Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute

Gr 9 Up–Romance author Hibbert’s first foray into YA fiction has all the signs of her lovable adult love stories placed squarely in the world of teen angst. Celine Bangura and Bradley Graeme were friends until a fractious turned them into enemies. Both are highly competitive for top marks in their school and know all too well how to irk each other. When a scholarship opportunity places them out of their comfort zone, they find themselves thrust far too close to stomach. As they trade barbs, they begin to experience other feelings for each other that they loathe acknowledging until a chance kiss changes the direction of their relationship. A series of unfortunate accidents happen that leaves Celine and Bradley no choice but to recognize their feelings and see where it takes them. Hibbert does a fantastic job describing the ways the two main characters represent their Blackness throughout, which is a definite highlight of this story. The main characters initially feel unlikable the first part of the book, but they are presented in a more likable light as their enemies-to-lovers story unfolds. The surrounding characters, especially their family members, play a major role in the story, but readers don’t experience their respective friend groups enough to have context on how their relationship changed.