Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert Published by Random House Children's Books on January 3, 2023
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Diversity & Multicultural, Young Adult Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Young Adult Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy
Pages: 336
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of the Brown Sisters trilogy, comes a laugh-out-loud story about a quirky content creator and a clean-cut athlete testing their abilities to survive the great outdoors—and each other.
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?
My Review
To start out I want to thank NetGalley for this ARC in return for my honest opinion. I initially requested this book because I have read The Brown Sisters Trilogy by Talia Hibbert and I really enjoyed her writing style and lead characters. I have to say that I was NOT disappointed with Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute.
I found this story to be a page-turner for sure. I absolutely loved Celine as the main character and her "enemy" Brad. I enjoyed that the characters were once friends and we find out why that changed for them. I found their enemy banter back and forth to be entertaining and quick-witted which I really appreciated. I find that sometimes teenage characters can be very drama-filled over foolish things but with these two characters, I did not find that to be the case. I loved that there was depth to them, they each had baggage to carry. Take Celine for example she was raised by a single mother because her father ditched them for another family and has nothing to do with his first family. That is some real trauma to have to deal with especially when growing up. Then look at Bradley who carries an OCD diagnosis as a teen boy and how well he deals with it. As someone who also deals with an OCD diagnosis, I found that Talia Hibbert wrote the illness in a very realistic way. I found that these difficulties did not stop the main characters from going after what they wanted and working toward their goals. In my opinion, I found that to be very refreshing.
If you are looking for a story that makes you feel for the characters and all their flaws then I would definitely recommend picking this book up. I truly enjoyed this story and will definitely be recommending it to people. In my opinion, Talia Hibbert has written another great book and I look forward to reading more from this author.
Everything I have written above is entirely my own thoughts and opinions. Again I want to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.