It seems I may be a tad late to the party when it comes to discovering the work of Talia Hibbert, the author of this week's DSN, Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute. Though to be fair, while I love young adult fiction, I have never been big on romance. But the premise interested me: two ex-best friends must now work together as they compete for a grand prize.
The Situation: Celine Bangura knows who she is and what wants out of life, and she even has the Steps to Success board in her room to prove it. If all goes according to plan, she will study at Cambridge, become a top corporate lawyer, and show her absentee father what she managed to do without him around. And when an opportunity comes up to compete for a full scholarship in a program put on by one of her lawyer heroes, Celine is determined to come out on top. But she was not planning on having to deal with her arch-nemesis, Bradley Graeme, while camping and hiking in the woods, and proving herself to be a capable and hard-working leader. The two of them used to be best friends, before Brad decided he would rather be with the popular kids...or at least that is how Celine remembers it.
The Problem: Brad has his own reasons for wanting the scholarship. If he does not have to worry about finances while in college, then he will not need to have a roommate, something that would greatly benefit his obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. But being so close to Celine while competing for the top prize has added a entirely new set of issues to the competition. If either of them want a real shot at winning this thing, then they will have to work together, and manage to have conversations without it breaking out into an argument. At some point, Celine starts to wonder when Brad became so considerate and thoughtful. And Brad knows Celine is annoying, but was she always this cute? The expedition is only the beginning for Celine and Brad as they look back on their past, and consider what their future may hold.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a young adult fiction novel set in present-day England. Celine and Brad are seniors who are starting to consider college and their future careers. The book explores a fairly well-known pattern of ex-best friends/enemies rediscovering each other and potentially moving their relationship into romantic territory. Both Brad and Celine have their reasons for why their friendship ended the first time, and they each have hang-ups that could easily stop them from ever being close again. And beyond that, Brad has his OCD, and Celine has her desire to prove to her father just how worthless and unnecessary he is to her life and its direction. The book is a YA romance against a backdrop of academic and familial pressures that many high school seniors have faced.
My Verdict: Many times with books with two narrators, I find myself much more drawn to one over the other, and end up speeding through the parts narrated by the one I like the least. Fortunately, that did not happen with this book, and I was able to stay invested in both storylines. And while I found myself immediately annoyed by Celine in the very beginning of the novel, the growth and development of her character over the following 300 pages was so well done and believably well-paced that I was weirdly proud of her. Brad and Celine remained the central focus of the story, but some of the side characters were also exceptionally well-rounded, even when given a short amount of time on the page, such as Celine's sister Giselle, and Brad's good friend Jordan.
Favorite Moment: When Brad stands up for Celine against one of his 'friends,' even though their truce at the time was only supposed to be temporary.
Favorite Character: Celine's roommate on the trip, Aurora, is shy but perceptive, as well as clever and smart.
Recommended Reading: Author Nicola Yoon also writes YA romance that focuses on people of color. My favorite of hers is 2016's The Sun Is Also a Star.
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