At over 40, I'm well above the target demographic for this book and while I must say I prefer her Brown series, this story was cute and adorable and will leave you with all the warm fuzzies of the more adult versions. Celine is the strong and independent female character I've come to expect from this author, confident and comfortable in her own skin. She and Bradley were best friends growing up, but when there's a misunderstanding and she refuses to forgive him, they've grown apart. Now they're forced to work together in a program designed to help college bound teens succeed and even win a coveted scholarship. Time spent together hiking and camping in survival situations helps them work out their past and spark hope for a new kind of relationship. I love Bradley's character, so proud and confident on the outside, but dealing with crippling OCD and insecurity on the inside. He was such a sweet teddy bear character.
I'm so happy I got to read an advance reader copy of this book from Penguin Random House. This review is given voluntarily and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

4/5

It's been a while since I've read a truly YA book and I am pleasantly surprised! This book was cute and lighthearted with good pacing but also explored some heavier topics like mental health and absent parents at an age appropriate level. There was a mix of normal high school life alongside a competitive camping adventure and the switch between the two was balanced well. The main characters Brad and Celine were so adorable and experienced a lot of character growth. Their chemistry was electric and their transformation from enemies to friends to lovers was built up so beautifully! Overall this was a really enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to reading more by Talia Hibbert.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thalia Hibbert moved to young adult seamlessly. The book lives up to it's name- the second half of it, anyway. The protagonists were weird and wonderful, and the unlikely pairing is a new favorite.

(ARC from NetGalley) First of all, I have to say this would make a fantastic Netflix or Hulu original movie. This book had the sweetness of Heartstopper, but Talia Hibbert has this very distinct, teasing voice that shines through. We meet Bradley and Celine as enemies/academic rivals and slowly dive into their friendship breakup. Throughout a series of outdoorsy enrichment activities, Brad and Celine realize how they ended up this way and that they must be mature almost adults and emote (unfortunately).
This was an absolute delight and I can’t wait to see more from the Joy Revolution imprint.

P.S. Great representation of OCD!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Joy Revolution for the eARC in exchange for this honest review.

I have not read any of Talia Hibbert's other works (but I definitely will be now), but have read a lot of YA romance because my high school students are always looking for romcoms. I will be highly recommending this one to them and anyone else who needs a funny and charming YA Romance.

The story is told from both Celine and Brad's perspectives and takes place over their senior year of high school. Though they used to be friends and have now become enemies their banter is realistic and cute and you are rooting for them both from page one. They have a grumpy sunshine thing going on though Brad's sunshine is sometimes obscured by his OCD.

I loved the mental health representation of this book as it doesn't define Brad, but is instead just part of who he is. Both characters have family and personal obstacles to tackle on top of their wilderness expedition, but that brings more emotional depth to this story and makes them both more relatable. I don't want to spoil anything by saying more, but just read it.

I am not into camping in the slightest so I knew that in order for me to enjoy this, Talia was going to have to give it all she got. And I can genuinely say that she did. HSAUC is that laugh out loud and scrunch up your nose at the utter cuteness type of YA book. Not only is the pacing great, but it is really easy to fall in love with both Celine and Brad as people. I also really enjoyed the way she tackles an absentee parent. This is something I struggle to wrap my head around (the audacity of a human to abandon their children) so to see Celine’s very valid frustrations morph into some version of healing was beautiful to read. Kids can’t control what their parents do, but I truly admire those who let their parents mistake push them to be better versions of themselves. YA has been real hit or miss for me lately but the combo of Talia, Celine and Brad were definitely a hit! (less)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Children's Joy Revolution for providing me with an eARC of this book to read and give my honest feedback.
This is my first Talia Hibbert book. I've heard her books were great but have never had a chance to read them.
I was really looking for a good way to end 2023. I wanted a fast read and this one fit the bill. The pace was perfect, the characters completely likeable, the story cute and romantic and funny! A great way to end the year for sure!
When I read the blurb for this book, I knew I had to request it. It just sounded like so much fun. And I was not wrong.
First, the characters. Hibbert does a fabulous job with character development. Even for those minor characters. Celine is a high achiever who says nothing will stand in her way of getting what she wants. Yet, she encounters a huge barrier she never knew was really there. Brad Mr. Popular who branched out and left Celine behind. Counter them with Jordan, Minnie, Aurora, Sophie, and Raj, and you have a group of amazing characters who help this story move along at a fast pace!
The plot is adorable. I am always down for a cute romance where you know in the end the characters will of course be together but you have to get through all their "stuff" first to get there. Inevitably there is the miscommunication and then the resolution. And it all gets tied up in a perfect little bow at the end.
I don't know much of England, just the London area, so I will say I was not able to really picture much in my mind but I don't think that took away from being able to form a picture I know is probably close.
I loved how the author put a little guide in the front of the book for us non-British chumps who may have had no idea what some of their colloquialisms mean. Honestly, I don't think I really would have needed it as it was easy to understand from the circumstances what things meant, but it was nice to have it in case I needed it.
I love me a good enemies (but really, were they ever truly that) to friends story! Overall, this was a truly enjoyable read and I'm glad I picked it up to end the year on a 5 star rating! I'll definitely be exploring Hibbert's other books.

