This book was cute, but I'm not sure if it was for me. Fun and playful high school rom com.
I really enjoyed Talia Hibbert's novels about the sisters and this one just didn't hit the same for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy.

I just want to say that TH knows how to write characters that you just want to hold and never let go (I LOVE HER FOR IT😍)

Celine and Brad are the definition of enemies to lovers done AMAZINGLY! (And given this was a YA romance I was nervous it wasn’t going to be as good but I’m glad I was wrong!) Not spicy like her other books but the way they emotionally felt for each other and expressed it was enough for me to be ok 🥹🥹

The way they were both just honest and communicative when they had to was refreshing because a lot of books don’t do that. TH did a great job on sharing the way these characters dealt with their issues of anxiety, nervousness, parental abandonment, and dealing with OCD and so much more! She never lets me down and I am so glad and can’t wait for more from her!!

To end this review, I LOVE HER AND MY HEART BEATS FOR CELINE AND BRADLY 4 EVA🫶🏼🥹♥️

(Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children’s, RHCB Educators, and Talia Hibbert for providing this ARC for an honest review.)

Loved this one! It was highly readable and unfairly cute for sure. Hibbert handled heavy topics such as OCD, anxiety and family issues (among others) with so much love and care. ANDDDD I have always been a fan of the enemies to lovers troupe. I will read anything Talia Hibbert writes!

Talia Hibbert absolutely nailed her YA debut. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is the charming, heartwarming, hilarious story of Celine Banguar, a social media conspiracy-theorist, tackling high-school drama, college admissions prospects, and a head-to-head battle with her former best friend turned nemesis Brandon for a prestigious internship.

Celine is a jaded, whip smart, high school senior aiming to prove her worth to everyone, including herself, her ex-best friend Brandon, and the father that abandoned her. Her top competition, Brandon Graeme, is trying to find a way to tell his parents that he'd rather be a writer than a lawyer while getting top grades, managing his OCD, and trying to ignore his remaining feelings for ex-bestie Celine. An adorably melodramatic friends to enemies to friends to lovers to enemies to friends to lovers to..... well you get it. There is D-R-A-M-A.

Brandon and Celine are hilariously relatable and that's coming from someone that only rarely reads or is impressed by anything from the contemporary genre. Read it. I know you'll love it.

Thank you to Talia Hibbert, Joy Revolution, and Random House Childrens and NetGalley for the E-ARC.

DNF’d at 34%

I haven’t really vibed with Talia Hibbert in the past, but thought this would be super cute. I just didn’t enjoy this one. I don’t know if it’s her writing style, or if it’s the fact that it is YA. I was pretty disappointed that I didn’t love this!

Talia Hibbert writing YA! And oh, what a delight this was.

Dual POV. Former best friends turned enemies/rivals back to friends to lovers. A competition. Check check check all of my boxes across the board.

Celine and Bradley used to be friends, but now the two find themselves at odds during an adventure/survival competition that will give one of them a scholarship. But things get complicated when their feelings for each other get, well, complicated.

This really was a charming and lovely YA book. There was that classic Talia Hibbert banter I love so much and for it to be with teens? Wonderful. There were some character choices that I felt didn’t totally work for me, like Celine being a conspiracy loving social media sensation. I wanted more done with that, or for that to be a moment between her and Bradley. There were a few aspects like this that bristled just a little bit.

I’d love to see Hibbert do more YA because this was such a strong first showing. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

4 stars

I’ve read quite a few books from this author that I’ve really enjoyed and this one is no exception! I love how she really dives into mental health issues and normalizes them in her novels

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute follows Celine (a conspiracy theory content creator) and Bradley (a clean cut athlete at the top of his class) as they navigate being ex-best friends in a high school setting. They can just avoid each other, right? Wrong. Because the hallways are just not that wide, and even the great outdoors isn't big enough if they are forced to work as a team at a wilderness survival camp.

Celine and Bradley have top tier banter, and I am rooting for these characters the whole way through. Obviously Talia Hibbert has a gift for writing Young Adult, and this was a delightful read.

This book was written for you if:
1) You are looking to read quippy, darling YA
2) You love the friends to enemies to lovers storyline
3) You love Talia, because she doesn't disappoint with this one!

Check out Highlighly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute...

If you like books featuring…
Teen drama
Camping adventures
Enemies to lovers

Great for fans of…
Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean
Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney
Sex Education (Netflix)

I've been a long-time fan of Talia Hibbert's adult romances - they're always a sure thing for me. And her debut YA did NOT disappoint. I flew through this book, and loved every minute of it. There may be less spice than her adult romances but the (subtler) heat and FEELS are still there, as well as the utter charm I adore about all her characters. This one was a hit from start to finish, and I can't wait to see what Talia writes next.

