3.5 stars. Super cute story. Like watching a HEA Bollywood movie. I learned some cultural things I would not have understood. Loved the characters. Fun read!

This book was everything. It was romantic. Detailed writing. The characters were so sweet and real and I was swept away with the story. I would reread in a heartbeat.

If I had access to a time-turner, I would go back in time and give my teenager self this book. I would tell her to hold on and read this book because you're not alone. I was on the verge of tears with this book because of how much I relate to the character. Karina's household is very much similar to mine, and the second generation immigrant guilt is so real. Highly recommend!

I found this very cute.

It wasn't memorable and had many of the same tropes I'm used to for YA contemporary/romance. I think I'm losing my interest in that genre sadly, as nothing captured me deeply, but it was a decent book!

Another fantastic and in this case, a novel that got the praise it's so richly deserved! Again, I am so sad that ink yard press is going away because it's amazing contemporary ya novels like this that teens and quite frankly adults need! At least there's this Gem of a novel for me to recommend to readers thank you for that

This was an enjoyable read. I really liked getting to know Karina and Ace, and went through all of the ups and downs with them. I will try to sum up my thoughts without revealing any spoilers.

Karina has very strict parents who hold her to very specific standards, like following a pre-med track and becoming a doctor even though she isn’t great at math and science and would prefer to focus her studies on English and literature. Karina rarely receives praise from her parents, while her younger brother can seem to do no wrong. Karina is unhappy, but feels like there is nothing she can do to change the direction of her life, not without losing her family… something she has seen happen to a cousin. While her parents are out of the country, she has 30 days to be herself and spend time with her friends.

I felt Karina’s pain as she struggled with her own dreams and her parents’ expectations for the future. But having her friends, grandmother, and Ace in her corner definitely helped. Even Karina’s brother was supportive once his eyes were opened to what was happening.

And I loved Ace. He was so incredibly supportive, encouraging and understanding of Karina. He championed her, but was willing to step back if that was what she needed. Plus, I mean, he bought her books!

There was a roller coaster ride of emotions while reading this one, and while there was some progress made in Karina’s relationship with her parents, she is still hiding much of her life and her dreams from them. While I was encouraged by the ending, I know that the odds are still stacked against her.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book through Net Galley on behalf of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I do love a good fake dating story. This book was good at shedding the light on the expectations our parents place on us and the reality of us possibly not want or needing to live up to those expectations. As we grow this can be a challenge and some cultures this can be much harder as you are raised with certain ideals from birth. I will definitely be recommending this to my students

There's always something so precious about seeing bits of you in the books you read. Growing up, I'd never read a book where a brown girl got a sweet romance, never mind one that was Bengali like me. It meant a lot to finally have one now! Reading Karinas thoughts and her struggles was almost painful at times because of how much I resonated. Tashie perfectly encapsulated that feeling so well it made me ache.
The only bit I could do away with was belittling her parents—even as I understood why Karina was doing so. What they were teaching her, and what she was rebelling against, are the rules of her religion and I didn't like how that was handled.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Karina Ahmed wants to coast through high school with a stellar GPA, her small group of friends, and her (reluctant) pursuit of pre-med for college. Though she's passionate about literature and writing, her parents have strict control of her education, career plan, and familial expectations though the same strict standards are not kept for her younger brother. However, her parents will be leaving to visit family in Bangladesh for a whole 28 days and Karina is able to be herself (under the not-so-strict-watchful eye of her grandmother). When she is asked to tutor academic and social bad boy, Ace Clyde, a fake-dating-to-real-dating scenario unfolds.
Told from Karina's POV, this is a novel about a girl riddled with anxiety who tries to find her voice despite her parents' strict rules. I did appreciate the realistic portrayal of coping with anxiety, people-pleasing, and the pressures of being a first-generation child of immigrants. However, the romance with Ace seemed forced (and rather unnecessary as it read very much of white boy savior for the WOC MC when she already has an existing support system including her grandmother). I would have much rather had a story of a teen dealing with all these issues but her friends and budding relationship with her brother as the forefront. So a few more issues include: use of "incredulous" way too often, friends characterizations are pretty shallow, Islam used as an excuse for Karina's strict parents (though she does say she loves being Muslim, it still reads as complaining), Ace is a shell of all the bad boy tropes (rings, leather jacket, DGAF attitude, but secretly brilliant), and the dialogue is so painfully Gen Z that I found myself having to grit my teeth to get through what sound like TikTok soundbites(example: the Great Gatsby recap Karina does for her friends). Overall, a 1.5 because of representation rounded up to 2 stars - the major saving grace was Karina's grandmother.

Such a cute YA debut! I loved Karina as a character. She felt like a character teens today could relate to.

Overall, Counting Down With You was a cute novel! I loved Karina as a main character. Unfortunately, the love story between Ace and Karina was cute, but I have read other relationships similar to it.

YA books and I just don’t get along anymore. I’ve tried and tried to get back in to them but I’m finding the YA romances to be absolutely horrendous lately. Not my thing.

I loved this book! It was really great to see this kind of rep in a novel, and I'm considering adding it to the curriculum for the YA class I teach at my university for this coming year!

I really enjoyed this book, the characters were really likeable and fleshed out. The grandmother was especially adorable and it was nice to see her stand-up to her son. All in all I highly recommend this book to romance/forbidden romance books!

This book simply made it to my favourites shelf!! I loved the story. Karina is someone I could relate the most with. Her struggles felt mine and the way she tackled them all were so inspiring. Her relationship with her brother, fake boyfriend, friends and her grandmother was so so beautiful!! I savoured this book the way it deserved!

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

Karina was a lovely main character and Ace is a total dreamboat! Loved how anxiety was written and how Karina was unashamed to seek help when needed. Her parents were very harsh and I did not like their comments but thank goodness for the grandma. I couldn’t put the book down!

I enjoyed this book as much as I expected to. I felt seen by the anxiety representation and while some people may say it hit too hard, that’s how anxiety is sometimes. I wish the fake dating would have been a stronger storyline because that’s my favorite trope. Overall cute and a quick read.

it was kind of nice, the writing style was smooth and enjoyable. But to me it was just another basic highschool story though this time about a Muslim girl who falls for the basic white boy with zero personality, I didn’t really see the appeal. However, it boosted the desi rep we need in all sorts of genre.

“𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑨𝒄𝒆 𝑪𝒍𝒚𝒅𝒆? 𝑰𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔?”

Fake dating, friends to lovers, good boy with the bad girl, only soft for her, AHHHH!!!! Ace & Karina are the trope filled romance of my dreams & they’re sure to grab your heart. Karina is a Bangladeshi American super student who is adorable, kind, funny, family oriented, loves books & struggles with anxiety. I adored her & related so hard to the pressures of perfection & expectation. Ace is a bad, rich boy that has a disarming sweetness that makes you go “d’awww.” You’ll fall in love as Karina does, & find yourself on a journey of a whole slew of emotions.