I'm a firm believer that #ownvoices authors should get to tell their stories in the most authentic way possible. So, when I heard that CDWY is by and about a Bangladeshi-Muslim women, I was excited. Surely, Tashie can shed light on Bangladesh, its cultures, and customs. However, what I got was a lot of outright hate for the heroine's home country and derisiveness about Islam. I thought, okay...I am not South Asian nor am I a Muslim so I can't speak on this even though it felt difficult to read. I thought, hey, this is how the author must be feeling. But it just doesn't sit right with me that this character looks down on almost everything about her culture and religion. It feels like the only rep is that she's Bengali. That's it. Otherwise, she could be any YA contemporary girl. But, again, not my place to judge.

So, I thought I'd focus on other things. Except, the writing is so...immature. I literally had to stop several times because the narration irritates me to no end. I get that this is YA and most YA contemporary books have this, well, *young* feel. But this doesn't feel refreshingly young. It's just...immature.

So, yeah.

I. Loved. This. Book. Basically everything about it was magical, and I absolutely could not put it down. Were there some pretty predictable tropes? Sure! But it is a fake dating YA and it was perfect. I also loved the representation here: Karina is a Bangladeshi Muslim and the dynamics between her and her family, her friends, the pressures she feels to meet certain expectations while also seeking personal happiness and fulfillment are issues that I’m sure every adolescent can relate to, but are super personal for the author being from this particular community.

One thing to remember is that it’s never our job to police own-voices representation. The author has several threads on Twitter about this and I think it’s imperative that we remember that with COUNTING DOWN WITH YOU. Maybe some of the relationship dynamics feel stereotypical, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t realities for a lot of people. This is a story that reflects the conflict the author experienced as an adolescent and she has every right to see herself on the pages of this book - and it will likely be powerful representation for other youth from similar communities. I’m not an OV reviewer, so I would never say that issues with the representation aren’t valid. I just want to remind us non-OV readers that it is not our job to police OV representation and narratives.

So! Given that, I was completely captivated by the plot and the characters. Did Karina sometimes drive me nuts? Yes! But I think that’s the point - to get us to really feel the disconnect and conflict between who she really is and who she thinks she has to be for her family. I felt that deeply, and I thought the author did a remarkable job bringing everyone to life and getting me invested in the characters.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance e-copy! It’s definitely one of my favorite fake dating books to date. I can’t wait to see what else Tashie does!

I am screaming how is this book so good?????

This book is incredibly sweet and incredibly sad at the exact same time. Karina’s struggle with her parents’ expectations and her anxiety is heart-wrenching to read, especially because as a character, you immediately want the best for her. But the romance- oh my god, the romance- is absolutely incredible. Ace and Karina captured all the best parts of a fake dating relationship, and the way they always supported each other no matter what was so incredible.

What a wonderful story! Tashie has created a wonderful story. The characterizations alone are so well written and thought out. I truly thought I "knew" the characters. The plot maintained my attention the entire time. What I love mostly about this book is that I was able to get to know a character from a different cultural background. I LOVE THAT! I will never be a reviewer that states, "I can't connect with a character". 5 stars aren't even enough for this book. THANK YOU NETGALLEY FOR ALLOWING ME TO READ THIS BOOK!!!!!

~Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!~

Actual rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟⭐ 3.8

Why in the crappy world, am I always disappointing when my expectations were like, monumentally high? (right, because I only have one working brain cell, and it is currently drunk on singleness) And by monumentally high, I mean, up there with Cardan and my other 5676 husbands which have no idea that I exist. Or that I'm real, period. Because they aren't real- Okay, moving on. Let's start this ARC review by saying that there are going to be no spoilers involved. Apart from, you know, the basic ones. *laughs in 'gosh I am so smart'*

*turns up 'Singin' in the Rain'*

THINGS I COULD'VE DONE WITHOUT:

The main thing that absolutely annihilated any possible reason for me loving this book was...

