Talia Hibbert’s Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is the YA novel I never knew I needed. Everything from the title and cover art to the deliciously snarky attitudes are absolute perfection. I’ve lived for the razor sharp banter in the Brown Sisters books and this one is just as good, Bradley and Celine were so fun to read!

highly suspicious and unfairly cute, talia hibbert

4/5
this review is hard for me to write for a variety of reasons. as i was reading, i adored highly suspicious and fell in love with the characters and their banter. it was so fun reading, talia hibbert’s first foray into YA being as sweet and as full of banter as i expected it to be. but after i finished and was left to sit with my thoughts for a few days, some things really stuck out at me and left me feeling a little disappointed.

highly suspicious is so quintessentially talia hibbert, her writing style and character work translating almost perfectly into the YA genre. her humor practically melts off the page. but, in a way, i feel like the book being YA almost hindered it to a certain extent. the book couldn’t have been anything other than YA, this is true. and this may just be because talia isn’t necessarily accustomed to building plot beyond what is essential to the main characters’ story, but i really found myself wanting more of the BEP scholarship storyline.

throughout the novel, there are times when the competition are just breezed through with time jumps so we can get to more of bradley and celine. and honestly, normally when it comes to romance i’m a character & romance over plot person but i desperately wanted to see more of the competition, more of bradley and celine’s competitive banter and more of their relationship building during the competition instead of outside of it. highly suspicious is a true academic rivals to lovers romcom, but i would have liked that development to have come out of this academic competition.

one thing that i absolutely enjoyed, however, was the way bradley’s ocd and his relationship with mental health. talia never gets into the nitty gritty of ocd, which i think was a smart decision for a YA novel, but she does make the effort to show how much brad’s mental health affects him and how integral it is to his character and his past. brad’s pov illustrated a very accurate ocd representation, complete with compulsions, thought spirals, and an substantial amount of mental self-soothing. i could really tell that the author themselves has recently been diagnosed with ocd.

celine bangura is also a really special character. she’s a tiktoker that makes videos about absurdist conspiracy theories, a hyperfixation she developed after her father left their family to start another one with someone else. i really loved reading about celine and watching her character develop, her beginning to overcome her trauma and learning how to trust other people again. the friendships she had with other girls throughout the story were so sweet and very true to form.

i think this book is perfect for talia hibbert fans and people who enjoy a good, mildly plotless romcom complete with witty banter, occasional swearing, and very competitive characters.

This book was Highly Enjoyable and certainly Unfairly Cute. This was my first foray into the world and characters of Talia Hibbert, and boy am I ready to pick up another title by this incredibly talented author. She absolutely deserves all of the hype.

Often, I find that I do not gravitate to contemporary YA. I worry as a 37-year-old woman, that I won't relate to the characters. I'm so glad that I cast aside my usual concerns to dive into Celine and Brad's story. There was so much here for me to sink my teeth into, so many chances to see a facet of myself in these characters as they grapple with planning for the future, living with anxiety, and the desperate desire not to disappoint the ones that you love.

Pick this up for yourself. Pick this up for the teen in your life on the cusp of the transition from High School to College. Just pick this up!

I am a Talia Hibbert fan and was thrilled to hear she was writing a YA Romance. This book was so well written and the story was interesting and fun. In some ways I actually liked this book more than Hibbert's adult novels. There was great representation of different relationships, mental health, and young adult struggles. The best part, for me, was that the story is not heavy on angst and definitely leans more towards being a feel good book. I can't wait to tell everyone to read this book and, as a school librarian, especially my students.

3.75 stars rounded up*. This is my first Talia Hibbert arc and I’m so happy to have gotten an arc from my favorite author. Sadly, I just didn’t love this.

Celine is a conspiracy theorist with a TikTok and she has a lot of followers. She is a antisocial nerd who wants to study law.Brad is a nerdy football player with OCD. His dad wants him to study law but he actually wants to be a writer but hasn’t told his family.

