The inner conflict Karina was dealing with was ever present in the story, but it was interspersed with a lot of joy. Here are a some things that delighted me as I read Counting Down to You:

• Karina's grandmother Dadu was an absolute star. You must understand how much I loved my Oma, and I adore grandparents in books. Dadu was a stellar example of why we cherish our grandparents so much. She was the embodiment of love. She gave support and encouragement to Karina and always seemed to know how to soothe her wounds. She was probably one of my favorite characters in the whole book, if I am being honest.

• Karina's friends also provided her with a solid support system. Though they didn't necessarily agree with her entertaining her parents every demand, they went along with it and were always available for venting or a warm hug.

• Fake dating is a trope I never tire of, and Bhuiyan did a great job with it. There were all those fun fake-date type things we have grown to expect, and I loved watching those sparks fly for real between the couple and then finally ignite. The romance between Ace and Karina was precious, and I was really rooting for them.

• Karina and her brother Samir shared a great relationship. Though he sometimes had loose lips, Samir was there for Karina, when their parents were being extra hard on her. The affection they shared was obvious, and I just loved it.

• Ace was not a bad boy at all. In fact, he was a darling sweetheart of a boy, who owned my heart. Seriously, he bought her books, many, many books. 😍

Overall: Bhuiyan did a beautiful job bringing me into Karina's life. I appreciated her journey, was grateful for her stupendous support system, and adored the adorable romance.

Omg! I am so frustrated!

Counting Down With You is an enjoyable young adult romance by Tashie Bhuiyan. The writing style drew me in with a fresh first person pov.
I adore Karina, the pressures upon her, and the decisions she has to make.

But I had to stop reading. The copy I had had bad formatting and it just made it too frustrating to continue.

I am hoping to buy this one sometime in the future though.

Though I'm not Bangladeshi or Muslim, I am a Jewish girl and the daughter of an immigrant and I could relate a lot to the fears Karina had about pursuing her dream. I also have anxiety, which Karina also suffers from, so I was relating a lot to her feelings and emotions throughout this book. 

All Karina wants is to make her parents proud - but that means sacrificing her dreams of being an English major at Columbia. Her parents want her to be a doctor, they expect her to be a doctor, so that's what she will become. Karina doesn't like having to follow her parents strict rules and expectations, but she does as she is asked if it means not disappointing them or inciting an anxiety attack. 

Until she starts tutoring Ace. Ace, the bad boy who doesn't seem all that bad. And then he tells his family that they're dating when they're definitely not. Karina agrees to fake date Ace to cover up the fact that he's being tutored in English, but they both quickly realize that this fake dating is starting to turn into really dating...

I loved this book so much. Not only could I relate to Karina's struggle with wanting to make her parents happy and proud versus her own wants and dreams, but the struggle with anxiety was also really relatable. I could feel exactly what Karina was feeling during her anxiety attacks and I've used some of the coping mechanisms she was using to try and stop herself from feeling anxious. While I don't count backwards like she does, I do count my breaths and will do the square breathing method when feeling anxious. 

One thing I thought was strange in this book was how quickly Ace took an interest in Karina. More so it was funny how quick he took an interest in her. On their first meeting he was trying to get to know her, either to avoid studying or because he was genuinely curious, and I thought it was strange he was so interested in her so quickly, without even knowing her ahead of time. But, once Ace knew who Karina was, it was clear he fell and fell hard. I kind of wanted them to have more head butting in the beginning, maybe Ace being more aloof at first, before their romance started kicking in. While I think love at first sight can be a real thing, it didn't feel right in this book, especially since it was kind of one sided at first. 

Besides that, I really liked how this book was set up, with the days counting down until Karina's parents came home from Bangladesh. It definitely increased the anxiety around the whole situation and made it even more pressing for me as a reader. With each day counting down, my anxiety for them grew, as well as my hope that everything would be okay. And the more I saw Karina gathering her bravery and her strength for the difficult conversation ahead of her, the more proud I great as a reader! Though I wasn't looking forward to her parents coming home at all. I loved the scenes with Dadu and Karina, how sweet they were, and it makes me wish I had a grandparent like that. 

