Counting Down with You is the sort of book I wish I'd had when I was in high school. The author portrays the nuances of immigrant family dynamics with so much care. Karina's struggles with her parents were very relatable. As an MIT student who loves writing, I certainly feel her conflicted feelings about her career path.

It's also so cute and joyful! It was a quick, happy read; perfect during this difficult year. Where was my Ace Clyde while I was writing angsty poetry as a junior?

This book seems to have it all. It tackles mental health issues, stereotypes, family expectations, and romance all at once. You emphasize with the main characters and are really rooting for them. Karina is a Bangladeshi teen trying navigate her parents strict ideals, their expectations for her future and typical high school life when she is asked to tutor Ace in English. Tutoring doesn't turn out to be what she is expecting and neither is Ace. There is even a supportive grandma that understands it all. Quick and enjoyable read. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book!!!

Karina Ahmed is a wonderful daughter who wants to do nothing more then satisfy her parents and win their approval. She works extremely hard trying to keep perfect grades in all classes she struggles in, including math. Her favorite subject and secret desire to keep studying....English. Her parents want her to become a doctor. They are far more strict with her then they are with her brother, who can do no wrong in their eyes. I thought my parents had unrealistically high expectations I was trying to meet as a teenager, but Karina's parents are next level.

Karina just wants to study literature and turn it into a career she can truly be happy with. She hates math and science isn't her passion. So when her parents go on a month long trip to Bangladesh to visit their families, Karin decides to enjoy her temporary freedom as much as she can. Being asked by her favorite teacher, and agreeing no less, to tutor rumored resident bad poor Alistair (Ace) Clyde was not in the plans.

Supporting one lie Ace makes to his family can't hurt that much, can it? But pretending to be Ace's girlfriend for a few weeks in exchange for him actually trying to learn during their tutoring sessions should be that hard, right? Only it turns out Ace isn't the bad boy everyone thinks he is. He's actually a surprise nice, perceptive, sweet young man.

These two actually go well together, bringing out the courage in each other to strive for what they really want in life. Ace sees the bravery and courage in Karina while Karina sees the soft and artistic side of Ace that is hurting with the constant infighting within his family. They both push each other to be more open with their families in hopes that it will make them happier overall. While things mostly work out for Ace, Karina has to bring in the heavy hitter that is her wonderful Dadu (grandma) to help.


Speaking of Karina's dadu, that lady is AWESOME. Karina's family seems to be pretty traditional so it was nice how the home life portrayed. My knowledge pretty limited though so I really enjoyed the nice balance of it in this book. I enjoyed the key phrases in there, even though I had no clue what they meant unless it was explained (and they were explained, thank goodness)!

This books is just a nice balance and is super relatable. Karina's anxiety brought on mostly by the pressures she puts on her self to try and please her parents, is super relatable. Don't get me wrong, her parents are piling it on her, but I also think she is piling on herself on their behalf too. But she's brave enough, with the help of her friends, dadu and Ace, to tell them what she really wants in life.

Where her parents differ from mine (and hopefully a lot of other people's) is what really hits home. At least for me. And I think that's what one of the relatable pieces in this book, we all had to confront our parents for something we really wanted. The results, however, may have differed drastically and this book lets you experience one of them.

This book is a wonderful balancing act done right. It may be a bit longer than other YA books, but it keeps you engaged the whole time and it doesn't feel long when you're reading it!

Seriously, this book had me whipping out my phone to read it whenever I had a single minute to spare. Waiting for click and collect? Read the book! Computer updating and rebooting? BOOK! At one point I even found myself crouching beside an outlet, so my phone could charge, reading it because I found a few minutes and REALLY just wanted to continue reading about Karina and Ace.

Wonderful. Definitely going to get it for my library when it comes out!

Disclaimer: I got this ARC from @NetGalley

Okay, so I had high hopes for this one and I would've loved to see Karina talk more about being a Muslim teen. However, this was still a fun read and it helped me to understand my Bangladeshi relatives a bit more.

AGH I loved this book. The perfect YA romance; there is a large South Asian population in my community, and I think a lot of my teens will relate to Karina's struggles with her conservative Bangladeshi family. I love the characters, friendships, and romance in this book. The perfect pandemic read.

I love this books so much and the representation is immaculate.
Karina and Ace probably my favorite couple right now and will ever be, this slow romance is something that I been in love always and Tashie knew how to do it. I really love how much I learned from the Bangladesh culture. I have never read about it but I could relate a lot to Karina with the strict parents I will love to read more from Tashie definitely and I’ll, something I will do to its keep simping over Ace.
I love the side characters tashie managed them well and you can always relate to them and fangirl when things happened between Ace and Karina, i love their character development and how they handle the situation around Karinas parents.
I need to get this book when it comes out, definitely.

Not only do we have a REAL representation of anxiety, verbal/psychological parental abuse, and an intriguing "fake dating" turned romance.... WE HAVE DADU, ALL OF THE WONDERFUL SUPPORTIVE GRANDMOTHER FEELS.

This character. Yes. Karina feels real, her anxiety and the pressure that she feels to live up to her parents expectations are so relatable. And then you've got her WONDERFUL friends being so supportive and respectful and dealing with her anxiety? Her AMAZING grandmother Dadu? Her brother gradually coming to realize that how Karina is treated is, in fact, different from how he is treated and beginning to help Karina? Loved it all.

I cannot relate to the particular cultural, religious, and other pressures that Karina's parents placed on her, but I can say that I truly feel as though they are well-represented and expressed in this book. As someone who is not Bangladeshi or Muslim, I feel honored to have gotten to read this #ownvoices YA book before it comes out. It has given me insight and depth that I much appreciate.

10/10 would recommend reading! Give it a try. :)

I was extremely disappointed in this book! I typically love and seek out own voices books, but had a hard time finding anything redeeming in this story. I abandoned it at the 50% mark, when nothing changed, nothing improved.

This is the story of an 11th grade Bangladeshi Muslim girl named Karina (or Myra to her family). Her parents travel to Bangladesh on vacation, leaving her and her brother in the care of their lenient grandmother. Normally, her family is very strict to the point of smothering her and not allowing her any freedom whatsoever. This has caused her to become excessively anxiety riddled. She is thrilled that they have gone off on vacation and looks forward to 28 days of living her life and hanging out with her friends.

Her English teacher asked her to tutor a young man, and although she is at first baffled by the request, she does so. A romance blooms and Karina is terrified because she knows that there is no way that her family will approve of this relationship. Her grandmother covers for her. I didn't get farther than this, but it is totally predictable.

The plot of this book is a common one -- I have seen it in many other stories. There is no plot development, no character development and nothing unique about it --- it doesn't draw the reader in. I wish that there were something i could say about the book that might redeem it in some way or other, but there isn't.

Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes so when I heard that this involved a straight-A, Bangladeshi-Muslim American teenager who ends up faking dating the ring-and-leather-jacket-wearing bad boy I was IN. Karina suffers from anxiety and is buckling down the weight of her parent's expectations, so when they leave for a month to visit Bangladesh, Karina sees this as an opportunity to find a little freedom. Enter Ace, the rich bad boy who needs tutoring and pushes Karina beyond what she can see for herself. This was a great #ownvoices contemporary YA romance that highlights what can happens when you start figuring out what YOU want your life to look like, instead of what your parents want for you.

I absolutely cannot wait for COUNTING DOWN WITH YOU to be released so I can share it with everyone I know. Tashie Bhuiyan has created something truly special here, taking a familiar story and tried-and-true tropes and spinning them into something completely, entirely original.

While I absolutely adored Karina and Ace's relationship—the sort of high school romance that sneaks up on you and sweeps you off your feet no matter how hard you try keeping them on the ground, the sort that makes you feel giddy—the heart of this book is Karina, and her personal journey. The anxiety representation is absolutely authentic and I know so many people (myself included) who are going to see themselves within the pages of COUNTING DOWN WITH YOU. I also loved the sibling dynamics, and Karina's relationship with her Dadu was literally everything. I appreciated and could absolutely relate to the other, more complicated parts of Karina's relationships with her parents, and felt it was handled with care. One of my favourite themes in books, especially Young Adult, is that of found families; the people you CHOOSE to have in your life, and how the relationships that matter most aren't always the ones defined by shared genetics (because those relationships can absolutely be toxic and abusive and reach a point where NO, you don't have to forgive someone just because you're related to them). From Ace to Karina's close-knit group of friends, that concept of finding good people to surround yourself with absolutely shines.

And oh, Karina's friends! Nandini and Cora are an absolute riot, chaotic and hilarious and so, so supportive. Bhuiyan has a definite edge writing YA that feels truly authentic to today's teenagers, and the tone of the conversations her characters have are absolutely spot-on.

Basically, COUNTING DOWN WITH YOU is a book that I already know is going to mean so much to so many readers. Plus, it will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will fill your heart with so much hope. And really, what more could you ask for from a story?

I liked Karina's character although she did frustrate me sometimes but I liked her strength and how her anxiety was dealt with, I loved her friend group and I wish they were included more like I feel I didn't see enough of them.

I really liked Ace and his character in general but he did feel a little underdeveloped, his relationship with Karina was cute but not anything special. I think what stood out most was Karina's relationship with her grandma which I really loved.

The pacing was a little off to be honest some parts felt very dragged and just unnecessary, I got really bored in the middle and the ending felt a little rushed. I liked the muslim rep in the book but I do have some things that felt off to me and just annoyed me in general. Overall a good debut.

Karina Ahmed has a plan. Keep 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.

This book was so freaking adorable! Karina and Ace were such easy characters to root for. They formed a really fun and sweet dynamic from the start. Karina struggles with breaking the mold of who her parents want her to be and Ace really teaches her to step outside of that bubble. Truly this book was so wonderful to read.

Stayed up way too late last night reading this one and reading the anxiety attack scenes was very triggering, but this was a very good and realistic portrayal of what it can be like. It is over 400 pages, not a quick read. The author is a Bangladeshi American which is the same as the protagonist, so it is another #ownvoices. Lots of diversity, lots of cultural references, also lots of mentions of books, movies, music, and food. It reminded me of YA RomCom movies from the late 90s, but way more respectful and also a little bittersweet. Comes out May 2021, but I recommend you add it to your lists.