I liked the story but I just didn’t like how immature they are (yes I know it’s YA). There was too many pop culture references and use of TikTok which I can’t stand in books. Most of the references would only make sense to British people and it kept taking me out of the book. Celine was a little mean to Bradley but their banter made up for it. Their chemistry was cute but their reasoning for not being friends, was just too immature. And Celine treating him like an enemy was ridiculous. There were scenes that happened off page that I wish were on page because it would have shown more character growth and them bonding.

Tw: Celine’s side plot involves her dad leaving her when she was young and starting another family. I think Talia Hibbert handled that plot line well and didn’t have it take over the entire storyline of Celine.

All in all, 3.75 for TheStoryGraph and 4 for Goodreads

This book has so much sweetness to it, I couldn’t put it down.

The characters have great chemistry, there’s a perfect blend of serious and rom com and the teenagers dialogue and internal dialogue actually sounds like their age! I loved the forced proximity and enemies to lovers trope.

The conversations about the MMC’s OCD struggles and the FMC’s absent father issues were very genuine and real, which was great to see!

I can’t wait to read more YA from this author!

November 17, 2022
They say fuck a lot for a YA novel, but I’m not complaining. I’m just surprised, as SJM taught me that vaguely referencing “vulgar gestures” was as far as authors of YA could go.

Anyway, in typical fashion, Talia Hibberts new book is completely hilarious and devastatingly cute. She writes relationship dynamics like nothing I have ever seen, and I read a hell of a lot of romance. How she knocks it out of the park every time, I truly don’t understand, but I have to assume she has a stunning personality to match all of this wit.

You follow two ex-friends who are now full on enemies in an academic setting and watch as they tentatively become friends again, then potentially more. Bradley is a sci-fi nerd cosplaying as a jock in his real life, and Celine is a Tiktok conspiracy theorist who is too confident in her nerdiness to hide it, which causes strife in what was once a beautiful friendship. I loved getting to see these two slowly come back together.

Ultimately, my only hang-up is that this is YA and I prefer her adult books. I am officially old and I have a hard time relating to anyone below the age of 25. But for the right audience? This is a perfect read. I think thousands of teenagers will benefit from this book.

I’m familiar with the author, so I decided to take a chance on her YA novel even though I know I’m not the target audience. I loved it! This book is warm and clever and funny. The romance is half enemies to lovers and half forced proximity. The pacing is perfect, the characters are endearing, and the writing continues to combine wit with sensitivity. Fantastic read!

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy of the book!
I have read multiple Talia Hibbert's books including all of the Brown Sister books. I truly love how Talia is able to discuss mental health and embedding relationships with that.

With this being her first YA book, Talia did an amazing job at introducing OCD and the struggles Brad was having. I truly loved reading the build up and the evolving relationship between Brad and Celine. It reminded me of young love and gave me all the feels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s Joy Revolution for an Arc of Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert.
At first glance, the book cover is highly attractive and quite fitting of the story and the title. If you’ve read other stories from Talia, then you know that you’re in for an adventure. This story follows Celine and Brad who used to be best friends, but now can be considered as academic rivals. It is known by their family and peers that they share a heavy dislike for each other. However, an incident and an academic opportunity puts them in close proximity with each other. You will definitely get caught up in the banter between the two on this journey. Even though both characters have their separate issues, I found that the dialogue of both Celine and Brad were quite similar. So much so, that if the book didn’t specifically differentiate between the two, I would think that they were the same person. However, as usual, Talia touches on topics such as mental health which allows readers to identify with her characters. I would recommend this book as a cute and swoony ya romance that touches real issues.

Ch 1-5

While I admit the juvenile YA setting has not been working for me as of late, the UK placement is.

I am way too old to understand the TikTok references, and honestly do not care to, but I get it has an audience. I very much understand the Instagram references. Millennial probs.

I guess I didn't read the snippet closely enough, but this is friends to enemies to lovers? Love that for them.

Also love this new imprint for POC romances. Need more of that.

Back to the story. There's nothing worse than a deadbeat parent, yeah? To cheat on your wife when she's sick, and to have an entire family hidden throughout. So incredibly hurtful.

The text thread between Celine, her mum and what I assume is her sis reminds so much of my own.

Are both of Celine's hands actually broken, or is dad just being dramatic? I went on a date with this guy who said he broke both of his arms on a date at Griffith Park. If you want to be amused.

