I absolutely adored this story and I'm so glad I got an advanced copy. Talia Hibbert is one of the best romance writers - there's so much heart and humor in her stories, and this one was no different. I saw so much of myself in both Brad and Celine, so the characters were super relatable, plus I laughed out loud a few times. There was also some really deep stuff in the story in regards to Celine's relationship with her father and Brad's OCD. Overall, it was such a heartwarming book to read.

I don't know if this is going to be a series, but I'd be interested in seeing more of some of the side characters like Aurora and Raj.

ONLY TALIA HIBBERT COULD MAKE ME (a 26 year old pessimist) CARE SO MUCH ABOUT A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO 17 YEAR OLDS!!!💖

Ms. Hibbert does not miss. I genuinely think this is one of her best books. I FLEW through it.

Ok so let's set the scene:

We have ~Celine,~ a 17 year old black girl who is insanely smart and motivated, unapologetically herself, stubborn as hell, wants to be a lawyer, and makes tiktoks about conspiracy theories.

In comes ~Brad,~ a bisexual boy with OCD who is popular, witty, charming, and loves to read/write.

The EMOTIONAL MATURITY between these two was honestly off the charts. Their communication was so much better than I often see in adult romance, and it made it so easy to root for them the whole time. Brad and Celine are two lovable individuals who make an ever better couple <3

In part of the book Brad and Celine are together for a competition in the woods, and I do have to say I think the competition was a bit random. HOWEVER I am a SUCKER for forced proximity, so I will not be complaining.

The personal growth the characters experienced brought this from a great book to an incredible book IMO.

"I roll my eyes. "You're the bane of my existence. Did you know that?" She grins. "I hoped."" IT'S GIVING BRIDGERTON

"I'm on my phone stitching together some footage of cows that I filmed this weekend for a video about the possibility of cannibalistic bovine overlords running the beef industry." Idk how you could not be obsessed with Celine.

Disclaimer: if you are a girly with daddy issues, be prepared to shed a few tears.

**Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review**

After loving the Brown sisters trilogy from Hibbert, I had high expectations for this new YA release. Hibbert did a great job of adding the same depth and intricacy in her characters just as she does with her adult novels, and made the younger characters ones that teenagers and adults alike will love. Excited to see more YA work from Hibbert!

I love Talia Hibbert so dearly. The Brown Sisters trilogy was my introduction into adult romance, and it's a series I keep going back to for immediate serotonin. So, I was so excited going into Hibbert's YA debut, Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute.


Unfortunately, I was left disappointed and wanting more. I'll be splitting this review into the pros (stuff I liked) and cons (stuff I didn't like). Spoiler alert: I disliked more than I liked.


I do think this book has an audience for folks who are in middle school or early high school of for people who are really into pop culture. I'm in neither of those categories, so the book didn't connect with me. But, if you are an young teen or if you really love TikTok, maybe this could be for you.


Pros:

- The Banter: Talia Hibbert writes the most incredible banter. She is able to bring character interactions to life in the most incredible way.

- The Rep: Brad has OCD, and I think it's handled pretty well in the narrative. Celine also has a parent who's not present in her life, and that's done well too.


Cons:

- The Constant Pop-Culture References: For me, these date a book and make it less enjoyable in the moment. I don't particularly care about TikTok, so I didn't care about the TikTok threads in this book. The characters also reference things that are currently popular - which is just not how I like my books. This is personal preference though, so you may really like HSaUC for this reason.

- The Romance: It was really hard for me to believe the love between the characters. I felt their platonic friendship a lot. Celine and Brad had great moments in that regard. But the romance was just lacking a bit. I didn't feel like they *had* to be dating rather than best friends.

- The "Quirky" Scenarios: I do understand that romance books tend to do strange things in order to get the characters into weird situations. Sadly, I just found these ones to be kind of absurd.

I didn't realize this was a YA book when I requested it. I don't mind reading the genre but I'm not the intended audience so I don't know that my reviews are fair.

This is a fun, sweet story about high school rivals who eventually fall for each other. They were friends as little kids so it's partly second chance as well as enemies to lovers. This had a lot of great things that I expect from a Talia HIbbert book, well developed characters and fantastic banter, but it was missing something. The plot line felt bland.

I think this will hit better for younger readers because it touches on dealing with family expectations and what happens when you don't want the same future as your parents want for you.

