tl;dr a swoon-worthy, fake dating masterpiece
Premise
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?
Rating
5/5 stars
Review
This book was completely and utterly immaculate. I cried, I laughed, and I definitely swooned. This book made my heart so incredibly happy IT WAS SO CUTE AHHHH. Definitely a new favorite!
I felt really connected to all of the characters, and I love Karina so so much: she's relatable, she's lionhearted, and she's so funny. Her story really touched me, and it was wonderful to see her gather her courage and realize her true worth. I wish I could be as lionhearted as her.
Let me say this right now: DADU CARRIES. This is a Dadu stan account. She deserves the entire world. I also adore Karina's friends -- they were hilarious, but also provided Karina with unending support. I also enjoyed seeing Karina's relationship with her brother because even though they had their arguments, they were always there for one another and wanted the other to be happy.
I need an entire paragraph to talk about Ace Clyde because WHERE DO I FIND ONE OF HIM??? He's obviously not perfect, but he's so thoughtful and perceptive of everything that Karina does, which really reflects in the little things. He buys her books (!!!), memorizes her coffee order, makes her a playlist with TAYLOR SWIFT on it, buys her candles for her anxiety, researches her culture so he can properly greet her grandmother, watches Bollywood films with her, writes her a song, and is just so romantic it hurts. I don't want to reveal how many scenes I tabbed with the two of them being the cutest couple alive. Also, their witty banter was my favorite part of their relationship. SWOON.
Note: I'm completely unqualified to evaluate the quality of the Bangladeshi/Muslim rep in this and it's not at all my place to do so. Regarding the other types of rep: I was happy to see the anxiety rep in this, and I know that Karina's experiences with anxiety were based on Tashie's own. I also enjoyed seeing the POC/LGBTQ+ rep within Karina's friend group; it just made me so happy.
Other Info
Standalone
13+
CW: anxiety, mentions of parental abuse (verbal and psychological)
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Counting-Down-You-Tashie-Bhuiyan/dp/1335209972
Would I Recommend?
Yes, but especially if you want to read Six of Crows or King of Scars.
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