didn't want it to end! I loved it and highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The title of this book should have been Ridiculously Witty and Absurdly Cute because that’s what it was. Talia Hibbert was meant to write YA because her brand of storytelling is just perfect for it, with her sharp-edged characters with their inexplicable soft centers, the razor sharp banter, the chemistry that goes on for days, the absolutely foolishness of her MCs to see what’s right in front of them whilst those around them (in this case, their best friends) ever so helpfully and repeatedly point out the obvious. Bradley and Celine are perfect, the youthful versions of many an adult aged Talia character. I can see Celine growing up and being friends with Brown sisters. That’s not to say her characters are repetitious and predictable, they are not. Celine stands out in her own unique way, with her abandonment issues (courtesy of her father) and her trust issues (partly courtesy of Bradley himself). And then there’s Bradley, with his OCD, struggling to be true to himself when Celine has seemingly already figured that part out. I loved every word of this book and would love to revisit them in their adult years because if they’re a hoot now, I can’t imagine what these two would be like as adults. Highly delightful and Unfairly entertaining.

Final rating: 4.5 stars

Another hit from Talia Hibbert! She's one of my favorite authors and I've read most of her adult books, so I couldn't wait to read her YA debut, especially knowing that it's a friends-to-rivals-to-lovers romance! With two Black leads, Talia creates fully fleshed-out characters that have complex motivations, and it's a delight to get to know Bradley and Celine.

Celine's complicated history with her father is heartwrenching and it's easy to root for her and her success. Brad is the first bisexual MMC with OCD that I've ever read, and Talia carefully and admirably crafts his narrative. When she and Bradley become friendly with each other again, their banter carried on and it was very sweet. And the way that Brad and Celine comfort and reassure each other was charming. The writing style flowed nicely, and the pop references weren't overwhelming, especially considering that this is a YA novel.