And speaking of which, Dadu is 100% my favorite character! While I loved Cora and Nandini, they really are awesome friends, I loved Dadu's advice and how she not only cared so much about Karina but really fought for her family. It's clear that the woman cares so much about her family and is willing to do anything for them. Though don't get me wrong, I loved Cora and Nandini. They were such awesome friends who not only were fun to be around, they are also so caring and actively looking out for Karina. They reminded me a lot of my own friends honestly and I loved that. 

Overall, this book is so sweet. I loved the interactions Karina has with her friends and with Ace. And every time she talks with Dadu I couldn't stop smiling. This book was so heartwarming and made me feel a little braver by the end too.

I have mixed feelings about this book, but I mostly enjoyed it. The romance was pretty cute, I felt like the anxiety rep was good, and it delves into the complicated feelings of not living up to family expectations.

However, while I am neither Muslim nor Bangladeshi and I cannot speak for the rep, I felt like some of the way the book talked about Bangladesh was a bit more negative than I expected, mentioning air pollution and food leading to sickness. But I also felt like the book made a point of saying the parents strict behavior had more to do with their personalities, rather than being Muslims. But, again, I am not an own voices reviewer.

Also, while I thought the romance and the fake dating was cute, some of things Ace said was pretty cheesy. Honestly, I would've killed for a guy to be that cheesy to me in high school, but it reads silly to me now as an adult. I also didn't love that she needed encouragement from a white boy to speak up for herself to her brown parents.

The book wasn't perfect, but overall, I enjoyed it!

Reading this book was an absolute pleasure and joy. Amazing characters, heartfelt story, and great storytelling. I love the way the author dealt with the anxiety rep specially in this book, and Karina’s growth throughout the story was a really beautiful thing to read. Her journey was inspiring. I loved the chemistry she had with Ace, as well as her friendship with Cora and Nandini. This was a great debut and I can’t wait to read more by Tashie!

I ended up DNFing this book at 20% because the toxic family dynamic between Karina and her parents didn't sit well with me. The way she blamed her parents for the smallest of things and tried to villainize them, and the way they, especially her mother, clearly differentiated between Karina and her brother was off-putting.

Also, maybe this is me being too critical but Karina's two best friends immediately starting to tease her about dating the boy she's supposed to tutor while she's definitely very worried about the whole ordeal was not cool. They should've been supporting her and trying to ease her worries, not immediately start planning a wedding in their heads.

Let’s get this out of the way first and foremost: as an English teacher and a former English major in college, I am wildly partial towards stories that feature a main character wanting to pursue English as a career even though it’s not the most lucrative.

The kicker here is that underneath the love story of this novel, that’s really all the main character wants. High school Junior Karina Ahmed wants to follow her dreams and go to Columbia for English. Her parents, however, have a lot to say about this, mainly that no, she’s going to be a doctor and that’s that. Then, as she’s tutoring the resident Bad Boy of the school, Ace Clyde, she starts to develop feelings for him that are not only reciprocated, but definitely not allowed.

As a white reader who is not Muslim, so much of this book was outside of my own experience and that’s a good thing. There’s a conversation that Karina has with one of her white friends about how what they think she should do isn’t possible for her, and that they can never truly understand what it is that she’s going through. That was my reminder to check my privilege then and there. I couldn’t go into this expecting Karina to act a certain way because it would have been disingenuous to her character and the story that Tashie Bhuiyan is telling. Bhuiyan has been very vocal about the representation in this book, saying that it is not reflective of ALL experiences, but is reflective of her own.

My heart broke for Karina a lot in this book, especially with the incredibly accurate portrayal of anxiety and trying to find coping strategies for that. There is so much in this book that is strong and deeply moving. Watching Karina grow as a person through her poetry and her ability to communicate with those around her was a joy.

Sometimes, the dialogue pulled me out of the book a bit, especially when Ace was wooing Karina. Look, I know that high schoolers can be dramatic and think themselves to be the smoothest of the smooth with one-liners that are *sheer poetry* but… There were more than a few instances where I found myself thinking, “No high schooler would say something like this or would think to say this in the moment.” It was just a little too heavy-handed.

Other than that, this was a great read. I definitely recommend it.

4.5 stars rounded up.

This was such an adorable yet powerful book. I absolutely loved the romance and thought it balanced out the more serious topics so well. This book talks about what it's like to be Bangladeshi and Muslum while trying to be an ordinary teenager in America and having super strict parents with high expectations. While on the surface Karina and I don't have a lot in common, it was still very easy to relate to her and to feel empathy and understanding of her situation. I thought the anxiety rep was handled really well and I felt like this was a very raw and genuine depiction of a teen juggling family expectations, friend expectations, and the expectations of yourself. It was also really cool to see her struggle with her friends and family, but not turn her back on them. She knew they weren't trying to be villains, but she also needed to find the courage to face the consequences of being true to herself. The love interest is SO adorable and I loved how he respected the boundaries and lines she set up and was also very understanding of her situation. He didn't try to conform her, pressure her into breaking family rules, and was willing to wait for her. The fact that our author also gave Karina agency instead of easily letting the white knight trope happen was standing ovation worthy. LOVED IT!

Counting Down With You follows Karina Ahmed, a Bangladeshi teenager who plans to get through the school year keeping her head down and obeying her parents’ every word— especially their desire for her to study medicine after high school and become a doctor. In reality, Karina secretly wants to pursue a career out of Literature, something she excels in, but there is no chance for her to do so because her parents have basically planned out her life on their own terms.

When Karina’s parents leave the country to visit their relatives in Bangladesh, she expects some peace and quiet. All she intends to do is hang out with her friends Cora and Nandini after school and spend time with her grandma, but it all goes downhill when her English teacher asks her to tutor the school’s bad boy Ace Clyde.

Tutoring a white boy was already against the rules but when Ace declares that Karina is his girlfriend out of the blue and asks her to fake date him in order to impress his parents, Karina is sure that she’ll be dead meat if her parents find out.

“I’m drowning in a pool of moonlight, my lungs are full of stars”

Ace is kind to her, he gets her coffee every morning and even agrees to buy her a dozen books every week if she goes with the flow. Karina can’t help but count down the days to when her parents would return and hope that this whole situation to go back to normal, but what if she doesn’t want everything to be the way it was?


Karina’s perspective was a delight to read this book from. I saw so much of myself in her character, from being a brown girl with anxiety and having a supportive and sweet grandma, I felt seen while reading this book.

A huge part of the book was Karina wanting and trying to do what is best for her— things that make her happy. Though she wanted to study Literature, due to her parents, she was forced to focus on medicine even though that wasn’t something she enjoyed. It is quite normal for desi parents to set a goal for their children and not take any input from the kids on what they personally like to do. Even so from a sense of them wanting a stable career for their kids, this can end up being very toxic.

“I wish we could all live our lives in peace, without these expectations that seem to dictate our every breath.”

Ace was a brilliant character too. He was hilarious, annoying and understanding, which will make you instantly fall for him. Though at first, it may seem that he is just another rich dude who doesn’t care about anyone else, the more you read, the more you uncover about his personality. He has officially been added to my list of white boys with rights!

I loved how he was ready to respect Karina’s boundaries, how he helped Karina during her anxiety attacks. All this made the book super wholesome.

The other characters Cora and Nandini, Karina’s best friends were a pleasure too. Their fun and outgoing personalities and how they never hesitated to stay by Karina’s side (and also occasionally tease her) made this book so much more real. All best friends are, as Karina put it, clowns who you wouldn’t trade for the world, just like them.

“Maybe I have a weakness for beautiful boys with gentle hearts”


The fake-dating trope is exactly as promising as it sounds, and this book honestly made it one of my all-time favourite tropes because of the cheesy pickup lines, awkward and cute moments and of course, Karina’s journey from despising Ace to falling for him.

The anxiety representation was well done too, the author’s portrayal of intrusive thoughts and anxiety attacks was super accurate. Also, I would like to say that Dadu, Karina’s grandma is a literal angel. She was so supportive of Karina no matter what and binged Bollywood movies with her?? We stan.

Although poetry isn’t my cup of tea, Karina’s little poems were beautiful. The way she wove her words, made them very emotional.

“The moon falls from the sky and a boy rises from the ruins carved by celestial dust.”

In spite of me not being a huge fan of contemporaries, especially the ones centring romance, I devoured this book in just three days and cannot stop thinking about it ever since. I found myself wanting to keep coming back to this book every time I put it down.

Overall, Counting Down With You was a brilliant YA book with lovable characters who will live in your heart rent-free and a plot that will make you scream and sob!

Representation: Bangladeshi MC with Anxiety, Indian SC, Biracial (half-Chinese) Bisexual SC, Lesbian SC

Trigger Warnings: Anxiety attacks, mentions of parental abuse (verbal and psychological.)

3.5 stars

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

Upon initially requesting Counting Down with You, I didn’t have a lot of expectations as to what was to come, I was merely excited for an ownvoices Bangladeshi interracial romance. However, upon digging in further after picking up the book, I was concerned to hear about the dialogue around Bangladeshi and Muslim rep, but also encouraged to hear that Tashie Bhuiyan had done some edits, and the publisher released an updated ARC (an update I did receive via Twitter, prior to understanding the full context). https://twitter.com/tashiebhuiyan/status/1364908454557671426?s=21

And while I won’t try to speak for Muslims or Bangladeshi people on who’s right in this situation, I do appreciate Bhuiyan’s care in this situation, doing her best to mitigate the hurt, while also staying true to her own experiences.

That said, I feel like Karina is a well-rounded protagonist. Her love for her culture can exist while also chafing at the restrictions placed on her by her domineering parents, which is characterized as abusive. Her resulting anxiety, and never feeling “enough” resonated in a beautiful way, and I rooted for her to articulate what she wanted, such as to study English in college instead of becoming a doctor.

Thankfully, she does have some other family and friends who are more supportive, such as her brother Samir, who is comparatively spoiled by their parents, but with whom she has a caring relationship. And I just adored Dadu and how he encouraged Karina to follow her dreams.

I was less won over by the love interest, Ace. I mean, he has his moments, like he gives her books? *swoon* And he isn’t bad as a character…he has his own family issues, and he’s a good guy underneath the bad-boy exterior. But I’ve generally been burned out by the “bad boy with a heart of gold” trope.

Bhuiyan balances some of the more weighty topics with sweet, cheesy romance, and while there are some flaws, she executes this concept fairly well. If you like diverse romance, fake dating, and an emphasis on cultural issues, I think this worth giving a try.

thank you so much inkyard press for the arc!!

4/5 stars from me!!

when i tell you going into this book i didn’t expect to feel so connected to the main character, i mean it! but, i was sorely mistaken and i love karina sm. she is the embodiment of what it is to be a first generation kid, doing something different than what your parents would want and that’s exactly what i went through/am still going through! i’m a little older than her so it was almost like i was looking in a time capsule and seeing how i would react in her situation in highschool. ace is the perfect person and karina and his dynamic is so pure and such a breath of air. a great read truly

✨Counting Down With You by Tashie Bhuiyan✨

This was such a sweet and cute YA contemporary romance.

I absolutely love Ace and Karina, the two main characters! It felt like a really believable story and I loved how the family dynamics played out too!

I’m pretty sure this is the authors debut book, which really surprised me as I thought her writing and flow of the book was just amazing, so massive congrats to @tashiebhuiyan ❤️

If your looking for a really lovely YA that also deals with some real life moments in a wonderful way, then I’d pick this up when it’s out on May 4th (a great day for all as it’s my birthday too😂)

Advanced copy from Netgalley✨

Karina and Ace? No- couldn't be. Karina is a Bangladeshi-American young woman who has abided by her parents wishes and he's, well, a white boy who clowns around a lot. She's surprised, however, by how much she enjoys him (after s rough start) when she's asked to tutor him. Her parents are out of town for a month so they're able to spend more time together than they might have otherwise. Ace wants her to present as his girlfriend (to protect his image) but in pretending to woo her, he falls for her. The return of her parents means a crossroads but no spoilers from me on what happens. This is tropey-to be sure but it's got a nice twist to it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a well done YA opposites attract romance but it's also a fun for post-YA readers.

