Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute Summary, Characters and Themes
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is a heartwarming 2023 young adult romance novel by British author Talia Hibbert. The story follows the lives of two high-achieving high school students, Celine Bangura and Bradley “Brad” Graeme, former best friends turned enemies.
When they both end up in the prestigious Breakspeare Enrichment Program (BEP), the pair are forced to work together, rekindling an old friendship and confronting buried emotions. As they navigate the complexities of ambition, family expectations, mental health, and love, they discover that they may have more in common than they realized.
Summary
Seventeen-year-old Celine Bangura starts her final year of sixth form, excited about the academic opportunities ahead, especially a coveted enrichment program sponsored by Katharine Breakspeare, one of her professional idols.
Though Celine is aware that her estranged father’s law firm is a major sponsor, she is determined to apply anyway. On her first day, she is immediately frustrated when she finds herself seated next to her former friend and current nemesis, Brad Graeme, in philosophy class.
Their mutual dislike leads to frequent bickering, so much so that their teacher forces them to complete their assignment in the library. However, an unexpected accident ensues when Celine falls and injures her wrist due to Brad’s sudden, panicked reaction.
His struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) amplifies his anxiety over the incident, especially after his father remarks that Brad is expected to follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer, a path Brad is unsure of.
Despite his guilt over Celine’s injury, Brad finds solace in writing, though his perfectionism makes him self-critical.
Celine, meanwhile, is furious that her injury may interfere with her meticulously planned future. When Brad visits her with cupcakes and an apology, he offers to drive her to the Breakspeare Enrichment Program (BEP) meeting. Though skeptical, Celine agrees.
Afterward, her mother expresses hope that Celine and Brad will repair their friendship, which had crumbled years earlier after a hurtful argument.
Both Brad and Celine are accepted into the BEP program, which includes an outdoor expedition where they must work together. Partnered for a scavenger hunt, the two fall into familiar patterns of banter but eventually call a truce.
Brad apologizes for calling Celine “weird” in the past, and they find themselves laughing, sharing a moment of understanding.
When Celine plans a surprise birthday party for their shy roommate, Aurora, she enlists Brad’s help. They successfully pull off the celebration, further softening the tension between them.
Back at school, Brad stands up for Celine when she’s teased by a classmate, leading to an apology from her for previously dismissing his struggles with OCD. As they spend more time together, Brad realizes his growing feelings for Celine.
During a BEP evaluation, Celine encounters her father for the first time in years, which unsettles her deeply.
Katharine Breakspeare’s advice to challenge her long-held beliefs forces Celine to confront the unresolved emotions around her father. She and Brad kiss again, though they remain unsure about what this means for their relationship.
As the program progresses, Brad and Celine struggle to define their feelings. During a late-night conversation at a playground, Brad plans to confess his love, but a misunderstanding leads to an argument, and Brad is injured in a fall.
While recovering, Brad opens up to his parents about wanting to study English instead of law. Meanwhile, Celine works through her feelings about both her father and Brad.
In the end, Celine visits Brad during his recovery, and they confess their mutual love. At the Explorer’s Ball, Celine is offered an internship, while Brad wins a scholarship. They embrace their newfound relationship, ready to face whatever the future holds.
Characters
Celine Bangura
Celine is a highly driven and ambitious 17-year-old protagonist whose life is centered around academic success and her meticulously constructed “Steps for Success” plan. As the daughter of an absentee father who is a prominent lawyer, much of her ambition is tied to her desire to prove herself, especially in relation to her father’s legacy.
This results in her pursuing an internship with a law firm that directly competes with her father’s, signaling her complex emotional relationship with him. Her early hostility toward Brad stems not just from their past but from her determination to focus solely on her goals, and she initially sees any disruption, including her feelings for him, as a threat to her path.
Despite her academic and career focus, Celine is also a layered character, showing vulnerability and a need for connection. Her injury early in the story physically manifests the emotional wounds she tries to suppress.
As the story progresses, Celine grows emotionally, learning to question her motivations and confront her lingering issues with her father. Her evolution is seen not only in her romantic development with Brad but also in her ability to reconsider her life goals, coming to a realization that proving something to her father is not as important as defining her own path.
Celine’s growth is ultimately about embracing vulnerability and finding balance between ambition and emotional fulfillment.
Bradley “Brad” Graeme
Brad is portrayed as intelligent, kind-hearted, and dealing with the pressures of managing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Unlike Celine, Brad’s internal struggle revolves less around his academic ambitions and more around his personal insecurities and the burden of living up to external expectations, particularly from his father, who is also a lawyer.
His OCD contributes to his anxieties, causing him to feel overwhelmed by intrusive thoughts, particularly when he believes he’s made a mistake or hurt someone, such as when Celine injures her wrist. Although Brad initially comes across as Celine’s rival and irritant, it quickly becomes clear that his feelings toward her are more complex.
Their shared past as former friends adds depth to his character, and his regrets over calling Celine “weird” in the past show that he’s grappling with guilt and a desire to make amends. His true passion lies in writing, though he has been suppressing this dream in favor of following the conventional path laid out by his father.
