Loved this book, thought it was the perfect teen Tom com, he really is unfairly cute, great tension, loved it!

Ugh, who said the title could actually tell you what the book would actually read like. It was ridiculously and Unfairly Cute and Highly Suspicious that this was a YA book.

I LOVE Talia Hibbert. I fell in love with her adult books the Brown Sisters so when I saw that she had a YA book out you can bet that I hit that request button faster than the speed of light. Hibbert has a way with words and characters. She gives you enough of both the storyline and characters that before you know if you've read and fallen in love with them and want to reread as soon as you have finished.

From page I got the cute vibes. We have two 17 year olds who were friends but are now enemies, but something happens and they end up kinda, well sorta friends again and then some. The book follows Celine and Bradley, both are high achievers and both want to become Lawyers. There is a few mix ups, some definite laugh out loud moments along with some excellent one liners from some secondary characters. Do we get a HEA of course we do this is a YA book! Did I love this book, of course I did.

It has all the witty banter, silliness that all 17 year olds should have, as well as that cute bloom of romance. The book deals with OCD and how that impacts one of the characters. I felt that it was dealt with in a way that you can understand, it doesn't glamorise it and really shows how much this can impact someone's thought process and how they deal with day to day life. I applaud Hibbert for this and was nice to see in a book.

I have absolutely fallen in love with Talia Hibbert’s writing style and characters over the last couple of years and I was really excited to have an ARC copy of her new YA romance Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute.

Bradley and Celine are the main characters in this book, and both tell the story. I love a dual POV but I think I’d like to go back sometime and listen to this on audio. The two characters were close friends growing up but have grown apart and stay away from each other as much as their school lives will permit. They’re thrust back together as they both embark on the BEP programme and the story follows their journeys.

There is such a lovely pull between the characters in this story. Both characters are at an age where lots of life decisions are being made about what courses they want to take and what and who are important to each of them. They accompany each other through a lot of these coming of age trials and tribulations.

Talia always represents diversity through her characters and this one was no different. I would have loved to read this when I was YA myself, despite also loving it as an adult.

'Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute' was my first read of 2023 - and this was such a perfect book to start the year as I absolutely adored everything about this book, as I do with every single book that Talia Hibbert writes.
This is Talia's debut YA romance, and just like her adult romances, this book was filled with so much love and joy and humour and I loved every second of reading this book.
This book follows Bradley and Celine who used to be best friends but are now enemies, who sign up for a survival course so that they win money for university, and they end up having to work together at the camp in order to win the prize.
I loved that we got both Brad and Celine;s point of view in this book, and so we got to see both of their feelings developing throughout the book. There was just something about this book that was so cute and soft to read and I loved everything about it.
Also the cover of this book is so beautiful and I can't wait to have a copy of this to put on my shelf with my other Talia Hibbert books. I can't wait to read more YA books by Talia is she decides to write some more as I would read anything that she writes.

Talia Hubert is one of my favourite authors and I can tell you without a doubt now that this will be one of my favourite books of 2023. It’s got everything, perfect chemistry, humour, romance, great characters (both leading and supporting cast) the writing is just everything (chefs kiss). For me especially as a plus size woman I love reading about a plus size lead, who is proud and confidant, I love so much rep for us larger women. If that wasn’t enough as it’s Talia, there’s BIPOC rep, LGBTQ+ rep, it also covers themes around mental health too. You need some happiness in your life, some positivity and a big hug, then pick this book up. If you have teens in your life buy this for them. Perfection

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in return for an honest opinion

This is Talia Hibbert’s debut YA novel. I don’t read a lot of YA novels anymore but I was intrigued by this one and it did not disappoint. I really enjoyed this one. The two main characters were once childhood friends but are now enemies. This book was a lot of fun and the characters had great banter. If you a romance fan I would recommend checking out this cute read.

5 stars!

I know we're only a few days into January, but this book will definitely make it into my 2023 favourites list.

It was everything I hoped for and more. It made me laugh, it made me tear up, it made me feel seen, it simply made me feel.

Ex best friends to enemies to friends to lovers is an absolute elite trope and that coupled with he fact that both MC's are just so incredibly well developed makes this book an instant favourite.

As someone with OCD, I was really looking forward to seeing how the MC's OCD would be portrayed and I think Talia Hibbert gave me the portrayal of my dreams.