While it does make me cautious, it always brings me a little joy when I get to add one of my favorite authors to the YA collection at my library. Talia Hibbert's adult romances are so fun and enjoyable with diverse, positive representation. I had the highest of hopes for "Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute" and Hibbert delivered with Celine and Bradley. This friends to enemies to friends to lovers had all the quirk I love so much about her adult books with YA themes and dialogue.

Hibbert's foray into the young adult genre is a success! I felt the characters' behaviors felt natural and realistic for high schoolers. There was also commentary on mental health as one of the characters has OCD. If you're into YA and second chance tropes, this one is for you!

I personally love stories of precocious kids in a battle of wits. Celine and Bradley are top of their class and have a mild enemies-to-lovers trope of former best friends, the mystery of what caused them to fall out, their undeniable chemistry, and the setting of a competition in the wilderness.

The competition was really interesting and exciting. I wish we could have seen more of that in detail, but the romance of this is so dang cute that it was enough.

So I have heard sooo many great things about this author and this sounded like a cute book so I gave it a chance as my 1st book to read of hers and I also find out that this is Talia Hibbert's 1st YA book. So we both have Firsts :)
This book too me a bit to get into and it dragged a bit but it was good
Childhood BFF to enemies to friends to lovers is the trope(s)
The 2 main characters have a great journey in this story and it all stems from them joining a scholarship competition
Bradley - has massive OCD and wants to study law like his dad
Celine - has unresolved dad issues, a curvey tiktoker who is kinda "famous" and always has an inward conversation aka monologue
They might do and think a bit differently but they both have goals that they are working towards and have a plan in life

I got the chance to read this book as an ARC and I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley. The above review and comments are my own, honest and volentary.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an eARC of this book.

Overall, this was a cute story. The characters do seem extremely immature for the age they are in this book. I wish they would have been written slightly different. The way they act makes this a very young adult book. There was a lot of self discovery and growth with the characters and you do see them mature a little. The writing style was banter was great. I wish the other characters would have more of a part in the story as well.

This was a really, REALLY cute book with adorable characters and a fun dynamic. Loved the mental health rep and the complicated teenagers with big feelings. I just wish we got more from the plot! It was predictable and low-stakes to me. I really wanted more fun in the woods lol. Still very sweet <3

Adorable.

That's my one-word summary for Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute. This book was beyond endearing, from friction between our main character and her love interest to their banter and eventual love. I also adore the addition of familial healing and the expression of autonomy and identity that both engage in as the book progresses.

This was SO CUTE! I loved this YA rom com. It really reminded me of being a teenager and falling in love for the first time. I thought the story line was great and both Brad (hate that name though) and Celine were fun characters. I loved their banter back and forth and loved how they had such a sweet relationship.

-wholesome YA romcom (but uses the F word a lot which I can appreciate)
-OCD representation
-Bi rep
-top tier young love banter

So cute!!!

This was definitely a YA romance it was so relevant to what teens go through- and I thought it did a good job of showing how hard it is to be in a relationship as a teen. I did find it a bit slow in the beginning but once the story got going, I felt a little bit more invested in the characters! I did not LOVE the love interest haha but I did enjoy Celine and really felt invested as her character grew throughout each page. Definitely a cute YA!

I would love to talk to Talia on my podcast, Raise Your Words. Highly Suspicious & Unfairly Cute is such a swoon-worthy book. I loved reading about Bradley & Celine. I’ll post a more in depth review on Goodreads after Ramadan but I thoroughly enjoyed it!!

I just adore Talia Hibbert’s writing style and while I prefer her adult books, this book it totally adorable. I enjoyed this balanced with the more serious aspects of the story like having OCD, anxiety, and Daddy issues. A completely charming story and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading YA . Talia Hibbert writes the best grumpy heroines and Celine was no different. Celine is unapologetically herself, determined, fierce and loyal. She had the best comebacks and was constantly putting high school bullies in their place. Everyone should walk through life with a little bit of Celine energy. And then we have the softest MMC Brad who has the sunniest disposition (for everyone but Celine). I adored his internal dialogue about Celine- it was beyond adorable watching him fall for her. This book deals with some heavier issues including parental abandonment. Hibbert handles these conversations with care and respect. The moments of vulnerability in this book were done so well.