Hey bookworms! So today I’m here with another book review. I’ve been having a strong reading month this June, and reading a lot of great books and I’m so excited to share them with you all.
Counting Down With You was actually was actually a book club for my TYWI Summer Camp. If you wanna know mor, I’ll leave their website linked. I also mentioned them in Life Updates post a while ago, if you wanna check that out. Anyway, I had so much fun reading this along with so many other people, and then we had a mass discussion on 13 June, and a lot of interesting points came up that I wouldn’t have been able to notice on my own.
So I think that’s enough chatting for now. Let’s get into the book!
RATING- 🌟🌟🌟. ⭐️
Goodreads Description- 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?
CONTENT WARNING- anxiety, panic attacks, parental pressure
It's easier for men, I guess. Traditional ways cater to them.
My Review
Counting Down With You was actually something I hadn’t been expecting to like as much as I did. If I had to describe it in a sentence, I would say that this is a story that takes all the very common tropes in YA romances and puts a very different main character in that setting.
CHARACTERS- I admit that the love interest, Ace, is kind of unrealistic, but in a way I think that is more intentional on the author’s part. She very smartly subverts the typical “bad boys” trope, and I really enjoyed it. I still think it will be a hit or miss for some people. The reason is that Ace is a little too picture-perfect and the dialogue is a little Wattpad-dy on some occasions.
REPRESENTATION- The highlight of the story for me I think was the representation. Our main character Karina is a Muslim, Bangladeshi- American, and there are just so many little things and references throughout the story that I really loved.
I’m also a Muslim, and my mother’s side comes from West Bengal, which if you don’t know, Bangladesh was a part of West Bengal in India before it separated; so a lot of the things like the language and the culture were very familiar, and it was wonderful to see those things in a mainstream story.
Another thing that I could relate with the main character was love of English, her love for words and writing poems.
PLOT- Although the romance was good, I felt that the fake-dating trope seemed a little unnecessary. I mean, everything would have still worked out without that extra charade. It wouldn’t have been a big deal. Personally I think that it was just shoved in there to push the characters to be together.
THEMES- Karina is also someone who struggles with her anxiety and all the parental pressure she has to face. And let me tell you, it is a very Momina occurrence, unfortunately, with desi parents; that inclination towards the STEM fields and the disdain for the arts.
Although thankfully my parents have given me the freedom I want with my education, that overwhelming anxiety to score high is an easy wave to drown under.
While we were discussing this in our Summer Camp Book Club, a lot of points came up about how the anxiety and panic attacks are not the same for every, and I think that’s a really great point to keep in mind.
BROWNIE POINTS FOR- There were also these beautiful, little poems that the main character has written sprinkled in here and there.
Time to chat!
Alright, guys! That was it for today. Thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed reading this. Don’t forget to let me know your thoughts in the comments. Will you be picking this book anytime soon? If you’ve read this book already, what were your opinions?
Untik nest time,
I hope everyone stays safe,
Bye!
i loved counting down with you too! ace was a little bit too perfect, but i really loved the mental health, and south asian rep! lovely review, and thank you for showing all that love lately on my blog and booktube! 💕💕