HAHAHAHAHA, The romance

Wow, such a mysterious thing to experience.
First, it was annoying. Second, beyond cheesy. Third, why the heck did it even exist???
I legit felt like it was against me. And them. Also, Karina, even though the guy annoys me half to death, YOU NEED TO STOP STRINGING HIM ALONG. WHY? WELL, BECAUSE WHO WOULD'VE GUESSED THE GUY HAD FEELINGS.

*intense coughing fit* The love interest

Can y'all see where I'm going here? He was...well you see....he was very... the thing is...yeah.
One of the things I was insanely craving for in this book, was the bad boy romantic aspect. (a moment of silence for all those who don't like the trope) Is it predictable? Yes. Does it include the uber ~baddish~ leather jacket which somehow represents rebellious nature without ever doing anything? *gasp* How did you know? Does it encompass a cigarette in hand, a beat up car, and a tattoo? Woah, creative.
But SUE me, for wanting all of that. I need gasoline for my dreams, okay? Okay. We understand each other. Also, the hate to romance. I was misguided. The synopsis click baited me. That trope and I are tight. (oh, did I forget to mention that all bad boys somehow share the same vocabulary? Ha ha, silly me)

I realize I'm ranting against said trope that I said I loved, but that is ingrained in my nature.

THINGS THAT WERE BETTER THAN BAD:

The Characters~

Let's divide this further, shall we? (look at me using words like 'further' I need food)

Karina (main character) _ComplicatedRebel89@_

She was so very sweet.
And so very annoying.
Okay, give me a sec to explain.
The reason why I considered her to be annoying, was her inability to stand for herself. In any circumstance. Like, at all. And I completely understand her anxious behaviors and the pressure instilled by her family to be prefect. I do. I just wish that even sometimes, concerning HER feelings. Not of anything like studies or her career (which her parents wanted to have a say in) just HER emotions towards the love interest. That's what sincerely almsot made me drop the book.
Example:

Her: "Well, you see, I care for you [insert love interest name] but we can't"
The guy: (I keep referring to him as 'guy' even though I know his name is Ace. Don't even know why...oh! Because I don't like him) "I have loved you for such a short time, but I feel like we can be together forever"

Me: WHAT. WHY. UM....WHAT???

So yes, that frustrated me JUST a bit. (but to be honest, they had 28 days to fall in love, I can't fault them for being overridden by their need to meet the deadline)

The Grandmother (I sincerely don't remember her name)_QUEEN869$_

We'll refer to her as theonewhoinitiallysavedthisforme
She was the kindest most fierce lady I have ever had the privilege of reading about. And because I don't want to spoil, I'll just say that: When you feel like putting this book down, probably keep on going just for the opportunity to see her bash in some skulls with word only insults.
*chef's kiss* BOOTIFUL

The parents _YouMustBeaDoctor^#_

You see this hand? Imagine it across your face. Multiple times. Repeatedly.
*muttering* I hate people who are like that. Just hate them, gosh darn it.

The little brother _RealisticGuy@45_

He was super adorable, albeit got on my nerves. It was not his fault though. So I can forgive. Okay yeah, it MIGHT'VE been his fault.

The Friend Squad _#GOALS_

This was one of the few things that I truly absolutely loved in this book. Seriously, there is no way I couldn't have.
The girls were honest, the diversity was *sniffling* it was simply gorgeous. And FINALLY a book in which no friends backstab each other. WoW, such a MiRaClE.

THINGS I ABSOLUTELY LOVED:

Guyssss *giggle giggle* he bought her books.... he was saved from my wrath by simply doing that. Still don't like him, though.

And the fake dating. Gosh, I am a sucker for that trope.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The fact that I wrote this entire thing without majorly spoiling anything, is an act worthy of Hercules coming down from his pedestal among the gods and giving me a free passage to Olympus.
The book was good, not great. But good. Was entertaining. I cried a bit (internally). My feelings were slightly touched. My swoon-o-meter was nowhere to be found, sadly. *sigh* I think it was mostly my fault. High expectations and such.

I truly recommend this book to people who want something less 'fun and sparkles' which is seen quite a bit in YA rom coms , fake dating trope lovers (ahem, such as I) and who are in the mood for something short, pungent, and realistic (minus the love part, of course).