*Note to publisher* at 31% into the book, one characters makes joke to the other about being mad enough to scalp someone. That feels highly offensive and I suggest it be removed from the manuscript before publication.

Thanks to NetGalley and the for the advance copy. I adore Talia Hibbert, but this YA debut was just okay. There was no chemistry between the two main characters and because of that the story dragged. Hibbert usually writes really steamy books, so maybe the transition to YA was a tough one, because this was really just kind of meh.

I enjoyed Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute.

OK so I am not a YA reader. I'm in my 40s. I can't stand the drama. Like, just get over yourselves. But I LOVE Talia Hibbert's books. And she wrote this YA, and so I had to read it. There were cringey moments, but it's a book about teens. They are kind of cringey. I expected it. What you also get is Talia Hibbert's wit and wonderful characters. Spectacular internal dialogue and witty conversations. It was totally worth it!

If you like YA, you will love this. If you are like me and don't really like YA, but you love Talia Hibbert, then you will enjoy reading this.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I will absolutely read anything Talia Hibbert writes! She’s truly is an amazing author & I’ve loved every book I’ve read of hers & this is no different! The chemistry between these two was immediate & I was quickly invested in their relationship. This was a truly a lovely love story between two characters that are both on their own journeys but found love on the way! The banter between the two characters was absolutely hilarious! The oneverall plot really came together especially in the end. Overall I really enjoyed this book & can’t wait to read more from talia!

The title of this book couldn’t be more fitting for the vibes between the main characters: Highly suspicious and incredibly cute, indeed. The story was nuanced and interesting. I was happy to really dive deep into the characters whether it be their history together or their individual stories. I found the OCD and therapy experience from Brad and the revelations for Celine about the effects from
her relationship (or lack thereof) with her father to add much about the truth in the human experience to this romance. I also enjoyed the dual POVs. I thought it was a fitting way to tell this story and really let the reader into both sides of their friendship and love story.

Alright. This book was absolutely adorable as the title suggests!

The characters, Brad and Celine, are likable even with their flaws. I love how they start to find their way back together over the course of the book. I also loved many of the side characters and would read books about them as well! I really hope this turns into a series somehow because the characters, writing and overall style of this book were just phenomenal! Can’t wait to read this again and again

Delivering on the title, this book was absolutely unfairly cute and I really adored it. Celine and Bradley have such a cute chemistry that also makes the book light up with humor and fun. Talia Hibbert is an author that I've only known through her adult romances, but this new foray into YA is absolutely fantastic and makes me excited to see if there are any other YA plans in her future.

I did have a very soft spot in my heart for Bradley, who is a fantastic character and his struggle with OCD was really well handled. Celine was also great but I wish we got to see a little more from her conspiracy theory minded brain, which seemed very reasonable for the most part, the only exception being her belief in aliens. But what I loved most about Celine's story is her relationship with her mom and her insecurities involving her father and anxiety.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Disappointment. I liked all the characters but, this was book was boring. Wanted more school interactions and just more from the main characters.

I really loved Act Your Age, Eve Brown, so I was thrilled to hear that Talia Hibbert was releasing a young adult book! The premise also sounded so good and I couldn’t wait to read it. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute was, well, an unfairly cute book, with a romance that you won’t be able to stop smiling about.

Celine and Bradley are academic rivals and can’t stand to be in the same room together…but they were once best friends. Celine is applying to a competition to get a scholarship and be mentored by her idol, and unfortunately—for her—Brad decides to join her. The two are forced to work together, but as they spend more time with each other, they begin to remember what they were like before.

The book opens with dictionary of the British-isms, which I feel like really set the scene for the tone. Hibbert’s writing is just so funny and witty; I had so much fun with this book! The characters were also great. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute follows both Celine’s and Brad’s point-of-view, and it was interesting seeing them go through their own journeys. Celine is determined and blunt but also very caring. Brad wants to be a writer, if he could only tell his parents.

I also really liked the romance! Celine and Brad are rivals but used to be best friends. She thinks he left her behind for new friends, where she didn’t fit in. She’s been antagonistic toward him ever since, and he’s followed her. Their mothers remain best friends, though, so they’ve had to hear about the other’s life for years. Throughout the book, Celine and Brad begin to get past the small hurts that built up. I liked their banter, as well as well as their more emotional talks.

This book is one of the first from the Joy Revolution imprint, created by Nicola and David Yoon. After enjoying this one so much, I’m really excited to read more from this imprint! Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute was an adorable book, with a cute romance and great characters. I definitely recommend it, especially if you’re a fan of Hibbert’s adult romances.