Throughout the novel, Brad grows more confident in his desires, realizing that his mental health and personal passions are more important than living up to societal or familial expectations. His romantic relationship with Celine helps him grow emotionally, and his eventual confession to his parents about wanting to study English symbolizes his newfound self-acceptance.
Giselle Bangura
Giselle, Celine’s sister, serves as a supportive yet challenging figure in Celine’s life. She often calls Celine out on her decisions, particularly her obsession with their absentee father.
Despite their differences, Giselle clearly cares for Celine and helps her reflect on her motivations and priorities. Giselle’s ability to see through Celine’s emotional defenses makes her a pivotal character in Celine’s journey of self-awareness.
Additionally, Giselle’s involvement in helping Brad and Celine with Aurora’s birthday celebration shows her playful and caring side, offering moments of levity and grounding in the narrative.
Neneh Bangura
Neneh, Celine and Giselle’s mother, is depicted as a nurturing and understanding parent. Throughout the story, she supports Celine, particularly when Celine is grappling with her complex feelings about her father.
Neneh’s acceptance of Celine’s emotions and her offer to support her daughter no matter what speaks to her role as a stabilizing force in Celine’s life. Her reassurance that Celine is not responsible for her mother’s feelings toward the father is crucial in Celine’s emotional growth.
Neneh represents the loving parental figure that contrasts sharply with the absentee father, offering Celine a safe space to explore her vulnerabilities.
Katharine Breakspeare
Katharine Breakspeare is an inspirational figure for both Celine and Brad. She runs the prestigious BEP program, which serves as the narrative backdrop for much of Celine and Brad’s development.
Katharine’s influence on Celine is particularly significant, as she encourages her to question her underlying motivations and challenge the assumptions that have driven her life choices thus far. While not a central character in terms of page time, Katharine functions as a mentor figure whose advice helps catalyze Celine’s self-realization, making her an essential character in the protagonist’s journey.
Aurora
Aurora is an intensely shy and somewhat socially awkward character who becomes Celine’s roommate during the BEP excursion. Her quiet demeanor and introversion serve as a contrast to Celine’s more assertive personality.
Aurora’s friendship with Celine allows the protagonist to showcase a softer, more empathetic side. The birthday party organized by Celine and Brad for Aurora further illustrates Celine’s capacity for thoughtfulness and kindness, while also solidifying the bond between Celine and Brad.
Aurora may not be a major character, but her presence adds depth to Celine’s social interactions, highlighting Celine’s gradual emotional maturity.
Donno and Jordan
Donno and Jordan represent typical high school archetypes, with Donno serving as an antagonist in the social sphere. Donno’s teasing of Celine and eventual kicking of Brad and Jordan off the football team adds external conflict to the story, putting pressure on Brad’s friendships and sense of belonging.
Jordan, as Brad’s best friend, is a more neutral character, whose role primarily exists to support Brad and serve as a sounding board for his thoughts and feelings. The dynamic between these secondary characters helps flesh out Brad’s world and provide contrast to his evolving relationship with Celine.
Celine’s Father
Though he is mostly absent from Celine’s life, her father casts a long shadow over her decisions and ambitions. Celine’s strained relationship with him is a major source of conflict in the novel.
She feels compelled to succeed in order to prove her worth to him, despite his lack of involvement in her upbringing. The tension culminates during the Explorer’s Ball, where Celine must confront her father’s presence and begin the process of emotionally disentangling herself from the need for his approval.
He is a pivotal, if distant, figure in shaping Celine’s internal struggles and motivations.
Mason
Mason, Brad’s younger brother, plays a small but significant role in Brad’s life. His innocence and the familial bond between the brothers provide a glimpse into Brad’s home life, where there is a mix of expectation and love.
Mason’s interruption during a key moment between Brad and Celine serves as a reminder of the normalcy and warmth that exists within Brad’s family, despite the pressures he feels from his father. Mason’s presence humanizes Brad, showing him not only as a teenager struggling with his own issues but also as an older brother who cares deeply for his sibling.
Themes
The Complexity of Identity Formation Under Familial Expectations and Societal Pressure
One of the central themes of Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is the exploration of identity formation, particularly under the weight of familial expectations and societal norms.
Celine and Brad, the novel’s protagonists, both grapple with the pressure to align their futures with the rigid ideals projected by their parents and society at large. For Celine, her father’s absence has left a void, and her desire to excel in law is not merely driven by ambition but also by the need to prove her worth to him.
The tension between self-determination and external validation becomes apparent when Celine begins to question whether her career path is genuinely her choice or merely an attempt to gain approval from a parent who has long been distant.
Similarly, Brad, who faces pressure to follow his father’s path into law, feels confined by his father’s expectations. This theme underscores the difficulty of forging an authentic identity when the self is overshadowed by familial legacies and the societal glorification of conventional success.
The narrative delves deeply into the emotional burden of these expectations, presenting the characters’ internal struggles as they learn to navigate the tension between who they are and who they are expected to be.