Plot: I loved reading about Karina trying to follow her dreams, while also dealing with the expectations of her family. I loved that Karina has anxiety, because as someone who also deals with it, it's always nice to see it featured in a book. And fake dating is my favorite trope, so you know I loved that!

Characters: Karina was such a great main character! And Ace was such a great love interest (When I was a teen he would have definitely made my list of book boyfriends!)! They were an adorable couple! I loved how supportive her friends were. And her grandmother was wonderful!

The Cover: I love it!

Overall: This was one of my most anticipated debuts this year, and it did not disappoint! I loved this book, and am looking forward to what this author writes next! If you're looking for an excellent Contemporary YA, I highly recommend reading this book! :)

I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher.

When I say I loved this book, I mean I LOVED it! The characters felt so raw and real, the scenes were super swoony, and the representation in the book was great. Karina's struggles were captured so beautifully and well by the author.
Overall, this book made me feel all the feels, and... I also can't get over how cute Ace was portrayed. :)
The pacing of this book was perfect, and just the right length. Very well written!

This was just a trope filled contemporary fluff fest and I loved it :’)
Oh, except the near-crippling anxiety Karina felt about disappointing adults, especially her super conservative and pushy Bangladeshi-Muslim parents, ya know, that wasn’t as fluffy

But I love that about YA, especially recently, how realistically the lives of teenagers are portrayed even when they’re having totally unrealistic things happen to them romantically - like your parents leaving town for a month while you’re tutoring and then fake-dating the bad boy who actually likes sweets and the piano and astronomy

I love that this story was written by someone who is actually a part of Gen Z - especially during covid, TikTok is about as close to really seeing how their generation interacts together, but Karina’s conversations with her friends and her brother and even with Ace just felt sooooo organic and natural to the way kids talk to each other. I love YA by older authors, too, but sometimes there’s a little disconnect between the stories and actual teens and I really didn’t get that at all from this story. It was so fun.

Karina really struggles with her parents’ expectations, like has a crisis every chapter about it kind of struggles. They want her to be a doctor and she decidedly doesn’t. And it’s difficult because it starts to frustrate you as a reader and you see her friends and Ace get frustrated with her too but it’s really one of those situations you can’t understand until you’re in it. They get on to her about standing up for herself but she knows her parents and knows it wouldn’t turn out well and there’s just kind of an impasse over that situation for a lot of the story. I have little to no relation to the way Bangladeshi-Muslim kids, or just second generation immigrants, feel about being their parents’ lifelines to the American Dream, but the author really painted what felt like a super genuine portrayal of that pressure.

Ace is such a sweet love interest that it’s actually enough to give you butterflies. He’s gentle, attentive, protective, and respects boundaries once he’s learned them. He definitely has his own issues at home at the start of this story, but the way he and Karina bring out the best in each other over the course of the novel is really touching.

The other supporting characters: Karina’s best friends, her grandma, her brother, Ace’s stepsister and her girlfriend - they’re all really supportive and sweet and funny and they make this story really well-rounded and exciting.

I like the way this story wrapped up - to not spoil anything, it left some things open as far as familial approval went, which was nice because it was really realistic. I’ll definitely be recommending this to teens at work!

WoW what a heartfelt story this was! A tear jerker for sure.
This was a beautiful romcom novel that I enjoyed easy too much.
I loved everything! The storyline. The characters were just so real!
Karina's anxiety felt so spot on and raw. I loved the female friendship and very much appreciated Karina's brother and grandmother. I highly recommend this to everyone!

Sigh.

I'm bummed that I didn't like this book. Based on the other reviews though, it seems like I'm in the minority opinion, so do with that what you will.

It covers some really important topics, but I just really wasn't impressed or engaged with the execution. It had so much potential! It just ended up being hard for me to finish.

