Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert
Do not be fooled by the title and cover of this book! While, yes, a part of it's plot does follow ex-best-friends Bradley and Celine as they rekindle their friendship (and possibly a romance..?), there is so much more to this book on top of the (incredibly well done) relationship development. Both characters are incredibly headstrong in their own right, and facing their own struggles which throughout the course of the story they realise they can overcome with a little help from each other. I think just the fact that I would read this book minus the romance speaks volumes about Talia Hibbert's writing (the sarcastic humour is on point by the way), and the characters are so well fleshed out - they truly feel like real people and teenagers with honest struggles, and made reading this book a genuine delight from start to finish :) Also, gumpy and sunshine is also not usually one of my favourite relationship dynamics to read about but Brad and Celine definitely made it work (for me at least haha)! I thought Celine and Brad complimented each other perfectly, and the friendship part of their friends-to-enemies-to-lovers storyline (convoluted by incredibly enjoyable) was flawlessly executed (and I loved reading about it).
For a short synopsis, this YA romcom/coming-of age story is about two former best friends, who having drifted apart into different social circles at the start of high school have transformed their relationship into being full blown academic rivals who "despise" each other. As college-minded, competitive teenagers do - they both enter a wilderness survival competition in the hopes of winning an amazing scholarship opportunity. Through this competition they reconnect, and you can imagine how the rest of the story goes...
Hands down, one of my favourite parts of this book is the incredible representation!! Not only in how every single character has a distinct personality from each other (making this book all the more interesting to read) but Brad and Celine are both POC characters and in addition to this the OCD and bisexual rep are also awesome.
Brad is definitely my favourite character - his inner monologue is the funniest and most relatable thing I've read in a while. And it was so refreshing to read about a character who manages to strike the perfect balance between being overdramatic and ridiculous, and somehow sweet, earnest and emotionally intelligent at the same time.
Another (rather intricate) part of this book which was so interesting to witness is the character development! Not only with regards to their relationship with each other, but also with their families and themselves. Personally, I thought Celine's emotional journey to figuring out who she truly is and what she wants rather than allowing the abandonment she experienced as a child define her - was an integral part of this book and made the story so much richer.
In my opinion, this book truly excels in character development and witty dialogue (when I tell you the banter is impeccable I am not joking) and I would highly, highly recommend this (it honestly feels like a hug in a book)!
Thank you so much for reading this if you got this far :)
Happy Reading! 📚💖
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