The Intersection of Mental Health, Self-Worth, and Romantic Relationships in Adolescence
Another profound theme in the novel is the intersection of mental health, self-worth, and romantic relationships, particularly in the fraught period of adolescence.
Brad’s struggle with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) adds a layer of complexity to his relationship with Celine. His intrusive thoughts and anxieties often sabotage his self-esteem, compelling him to question whether he deserves to be liked or even loved.
The novel presents Brad’s OCD not merely as a background condition but as an integral part of his character development. His self-doubt over his writing, and later over his feelings for Celine, illustrates how mental health conditions can distort perceptions of self-worth and complicate interpersonal relationships.
Celine’s initial insensitivity to Brad’s OCD during their past friendship also brings forth the theme of understanding and acceptance in relationships. As their bond evolves, the novel emphasizes the importance of communication and compassion when dealing with mental health in intimate contexts, illustrating that true emotional connection requires an acceptance of vulnerabilities and flaws.
Navigating the Tension Between Personal Ambition and Emotional Vulnerability
The tension between personal ambition and emotional vulnerability runs as an undercurrent throughout the novel, particularly in Celine’s character arc.
Celine is fiercely driven by her “Steps for Success” plan, meticulously outlining every aspect of her future in pursuit of professional achievement.
This ambition is, however, juxtaposed with her emotional guardedness, as she finds it difficult to acknowledge her feelings—both for Brad and regarding her absentee father.
Her commitment to her career plan becomes a shield, protecting her from the uncertainty and pain that comes with emotional openness.
As Celine navigates the Breakspeare Enrichment Program, she is forced to confront the reality that her ambition might be tied to unresolved personal issues, especially her complicated feelings about her father’s abandonment.
The program and her relationship with Brad catalyze a journey of self-discovery, wherein she begins to realize that vulnerability is not a weakness but a necessary component of growth.
The novel intricately portrays the difficulty of balancing personal goals with the emotional risks of opening oneself up to others, showing that personal fulfillment requires not just professional success but emotional authenticity as well.
The Paradox of Competition and Collaboration in Academic and Social Spaces
Through the framework of the Breakspeare Enrichment Program, the novel explores the paradoxical relationship between competition and collaboration in both academic and social contexts.
Celine and Brad enter the program with a competitive mindset, each driven by personal goals—Celine for professional recognition, Brad for the scholarship that could relieve his financial pressures. However, as they work together on various tasks, they begin to realize that collaboration, rather than competition, leads to more fulfilling outcomes.
This realization is symbolic of the broader theme of interconnectedness, where success is not solely individual but often requires the support and cooperation of others. The novel critiques the hypercompetitive environment that many young people face, where the pressure to outperform peers can lead to isolation and emotional burnout.
The dynamic between Celine and Brad thus becomes a metaphor for the larger struggle to reconcile individual ambition with the value of teamwork and mutual support. Their eventual acceptance of their feelings for one another mirrors this shift from competition to collaboration, suggesting that true success is found not in outpacing others but in building meaningful connections.
Reconciliation of Past Traumas and the Role of Forgiveness in Personal Growth
Forgiveness and reconciliation of past traumas form a pivotal theme, particularly in how Celine and Brad rebuild their friendship and eventually form a romantic relationship.
Both characters are weighed down by unresolved issues from their past—Celine by her father’s abandonment and Brad by the fallout from their past friendship, which was disrupted by insensitive remarks regarding his OCD.
The process of reconciliation between the two is a nuanced exploration of how past wounds can obstruct present relationships. Celine’s gradual understanding of Brad’s mental health and Brad’s acknowledgment of how his words hurt Celine form the foundation of their renewed bond.
Beyond their personal reconciliation, the novel also touches on the broader theme of how unresolved emotional issues, like Celine’s strained relationship with her father, can perpetuate cycles of emotional repression.
The novel presents forgiveness as a necessary, though painful, path toward personal growth, where moving forward requires not just confronting the past but also letting go of its hold on the present.
Through this theme, Hibbert suggests that forgiveness—whether of others or oneself—is crucial for healing and developing healthier relationships.
The Intricacies of Self-Perception and the Journey Towards Self-Acceptance
Lastly, the theme of self-perception and the arduous journey toward self-acceptance is deeply embedded in the character arcs of both Brad and Celine.
Throughout the novel, both characters are shown grappling with their self-image, often viewing themselves through a distorted lens shaped by external judgments and internal insecurities.
Brad’s OCD exacerbates his negative self-perception, as he often deems himself unworthy, whether in the realm of writing or in relationships.
His eventual embrace of his passion for writing and his open admission of his romantic feelings for Celine mark significant milestones in his journey toward self-acceptance.
Celine, on the other hand, must confront her own rigid perceptions of success and failure. Her carefully constructed identity as a future lawyer begins to crumble as she realizes that her professional aspirations may be a defense mechanism to avoid emotional vulnerability.
The novel meticulously illustrates how both characters must shed their limiting self-perceptions to achieve a more authentic sense of self, underscoring the importance of self-acceptance in achieving both personal fulfillment and meaningful relationships.