Welcome to Litsy!

Funny and cute. A light read that included a diverse cast of characters including a well written neurodivergent character. Not my favorite by this author but still a good read.

Celine & Brad sign up for the same challenge for a prize. They‘re ex-best friends b/c Brad made a mistake when they started high school. They‘re forced to work together on the challenge. Will it force them to be something more than just friends?

I really enjoyed this one. It was funny & cute. I liked the diversity in characters & inclusion of neurodiversity. I liked the characters, their chemistry, & their arcs. A bit slow in the beginning.

3 ⭐️ Super cute, easy read that is textbook enemies to lovers. I think I had too high expectations for this read because I loved the Brown Sisters series and this one isn‘t as good. But overall, it‘s still a good read! #LitsyLoveReads

YA Romcom would be at the bottom of my list of preferred genres, but I went into this optimistically &was pleasantly surprised. Sort of an enemies to friends to lovers story as ex-bestfriends reunite. Super cute. Good banter. It was slow enough to maintain some tension without becoming too repetitive. Lovable characters with mental health rep in full force.

YA Enemies to lover romance book. The FMC was insufferable at times. I thought the pacing was slow too. Anxiety and OCD representation, LGBTQ, POC, dealing with parental abandonment.

This week on my book pod, it‘s the grand finale of New Reads November 2023 — and it‘s extra grand because we have THREE guests! Representing the amazing SSR Patreon community, Brittany, Cait, and Shira join me to discuss HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS AND UNFAIRLY CUTE. We cover OCD representation, romance tropes, outdoorsy adventures, and what it means for there to be two sides to every story. Listen at the link in my bio!

Love seeing reading stations especially in an airport.

Not my cup of tea but I‘m also not the audience for this one. Celine & Brad did remind me of a high school neighbor, family friend. I thought the book did a nice job of bringing anxiety and OCD to the story without it overpowering the plot. #Pop23 ~romance with a fat lead #ReadHarder ~romance w/ bisexual representation
Also, I hate the wording for this prompt and Celine is ‘heavy‘ not necessarily ‘fat‘

This book is like a warm hug. Hibbert should write more YA.

I‘m on track to finish Talia Hibbert‘s first YA novel tonight! It‘s a lot of fun and, as always, I appreciate how intensely British it is. No Americanization here.

(She does include a glossary in the front for folks who don‘t pick up on the Britishisms through context.)

I read more while I ate this AMAZING cauliflower and sweet potato korma. It took on an odd texture after a night in the fridge, mixed with rice, but the FLAVOUR. 😭

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤩 HIGHLY CUTE! I loved this book! So sweet and 🧀 - their relationship developed so much in so few pages, and it was written in such a funny, exceptional way! Great OCD descriptions too!

Super fun! I love Talia Hibbert‘s humor and the main characters had great banter.

I thought I‘d do a #bookspin and #bookspinbingo recap now that I‘m 1/3 of the way through the year, and it‘s looking pretty good so far! I still need to finish January‘s bookspin and the bookspin and doublespin from March, but I‘m happy with the two bingos each in March and April. It is possible that I was most excited about the tagged bookspin from February - Talia Hibbert is always an author to celebrate, and I had that book on preorder lol.

I have not read this author‘s adult romances, but her first YA romance is delightful. Former besties Celine and Brad now hate each other with a fiery passion. Yeah, sure they do. These are smart, funny, characters and they are each keeping secrets from themselves and each other. It all makes for charming, sweet and often laugh-out-loud reading.

This was ... fine? Perhaps my expectations were so high after having loved a number of Hibbert's other books. YA romance with good rep, but it just failed to fully engage me.

Fills New in 2023 for #Booked2023 @BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen @alisiakae
also HB Author prompt for #hbreadingembrace

Now starting - can't wait!

On my hook : Hooked on Grannies, monochrome style continues. #litsycrafters

4/5

This cute YA follows two friends turned enemies turned friends again as they participate in a survival program that ends with three participants getting incredible scholarships. I always enjoy Talia Hibbert books, and this was a fun read.

3.5⭐
This is delightful, witty, funny and heartwarming.
Hibbert writes perfect dialogue that always has me cracking up.
This is a great friends to lovers YA story.
I was just a tad bored. Brad and Celine are great characters and I appreciate Brad's OCD rep, but the characters alone couldn't carry the story for me. Slight Pick rating.

