Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute

By: Talia Hibbert

Narrated by: Amina Koroma, Jonathan Andrew Hume

From the New York Times best-selling 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?

This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF of the glossary from the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Talia Hibbert (P)2023 Listening Library

Critic reviews

★ “A zippy rom-com with strong characterization, bursting with Gen Z–approved verbal sparring and stolen kisses.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

★ “Between the quippy, energetic snipes and entertainingly uncomfortable scenarios, Hibbert has built a cast of characters with real depth and heart, and readers will hope for their happy endings as they stumble their way toward joy.”—Booklist, Starred Review

“With dialogue that juggles both laugh-out-loud humor and pull-at-the-heartstrings vulnerability amid an outdoorsy premise, Hibbert attentively captures Celine’s feelings of abandonment and resentment, and Brad’s mental health struggles while striking a quintessential balance of romance and comedy in this lively romp.”—Publishers Weekly

Such a unfairly cute Romance

My expectations coming into this book was low and I don’t even know why! But I’m so glad I got it! The book follows Celine and Bradley, they were best friends now nemesis who grew
apart. A class assignment now putting them back together unwillingly. It hard for them to work together and deny their feeling for each other. Especially when they sign up for the same scholarship, that includes time away camping in the woods. They agree to be somewhat friends with benefits as Celine try’s hard to fight her true feelings for Brad. This was such a cute, puppy love, young romance. I aww’ed and cried as the characters grew and found themselves in love. So glad I read it, it was such a good palate cleanser for me. 5/5 stars

Charming and cute!

I love almost everything that Talia Hubert writes, and I really enjoyed this book! The characters were funny and had great chemistry all throughout the book. Truly a cute YA read.

Cutest thing ever

Celine and Brad are just so cute, they had me giggling. Would read this again

Very cute story with important messages

I did feel a bit out of my element listening to this story as an adult due to it having adolescent characters, but this book deserves to be heard/read by everyone of all backgrounds. A lot of themes felt progressive and the seriousness of issues faced by these teenage characters deserve to be regarded as such. From body positivity to mental health to family dynamics, ths author did a wonderful job weaving different ideals into a cute plot of- well, you'll find out. The narrators did a wonderful job voicing their respective characters, too.

Cute and Funny!

This was a REALLY cute story that made me laugh at a bunch of different points throughout. The narration was a little off; however, it wasn’t so bad that the story was hard to follow.one final though: not to spoil the ending, but I just want to say #JusticeForSophie, because the ending they gave us left me like 🥴😆

Loved it!

I don't know why, but I did think that this was a holiday book, so somehow I was a teensy bit disappointed when midway through the book we hadn't mentioned holidays. Once I got over that though, this is very cute. I think it's really interesting that I read 2 YA books in less than a month. And 2 YA books by authors that I've previously read adult romance books of theirs. There must be a glitch in the matrix of my brain, or maybe just my algorithm.

This is also my second Talia Hibbert book in less than a month, and that was very jarring. Merry Inkmas was an adult holiday romance, and the similarities between the two books were there. She loves a miscommunication. Like a "I want to leave them before they have a chance to leave me." Which is an effective trope, but this one was rough. And seeing that trope in a YA was also hard. Mostly because HEAs in YA books are tough. These kids are both planning to go to different universities and such, so like, that did kind of dampen the HEA.

But I am OBSESSED with Celine Bangura. She's hilarious and I would absolutely follow her and listen to her conspiracy theories. Bradley's adorable, and they're really cute together. Their journey from best friends to worst enemies to friends who kiss to in a relationship was very cute. And all in the backdrop of hiking in the wilderness? For a social media obsessed teenager and a kid that struggles with OCD. I mean, the opportunities for comedy were rampant!

I would like to point out that this book is like an advertising pamphlet for therapy and I was here for it! And when Celine's mom goes in on her father's life choices.... I legitimately clapped. She was reading him for filth and it was everything.

DNF

This was such a bore and I had such high hopes for this book. I struggled the first few pages in but I wanted to give it a chance. I’ve completely given up by chapter 5. Maybe I’ll come back to it and try again but for now it’s in my DNF pile

Excellent narrators

Both narrators were superb. I had the physical book too and even after reading ahead there, I’d come back and listen so I wouldn’t miss any narration.

Another great read by the author!

I have read a few books by the author and I love her writing style.

PRECIOUS BABIES

I'm terrible at giving reviews but let me just say that Talia has done it again. She really has managed to capture the most bittersweet moments many have experienced during our first loves and my heart can't take it! It's been days and I haven't been able to stop grinning. Also! can Narrators win awards for their performances? If so, please give Jonathan and Amina their things because I stayed completely engaged threw the entire book!!