Ugh! This book was so CUTE! I truly can’t think of another word to describe it, maybe because cute is in the title, but it doesn’t matter because it totally fits. I had such a fun time reading this book. While it does cover some heavy topics, the author does a wonderful job of keeping things light and fun.

The book starts out with Celine applying to an intense survivalist course run by her hero in order to win a scholarship to study law. When her former best friend turned nemesis, Bradley, finds out about her plans, he applies too, but for a few different reasons, one being he wants to get close to Celine again. Now, Celine and Brad are forced to spend time together… in the WOODS, and Celine learns that maybe Brad isn’t so horrible after all.

Celine and Bradley were such strong characters and had wonderfully complex backstories. I appreciated the neurodivergent representation and felt that Brad’s OCD was really well presented. Another thing that stood out to me was the way both characters were so terrified of disappointing their parents. I think this is so relatable and liked how both characters eventually found the courage to tell their parents about their plans for the future and mental health concerns.

I do wish the ending had been longer, or that we’d gotten an epilogue or something as it did feel a bit rushed, but that could have been because I just didn’t wanted to end since I was enjoying it so much!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for the complimentary arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Celine and Bradley's mothers are best friends. They have known each other forever, and up until their early teens were best friends, but then Bradley joins the football team and gets popular. Now they are seventeen and are arch nemesis. After an unfortunate accident, they both end up in the same extracurricular wilderness program, competing for a scholarship to university. Will their time together result in their hatred for each other growing, or will they remember why they used to be so close?

This is a really cute YA book set in England. It is told in dual POV, and both teenagers were likeable. Celine is a brazen go getter dealing with abandonment issues. Bradley is a laid back, easy going, charmer; but underneath all of that he struggles with mental health issues.

I appreciate that all of Talia Hibbert's books represent characters dealing with either mental or physical ailments. This representation in writing is not only important, but it makes character's more relatable.

I enjoyed this YA novel, and recommend it to all ages.

This was such a successful YA romance! I love this author's adult books and I'm so glad she's expanding into the YA genre now! This was such a fun read, I couldn't put it down. Celine and Bradley were so cute together. The friends to enemies to lovers trope was so good. Their banter was great.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Talia Hibbert has yet to disappoint with her newest novel, Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute. This break out YA novel follows Celine Bangura and Bradley Graeme as they traverse an outdoor survival scholarship program. In this friends-to enemies-to lovers- dynamic, we see an authentic representation of mental illness, parent abandonment, and genuine growth that has you rooting for the protagonists the entire story.

I have been a huge fan of Talia Hibbert since I binge read Get a Life, Chloe Brown. My biggest fear going into this book is that we wouldn’t get all of Hibbert’s sharp tongued wit and phenomenal character development. Allow me to quash those fears; this book was amazing and I cannot stop gushing about it. There were so many great lines, but this was one that stuck out to me the most:

“And I know they’re worth more than all the people who were . . . who were casually cruel to me, because they’re deliberately kind, and that makes them better people. My kind of people. Except I had to learn that. Don’t we all have to learn that?”

With a stunning 4/5 stars, I kindly request that everyone read this book.

Talia Hibbert doesn't have a bad book. Let's start with that. This is her FIRST YA book and she crushed. The banter between our two main characters was so good, and it was fun! This was a joy to read and I can't wait to see what Talia does next.

This book was so adorable!Celine and Bradley were the sweetest! This is a friends to enemies (real enemies not the other enemies to lovers books I’ve read where the MC thinks the other person doesn’t like them), the bickering between them is hilarious. Watching Celine and Bradley relationship blossom was so wholesome!

Stop because Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute was literally the cutest book ever. Here’s a list of what I loved about it:

-the banter between Celine and Bradley (it was 10/10)
-the alternating perspectives (executed perfectly)
-the story line (it was perfect)
-the pacing of the storyline (also perfect)
-how funny it was (literally couldn’t stop cheesing the whole time I was reading)
-how much Bradley loved Celine (and vice versa)
-the sunshine/grumpy trope (always gets me 🤣)
-how the parents weren’t total d-bags

Basically this book was perfect and everyone should read it. 10/10 WOULD RECOMMEND.


Thank you to NetGalley, Talia Hibbert, and Random House Childrens for allowing me to read the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.