I really enjoyed this, although I didn't love it the way I love Talia Hibbert's adult books - in part because, as a teen book, this doesn't have the heat that makes her adult romances impossible to put down for me. This was still an absolute delight though! The characters feel real, the plot was engaging, and it's funny and fun even while dealing with difficult topics (very Hibbert).

Super cute, great banter and lovable main characters!

Although it did take me about 25% to get invested in Brad and Celine and get used to the Gen-Z language and inner dialogues, I really enjoyed Brad and Celine's story as well as how they found their way back to each other as friends and more.

I really liked how all the side characters had very distinct personalities, from their families, friends at school, and friends in the Breakespeare program. I also appreciated the inclusion of a bisexual main character and mental health struggles (OCD)!

I particularly enjoyed the depiction of what it's like to fall out with a friend and years later try to rebuild that friendship and learn to trust them again - this journey felt super real and natural with Brad and Celine. I felt like there was something was a little something missing for me and this had to do with the romantic chemistry because as much as I could really feel their connection and how they care for each other, I wasn't necessarily convinced that they should be in a relationship.

I did find myself laughing out loud and giggling at certain scenes and it's a solid YA but it fell a bit flat, especially since I went in with high expectations.

Thank you so much to Random House Children's, Joy Revolution and Netgalley for the eARC!

I love that Talia Hibbert made the foray into YA!

This felt like the books I knew and loved by her, with a younger twist.

Talia Hibbert books are always a 5/5 stars every single time for me. This one fell a little short. I didn't feel the same magic as I did with her others.

It was adorable and cute and made me smile as usual, I just didn't connect the same way. 4/5 because of those smiles and little butterfly feelings!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC!

This was a feel-good book if ever there was one. And that's why I'm rounding up to 4 stars (also, my love for Ms. Hibbert in general). Missing were the hot scenes we've come to expect, but this is firmly YA, so it is PG-13. The characters were still well fleshed-out and likeable, and bonus points for the glossary, which made me laugh.

This is a friends to enemies to more-than-friends contemporary romance that has witty banter and quirky characters. I am always happy to read about people who don't quite fit the cultural standards. I also really like dialogue that sounds authentic and intelligent. This book had all of that.

My thanks to NetGalley and Joy Revolution for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5⭐️

Wow!!! This was super cute and I loved the two main characters. I haven’t enjoyed a YA romance like this in a long time so this novel definitely makes me want to give more a chance! I also really liked the mental health and queer rep in this. Overall, would love to read another YA from Talia!

This book was not at all suspicious and highly cute.

I love Talia Hibbert's adult romances, so I was super excited to see that she was writing YA.

Overall, I thought this was a fantastic contribution to the contemporary YA romance subgenre. The characters were interesting and well-drawn, the premise was highly adorable (former friends forced to work together in a competitive outdoors program). I loved the characters, loved the inclusion of their families, friends, and mentors, and just found this one highly enjoyable overall.

Highly recommend this unfairly adorable YA rom com!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Joy Revolution for this ARC of Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert!

I absolutely adore Talia’s Adult books so I was super excited for this dive into her first YA novel. Overall I really enjoyed the book! I thought that both Celine and Brad were lovable characters that grew both individually and together throughout the novel. Additionally, I love Talia’s commitment to mental health representation throughout their novels, with this one focusing on OCD.

Truly a solid YA romance that is out now! Thank you again to Netgalley and Joy Revolution for the ARC.

4.5 stars.

This book was so cute, I loved that it was her first YA book. I love all her other books so much and this was no exception. Her writing style is still the same that I have come to love and would recommend this sweet story to anyone.

I loved this young adult contemporary romance by Talia Hibbert. I enjoyed her Brown sisters series, so I knew I wanted to read her first YA. I enjoyed that although this was a friends to enemies to lovers, both main characters secretly had so much love for each other throughout the book. It was witty and charming, in true Hibbert fashion. The lovable and inclusive characters were a breath of fresh air. I appreciated the care Hibbert gave in representing OCD and talking more in depth in her author's note. To top it all off, this was published by the husband and wife author duo Nicola and David Yoon, whom I love as well. This book felt like a giant hug and I didn't want it to end.

The romance was cute. Perfect balance of funny moments with well developed characters dealing with complex situations as they enter “kid-adulthood”. Entertaining read and the British high school setting gave me a lot of nostalgia.

Didn’t know it was YA until I literally opened the book. I went in open minded but YA romances aren’t for me. High school me would have loved it but adult me likes romances with a bit of spice.

Recommend for fans of heartwarming romances with enemies to lovers trope.

What fun, fast read! The characters, both MC and supporting, were likeable and easy to connect with. The plot was fun and slightly crazy, but just. I enjoyed everything about this and cannot wait to read more Talia Hubert YA novels.

3.75 stars | All of these characters are absolutely adorable! I would have loved to see more of the development of the romantic aspects of Brad & Celine's relationship, because it felt just a tad rushed to me.

4.5 stars rounded up!

