Counting Down with You
- Downloads：9247
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-25 07:19:02
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Tashie Bhuiyan
- ISBN：1335209972
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
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， 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？
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， 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？
Reviews
Ava Vasco
，
i loved this book i rate it a 4。5/5 it was so cute and interesting。 I AM QUITE FRANKLY IN LOVE WITH ACE CLYDE I LOVE HIM
Carissa （Me）
，
the candles and mixtape <3
❄︎ vaishnave ❄︎
，
“I’m not a bad person for wanting a life different than what’s expected of me。 I’m not a bad person for wanting to pursue something I love。I’m not a bad person for wanting。 But I feel like I am。” cute， cute， cute， CUTE。
Krittika
，
wow so good *full review pending*
Anna （RattleTheShelves）
，
Ahhh， soooo good， all the feels！
Lana Awad
，
i loved it
Nada
，
I finished this book purely out of spite。 And had I known it had the Muslim rep it had， I wouldn’t have picked it up at all。Because it’s an own voices book， it can be tricky。 When I say I don’t like the Muslim rep in it， I’m not scorning or judging the main character for her actions。 I get that no Muslim experience is the same， and that is fine。 But I also think it’s important to be careful with the way you portray something to what is mostly gonna be a western audience， whether it be a religion I finished this book purely out of spite。 And had I known it had the Muslim rep it had， I wouldn’t have picked it up at all。Because it’s an own voices book， it can be tricky。 When I say I don’t like the Muslim rep in it， I’m not scorning or judging the main character for her actions。 I get that no Muslim experience is the same， and that is fine。 But I also think it’s important to be careful with the way you portray something to what is mostly gonna be a western audience， whether it be a religion or a culture （and I’m focusing more on the religion in this case since it’s the one thing I can actually speak about） because otherwise it ends up doing more harm than good。This is just one example， but the MC saying that she’s not allowed to do certain things （that are mostly prohibited in Islam， like drinking alcohol。。。） because her parents said so， and insisting that they’re literally taking away her freedom， and then later saying that her parents prohibit those things because of their faith， is essentially saying that Islam is taking away her freedom。 And that is simply not right and just feeds into what non-Muslims/westerners already believe to be the truth。The anxiety rep was alright， but unfortunately， the bad （including the romance with the white guy with the savior complex） heavily outweighs the good。 。。。more
Rosemary
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This was so much fun！ I very much enjoyed the romance， the characters were great （I love her best friends）， the dialogue felt real （especially the texting dialogue）， and the emotions hit me perfectly。A wonderful story！ Definitely looking forward to reading more books from Tashie Bhuiyan。
veronica
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i must say， i have absolutely no idea how to rate this book。 i enjoyed it; i thought the story was engaging and sweet; a little cliche， but i honestly didn’t mind it at all。 i really liked both karina and ace and reading about their developing relationship was really pleseant。 i liked karina’s friends and her relationship with her brother as well and thought that the portrayal of it was really well done。 i’ve read the reviews that said that the anxiety rep was also accurate， so that’s another go i must say， i have absolutely no idea how to rate this book。 i enjoyed it; i thought the story was engaging and sweet; a little cliche， but i honestly didn’t mind it at all。 i really liked both karina and ace and reading about their developing relationship was really pleseant。 i liked karina’s friends and her relationship with her brother as well and thought that the portrayal of it was really well done。 i’ve read the reviews that said that the anxiety rep was also accurate， so that’s another good thing。 however， there were also things that i had problems with; the book itself was a little too long， it felt dragged at times。 i think there were scenes that could disappear and it wouldn’t affect the story in any way。 besides， well， here’s this thing: karina finding her way and growing as a person when she meets a white boy 。。 as much as i liked ace， this was clearly not thought over。 moreover， i saw many mixed reviews of this book: some speaking about muslim representation that follow many harmful stereotypes。 at the same time i am aware that the author is muslim too， so i’m not sure what to think about that。 because of that， my rating is given with much hesitation。 。。。more
Amrit Bal
，
