Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute

Taking Hibbert has delivered the type of young black romance I wish I had when I was a teen. A friends to rivals to friends to lovers story that is a charming and funny as it is warm and tender. Brad and Celine are former besties turned rivals after the trials of growing up and finding themselves forces them apart. When they both enter into the same competition to compete for scholarship money, they find themselves reconnecting and forging an even stronger bond. I was obsessed with the banter and genuine friendship between Brad and Celine. A perfect lighthearted read that I think anyone can appreciate at any age.

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samone2's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

4.0

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elenushka8's review

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adventurous emotional funny 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

4.75

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k_lorraine'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

4.0

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katievallin's review against another edition

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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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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-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

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I adored the Brown Sister’s series and I wanted to read more of Talia’s work. This book was so damn fluffy but had some great reputation of OCD and parent abandonment which hurt my heart and made me want to hug the MCs.

This book has two points of view. The first one is Bradley Graeme and he is pretty much perfect to the eyes of everyone else. He is a star football player and is top of most of his classes except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine. He is wanting to be a writer, but his parents have big plans for him to go to Law School. He is also worried about dealing with his OCD when he goes to university. The second point of view is Celine Bangura. She is obsessed with conspiracy theories and she makes Tiktok videos on her take from UFOs to holiday overconsumptions and she’s got a pretty big social media following of people who love her videos. However, it’s not cool enough for the popular kids’ table, which is why Brad abandoned her for the cool kids years ago. 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 words to get a free ride to whatever law school she wants, she is surprised to see Brad next to her. Now they are forced to work as a team for the chance to get the prize, these two must trudge through not just mud and the forest, but their messy past. Has too much time and will they be able to get their dream university.

This book was so fun and fluffy and inclusive and had a really strong storyline. I love the banter and the humour between Celine and Bradley. I wanted to hug both Celine and Bradley, they are so strong and were both dealing with personal and family issues but we still trying to suppose everyone else. I say this in every single review and I don’t care - I love how Talia Hibbert writes the rep that she does when it comes to disabilities and disorders. The way she wrote about Bradley’s OCD and Celine dealing with her father abandonment. Like all of Talia’s work, this book was fast paced but didn’t feel rushed. I loved Bradley, he was so freaking sweet he was giving me tooth ache. But honestly, he was adorable and I wish there was 100 Bradleys when I was in high school rather than 100 Donnos. The way he was always thinking about others and then worrying about his intrusive thoughts just made me cry. Celine questioning the whole personality because of her dad being a dick made me cry. But I loved when she bumped into him and he was like Celine is that you and her response was I'm sorry do I know you - I was laughing so damn hard.

I don’t think there was any weakness, though I would have loved an epilogue to see how Bradley and Celine did at university. There were just some questions I would have liked to be answered.

This book was so adorable and basically like the Brown sisters series just without the intense smut.

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boba_n_books's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

What a sweet YA romance! I didn’t know I needed the trope of childhood friends to enemies to friends to lovers, but I LOVED it.

The OCD rep was also incredible. I’m glad it wasn’t just a stigma and was more of an accurate representation of what people with OCD experience on a daily basis.

Highly recommend this and Talia’s other books.

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axel_p's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.0

Super cute
I want a sequel

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