Brad is adorable. He writes sci-fi. Not that I understood anything in his draft, but so adorable.

I think it's great BEP helps students succeed in areas other than London. Don't get me wrong. I'm a city girl. I think London is one of the greatest places in the world. However, I get that it's not for everyone.

Let's make shit-hot a thing. I'm into it. I don't care if it's dated. Am I dated?

That ginger is certainly not Red. Did you read Get a Life, Chloe Brown?

Someone speaks French and I immediately wake tf up. I don't know what it is. I don't know why I'm like this.

OMG

Ch 6-10

I don’t think I’d be a very good camper. I will hike, but I am such a city girl at heart. I enjoy my creature comforts.

I cannot with Donno. Also, why is that his nickname? It makes him grosser. Additionally, you cannot keep someone off the pitch just because you're petty.

On the other hand, I enjoy Celine's level of pettiness. It's different. I feel for her. Sometimes it takes someone, in this case, her sister, shoving who she is in her face for her to realize her goals may not be for her.

I miss my journal/diary. It would be super embarrassing to read now. I tried bullet journaling for a while, but got obsessed with making it perfect. Those got recycled. So much money wasted.

If someone told teenage me to wash my face to get rid of my acne, I might’ve slapped them. Actually, I’m not that confrontational. But you know.

I haven’t had a Vanilla Coke in years. I don’t even think I’ve seen a Vanilla Coke in years.

This cousin thing has to end.

Do kids still drink frappes? Thinking about one is giving me a massive headache. I used to drink so many caramel frappuccinos. How embarrassing for me.

Omg who says douche canoe? I’m dying.

BRAD'S FEELINGS

Am also an emo nerd. Feeling attacked.

Ch 11-15

Not that I ever had a high school make out, because I was a dork that wasn’t allowed out of the house, but this is cute.

How do you accidentally make out with someone? Asking for a friend. And definitely almost in tears right now.

People still play Hotline Bling? What world is this? Is this just a Talia thing?

I agree with Celine. Virginity is a social construct. Probably invented by men.

Now I disagree with Celine. Hanging out. Touching. Kissing. Feelings. Sounds a lot like dating…

BEP reunion! Love this. Love these kids. Mostly Rory.

All this hiking makes me want to go on a hike. But it’s kind of cold right now. Well, LA cold, which isn’t really cold, but you know.

This section has kisses and feelings, so it should be my favorite, but, it’s not? Something felt a little off to me.

Ch 16-19

I know it's basically in every romance novel, but I'm over the third act breakup.

Poor Brad. I'm glad he insisted on reading English at uni, though. Also love how the Brit diaspora says reading instead of studying.

Anyone can use therapy. I'm glad Celine has seen this for herself.

And to be fair, Celine may get more use out of this internship than that scholarship. Not that a free ride is bad.

While I enjoyed the first half of this novel much more than the second, you're right, it felt a bit like a hug. I'm a little between 3 and 4 stars right now, but that's just the YA feel. I much prefer the Brown sisters, namely Chloe.

I jumped for joy when I saw I was approved for a Talia Hibbert ARC! The Brown sisters trilogy is one of my favorites! I had pretty high expectations going into this because of that, and they were absolutely met! I enjoyed reading a YA from this author because the other stories were adult. I may have adored this more because it was YA and I found myself just giggling and blushing the whole time. The banter between the characters is so good and leaves you wanting more. A must read!!

Rounded to 4.5 stars.

CONTENT WARNING: mention of lesbophobia, mention of parental abandonment, mention of racism

I was so excited to see that Talia Hibbert was branching out into YA romance, and when I got approved for this, I may or may not have yelped out loud. I love her particular brand of writing, and I was thrilled to see that her quirky humor was present right from the start with a glossary of British terms that are used in the book.

In this book, she’s created two amazing characters that I had no problem bonding with immediately. They’re both so complex and unique, yet I felt like I knew them so well, even if I wanted to reach into my kindle and shake them sometimes.