WOW， I can’t even begin to explain how much I loved this book。 I mean the representation was just amazing and finally being able to see myself and my struggles within the characters made this such a meaningful read！ Speaking of the characters， I absolutely LOVED them and Karina and Ace were such a great dynamic and ugh I just loved this so much！ Absolutely recommend， this now has to be my favorite stand alone！
:）
，
i thought in terms of plot itself it was really good and i found the romance super adorable。 the reason that i rated it three stars though is because i’m pretty sure there’s one really big thing that was not mentioned or included in the book whatsoever （and i think it should）。 i’m not muslim， but from what i know dating and kissing any member of the opposite sex is prohibited in the religion。 the mc is a profound believer in her religion， and she has very religious parents。 so when she cites her i thought in terms of plot itself it was really good and i found the romance super adorable。 the reason that i rated it three stars though is because i’m pretty sure there’s one really big thing that was not mentioned or included in the book whatsoever （and i think it should）。 i’m not muslim， but from what i know dating and kissing any member of the opposite sex is prohibited in the religion。 the mc is a profound believer in her religion， and she has very religious parents。 so when she cites her not being allowed to date as one of the examples of her parents being super controlling， it didn’t really make sense to me。 obviously they wouldn’t allow her to date or kiss any boys because it’s not haram， it’s not something that she should be using to cast her parents in a terrible light。 they do suck， especially in the way she’s treated compared to her brother and choosing her career path， but i don’t think the dating thing should be held against them， especially when it’s part of the religion she devoutly follows。 idk maybe it was just me， but this seemed like one thing that didn’t really sit right with me and may cast muslim parents in a bad light to non-muslim readers who don’t know very much about the religion。 。。。more
K
，
3。5
lettie
，
2。75
Elyse （ElyseReadsandSpeaks）
，
Underwhelmed by this one。 On one hand， it was fast and easily digestible read。 On the other hand， I actually caught myself rolling my eyes several times while reading because of the over the top cheese factor。Let it be known that I hate writing poems and songs in books。 No matter what book I find it in， I never like it， it never sounds good， and I feel like I'm being forcefed the mantra of "they're so deep。" Quite a common thing in YA contemporaries for some reason。 Surprisingly， the poem-writin Underwhelmed by this one。 On one hand， it was fast and easily digestible read。 On the other hand， I actually caught myself rolling my eyes several times while reading because of the over the top cheese factor。Let it be known that I hate writing poems and songs in books。 No matter what book I find it in， I never like it， it never sounds good， and I feel like I'm being forcefed the mantra of "they're so deep。" Quite a common thing in YA contemporaries for some reason。 Surprisingly， the poem-writing is not the only thing I rolled my eyes at。 The romance between Karina and Ace quickly went from cute to cringe as he "noticed a spark" in her， called her "baby" which she found so intimate and endearing， and referred to her as "lionheart" because she's just so brave。 Sigh。I think my overall problem with this is that it felt like it tried really hard to be To All the Boys I've Loved Before and it really fell short due to lack of character work and there was also not enough of a reason to start fake dating。 I did find the Bangladeshi family dynamic interesting to read about and I wish those relationships had been hashed out more。 The brother-sister bond between Karina and Samir was sweet and I especially liked the little detail of him starting to do his homework in her room just to make sure she was okay。 More little things like that would have been wonderful。 I clearly can't speak for the rep itself， but it seems that's what some own voices reviewers on here have a problem with because of the implied negativity toward her culture and all I can say to that is: yes， I read that too。Oh！ Also - no closure on her relationship with Ace as far as what her family might think？ Wasn't that a main component of the whole story？ Really confusing that wasn't wrapped up。Huh。 This turned out to be a long review for a 2 star book。 。。。more
Belinda
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No amount of words can fully express how much this book means to me。
maria martinez
，
i'm on a roll right now with amazing contemporary reads。 i'm on a roll right now with amazing contemporary reads。 。。。more
Waziha
，
