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

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

74 reviews

wii3rdo's review against another edition

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

Content Warnings

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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booknerderika's review against another edition

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3.5

This was good but not as amazing as I had hoped. The characters were likeable and the plot was fine, I wanted more though. It felt like things were happening so quickly and the scenes were so short. I did enjoy the dialogue and the humor as usual with a Talia Hibbert book.

Content Warnings

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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carseatwarmers's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful 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

3.25

Content Warnings

evhanson's review against another edition

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funny hopeful 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

3.25

Content Warnings

thaliareads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

This wasn't my favorite of Talia's books, but it was still a cute read. I really enjoyed seeing the angst as Celine and Bradley actually came to an understanding over the course of the book over what had actually transpired in the events that led them to stop being friends.

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pia_h's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

I picked this novel up because I love Talia Hibbert's other novels and was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it even though I don't read much YA fiction anymore. I really liked the main and side characters and Graeme's family dynamic as well as Celine's relationships with her mother and sister.

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kylieqrada's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

I love Talia Hibbert, so I knew I would enjoy this. YA isn't always my jam, and I was a little less invested in the romance than I'd like to be, but overall I liked the themes and plot beats. Plus I just need light fluffy stuff rn.

Content Warnings

ashleycmms's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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