“A witty, romantic, deeply insightful debut.” —Emma Lord, author of Tweet CuteIn this sparkling and romantic YA debut, a reserved Bangladeshi teenager has twenty-eight days to make the biggest decision of her life after agreeing to fake date her school’s resident bad boy.How do you make one month last a lifetime?Karina Ahmed has a plan. Keep her head down, get through high school without a fuss, … her head down, get through high school without a fuss, and follow her parents’ rules—even if it means sacrificing her dreams. When her parents go abroad to Bangladesh for four weeks, Karina expects some peace and quiet. Instead, one simple lie unravels everything.
Karina is my girlfriend.
Tutoring the school’s resident bad boy was already crossing a line. Pretending to date him? Out of the question. But Ace Clyde does everything right—he brings her coffee in the mornings, impresses her friends without trying, and even promises to buy her a dozen books (a week) if she goes along with his fake-dating facade. Though Karina agrees, she can’t help but start counting down the days until her parents come back.
T-minus twenty-eight days until everything returns to normal—but what if Karina no longer wants it to?
“I. Love. This. Book.” —Mark Oshiro, award-winning author of Anger Is a Gift and Each of Us a Desert
“A must-have addition to any YA bookshelf.” —Sabina Khan, author of Zara Hossain Is Here and The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali
“Hand to fans of Netflix hit Never Have I Ever.” —Booklist
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Rating:
This was an absolutely amazing story. I can’t believe that it is a debut novel. It was gripping. I was stuck in the book. I needed to know how everything turned. The plot was incredible. The characters were amazing. Even ones that annoyed the hell out of me. I loved everything about this book. The plot was incredible. There were so many twists and turns. In the last ten per cent, I was reading so focused. *SPOILER ALERT* That’s when the best part happens. *SPOILER ALERT* I’m a young adult and a huge fan of all romance books. This one is probably one of my new favourites. Back to the characters. Ace was an incredible guy. He had his moments where he would intimidate you but he was an onion. He had so many layers. Same with Karina. She never wanted to disappoint. She always made other people happy. The two main characters grew a lot throughout the book. They became brave, confronted any problems that hurt them. Dadu was an incredible character. She was so encouraging even though she was the older generation. Karina’s friends were the best. They had their issues in life relating to their cultural differences too. That added depth to the story. I love the inclusion of poetry and music. The poems written, created goosebumps. This is an incredible novel. I hope that the author makes it a series where Xander, Cora, Nandini, and Sameer get their own stories.
I wrote this voluntary review in exchange for an ARC copy.
I love the writing style, the awesome characters and great pacing. I think I love everything in it because I can’t seem to put down the book.
There’s a lot of emotions in this book, some parts makes me keep smiling because the characters are funny and adorable but some parts really make me tear up.
I really love reading the little poems in this book, It has a very deep meaning.
I really like the main character, Karina. I think her character is really interesting, pretty relatable and beautifully portrayed as well, because I can feel all her emotions whether when she’s happy or sad. I can feel how conflicted she was with herself, one part she wanted to be happy and pursue her dreams but at the same time she doesn’t want to disappoint her parents even though her parents are not being fair to her either.
In the chapters after her parents came home is just brutal. She feels so broken and just shut herself down. It was heart breaking to read.
I also like the relationship Karina has with her best friends, they are hilarious which makes me laugh every time I read their conversation. They can also be supportive with Karina and wanted what’s best for her which is really nice.
Then, there’s also Ace. Ace is really sweet and his character feels very mature despite his age being 16. He respects Karina’s boundaries and limits. They are really good with each other because they bring out the best parts of each other.
Although, the ending was wrapped up a bit too quickly for me. I was kinda expecting more but I guess Karina wanted to take this slowly one thing at a time.
Overall, for a debut novel this is really great. It’s written beautifully, highly entertaining and enjoyable. Definitely highly recommended!
Oh my god! I have no idea what to say about this book. I’m just speechless mainly because this was the first book I have ever read that I saw myself being represented in various ways. I might not belong to the same cultural background as Karina, who is Bangladeshi and Muslim, but both of us do belong to the same brown community and I knew exactly why Karina felt the way she did because I have gone through similar experiences. Minus the experience of tutoring a so-called bad boy that is 🙂
I cried, I laughed, I felt every single emotion while reading this book. I had no idea that I would feel so touched and moved by this book when I first picked it up but I’m honestly so glad that I was because this book told me that I’m not alone in my struggles. I just…thank you to the author, Tashie Bhuiyan, for writing this fantastic book that centers around anxiety, hopes and dreams, and family relationships because I finally saw myself in a book for the first time.
If you haven’t gotten the gist yet, please go buy this book, request your library to buy this, get your friends and family members to read this because it is honestly such a meaningful book and way more than just a simple YA romance book. It tackles so many strong themes that girls my age face especially when they belong to the brown South Asian community.
Audiobook Review
Overall 4.5 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 4 stars
Counting Down with You was such a touching and sweet novel. It’s a YA romance at heart, but it also felt like an emotional coming of age story. I related to the main character, Karina, so much. Some of her experiences mirrored my own growing up and all her feelings of guilt, shame, and expectation really struck a chord. The turmoil Karina feels over not wanting to let her parents down after they’ve sacrificed and done so much hit especially close to home. I felt the romance between Karina and Ace balanced Karina’s struggles to find her voice and herself very well. The fake dating, tutoring, and forced proximity tropes worked perfectly here and I loved how Ace and Karina helped each other be brave. The forehead kisses had me swooning and though there was some cheesiness here and there, I loved how Karina always called Ace out on it. 😉 The secondary characters were a treat, especially Karina’s BFF’s Cora and Nandini and her wonderful grandmother Dadu. They were exactly the light and humor the story needed. The ending warmed my heart and was such a great way to bring the story full circle.
The narration by Ariana Delawari was fantastic! I really enjoyed the variety of voices used to differentiate the characters and thought she was the perfect Karina. I also really appreciated the care in casting a narrator who seemed familiar and comfortable with Bangladeshi culture. I look forward to listening to more performances by Ariana Delawari in the future.
CW: anxiety, strained family relationships, emotional and verbal parental abuse, panic attacks
*I voluntarily listened to a review copy of this book*
Tashie pulls all the stops with her bold rom-com debut and the tropes we love and hate to love. Besides the fun, funny and romantic tropes, there’s so much heart within the pages too. I enjoyed it and was rooting for Karina’s growth and happiness (as well as the Karina-Ace ship). This book will have readers laugh, cry, empathize and swoon, just as it did me. What you can expect: fake dating, soft bad boy LI, friends to lovers, witty banter, family dynamics, chaotic and supportive girl gang, Bangladeshi rep, queer rep, anxiety rep, swoons, mental health discussions, young girl asserting herself and navigating independence (and we love that for her).
What can happen in 28 days? Find out what Karina does when Counting Down With You releases this May!