HUGE fan of Talia Hibbert over here! I truly loved her Brown Sisters series and had high hopes for this as her first YA romance. It was good, but not my favorite.

The characters were lovable and I felt like I knew them really well. The tension between friends and a romantic relationship was great and not overdone like some novels are.

What really didn’t do it for me was the pacing. We skipped forward in time often and it left me feeling like I missed something. It bothered me enough that it lost 2 stars. I also didn’t connect with many of the minor characters, unfortunately. I wanted to know a little more about them.

Overall, this was good!

This was a cute story but it felt rushed to me. Celine and Brad went from hating to having feelings with no real reason why that I could tell. I love Talia's writing style but this didn't quite work for me.

I absolutely adored this book. It was such an easy-fast-paced read that really sucked me in. I love Celine and her conspiracy-theory self with my entire heart. I instantly loved her quirky personality and sarcastic humor. She was so bold and determined all the time and I couldn’t help but love her for it. I felt the exact same with Bradley. I loved his character and how witty he was with Celine. He didn’t let her bulldoze him and he kept her on her toes, which had me cracking up. His POV had me smiling the entire book and I’m pretty sure I developed a crush on him. I loved the representation that Hibbert writes into her books. It’s so comforting to have plus-size and LGBTQ+ main characters. I think Hibbert represented OCD very well in Bradley’s character. I really enjoyed reading this and I hope we get more YA books in the future.

Joy Revolution Books is a new YA Random House imprint dedicated to telling stories about people of color written by people of color. I’m not sure there’s anyone better to be part of their inaugural list in Spring 2023 than Talia Hibbert. Her books are funny and heartfelt and always center women of color in starring roles.

Her foray into YA is pretty successful. It took me a minute to warm up to Celine, because she’s headstrong and stubborn and kind of a know-it-all in the way of brilliant seventeen-year-olds, and it’s been far too long since I’ve been a seventeen to adjust easily to that attitude. But you’ll comes to love her so much in the end. Brad is easier to love, so sweet and earnest and relatable, which is exactly what Celine hates most about him. They bicker and argue and compete for a scholarship, but it’s easy to see there’s so much more there, both of them hurt when their friendship crumbled at age fourteen.

Hibbert really captured so well the feeling of applying to university and feeling like you have to have everything figured out. And then realizing you actually know nothing at all. She handles topics like bisexuality and OCD and plus size representation with a deft hand. The book is not about any of those things, they’re simply parts of the characters that add up to a very real, engaging whole.

I’m really excited to see what Joy Revolution has in store for us. This imprint is really exciting and startlingly overdue, and if this is any indication, the books are going to be incredible.

#highlysuspicioisandunfairlycute:⁣
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Thank you @prhaudio and @getunderlined for the gifted copies!⁣
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“I’ve decided no one’s reservations—including my own—will ever stop me from going after what I want.” ⁣
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Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute was just that, unfairly cute. I freaking adored this book y’all! I love reading Talia Hibbert so I was so excited to check this one out. I really think she can do no wrong! ⁣
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Celine and Brad were the absolute best. I loved their personalities as individuals and also loved how they did compliment and understood each other so well. I felt they really grew into themselves in the book and I loved every second. Also, may I get a book on Aurora because she was a close second fave? ⁣
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Told in dual POV, the audio is where it’s at y’all. Amina Koroma and Jonathan Andrew Hume. The pacing was amazing, the sarcasm unmatched. You could hear the vulnerabilities in some of the insecurities our MCs face and it was just really well done.⁣
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Overall, easy 5 🏃‍♀️. I mean, we went camping in Scotland and that wasn’t even my favorite part?! Thank you again @prhaudio and @getunderlined Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is out 1/3.