This is a must read for 2021. The writing pulled you in so you could experience the emotions and especially the anxiety the characters felt. I started doing the countdown myself as the situations became more intense. No nothing horrible happened, but that doesn’t lessen the stress we place on ourselves and that others place upon us.
Ace was an interesting character / love interest. His personality quirks were a perfect complement to Karina’s anxiety.
I also loved reading about cultural expectations. It was very eye opening for me.
I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

I had heard this story through goodreads and tiktok and I was so excited to read it. I wanted to like this book so much, so I set in with very high expectations.

Maybe too high? I often want contemporary romances to start like fantasies, so it was kind of on me that I rushed into this book expecting something grand, when all it really was, was a normal and cute love story between a Bangladeshi Muslim, and a bad boy type white boy.

It did have a rocky start, little too similar to fanfictions, but once the plot really starts and the two main characters are in a groove, it gets better. The book starts delving more into brown culture and the standards we set for young girls and they’re survival in America as children of immigrants, and that’s where Tashi’s writing really shines. It’s clearly something she knows a lot about, along with Karina’s experience with anxiety. The book got so much better in the second half. I felt invested in this relationship, and I wanted to see how they would make it work.

Overall, the book was adorable. I will always be glad that there are more people of colour in paper and in publishing, and I am so glad that we got this cute story about a brown girl falling in love in high school. I romanticized it a lot in my head, thinking it would be this grand love story, but I forgot that it didn’t need to be. I went wrong where I expected something life changing, something larger than life. But the truth is, all stories surrounding people of colour don’t need to be. We should be allowed to have cliche love stories, and chick-flick type romances.

It was what I always thought a brown girl/white boy high school story would look like and it was lovely. Didn’t break any records, but still really entertaining, and exactly the kind of story I have rarely seen a brown person in and wanted to read when I was younger.

All it needed to be was a cute, adorable love story that we’ve seen so many white fuels feature in. Counting Down With You releases May 4, and I hope you guys like it too!!

The ARC was kindly provided by NetGalley!

I'll be stronger. Braver. Bolder. I will win in the end.

4.5 stars. Counting Down with You was probably one of the best YA contemporary books I've read in a while. I had high hopes and I wasn't disappointed!

Some of the things I liked:

- Karina Ahmed. She is the main character and narrator of the story, a young Bangladeshi-American teenager. I saw so much of myself in her, and that's probably why I enjoyed reading about her. Karina lives under a lot of pressure from her parents who want her to study medicine and become a doctor, while she dreams of majoring in English. Her anxiety, struggles, and fears felt very real. She was afraid of disappointing her parents, and the stress that comes with that is something I know a lot of second generation immigrant kids feel. I loved seeing her growth. I could relate to her lack of freedom being a daughter in a Muslim family. She was a very well crafted character that just felt true.

- Karina and her two best friends, Cora and Nandini. Unlike many other YA books I've read, their conversations don't feel forced. How they texted each other was accurate to how I honestly see many teenagers talk, references were also relevant and realistic. Their friendship was adorable in general.

- And of course Ace Clyde, and the romance, were very cute. The writing and all the poems made the romance even more heart fluttering. On a separate note, Ace has a very good taste in music, and I liked his recommendations!

I only thought that the book was just a bit more lengthy than it could have been, but it didn't take from my enjoyment.

*Deep sigh* Ok so I have thoughts about this book. Conflicting, mixed thoughts. I liked it, but by no means do I think this book is a perfect read. To be honest, there were multiple times while reading that I wanted to DNF because it was just...blah, but I pushed through it because I really don't like to DNF books, especially if they're an ARC. In the end, I'm happy that I made myself continue reading because I do think the book, more specifically, the writing gets better.

I'll start with the good aspects of this book. I loved that this was about a Bangladeshi girl and her struggle with trying to figure out where she fits in with her family, but also her struggle to stay brave and fight for her happiness. I loved learning about her culture, and I loved how there was just so much casual diversity in this book. There are LGBT+ side characters, many POC characters and we see Karina, our main character, try to figure out the best way to handle her panic attacks. Even though I found Karina a bit frustrating at time, I really enjoyed seeing her journey. I also really liked Ace and learning about his family (though I do find his character underdeveloped).