This is such an enticing, addictive, fun read and you won't regret picking it up.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book!!! It was beyond cute, I loved it so much. Each of the characters had amazing chemistry together, and I absolutely loved it. Not only does this book have great OCD representation, but it discusses anxiety as a whole really well. I found myself laughing so many times when I was reading this Celine and Brad could be really funny. I loved how it also had the academic rival part too. Also, Celine being into conspiracy theories was unexpected but so refreshing to have. Honestly, this is the perfect ya romance that everyone needs to read!!

I don't even know where to begin with this review - it is simply the sweetest book filled with so much...good! Everybody needs it; whether to serve as a reminder to love yourself; even the rough bits that only you know how to live with, or to reflect on your own years as a teenager and how much better it could have been with a little bit of therapy and supportive rolemodels. Maybe, it's a reminder to do the things you want despite fear; fear of your mind, fear of rejection, fear of abandonment. Or maybe, like me, it's all of that; a sort of love letter filled with advice and words of wisdom that I wish I had heard sooner.

It is the 7th of January, and I'm confident this will rank in my top-5 books of the year. I have zero doubt about it.

Talia has created and given us the joy of two wholesome and loveable characters who are so darn relatable that despite this being a Y.A novel, my nearly 30-year old ass sat highlighting and taking notes, wishing I had just a droplet of the love, wisdom and encouragement that this book offers.

I don't want to spoil it for anyone - read it. It has a plus-size, incredibly cute FMC who doesn't constantly feel insecure, there's BIPOC rep, LGBTQI+ rep, and loads of themes and discussions around mental health (namely, OCD, and parental abandonment). This book is the epitome of a warm hug and if you have a teenager in your life, they need this warm hug. Give them this warm hug. And while you're at it, read it too.

➡️ Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
➡️ Spice: 0/5 (It is YA.)
➡️ Thank you @netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. @joyrevbooks
& @taliahibbert I can't wait for more books!
⚠️ Check Trigger Warnings: Parental Abandonment.

I don’t think I’ve ever given a romance book 5stars and certainly never a YA romance. This genre is generally not for me but something about the premise made me want to give it a try and I’m so glad I did. I don’t think I stopped smiling from start to finish (even while wiping away the occasional tear.) Brad and Celine are such lovable characters who display emotional maturity way beyond their years. This is a tender and funny story which highlights the importance of good mental health practices and strong support systems.
Thank you to the author Talia Hibbert, Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this lovely book.

After having not a lot of success with YA romance in 2022, I was a bit nervous to pick this up. But I see Talia Hibbert and I have to pick it up.

I really shouldn't have worried - this was so so good!!

Football and book obsessed Brad and Celine, who is a conspiracy theory tiktoker, used to be friends, but after a fall out 4 years a go, now they are now arch enemies. But when they both get into a prestigious survival course, they are forced to face the conflict between them.

Talia Hibbert is the QUEEN of flirty banter. She had me grinning to myself like I was being flirted with. I was really routing for Brad and Celine, both individually and together. They were both just son likable whilst also being complicated. Also, the side characters were 10/10. I want to read more about Jordan and Minnie!

Brad's experience with OCD was written so well. I feel like you rarely get stories featuring people who are still living with OCD daily, but have it under control, so this was a really refreshing change! As far as my experience, this is accurate, and I was really proud of this fictional character for pushing himself out of his comfort zone.

Overall, 4.5 stars. I really recommend picking this up if you loved the Brown sisters trilogy! Thanks to NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK and Talia Hibbert for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley UK and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for a review.

3.75⭐️

I was introduced to Talia Hibbert last year when I completely devoured the Brown sisters series - I loved her style, humour and voice. So I was so, so excited to get the opportunity to get my hands on this one.

The author has used the same brilliant British humour, that I loved about her other books. As a Brit, it completely suits my own sense of funny and it's delightful and entertaining to read. I wish their were more books out there like this with this - and so Hibbert will remain an auto-read for me, because I'm addicted. This book being YA also embraced the reality of being a being a British teenager and all the silliness and swearing it comes with.

It's a first attempt into YA and though it's not flawless, I enjoyed it. The story is fast paced, sugar sweet and fun. Celine and Bradley are easy to like and to root for. I think in places it would have helped to slow down and draw out some aspects of the plot - for example, I thought a lot more of the book was going to be about this adventure experience they're on but really, it felt like we spent very little time on it.