i rlly loved this book！ it was cute， endearing and moving all at the same time。 the bangladeshi-american representation meant a lot to me， and it definitely brought so much more depth to the story overall。 this was definitely the representation 16 year old me would’ve killed for。 i would’ve loved to give the book 5 stars however i wasn’t the biggest fan of how religion was approached in the story， and felt like it was being blurred with cultural norms。 i would’ve loved to see the religious eleme i rlly loved this book！ it was cute， endearing and moving all at the same time。 the bangladeshi-american representation meant a lot to me， and it definitely brought so much more depth to the story overall。 this was definitely the representation 16 year old me would’ve killed for。 i would’ve loved to give the book 5 stars however i wasn’t the biggest fan of how religion was approached in the story， and felt like it was being blurred with cultural norms。 i would’ve loved to see the religious elements brought up in the story explained more， rather than glossing over them as another strict and restrictive rule set by karina’s conservative parents。 i also understand the muslim experience varies from person to person and wasn’t expecting karina to be a perfect muslim， but i wish she was more conscientious of her decisions in regards to her religion， as i feel like that’s a struggle many of us face and mentally battle。 overall， this story was a great read and i particularly loved how interwoven her and ace’s struggles were and the overlap between their vastly different worlds。 it was also awesome to see elements of bangladeshi culture sprinkled in to the story and i can’t wait to read more from the author :） 。。。more
JoJo
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The writing bothered me sometimes， but I’m a sucker for fake dating and that distracted me enough to keep going
maia。s
，
2。5 ⭐️i’m sorry i really tried to like this，，，， but it was pretty boring
Luna
，
dnf at 35%
Amanda
，
First I want to say I read a lot of Goodreads reviews of this book and I see that many people are upset about the Bangladeshi/Muslim rep not being great。 I definitely want to read more about people's issues with that part of the book because I want to be informed about where the author went wrong。That said， this is probably a 3-4 star book， but for now I'm giving it 3 stars。On the whole， I thought this was a cute debut。 The main character Karina was strong and fought for what she wanted to do。 I First I want to say I read a lot of Goodreads reviews of this book and I see that many people are upset about the Bangladeshi/Muslim rep not being great。 I definitely want to read more about people's issues with that part of the book because I want to be informed about where the author went wrong。That said， this is probably a 3-4 star book， but for now I'm giving it 3 stars。On the whole， I thought this was a cute debut。 The main character Karina was strong and fought for what she wanted to do。 I liked the supporting characters， and Karina's best friends and her little brother Samir were all delightful。 The relationship between Karina and her grandma， Dadu， was really lovely。While the love story was cute and swoony， I did have an issue with （view spoiler）[the fact they just went to lying to her parents and clearly were going to keep on lying until they graduated or broke up。 I would have liked that to be something discussed， instead of "hehe I'm going to prom with 'my friends'"。 You're gonna get found out， child。 （hide spoiler）]I'd definitely read more by this author。 。。。more
Aliyah
，
I have been in a reading slump all month， and this book is what got me out of it。 From the beginning I was hooked， and I absolutely loved all the little references to Bollywood movies。 I felt like I could relate to Karina， our MC， and I even cried a bit at the end。Plot: 5/5Amazing。 I was hooked the whole time。Dialogue: 5/5The banter between Karina and Ace was so sweet， and some of the things he said made me m e l t on the spot。Writing: 5/5The writing was easy to follow and understand。Characters: I have been in a reading slump all month， and this book is what got me out of it。 From the beginning I was hooked， and I absolutely loved all the little references to Bollywood movies。 I felt like I could relate to Karina， our MC， and I even cried a bit at the end。Plot: 5/5Amazing。 I was hooked the whole time。Dialogue: 5/5The banter between Karina and Ace was so sweet， and some of the things he said made me m e l t on the spot。Writing: 5/5The writing was easy to follow and understand。Characters: 5/5I loved all of the characters， and I loved their distinct personalities as well。 Overall: 5/5A new fave for sure。 。。。more
Herz