"there's a forest fire in your eyes that sets me alight
a bravery in your heart that beats in tune to mine
my darling, you're something out of a story
poetry doesn't begin to do your soul justice"
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Counting Down With You by Tashie Bhuiyan may just be one of my favorite reads of this year. It revolves around the life of Karina, a Bangladeshi-American teenager. As her parents leave for Bangladesh, she has 28 days to herself wherein she lives with her beloved grandma and her younger brother, Samir. Karina has always lived her life on her parents' terms; never asked for anything in return. After they leave for a month, everything is put into perspective for her especially after she has to tutor the school bad boy, Alistair. But he's not everything that they claim him to be. Will Karina discover a new world with Alistair or be confined in her own little bubble?
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The book was so relatable that I have no words to express my gratitude towards the author. The protagonist suffers from anxiety due to excessive pressure from her parents. Her dreams have no place in her parents mind and going against their will means being ungrateful. Well, it is the story of every brown household and I'm sure, all my ladies can relate to this. Tashie has done an incredible job for her debut and it deserves every minute of your time. 🌻

This book was good and I loved the characters and reading about someone whose culture is completely different from mine—I just felt like it went long and that much of it cold have been cut.

I really wanted to love this. It was one of my most anticipated books for 2021, but after a friend read it and reviewed and shared some problematic elements I went into this story with much lower expectations. I liked Karina. She’s just a girl that wants to have some freedom to make her own choices. But she’s drowning under the expectations of her loved ones. I liked Karina and her friends. I like that it was a diverse friend group, but despite that diversity they still didn’t totally understand what she was struggling with. I really would have liked for her to make the effort to share her feelings with them. I think her friends did a really great job of respecting her boundaries when Karina laid them out. But I would have liked to see Karina open up to them more. Their friendship felt a little surface level. As for Ace, I liked him. I liked learning that he wasn’t his reputation. I thought their romance was sweet and fun.
My biggest issue with this story was the way that Karina turned her parents into villains. It’s one thing to be scared or anxious about how they might react when she tells them she doesn’t want to be a doctor. But she acts like she fears for her life, like they actually might lay their hands on her. I also didn’t like how she made it seem like it were her parents telling her she couldn’t do things when in fact many of these things were against her religion. Karina made it seem like these things (dating a boy for example) were just her parents telling her she cannot do things when that wasn’t the case. That really just didn’t sit right with me. I think there could have been great conversation but Karina’s parents and all of her relatives were described as these strict and horrible parents. I think it leaned into a lot of stereotypes and I didn’t like that.
I really wanted to love this book. But as I said above, there was just some stuff that didn’t sit right with me. I will say that the portrayal of anxiety was excellent and I really liked that we see Karina search for new coping methods and try them out.

COUNTING DOWN WITH YOU is a heart-wrenching and visceral YA contemporary read. Karina (Myra is her familial name) is a 16-year-old Bangladeshi Muslim who loves to read and write poetry. She dreams of studying English at Columbia, but her parents dreams for her are oppressive. Her life is very regimented and there is little room for her own desires. When her parents go back to Bangladesh for a month, leaving her in the care of her loving Dadu (grandmother), Karina finally has room to breathe.

During those days, Karina is assigned to tutor a boy in her English class, Alistair (Ace), who is struggling in her favorite subject. Although she knows her parents would not approve of her spending any time with a boy, Karina agrees to help her favorite teacher as it will also waive the public speaking requirement that counts for a large portion of her grade. As she gets to know Ace, her feelings become even more complicated and his presenting her as his fake girlfriend makes everything seem to come apart at the seams.

Karina also has anxiety that she suppresses, and although she knows she needs help, because of her family's stance, she resorts to techniques she learned from google and her friends. During the month her parents are away, Karina is bolstered by the love of the people around her and able to examine her own wants and needs in a way she never could before - but what will she do when her parents return?