One thing I have seen repeated in other's reviews of this book is admiration of the author's description of OCD. When I was reading, I knew in my bones this was someone who <I>knows</I> OCD, and knows it well because that was apparent in the writing - so I wasn't surprised when the acknowledgements mentioned the author's own recent diagnosis. I am so glad to be reading more and more neurodivergent characters written by neurodivergent authors. While I don't have OCD, there was a moment that touched me so much because it displayed how much little things your loved ones actively do to make things easier can help:
Early in their journey back into friendship after time estranged, Celine swats Brad on the arm and then wordlessly moves to do the same thing on the other arm, because she knows that helps him to have even sensations. He tells her that he doesn't really need that to be done anymore, since he manages his OCD better now, but you can feel his gratitude from her knowing him, from doing it so automatically even after time apart. It's a really sweet moment, and it really touched me.

Overall, a really sweet book! A perfect, lighthearted fun read to begin the year.

Starting of 2023 strong. This was such an adorable ya romance. I’ve only read adult romance by Talia Hibbert, but I adored this book and the rep was amazing.

I always choose a 5 star prediction for my first read of the year, and I once again predicted correctly, I'm so happy.

It's highly suspicious how Talia Hibbert is able to time and time again write such unfairly cute romances. This is their first YA, and I could NOT have been more excited for it, and it was just such an incredibly good time.

I can't wait to have a physical copy so I can reread and tab this. It was filled with so much witty and often slightly silly banter. The characters all felt so real and were so completely loveable. I especially adored Brad.

I want to add that this is a queer m/f book, since Brad is bisexual and has a POV. I haven't seen many people mention this, so I want to make sure people know this!

I adore Talia Hibbert's adult romance books so I was so interested to see her YA debut. What I got here was everything I love about her books - heart warming, joyous and wonderful characters with the most brilliant representation. The Queen strikes again!!

I love Talia Hibbert's adult novels (in particular, The Brown Sisters Trilogy) so I was both intrigued and excited when I heard she was going to be venturing into writing a YA romance. Immediately added to TBR, counting down the days, looking to see if I could get my hands on an arc (I did, thank God, I'm so impatient).

Unsurprisingly, I really enjoyed this. Of course I did! But let me do say, I had my apprehensions about reading this. And this has nothing to do with Talia's writing, the fact this was targeted towards a different audience than she usually writes for, it was more a personal thing.: I have OCD, like one of the main characters, Bradley. I was worried going into this that I'd find myself 'triggered' by the depiction of OCD in the book, it's happened to me before. No fault of the writer, it was written well, it just happened to trigger me.

But this . . . this made me feel seen. I really found myself in Bradley. Now, all OCD is different (it's a personally catered type of torment). Some people have issues with contamination, intrusive thoughts (harming yourself, others), etc. But so much of Bradley's OCD was much like mine. I too have a thing with germs/cleanliness, I have a thing with counting (particularly when I'm anxious), knocking on things to ward off bad thoughts, so on and so forth. Every time Bradley did something that I recognised in myself, I was like "yes! it's not just me!" or I sat there nodding like "yup, I get that feeling. It sucks." Again, I just felt so seen.

Putting aside the similarities between my OCD and Bradley's, I just loved how Talia depicted it. Honestly. Unflinchingly. Unglamourised. Recognising it's a constant battle, not one always fought up hill (this is sort of a pun, you'll get it when you've read the book), some days are harder than others. Bradley is in a much better place than he was before the events of the book, but I like that the book sent across the message that: it's not something you can't be cured from, but you can work on getting better. And somedays you're not so good at controlling your impulsive thoughts, or compulsive behaviours, it's about recognising that yes, these 'relapses' are normal and not letting your OCD control you (something I struggle a lot with, some days more than others). I could honestly talk about this forever; I just don't know how to put everything into words. I also related so much to how Bradley fears others seeing him as 'weird' because of his OCD. This wasn't a large part of the book, but it was an undercurrent (particularly with past history with Celine) and again it felt so relatable. Because you do fear how other people will see you.

I like how Celine treated Bradley, and how she was open to being educated (and even apologising) for how she may have reacted to his OCD. Can't say too much about this, because spoilers!

One of my other favourite things in this was the friendship between Bradley and Jordan. I loved it. Such a healthy, loving friendship. I loved Jordan's advice in the latter part of the book and how he was always so understanding, patient and gentle with Bradley. I love how he was so supportive, always willing to stand up for Bradley, not only against others but to protect Bradley from Bradley. It was really healthy, positive and I think we need that more in books.

I loved the addition of Aurora and all the other members from the camp. I particularly liked Aurora though because again, she made me feel seen (thanks Talia) with that coeliac disease rep! Woohoo go us and our bodies that like to attack itself over the littlest bit of gluten! Woohoo!

I can't forget to talk about Celine. How could I? Celine had such a presence on page. What a magnificent, complicated, nuanced character. I loved Celine's wit, her drive, her unapologetic nature. But then there's also this other side to Celine: the Celine who is repressing years of feelings, who is unwilling to confront the true motives behind the things she does, the Celine who fails to acknowledge the role she played in the ending of her friendship with Bradley . . .

Let me tell you, she was put through the ringer in this. Celine was forced to confront herself - her feelings, her family, the idea she had for the future. But through this all, she grew. Her character development was magnificent. It wasn't always easy at times (for her, and for the readers - lots of raised eyebrows at some of the choices she made), but it was worth it. And I really enjoyed seeing her grow more into herself. To grow even more confident in herself. To accept more vulnerability and realise it doesn't make her weak to do so, but stronger.

I really liked seeing Brad and Celine becoming friends again and watching them as they realised their feelings for each other. I think they had great banter, and good chemistry.

If you're wondering why this isn't a 4 star, it's because this book did lack in some places for me. At some points I found the pacing a little slow, and sometimes it felt like the book was going nowhere even though I'd been reading for ages (and I'm a pretty fast reader). While I did love Celine, I do think there were some parts where the book could've gone into more depth with her struggles - a lot of it felt surface level, like it was mentioned but it just seemed to lack a lot of depth? And I think that's because a lot of Celine's chapters were focused on pushing the plot forward, whereas Bradley's were sort of just there to have his POV on things.

I think at the moment I prefer Talia's writing style in her adult novels, but I genuinely really did enjoy this and would be both excited and happy if she considered writing another YA novel.

Thank you to Little Brown Book Group, Piatkus, for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

You know when you just find a book that just makes you have all the feels? And is just super cute & hilarious? Because this one is it!!
I am absolutely love this author and she's an automatic buy for me, so to get the opportunity to read it as an ARC I jumped at it! Thank you NetGalley!

As a big fan of Talia Hibbert's previous work, I was excited, if not a little nervous for her YA debut. Thankfully, Hibbert translates the fun of her previous novels straight into this one, whilst hitting realistic beats for a YA novel.
Our protagonists are both facing personal inner struggles whilst on their friends to enemies to friends to lovers narrative arc, which goes a long way to making the characters more relatable and well rounded. There's a lot more to this story than just the romance beats!
Tons of Hibberts trademark slightly sarcastic humour which I just love.
Extra points for thoughtful and realistic anxiety and OCD rep.
Overall a really fun and engaging read, well constructed for the YA market.

Thank you for an advanced copy of this book on exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved the Brown sisters trilogy by Talia Hibbert so when I saw this book I knew I had to read it! This is a cute YA book that I really enjoyed. It is perfect for the YA market and is a sweet romance with excellent representation mental health issues such as anxiety and OCD. The characters were likeable and the relationship and experiences felt realistic for this age group which was nice to see.
This is a quick, cute and entertaining read which I recommend to fans of YA romance.

Talia Hibbert honestly never misses! 'There is always great humour and banter, and fantastic mental health representation. I don't have OCD, so I can't speak on whether that representation is good or not but to me it did feel very well done, and the author has OCD themselves. But I do think that the anxiety representation was amazingly well done and felt so true to life.

I loved both of our main characters but especially Bradley, he was so sweet and genuine. The side characters were also amazing and felt so well-rounded considering most of them have very little screen-time. You have a wonderful variety of strong and healthy relationships in here, from romantic to familial to platonic and I loved reading about all of them but especially the familial relationships - Talia Hibbert is amazing at writing families, as was proven in the Brown Sisters trilogy but is proven even further in this book.

I did struggle every time TikTok was brought up in the book - it almost felt like trying to push a little too hard to show that these characters are teenagers but it just makes it feel like in 5 years or 10 years time this book might feel really dated because of all the TikTok references, which I really don't want to happen! I also found myself not really caring all that much about the plot of this Explorer expedition thing and instead caring much much more about Celine and Bradley and their burgeoning romance - but all that is to say that I still really enjoyed this new Talia Hibbert novel and I will read anything by this author!