February was not a great reading month for me, so I didn't manage a bingo this month. I think March will go much better. #ISpyBingo @Clwojick @TheAromaofBooks

I don‘t typically care to pick up a YA romance, but the main male character provides both bisexual and OCD representation and I‘m here for the increase in Black romance publications so I picked this up. And it‘s adorable! Best friends to enemies to more than friends. I was definitely invested, and will be reading this authors other romances in the future!

It's the first day of school, and I'm already being forced to socialize.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

This was cute! Though if I'm stack ranking against her other books it's my least favorite so far. Just didn't suck me in and make me swoon like Chloe Brown (but I also picked it up without realizing it was her first YA). But still worth a read if you're a fan of her stuff! 3.5⭐️

📍🛳 Back in Miami and off to the airport we go 😭

I have enjoyed everything written by Talia Hibbert but her first YA debut just fell flat. Enemies to lovers story.
Following the story of Celine (a content creator) and Brad (OCD, athlete) who were best friends growing up. At high school, they went their separate ways but are now forced together in the great outdoors to compete for a scholarship. They trudge up their messy past. A focus on mental health & family dynamics is all explored too. 3⭐️

Talia Hibbert‘s young adult debut is a sweet and super emotionally real romance in dual POV that had me rooting for these friends to enemies to lovers. I‘m not the target audience and not a big fan of YA books, so I did get a little bored and didn‘t have as much fun as with Hibbert‘s Brown Sisters trilogy. One thing that bothered me was a positive reference to Kanye West‘s music given West‘s antisemitism and a MC is into conspiracy theories.

Onto Book 9 of the year so far. I love everything Talia Hibbert writes so hope this doesn‘t disappoint ❤️

Talia Hibbert's first YA romance was so cute! Former best friends turned enemies enter into a leadership meets survivalist program with the hopes of willing a college scholarship, but being together out in the woods reminds them of what they liked about each other in the first place. If only Celine's abandonment issues don't get in the way. Loved the complexity of the characters and the bi and OCD rep.

So, I‘m reading really slowly this year and (as y‘all can see) not putting much of a dent in my challenges, hah… and I have two #roll100 lists bc I have no self-control when it comes to kindle daily deals… but the wait lists for the tagged book were MONTHS and I just had to buy it 😬 here comes roll100 list no 3! 😘but don‘t worry friends, the only thing I‘m keeping up on are read alongs!
#bookspin #bookspinbingo #Naturalitsy #goldenagecrimeclub

Birthday reading in my new favorite socks 🥰 I love Talia Hibbert and am excited to dive into her first YA! Thankful for skip-the-line loans being introduced on Libby 🍀 #bookandsocks #BlackHistoryMonth #ownvoices

💕 February TBR 💕

⭐️⭐️⭐️ YA enemies-to-lovers romance; okay maybe not quite lovers per se, but you get the idea. Celine and Bradley used to be friends but a falling out left them constantly bickering and competing. A uni scholarship competition brings them back together. This was fine, cute even, but wasn‘t quite the read I needed at the moment, so my attention meandered.

What fun, fast read! The characters, both MC and supporting, were likeable and easy to connect with. The plot was fun and slightly crazy, but just. I enjoyed everything about this and cannot wait to read more Talia Hubert YA novels.

I really enjoyed Hibbert‘s first YA. Cute premise and fun times.

One of my Barnes & Noble stores is closing and relocating, so they are having a 50% off sale!
I couldn't pass this up!!
This is my haul...I practiced a great deal of restraint today.. lol

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
After reading and loving Hibbert‘s Brown Sisters series, I was excited for her first move into the teen book world, and this was exactly what I was looking for! Still getting giddy romance moments, funny one-liners, and her refusal to look away from difficult, real life situations, this book is good for any Hibbert fans, not just teens.

Friends —> Enemies/Academic Rivals —> Lovers YA romance with Hibbert‘s signature heart and banter
https://youtu.be/izrOepVwtK8

Time to snuggle up with some yummy snacks, a cup of purple butterfly pea flower tea, and my first book buy of the year! I LOVE Talia Hibbert and I am diving right into her debut YA romance! The excitement is so very real!

1st book of 2023!

The way I inhaled this book!!! Celine and Brad were perfect foils, and the whole concept was just pure rollicking fun. I want more in this universe! #yalit #yaromance