It took me a while to get through this book and I'm not fully sure why. I don't think it had anything to do with the book itself and all to do with the fact that I was in a reading slump. Regardless of how long it took me to finish it, I still really enjoyed it. I really liked how we got to know about the entire past between them and the pacing of it all. It never felt rushed to me which is a HUGE plus when I'm reading. I hate the feeling of a slower burn romance feeling like it's completely rushing me.

I will definitely be rereading this as soon as I'm out of the holiday season slumps!

*4.5*

“Even if neither of us ever did anything interesting in our entire lives, it wouldn’t matter. You don’t need to be special or significant to have value. You’re just important, always, and people either see that or they don’t. They either love you, or they don’t.”

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is a love story between once friends, now enemies, Celine and Brad. They both enter a survival contest for a chance to win a scholarship and are forced to work together. Along the way they learn more about themselves and the dreams of the future they were so set on, but they also rehash the past, discovering why they really stopped being friends in the first place.

I absolutely loved this book. It was so funny and the characters had such personality. I loved Celine and almost related to her a little too much. I loved Brad and all his quirks. I love getting to see these two learn to trust each other again, especially Celine as she dealt with more personal issues and learned to open up. I especially loved seeing how they supported each other and their dreams. They helped each other realize their potential and encouraged each other to go after what they truly wanted. Overall, I adored this. It was so cute and very meaningful.

this was most certainly *unfairly* cute!

i loved the dual pov in this book and Talia Hibbert did a really great job at keeping the characters voices distinct and unique, it was always easy to tell which pov i was reading from. i really loved the dynamic between the main character, Celine, and the love interest, Bradley. they had this childhood best friends-to-school nemesis-to-lovers progression and the banter between them was so natural. i loved the confidence that Celine has as a main character and Bradley was such a sweetheart.

the scholarship portion was interesting lol i've never seen a scholarship quite like that but it added an extra level of competitiveness and opened doors for the main characters to develop in nice ways.

overall i would definitely recommend this if you're looking for a fun quick read! and the mental health rep is always an added plus

This book is:
- delicious
- delectable
- delightful
- hilarious
- swoon-worthy
- so much fun

I loved Brad and Celine. I loved the OCD rep and the way Talia Hibbert handled her teen characteres' traumas and I laughed out loud and underlined so many parts. This book was truly a delight from start to finish.

Quirky. Fun. Sweet. Adorable. REAL.

Really engaging as well as quirky, fun, adorable and real. I really enjoyed this second chance, dual POV, YA romance between two estranged former best friends who end up working together for a chance at a prestigious scholarship.

I thought the characters were so well developed and relatable! Bradley has OCD and Celine is dealing with her feelings after running into the father who abandoned her and her mom.

I loved the OCD representation that was clearly there but managed in a healthy way not only by the character but by the author as well.

The emotional intelligence and growth by both main characters throughout the book was so refreshing. They both made strides to being better people, but also realistically had it come slowly and in spurts.

Enthusiastically recommend!

NEWS: My queen, literary mother of Zaf Ansari, Ms.Talia Hibbert, is releasing her first YA novel on January 3. Here is an ARC review!

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is exactly what I expected from Talia: a widely diverse cast, lovingly portrayed, and great, dry British humor. I adored the FMC, Celine, and the MMC, Bradley, was everything. The main relationship was adorable and the familial and friend relationships were also wonderful.

Celine and Bradley start the book as “enemies,” meaning they were very close childhood friends who had a falling out as they grew up and started making new friends. But of course, deep down, they both care for each other deeply. Of course the point of the book is them figuring that out!

We have a dual first person POV and being in these characters’ heads was at once angsty AF and also hugely relatable and emotional. If you’ve watched Sex Education, these two MCs give Jackson and Viv energy and it’s INCREDIBLE.

👍🏻Recommended! If you liked the Brown sisters, you will love this. It is YA so it is not in any way spicy but it is emotionally impactful, funny and so sweet. This is the kind of book I wish I had had as a teen.

Talia Hibbert's writing in this book is funny, touching, and real. Her characters are flawed, tender, and resilient. I'm not usually a fan of YA romance, but I can honestly say that this book is one of the best YA romances I've ever read. I loved the plus size and OCD representation (representation is HUGE in her books and always handled with grace and beauty), and the way she weaves comedy and romance into a book that still deals with trauma and abandonment is incredible to read. This foray for Talia into YA is well done and a gem.

Adorable, sweet and cute read. Characters were fun and full of zest. The enemies to lovers was perfect.