Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert
Published by Joy Revolution on January 3, 2023
ISBN: 0593482336
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads

Celia and Brad are former best friends. Both are British (the book is set in the UK) and Black. She’s a (highly suspicious) conspiracy-theory enthusiast with a TikTok channel detailing her obsessions, and fierce personality that scares most people off. He’s an (unfairly cute) soccer star living with ever-present but mostly managed OCD who hangs with the popular crowd. Both blame the other for their friendship ending. It’s senior year, and Celia’s hero, activist and lawyer Katherine Breakspeare, has just announced an opportunity that will give three lucky winners a full scholarship to University. Celia wants to win not just for the needed financial boost, but also to show her father, a lawyer who left the family years ago, just how successful she can be without him. Bradley has also joined the group, and they are thrown together only to discover that … feelings are much, much different between them now.

A spirited rom-com with alternating POV between Celia and Brad. Voices are distinct, banter is consistently witty, and characters are extremely likeable. Celia is a vulnerable character with a very tough exterior, and Brad struggles inwardly with his OCD while maintaining a veneer of coolness. The chemistry between them is palpable and fun. Themes of parental abandonment, mental health, family expectations, and figuring-out-who-one-is at seventeen weave the story together.

An easy book to hand to a patron who enjoys romance with some humor, realistic fiction, and books about that last year of high school, when life decisions feel huge.

Reviewed by Jenny Martinez Nocito, Maine State Library