I thoroughly enjoyed this YA romance. Celine was the perfect embodiment of a type A, go-getter high schooler and Brad was just so cute. There's a lot of will they, won't they, but I enjoyed the wait. The setting was super unique at this outdoor adventure camp, and the whole thing was delightfully British.

Overall. this was a cute easy read and I highly recommend.

A fun YA friends-to-enemies-to-friends-again kind of love story, set in the UK. Enjoyable characters and character-development, with one MC dealing successfully with anxiety issues. I purchase a copy for my HS library.

I received an ARC copy to read through NetGalley.

This was an adorable YA romcom kind of book. It’s very YA in my opinion and there were times that I sort of rolled my eyes a little (forgetting it’s YA)… that said overall just adorable!

These main characters are flawed, strong, badass, overachieving, intelligent, and emotional kids. They are completely relatable on every level really. I love that they were besties, then enemies, and now HFN dating.

I’d recommend this to teens everywhere without hesitation and to adults as well with the caveat to remember it’s YA and a young YA.

This was very cute! Celine and Brad had a major falling out 4 years ago and have been butting heads on occassion ever since. But now in their senior year they're in class together again and partnered up. Tensions flare, but so do old feelings. The 2 tangle with how they miss each other and their friendship and new developing feelings all while struggling to figure out who they want to be while competing for a scholarship opportunity.

Overall i really liked the characters in this book. Everyone had some kind of character trait to distinguish them all apart and not all of them were positive. But they also weren't painted as a villian, just someone with difficult life circumstances. I felt like the kids all had an appropriate amount of immaturity to them all for still being 17/18 year olds. No one felt too far in one extreme or the other.

Some of the slang took me out of it, but there was a glossary in the book which helped, bit was also a pain to keep flipping back to.

Friends to enemies to lovers cuteness! I requested an arc of this book because I was so interested in Talia Hibbert’s debut into YA romance! While I am patiently waiting for her next adult romance this really did tide me over.
I enjoyed the pacing of how our characters developed from enemies to being forced together to “crap I think I really like them” and how much time we got with them crushing on each other!
The plot of competing for a scholarship and realizing what they really want to do with their lives (and for who?!) I think is great for the intended audience.
I’ll be back for more Hibbert in the future!

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute was so much fun! I adored Bradley and Celine and would love to go on a Katharine Breakspeare adventure.

Celine and Bradley used to be friends, but as things happen in middle/high school they parted ways and never quite got over it. I loved the tension this added to the story. Bradley has OCD, and I thought Hibbert did a really great job showcasing this without any hint of "fixing" Bradley. There is talk about his struggles and it is demonstrated in different ways, but it doesn't over take the story. It's just who he is.

Celine's dad left long ago and Celine is still feeling some type of way about it. This is evident in the fact that she wants to show her dad how amazing she is and kind of throw it back in his face. Celine has a lot to deal with here, and I loved how her family/friends talked her through things related to her dad to determine what SHE really needed.

The adventures were great, the banter was witty and the relationships were solid. Highly recommend!

My Thoughts:

This is a YA Bridgette Jones except if Bridgette were a black 17-year old who wants to go to the uni and make a mark in corporate law just to crush her deadbeat father at his own game. The voice of Celine Bangura is very sharp, witty and self-absorbed like Bridgette and I could see a younger, more modern Bridgette also having a Tik Tok channel focused on aliens and conspiracy theories.

Celine is the slightly chunky, "I don't need anyone or anything to succeed [especially my former best friend and arch nemesis Bradley Graaeme who is annoyingly beautiful]" social media star who is bullied by the cool kids for her theories on aliens. She doesn't care, except for the fact that Bradley was her person until he abandoned her for the popular jerks/jocks that he hangs out with. That is her side of the story.

What readers will automatically know even before they start is that of course Celine and Bradley will be friends again and even find out that they are still each other's person. That is super obvious by the genre and the title.

What readers will be surprised by is that Bradley will get equal voice in this novel. Not only that, but Bradley has not only (mostly) found ways to deal with the spiraling thoughts from his OCD that Celine would help him through when they were younger, but also that he really is the moral center and the emotional rock of this story. He is definitely a keeper.

This book will give you all the feels you expect from a YA rom com with just enough coaching, controversy and mental health strategies to be helpful without being preachy. The characters do a lot of soul searching and maturing, even if as readers we know how it will end. The joy, after all, is in the journey, even if we know where the journey ends.

From the Publisher:
Bradley Graeme is pretty much perfect. He’s a star football player, manages his OCD well (enough), and comes out on top in all his classes . . . except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine.

Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed. Social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption—yet, she’s still not cool enough for the popular kids’ table. Which is why Brad abandoned her for the in-crowd years ago. (At least, that’s how Celine sees it.)

These days, there’s nothing between them other than petty insults and academic rivalry. So when Celine signs up for a survival course in the woods, she’s surprised to find Brad right beside her.

Forced to work as a team for the chance to win a grand prize, these two teens must trudge through not just mud and dirt but their messy past. And as this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed . . . or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship?

Publication information:
Author: Talia Hibbert
Publisher: Joy Revolution (Jan 3, 2023)
Age range: Gr 9 and up