What I loved: This book hit me in a completely visceral way. There were tears streaming down my face for several chapters, and I include this as a good thing, because, wow, does Bhuiyan write in a way that brings these characters and emotions to life. This book completely pulls the reader in and gives a lot to think and feel. For teens struggling under the weight of parental or cultural expectations, this book sees you. I would love to put this book in the hand of every teen who has felt the crushing weight of parental expectations and disappointments and resultant anxiety, so they could know they are not alone and that they deserve their happiness too.

The romance here was really beautiful. I appreciated the honesty, the pace, the clarity of boundaries, and constructive reactions to boundaries. All of this sets a fantastic example for how relationships and love should be. Ace is #boyfriendgoals, seriously. Their relationship, boundary setting and respecting, and truths are all stunning.

An important part of the book is the people who love and support Myra/Karina. While not everyone in her position has this, I think this support is critical. She has Dadu, who is an all-around wonderful person, her BFFs, Cora and Nandini, who cannot always understand her life but believe her anyway, Ace, and eventually her brother, Samir/Rafiq. I found the discussions with siblings to be particularly poignant (both for Karina and Ace), as in situations with challenging parents, it can feel very isolating, especially when the experience by the person next to can be so completely different. Although both situations are very different, the conversations are held beautifully and the reader sees different ways in which needed support can be provided.

Other themes in the book were also poignant, including the sexism of the way that children of different genders are treated, religious prejudices, stigma around mental illness, and the way that speaking your truth and coming out can backfire in some families (side characters deal with LGBT coming out/dating experiences). These themes would make this book a fantastic discussion starter in the classroom or YA book club.

Final verdict: Beautiful, raw, and riveting, COUNTING DOWN WITH YOU is a stunning YA contemporary about love, happiness, and the search for your own path. Highly recommend reading this one - it is a book that will touch the heart and stick with the reader for a long time to come.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I am not much for the enemies to lovers plot line but this one was sweet. I think the cover is also really cute.

A lovely story. I enjoyed reading about the Bangladesh culture of first generation kids in America. I also really appreciated how much was in here about living with anxiety, I felt it was an accurate depiction to read about Karina's struggles and how she worked at dealing with it. It's nice to see a YA love story too where the turbulence doesn't come from the relationship and serves as the grounding rod for both of them even though Karina and Ace are "so young" (been with my high school boyfriend for over 17 years, so it feels like it will easily last haha)

4.5 stars
I listened to this audiobook and the narration of this and thought it was just delightful. The narration was wonderful and it struck such a great balance of remaining true to YA, containing heavy topics, and still being joyous.

Karina Ahmed's parents go to Bangladesh to visit family for a month and she gets to stay home with her brother and grandmother - and also gets to experience some freedom from her strict parent's rules for once. I adored her 2 friends - their group dynamic was so true to life, using actual teen slang, and being real hype girls for Karina but also yelling at their friends when they needed it. Sometimes YA has groups of friends that feel way too adult or extremely juvenile but this felt like the right fit to me. (In true romance reader fashion I hope to get books for them...)

There's a bit of fake dating set up and I really like Ace who is the love interest here. There's major cultural differences and Karina was not afraid to mention that there's no way she could date a white boy. But Ace proves himself in a million ways. I loved both protagonists in this book so much - the author did a great job of providing nuance to them since Ace is supposed to be a bad boy but he is so freaking soft when we get to know him! He freaking Googles the right way to speak to Karina's grandmother and figures out how to make her halal food and it was super adorable. When he screws up - which of course he did - Karina calls him on it and he apologizes and fixes it.

But beyond the relationship Karina and her anxiety and her future is what I loved about this book. She has a lot of anxiety and Counting Down With You refers to both the countdown to when her parents come back home and when she starts to have anxiety she counts down from town (which was really effective in audiobook format). I thought that the portrayal was really wonderfully done and there was on page discussion of how she was trying to manage it. Her relationship with her parents and her grandmother made me emotional more than a few times and wow did I love her grandmother so much.