Unfortunately for me, my biggest issue with this book is probably the writing. This is the author's debut novel and I can tell that in a couple of years she could write some really great books. But this book...well the only way I can explain it is that it reads like a Wattpad/Fanfic. Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with Wattpad or fanfic. I read both and I've even written them. But there is a difference between someone who is writing a story on one of those sites versus a published novel. The writing was choppy and fell flat. It reminded me a lot of a first draft or when you're writing a book but don't actually know how to follow through with all the ideas that you planted in the book. And so, the writing falls flat, the characters appear one-dimensional and the plot just has so many holes and inconsistencies. I also found the social media slang and pop culture references to be so cringe and just not good. I know that people talk like this every day (I often use twitter slang in conversations with friends too) but it just did not work for me in the book. I think it might be a personal preference but I don't like when books use pop culture references or lingo because I feel like it dates the book and just overall takes me out of the story. The pacing the book was also very off. There were times that I felt like the plot was dragging and this book felt entirely way too long. And yet I also felt like things moved too fast and didn't feel believable.

The romance between Ace and Karina was cute but didn't really feel well executed. Ace is this "bad boy" and talks to no one but for some reason the moment he sees Karina he's a teddy bear and actually isn't a bad boy at all? Also I'm supposed to believe Ace is a bad boy because...he wears a leather jacket? He literally wears $300 cashmere sweaters and has probably never lifted a finger to do anything in his life. Baby boy does not sound like a bad boy he sounds like a rich douche who's trying too hard. Now granted, Ace is the sweetest and I really liked him but I just could not for the life of me understand how someone who the author spends lots of time emphasizing spends no time with anyone, doesn't talk to anyone and will even rudely dismiss them if they even look at him, takes one look at Karina, the nerdy, quiet tutor and decides "hey I like you and I'm going to drop all of my walls and pursue you relentlessly"? Also, we learn that Ace is actually a secret musician and for me that was the icing on the "is this a one direction fanfic" for me.

Overall, this wasn't a horrible read it just wasn't a super great one either. I think many readers will be able to relate to Karina and her story will resonate so many young readers. As for whether or not I recommend this book: well I think it depends on the reader. I think this book will certainly work for some, but not all. I think if after reading this review, you are still curious and want to give it a chance than you should go for it! The rep alone is really great and if you're looking for a book where you can relate and see characters like you, then this is definitely it. Just go in with low expectations because this book isn't the most well written and it's not a perfect read.

This was a great read that brought together two teens who are trying to navigate through their family problems, on the premise of fake dating. The story provided solid characters and great representation.

Karina is a high schooler who comes from a Bangladesh and Muslim family. She is expected to become a doctor but deep down all she wants to do is to pursue English. From the very beginning, you are shown that Karina suffers from anxiety, but since she comes from a culture that doesn't take mental health seriously, she has to resort to online suggestions/tips in coping with it. Throughout the story, Karina strictly abides by the rules her parents have established, despite being out of the country for a month. She has so many conflicting thoughts because just her very happiness can never be achieved if she doesn't stand up to her parents. It's a slow progression in her development, but I'm glad she was able to get there in the end.

While the book carries a lot of positive attributes, it does have flaws. First off, the pacing. At first, that book progressed at a decent pace, as it took time for the fake dating to even occur. However, the fake dating also didn't last very long before the relationship became official. This caused the progression of it to feel a bit rushed. When you're reading you might think it's happening at a relatively good pace, but in reality, everything is happening in a span of a month, which isn't long at all. Personally, I'm not a fan of quick romances. Another part that I didn't like was the cliche and cheesiness of it all. I'm sure it adds a certain charm to it to other people, but at times it gets a bit much for me. Despite this, I did actually enjoy the romance.

Overall, while this book may not be perfect, it offers great representation that is much appreciated. If you like fluffy romance, mental health representation, and complicated families, then this might be just for you.

