Content Warning: This guide references parental abandonment and details mental health conditions, specifically obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute does not look at mental illness, neurodivergence, or chronic illness with rose-colored glasses; Hibbert’s book, influenced by her own experience with OCD, autism, and chronic pain, explores the wide variation in the way these diagnoses can affect the lives of those who experience these conditions. Hibbert includes a number of individuals with characteristics of neurodivergence or chronic illness, avoiding tokenizing differences and normalizing the prevalence of such conditions.   

In Highly Suspicious, Brad regularly deals with the negative repercussions or costs of his OCD. Hibbert uses Brad’s reality of OCD to combat misconceptions in stories and media concerning the condition—often, the illness OCD is used as a term to loosely describe characters who prioritize cleanliness or who have particular pet peeves. Brad’s OCD, on the other hand, is true to the reality of many who suffer from this debilitating condition. Because part of his obsessions have to do with clean spaces, living without a roommate during his university years is not merely a matter of preference or privilege; the chance (and the money) to live alone will have significant impact on his mental health, as it will allow him to trust that his space is clean to his own specifications.