Bradley is a golden boy—he plays soccer, is a star student, gets along well with his parents, and does relatively well with practicing coping skills for his OCD for the most part. However, whenever he crosses paths with his former best friend Celine, everything seems to go off the rails. Celine is a unique and strong personality who walks to the beat of her own drum, she’s a confident plus-sized girl, and she is a dedicated striver who is focused on her plan for success that seems to be going well thus far. But she hasn’t been able to let go of her hurt about the best friend who abandoned her years ago.

So when they both find themselves signed up for a survival course in the woods that offers a tantalizing prize, they’re forced to work together and set their differences aside. However, teaming up makes them work through some of the issues of the past, and realize that maybe something new can be built. It was readily apparent that they both had feelings for each other, but they were both letting their fears hold them back. Brad was scared that Celine wasn’t going to return his feelings and it would get in the way of their budding friendship, while Celine was more afraid of abandonment, which she had internalized after her father left their family.

I loved watching them both work through their own internal issues during this book, as well as trying to solve the problems that they have together. In addition, they are forced to work as part of a group during the survival course, and it forces both of them to get outside of their comfort zones and learn new things about themselves—for Celine, it’s to open up to others, and for Brad, it’s to work on a new aspect of his OCD. In addition, it was fascinating to get to learn more about what goes on inside the head of someone who has OCD, as written firsthand by someone who struggles with OCD.

As always, I have nothing but glowing praise for Hibbert. She writes incredible dialogue with humor that feels realistic, and I loved all of the interactions, not just between Celine and Brad, but also between the families and the friends. It’s always nice to see yourself reflected in characters on the page, and I have always felt that we need more sexy, plus-size characters in romance, and Hibbert does that especially well. This is one not to miss!

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute came out of nowhere, wrapped me in a warm hug, and didn’t let go until I melted from all of the cuteness. I was obviously very excited about this, and it absolutely delivered. Here’s what we get from Talia Hibbert’s fantastic YA debut:

♡ Celine and Bradley, who are charming, hilarious, and uniquely themselves. I fell in love with them. Celine: suspicious, sarcastic, sometimes emotionally avoidant, kind, and driven individual. Bradley: creative, athletic, sweet, witty, and very particular.
♡ Amazing chemistry and laugh-out-loud banter.
♡ Best friends to enemies to lovers. I spent most of this book smiling and screaming and wanting them to confess their love already!
♡ Nuanced mental health representation, written with so much care in Talia Hibbert’s signature way.
♡ Adventures in the forests of England and Scotland. So much hiking and camping. I love to hike, but I am not a fan of camping so I felt and cheered for these teens.
♡ Side characters who are well-developed and adorable.
♡ Vulnerable talks, emotional growth, and love that feels like a warm hug. I wasn’t expecting to have tears in my eyes, but I did.

My favourite Talia Hibbert book is “Take a Hint, Dani Brown,” and dare I say this is a close second. Hibbert’s YA debut is fantastic, and I will continue to read anything she writes. I highly recommend this sweet, hilariously real book.

A huge thank you to Talia Hibbert, Random House Children's, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute comes out January 3, 2023!!

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is a friends-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers (say that five times fast) about two teens on the precipice of adulthood. Celine is a conspiracy-theory-obsessed high achieving student, on the path to be a corporate lawyer (while in a several years or so). Bradley is the perfect high schooler: football player, large group of friends, almost top of his class (freaking Celine) and is able to manage his OCD. What do these two have in common, well they used to be best friends until social pressures and growing up got in the way. In a series of events including a philosophy class, a volley of snide remarks, a broken wrist and a reluctantly offered ride the two now have being accepted into a prestigious survival course program in common. Through different events the two are forced to work together, during this time the two will have a strenuous hike through their murky past and the new bright feelings the two are starting to develop.

