“Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute” is Talia Hibbert’s (“Get a Life, Chloe Brown”) debut young adult novel. She has written many adult romances before this, but she did such an amazing job with this book, you would never know it was her first in this genre.

Celine and Bradley used to be best friends, introduced by their mothers who are still best friends. After the awkward transition from middle school to high school, the two had a falling out and never made up. 

When Bradley accidentally injured Celine, he felt obligated to make it up to her by offering her a ride to a meeting for a survival course in the woods. He has no interest in the program until he learns the top three explorers get a full scholarship for college. Much to Celine’s dismay, both of them get accepted into the program.

Throughout the trip, Celine is constantly trying to keep Bradley away from her, but he is determined to keep an eye on her. Over the course of the trip, they start to relive their past and decide to try and move past it. Celine just wants to be non-enemies, but Bradley is interested in becoming more.

Hibbert’s writing is the perfect mix of witty and fun. She shows the characters’ dislike for each other very well without overdoing it. When Bradley and Celine are fighting, they have hilarious comebacks that will make you laugh out loud at times. 

Bradley struggles with OCD and Hibbert did an amazing job with making it a part of his character without making his life revolve around it. She showed how people with OCD struggle in real life situations with intrusive thoughts, and other effects of the disorder. 

Another positive representation Hibbert included was the fact that Celine was plus -sized. Many authors try to stand out by making their characters bigger, but that is all they talk about. Celine has confidence and never even mentions her own weight and it is never mentioned in a negative way.

By including positive representation for OCD and by having a plus size main character, Hibbert stands out from other authors. Both main characters are also black, which adds to her positive representations. 

Hibbert did an amazing job representing how teenagers actually think and act. She included swearing in her characters’ dialogue, which made it seem more natural. She also did not include any pop culture references try to connect with the younger audience. 

Bradley and Celine have a unique relationship. Celine has severe trust issues because her father abandoned her and her sister at a young age, and Bradley is constantly trying to show her he will stay with her. Hibbert did a great job of showing the sensitivity of the subject and wrote it in a non-offensive way. 

One thing Hibbert could have done a bit better was explaining the fight that happened between Celine and Bradley when they were younger. She does explain it in small parts, but it would have been better if she had just said what happened in one section. 

That being said, Hibbert’s debut into the young adult genre was great and she should definitely continue down this path. Her adult romances are good, but this novel had something about it that made it more enjoyable than her previous books. 

Image from Talia Hibbert via Twitter