Overall rating: 3.75/5

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD! I think that it had a great blend of friendships and romance and family dynamics. I loved the internal struggles that the narrator was dealing with in regards to her desire to please her parents but also her desire to do what she wants to be happy. I think there was a fine balance of wallowing without it feeling repetitive and overdone. I loved Karina's friends. I loved her relationship with her grandmother. I loved the development of the relationship between Karina and Ace. The pacing of this book was so well done and I really appreciated that her friends didn't just disappear when she got together with the guy. I highly recommend this one!

I was happy to receive an arc and to be able to review this book.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, especially because of the representation of a Bangladeshi-Muslim teenager growing up in the States, which I never thought I would actually see in YA. With the focus on her mental health and family dynamics along with the romance, I had very high hopes for this book. Fundamentally it has a solid plot and characters but the execution doesn't translate well because almost everything feels like conceptual ideas unexplored.

I appreciated the discussion of the toxicities in the cultural community and how much of Karina's struggles are anchored to the unreasonable expectations and treatments, especially of girls. However, Karina's connection to her culture never felt her own. Her impression of her culture and country are all through older generations and though that makes sense, since she is a first generation Bangladeshi-American, she herself is never shown to have a connection to an aspect of her culture. It became frustrating when all that was told in the story is her culture is her biggest burden. Karina says multiple times that her friends can never truly understand her struggles, however she never tries to explain to them or even begins to because she automatically assumes they will not understand and therefore it's not even worth trying. The first few times during these scenes, I didn't think much of it because I understand that fear and anxiety more than anything and thought it would eventually be communicated; that her friends will eventually come to know more about her culture, especially Ace since the biggest struggle of their relationship are her parents. Instead, whenever he reaches out to actually know more, she dismisses it and they just settle with vague ideas of lines that can't be crossed. Secondly, the miniscule mentions of food and Bollywood movies meant to be representation of culture was not that at all. There is much more to our culture than Bollywood movies, which are familiar in all desi cultures but not specific to Bangladeshi culture, so the representation, was there only in her struggles but never in her pride.

I still liked Karina as a character for her strength and her relationship with her grandma, who I have to say is my favorite character and honestly hearing about her life and her story drew me more than anything.

Ace as a character felt underdeveloped. He doesn't know Karina but not even a few pages later he's going all out, which ties into the pacing of the book because not much after he's introduced the fake dating plot is set into motion without any suspense and it's like he's there just for the sake of the romance. He's romantic and he has a reputation but that's about it for himself and there was some rushed drama between him and his brother. Some of his dialogue was hard to read as well just because they were very corny.

Overall, Karina is a good character and the romance is a sweet story but the representation of culture is mostly told instead of shown and although the misinterpretation of religion is clarified, majority of the culture is not separated from the treatment by her parents and had me worried about how our culture as an entirety is shown to the audience.

Nandini Kaur: AND UR BLUSHING BC…? TRY AND TELL ME U DON’T LIKE HIM
Me: DOES IT MATTER? HE’S WHITE!!!!!!!
Cora Zhang-Agreste: WHAT DO YOU *MEAN*
Nandini Kaur: YEAH, HE’S WHITE, BUT LIKE??? PERHAPS THIS ONE (1) SINGULAR WHITE BOY IS WORTH YOUR TIME

I admit when I read the summary, I wasn’t really interested in reading this book. I’ve read my fair share of YA books with South Asian protagonists falling for White guys that almost always end in heartbreak, so whenever I see a book with that dynamic, it’s usually a sign for me that the book does not have a happy ending. I do think a relationship between a White guy and a South Asian girl could and does work in real life, it just takes a lot more effort and understanding. This book has proven to me though, that it is actually possible to write a good YA Romance between a White guy and a South Asian Muslim girl that has a happy ending.

At first glance, it seems like the same old story. Karina is a Bangladeshi Muslim girl with conservative parents who control her life. They forbid her from dating or having any unnecessary contact with the opposite sex. They want her to go to medical school against her wishes. They favour her younger brother over her. However, her parents are visiting Bangladesh for a month giving Karina a chance to finally taste some freedom. She ends up tutoring the “bad-boy” Ace Clyde in English which somehow turns into fake dating him.