I don't know how to say this and keep my cool, so I won't. I ABSOLUTELY ADORED THIS BOOK IN EVERY SINGLE WAY, AND IT MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE READ OF THE YEAR (I will stop yelling now). Recently I have not been a big YA reader, but I love anything I read from Talia Hibbert, so I had to give this a try. When starting this book, I was feeling very burnt out with romance novels, this book has saved me from that feeling. Celine is such a strong young female lead; she has her flaws and I feel like the amount of growth and progress she went through was beautiful. Bradley was such a cinnamon roll, there were moments that he was such a cute dork that i though were adorable. I also have not read a book with a character having OCD so it was a great look into one of the ways it might affect someone especially so young. The side characters were so supportive of both of them, and I felt like the relationships the two and between friends and family were so realistic. I already knew I would always read anything Talia Hibbert wrote and this book just reinforced that! If you are looking for a sweet, slightly angsty (okay a lot of pinning), romantic and funny book, I highly recommend Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute!!

"Celine used to do anything I asked her to do. We're lying here like two sides of different coins, but for years of my life we were two sides of the same. She had my back and I had hers."

Bradley Graeme and Celine Bangura hate each other, except they didn't always. They used to be best friends, up until Bradley left Celine behind to join the popular crowd in school.

Apart from hating Brad, Celine spends her time running her TikTok where she posts conspiracy theories, and studying so she could get into a good school and go into law. So when an opportunity to win a scholarship under a program run by one of her idols comes up, she has to take it. Only thing is, it's a survival course in the woods, and Bradley is there too.

__________________________

I had a great time reading Talia Hibbert's Brown Sister series, and have been wanting to read more of her work so this upcoming release was definitely on my radar!

Brad was 100% the most enjoyable part of this book. I enjoyed his character from start to end, and him realizing he actually liked Celine and wanting to protect her was adorable. Hibbert did a great job writing his character with OCD, and getting to see and understand his struggles with it. I liked that Celine understood Brad and had that sensitivity and recognition of his needs. She wasn't my favorite character. I think she had a bit of a "I'm not like other girls" energy that was tiring to read. Overall, I was rooting for her success and for her to overcome her issues because I did want her to succeed after all her hard work.

This book is almost aggressively YA. I found myself wincing quite a bit some of the conversations they had. I think some of the writing pushed a bit too hard to establish that they were actually teens, and it could have been toned down. I like though that Hibbert wrote teens that were emotionally mature. They both handle their struggles fairly well and are self aware.

A solid YA read! It was great getting to read about smart black teenagers that are ex best friends to academic rivals to romantic interests. If you're looking for a cute YA read with some good banter and strong characters, then this something to pick up!

Thank you Netgalley, Talia Hibbert, and Random House for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

↠ 4 stars

This really was unfairly cute! I liked Celine and Brad and their backstory and relationship development. I was really invested in Brad's story and seeing how he managed his OCD - Hibbert handled that storyline with so much care. I wish there had been more detail of the actual competition, but I still enjoyed that setting. I hope Hibbert writes more YA romance because this was fantastic!

This is Talia Hibbert's first YA book and it was so good. It was a bit slow at first but once they started talking more and we learned about them as characters it got a lot better. I find that the reason they had for being "enemies" isn't the best but they were 14 so that's not surprising. I just think that Brad and Celiene are adorable and I need an epilogue about them.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Look, I'm not normally an enemies-to-lovers girly. I'm pretty conflict averse and the conflict is usually too much for me. BUT. I loved the bickering and the snark. I loved the real disability representation. I thought this one was great, and it's a great first offering from Joy Revolution. Can't wait to see what's next.

celine and brad have been friends, best friends, strangers and now academic rivals. however, when a new opportunity for a prestigious internship presents itself, the two teens have to face the wilderness together (and their feelings).

i mean the title says it all. it was pretty cute. and a perfectly good book.
unfortunately, that was it. i just didnt feel much more than that.

id say the book is an objectively good ya: well-developed characters, dealt with the themes quite maturely, had nice wholesome friendship moments and some funny ones as well (even tho it constantly walked the fine line between funny and cringe).
the thing is, by 60% i was honestly already bored. the biggest sin of them all.

abt the characters: i really liked brad but celine.... idk
she was way too judgemental and fell a bit on the "not like the other girls" grid. the whole: ew popular kids suck but no me, im cool and wear edgy eyeliner and band t shirt is so very 2014. it annoyed me a little bit.

overall, id say i had a good time. just not an amazing one.

thank you NetGalley and Random House Children´s for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review :)