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I was initially very excited to read this but its my most dissapointing read of the year。 The main reason being the awful handing of Muslim representation。 The book constantly melds religion， culture & personal experiences in a way that makes them interchangable when they shouldnt be。 For example most of the parents' very "strict" rules are just normal religous guidlines。 And when she disobeys them she shouldnt just feel bad for not listening to her parents， she should at the very least THINK ab I was initially very excited to read this but its my most dissapointing read of the year。 The main reason being the awful handing of Muslim representation。 The book constantly melds religion， culture & personal experiences in a way that makes them interchangable when they shouldnt be。 For example most of the parents' very "strict" rules are just normal religous guidlines。 And when she disobeys them she shouldnt just feel bad for not listening to her parents， she should at the very least THINK about her religion。 Not kiss the first white man she sees in a very awful white saviour trope that saves her from her oh so opressive life *eyeroll*。 Its filled with awful sterotypes （such as being made to fear dogs？？？ You just cant pray if there's a dog around， Muslims are supposed to be kind to animals & many of us own dogs） and no regard to actual values of religion。For example， instead of feeling guilty for holding a guys hand since her parents told her not to， Karina should politely reject his hand because she's a Muslim woman。 Relationships dont have to be based on physical intimacyAlso the writing is just very unrealistic cringy dialogue of an adult trying too hard to write as a teen。 Reads like a bad wattpad fic 。。。more
crazyyummy
，
I don't like how Islam is being represented in this story。 I don't like how Islam is being represented in this story。 。。。more
Richard
，
Karina， a 16-year-old American girl of Bangladeshi heritage， is finding it impossible to pursue her dreams while living up to her parents' expectations。 Although I am collecting Social Security and thus don't fit into the author's target demographic， I nevertheless appreciated this charming love story with so many roadblocks to a happy ending。 Bhuiyan offers thoughtful insights into the dynamics of sibling relationships and a tumble down the rabbit hole of extreme anxiety。 Karina is lovingly sup Karina， a 16-year-old American girl of Bangladeshi heritage， is finding it impossible to pursue her dreams while living up to her parents' expectations。 Although I am collecting Social Security and thus don't fit into the author's target demographic， I nevertheless appreciated this charming love story with so many roadblocks to a happy ending。 Bhuiyan offers thoughtful insights into the dynamics of sibling relationships and a tumble down the rabbit hole of extreme anxiety。 Karina is lovingly supported by a grandmother， brother， best friends and new boyfriend but she must ultimately find the courage to take charge of her own life。 。。。more
mellamy
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3。5 rounded down。 this is a really great， solid attempt to portray the struggle so many south asian diaspora kids go through trying to straddle two cultures and two sets of wants/needs/expectations， but mostly i just didn’t really vibe with the main character karina and her relationship with her love interest ace。 i do think the book might’ve been a lot more enjoyable and a far tighter， more hard-hitting read if it hadn’t tried to go quite so deep into ace’s backstory and instead gave their rela 3。5 rounded down。 this is a really great， solid attempt to portray the struggle so many south asian diaspora kids go through trying to straddle two cultures and two sets of wants/needs/expectations， but mostly i just didn’t really vibe with the main character karina and her relationship with her love interest ace。 i do think the book might’ve been a lot more enjoyable and a far tighter， more hard-hitting read if it hadn’t tried to go quite so deep into ace’s backstory and instead gave their relationship more sauce？？ the portrayal of karina’s struggle with anxiety was fantastic though。 tashie bhuiyan clearly has a lot of talent; i do hope she works on sharpening up pacing and dialogue for her future projects！ 。。。more
nina
，
5++ ★
Veronica Gerolia
，
"There will always be people who carry out beliefs without stopping to think of the meaning behind them， who follow without question， who don't think about who they might hurt in the process。" Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan "There will always be people who carry out beliefs without stopping to think of the meaning behind them， who follow without question， who don't think about who they might hurt in the process。" Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan 。。。more
Mariya
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What a great debut novel。。。wow， well done Ms。 Bhuiyan。 I enjoyed this YA so much。 I loved the story。 I absolutely loved Ace and Karina。 They were so perfect together， so different yet so perfect。 I loved Karina’s grandma， she was such a delightful supportive character。 I recommend it。
Enne
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very excited to read everything tashie bhuiyan ever writes
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Counting Down with You
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Counting Down with You&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft