Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute

I listened to this book as advanced copy from Libro.fm because I'm a big fan of Talia Hibbert's adult novels. I did not love this book but that is partly my fault because I hadnt realized it was a YA novel. I mostly didn't love the drawn out enemies to lovers plot. I found the story cute overall but less exciting than her other novels. Albeit I'm not the target audience of who YA is supposed to be written for, so that's worth considering.

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wii3rdo's review

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challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

BRADLEY GRAEME IS AN ABSOLUTE TREASURE, AND I SWEAR IF ANY (more) HARM WERE TO BEFALL HIM, I WOULD RAZE THIS PLANET FROM THE GROUND UP!

THIS. BOOK. WAS. PERFECT. from the portrayal of these TEENAGERS BEING ACTUAL TEENAGERS, and the discovery of finding out who you want to be and what life path you want to be put on, IT WAS SPOT. FUCKING. ON!!

there were times when Celine made me want to throttle her. she had her own issues, that much she knew, but SHE WAS THE DRAMA IN HER LIFE. after i had all the details, i had to take a second to assess the fact that 1) Bradley never left her, SHE LEFT HIM, 2) my girl had major control issues, 3) she was in DIRE need of therapy, and 4) i wouldn’t have been as patient as Bradley. he was in love with her and her best friend and had a heart of pure gold. he’s 10x a better human than i would be because if i know your situation and you know mine and you THROW MY ISSUES BACK IN MY FACE because i want to branch out and be more than just half of a duo, girl you’re getting dropped faster than a blunt at a busted rave. I’M NOT EVEN SORRY!

why did it take her the ENTIRE BOOK to realize she was revolving her life’s plan around the loser that didn’t stick around and that she needed to be more in touch with actually feeling?? that’s how you know the read was good, cause Celine pissed me tf off, but i love her sm. AND BRADLEY, he’s such a puppy. what the hell???? HE’S TOO PURE FOR THIS WORLD PROTECT HIM

the representation of OCD, though i have no firsthand knowledge of dealing with it, seemed fucking spot on. i read the acknowledgment at the end and saw the author has OCD, and then it made sense why the portrayal was so accurate. i love it when authors put a vulnerable piece of themselves into their work. it’s so RAW, you can’t do anything but love it because it makes the work truly an extension of themselves.

i also wanna say, Neneh Bangura is a WOMAN. she was not worried about that coward at all, and for that loser to think that having an omg, it’s one of the daughters i left behind moment would’ve been something Celine even wanted after he was too PUSSY to even reach out (not that he should’ve). Bradley was right to give him the stink eye, and i'm OH SO GLAD he never showed his face again.

i know i keep talking about Bradley, but how in touch his character was with his emotions, and just HIM was so swoon-worthy (not in a weird creepy way cause he’s 17)! that’s my baby fr.

Celine and Bradley are the literal definitions of black cat gf x golden retriever bf. <3

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midnightverde's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I adored Celine and Bradley. It was nice to see a character who had intrusive thoughts because I have them too. Celine reminded me of a friend I had in high school, which was also really cool to see in a story. A really great romance that just makes you feel good and laugh a bit (the quick wit and humor were wonderful). I highly recommended!

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beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Overall I enjoyed Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute (HSAUC), although I did have a quite disjointed experience reading it.

First of all, it is very snappily written and well-paced, with a great sense of wit - some lines made me snort with laughter. Is this how teenagers talk to each other in real life? Or is it just in fiction? Who cares, it's good.

The main characters of Celine and Bradley were developed quite realistically - I thought Bradley's fears about his writing abilities were very well done, and I'm speaking as a wannabe published author myself here. Celine's desperation for academic perfection

to rub her success in the face of her estranged father

also felt believable.

I think my problem came with how their relationship developed

, from enemies to friends to, finally, lovers.

Even though once they got there I believed in it, I wasn't fully satisfied with how they got there. I feel like I missed something - I suspect it was because of what I said earlier about my experience reading it. Others may feel differently, and that's perfectly valid.

I had a good time reading this, I only wish I'd felt as fully invested from start to finish.

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katievallin's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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vaguely_pink's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

While this book made me realize I have major distaste for stories that romanticize overachieving teenagers burning themselves out (definitely not because of my own high school experience why would you even say that), Talia Hibbert has made me cry over disability rep once again.

It's also made me realize that British narrators with terrible American accents is my favorite audiobook genre.

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ktv's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Soooo good they’re so cute and wholesome
The third act conflict was a misunderstanding and not my fave but it makes sense bc of Celine’s childhood and unresolved trauma. Anything but a simple misunderstanding / miscommunication would’ve been weird too since they’re teenagers.
Loved both narrators so much, they were extremely expressive and made listening to this so engaging

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bexi's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

First off, I'm not the target audience for this book since I'm an adult, so keep that in mind.

I thought I'd love this, but it was just fine for me. 😭 It was a bit repetitive and honestly I was kind of bored for half of it. I wish there was more time spent in the woods. Also, I don't think the format worked well for an audiobook.

However, I thought it was cute overall and it seemed appropriate for the audience it was written for. I bumped up my rating a bit for the OCD rep. I thought the author did a good job depicting OCD despite not having it; you can tell she did research and I always appreciate that as an OCD girlie myself.

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