The beginning of the book was a bit slow and it took some time to get to the fake dating, but once it did it really picked up. The banter between Karina and Ace was so funny and I loved their relationship dynamic. I could feel their chemistry and really wanted them to succeed. There was also a lot of honest communication between the two. Karina recognized that she had a lot of boundaries. Even though her parents weren’t in the country, it wasn’t easy to unlearn what she’d been taught her whole life. When Ace asked her to do things that made her uncomfortable or did things that overstepped her boundaries, he was genuinely sorry and did not do them again.

The characters were so diverse and had distinct personalities. I loved all of them, even Xander despite his behavior in the beginning of the novel. I especially loved the relationship between Karina and her younger brother, Samir. It's so hard for male siblings to see how much privilege they have in the family and how much they are benefiting from the favoritism because they just can't fathom that it would be different for a sister. I wasn't able to come to an understanding with my younger brother about it (or more specifically he doesn't believe there was any favouritism) and it definitely breeds a lot of resentment. Samir was a good brother for listening to her and accepting what she was saying instead of arguing about it.

I was most worried about how this would end, but the ending was incredibly satisfying. I feel like usually the climax is the parents finding out about the relationship and then forcing a breakup, but how this ended was so much more realistic. It was hopeful and happy. Some people might not agree, but it was really the best possible outcome given the situation. The secrecy is not fun and Karina and Ace's relationship will have many hurdles going forward, but I'm so happy that for once someone got the ending right.

You can also really tell that the author is drawing from some of her own experiences. There are so many small details that a non-South Asian author just would not have known no matter how much research they did because they would have to live it, like hiding your crop tops at the very back of your closet, having a super early curfew or living off your Eidi / birthday money because your parents don’t give you an allowance. Also, as someone who doesn’t know much about mainstream pop culture, it was so nice to read movie references and actually know what they were talking about!

Overall, I felt this book so hard! This was a real and honest portrayal of the trauma that many South Asian Muslim women have gone through. I wish I didn't relate so hard to Karina's situation. As someone who's on the other side at 25, studying what I want and not married, it definitely got better, but I still have so many regrets because of my parents. We’re always being told that we are selfish for wanting to do what we want in life like it’s a bad thing, but this book really emphasizes how it’s okay to be selfish. I’m so happy that this book exists so other South Asian teens can read it and feel hopeful for the future.

I really enjoyed this smart and fun book. Maybe it was the dedication that prepped me for this, but the book felt like injecting all the corners of the Gen Z internet directly into my bloodstream.

The premise is a really cool twist on a popular concept: instead of everything changing when a girl goes away on vacation, her parents go on vacation. She's still going to school, living in her house, and she doesn't even realize that everything has changed for her, because pretty much nothing has. But while her parents are on vacation, it turns out she has a lot of new freedoms that she stumbles upon, including tutoring a kid in her class in English.

I adore a fake dating trope, and what I love about this one is you get the perspective of the person who didn't instigate it!

Even when this book is a classic and someone picks it up 20 years from now, it won't feel dated, the specifics of this time period will keep the book grounded, and add that additional magic of a book that was published in 2021.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I don’t even know how to put into words how fast my heart is still racing and the tears are still falling from my eyes. I am truly, madly, deeply in love with this book. It has everything I’ve ever loved all wrapped up into one.

I want to put a trigger warning out: this book talks about anxiety/how to cope as an individual. There are scenes with panic attacks.

Everything about this book is pure magic, from the first chapter I fell in love with Karina. While I’m not Bangladeshi or Muslim, so I’ll never fully understand what Karina was truly going through, I understand the struggle she felt in always wanting to please her parents. Again, not on the level that Karina was experiencing but I related to that. She won me over with her wit, determination and incredible comebacks. Her friends and their strong foundation gave me so much warmth. Honestly, this whole book (yes even the heart string scenes) was like a warm hug.

I won’t go into spoilers because you’ll need to read this for yourself on May 4, 2021 but Karina and Ace just topped LJ and Peter and LJ and John Ambrose (my superior ship) and are my favorite YA couple I’ve ever met.

This book is so many things, but I think perfection encompasses it well. You do NOT want to miss this!