
Member Reviews

I LOVED this book. The representation for both sexual orientation and mental illness. I loved the friendship they shared and the development of their character and their love. I would HIGHLY recommend this book!!

I really enjoyed this YA book! It’s not my typical genre but it was a fantastic deviation from my typical reads

I fell madly in love with Talia Hibbert when so many others did. When I devoured the Brown Sisters books. So to see her first Young Adult novel? How could I not jump at the chance to read this!
This ADORABLE rom-com is enemies to lovers and grumpy sunshine tropes in the most perfect way. And as always, Ms. Hibbert weaves a chronic (mental) illness into her lead character naturally. For so many of us, this is what drew us to her work to begin with, and she's done it again!
I'm so thrilled to have one of her books that I can recommend to younger readers! Talia Hibbert has done it again <3

I knew I would love it, and I love it when I'm right.
I'm a huge fan of Hibbert’s “Brown Sisters" series, and I jumped at the chance to read her YA debut (via Nicola and David Yoon’s new publishing house). Wit, banter, and charm are Hibbert’s modus operandi, and it's in no short supply here. Like with her adult books, I found the beginning a bit slow, but once Celine and Bradley get to the wilderness expedition, it picks up into ideal rom-com territory.
Speaking of, Celine and Bradley are an exemplary "black cat GF and golden retriever BF” pair. They have right proper banter (Love Island? Anyone?) and their progression to romantic love is believable. Some of the side characters are a bit two-dimensional, but they are entertaining, none the less.
You know when a YA character has a mental illness, like OCD or anxiety, and it's obvious that the author threw that in for relatability, and not for actual development or representation? Not here, my friends. Bradley has OCD, and Hibbert blends this in seamlessly.
Have I mentioned that it's also riotously funny? Because it's so damn funny.

I. Love. This. Book. !!!
I was so excited to see Talia Hibbert writing YA (I loooved Chloe Brown), and she did not disappoint!
Two very bright high school seniors, Celine and Brad, used to be best friends, but now are archenemies who totally despise each other (or do they?😉). With University right around the corner, they end up competing for a scholarship by participating in a survival course in the woods.
The witty banter in this book was perfection, along with the realistic stressors that high school students deal with entering the next steps of their lives. Also, the OCD rep was great. I don’t see much of that in books, and I really appreciated it.
Read if…
- you enjoy enemies to lovers
- you like educational settings/topics
- you like Talia’s other work
5/5 stars and I highly recommend!

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is the novel that you’ll need/ want to be reading heading into the new year. This enemies to friends to lovers young adult story is a hit!
Bradley Graeme is the perfect football player athlete who cannot do anything wrong. Or so it seems to ex best friend Celine Bangura.
Celina is the TikToker who is obsessed with conspiracy theories and Katharine Breakspeare. Learning that Breakspeare his opened up her academy to those still in school, she quickly signs up and is accepted to take part in an adventure of a lifetime. While camping and nature may not be in her skill suit, she will not let anyone tell her no. Especially not Bradley Graeme, who as fate has it is also in the program.
Both are made to work together to win the grand prize of an internship and more if they reach the end of the outdoor adventure. Yet as they continue to be successful, each realizes that they may be wrong about one another and what happened in the past. Let the games begin.
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is one of my favorite young adult reads of the year. The care that Hibbert showed as the crafted Bradley and his OCD made me a fan of hers. Both characters viewpoints are told in depth and were brought to a satisfying end.

I finally understand why people love Talia Hibbert so much, and I will be reading the Brown Sisters books very soon now that I understand her brilliance. This book was an absolute delight; it is endlessly witty, incredibly fun, and just wonderful and amazing and spectacular.

Ooooooh (probably should not start an official review this way but I just can’t help it). I was so intrigued by Talia Hibbert writing YA but she did not disappoint.
I thoroughly enjoyed Celine and Bradley. Celine is a social media presence in a book that doesn’t make me want to poke my eyeballs out. (This is a feat!) and Bradley is an athlete/boy next door who has his own demons.
It hits on great thinking points for teens- my favorite being the question of “what is fueling my ambitions?”
It’s snark. It’s friendship. It’s betrayal.
“Because what’s the point of believing in everyone’s else’s vision if I don’t believe in my own?”
Side bar; I am very excited to learn about Joy Revolution

This book! It should come as no surprise to any fan of Hibbert’s, but this book is perfection. She continues to represent disability and mental health with compassion, building a rich reality that shows the full human. This book still brings all the sweetness, the rapport, the banter, all of the stuff that shines in her adult romance but in a sweet, real YA package. Recommend for teens and adults both who enjoy the combo of friends to more, “enemies” to more, etc… I loved rooting for Celine & Bradley ❤️

Rating 3.5
I liked the characters and their relationship. I think they had a lot of growth throughout the book. I didn't realize this was YA, but I didn't mind it. The pacing was a little off and I think that the competition should have been a bigger part of the book, but other than that, i liked it.

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