Tashie Bhuiyan's 'Counting Down with You': A Musical Journey of Reflection and Renewal

Fernanda S: esse é o comentário BR pra quem estava procurando: a leitura é leve, os personagens são fáceis de se apegar e enfrentam problemas comuns da adolescência. achei legal conhecer mais da cultura muçulmana, pratos, costumes… consegui ler super rápido mesmo sem ser fluente em inglês. se seu nível for médio, da pra treinar muito bem.

Brazil on Jul 30, 2023

dakota: First I’d like to say that it was really refreshing reading about a culture different from my own. The struggles Katrina faces with her parents are heartbreaking. The power of friendship, first love, and her close relationship with her brother and Dadu are what get her through. This was a really sweet book. I found myself wanting to fight with Katrina’s parents for her. I wish there was a second book coming so we could see where she’s at with her family relationships when she goes off to college.

United States on Dec 13, 2022

Vador75000: Ok

France on Sep 02, 2022

porchia: This book is a must-read. The plot isn't rushed and it flows smoothly. The characters are portrayed in the best most realistic way you can imagine. The main character Karina shows you what a person with anxiety goes through and I feel that most teens can relate to her because I know that I can. Although I do not have anxiety, I can relate to Karina in the way she thinks and/or feels about certain situations. I really felt seen while reading this book because the author understood how to portray Karina in order for her readers to relate to Karina. I have been reading this book for the past week since I've got it and I am already thinking about reading it again!!

United States on May 16, 2022

Veronica Roselea: Absolutely written splendidly. Tashie Bhuiyan did an amazing job for her debut novel and I can't wait to read A Show For Two.

I loved the relationship between Ace and Karina and their connection and chemistry. They were complete opposites yet had so much similarities that I loved it so much. I can't begin to tell you how much I felt like crying and laughing all at once. And heartbreak as well.

I feel as though there is a theme between these Asian books that I read, for example, the fact that her parents pushed her to be a doctor, so many kids around the world who want to pursue something they cannot, it breaks my heart to see how they are forced to go through one career path. But, I digress. Counting Down With You was the perfect read and I felt like it was just such a cozy romance even with the topics mentioned just now. Perfect for the fall time if you're interested in just sitting back and reading with a sweater and hot chocolate on.

United States on Nov 02, 2021

Laissa: This book was absolutely beautiful. Karina is such a brave main character and her love for books??! YES! Ace is absolutely incredible. I loved all of the characters, especially Dadu, she was so courageous and supportive. The way that Karina deals with her anxiety is so relatable to me, and the problems that she goes through are so real, I feel as if I'm going through the experiences with her and I'm feeling what she's feeling. Ace was beautiful, and his interests like classical music and astronomy (cause SAME) were so perfect for his character! The dates that he takes her on, the things he does with her, and the words that are shared between the two (the poetry is absolutely gorgeous) I LOVE IT ALL. This book is definitely my new favorite romance and it was just amazing.

United States on Aug 30, 2021

Kindle Customer: Goody two shoes Karina is assigned her teacher to tutor bad boy Ace Clyde. Things escalate when she is invited over his house and Ace suddenly blurts out that they are dating, prompting the two to fake a relationship. With ever increasing expectation put on marina by her parents, she struggles between fighting for happiness and feeling for Ace or let it all crash and burn.

This book has it's fair share of cliches and cheesiness but it was a good book. This book taught me a lot about Bangladesh culture and the damaging effects of heavy expectations from parents. The anxiety rep was great and Ace was the BEST boyfriend. Seriously I want a guy like that when I get into a relationship. He the type of guy you marry.

However despite all the good, I did have some gripes:

•Ace didn't really feel like a bad boy to me. Sure he got detention or whatever but besides not caring about school and hanging out alone, he didn't do anything inherently bad. Besides wear a leather jacket and suck on lollipops like right out a 60s' movie.

•I wasn't really feeling the fake dating part in this one. I think it was mostly because Karina was trying to hide their relationship...

United States on Jul 07, 2021

Lucy Knott: This book was super cute. I swooned so much. Karina was incredibly awesome and I was drawn in right away with her narrative. I love the way she spoke, from her nerves to her more confident and bold moments. She was very relatable and just really cool. I loved that she cared about school, loved English and was taking Italian. That bit definitely had me smiling. She made me laugh a lot when it came to getting caught up in the whole tutoring debacle with Ace. I loved that she could be honest with him and often told it like it was, but then her brain would overthink it and she would make me giggle with the thoughts in her head.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Bangladeshi culture in this book. My heart went out to Karina when she felt too scared to face her parents and follow her dreams but it was interesting to learn about where they came from and how certain traditions were passed down to them and how they were just doing what they had been taught. There were elements of understanding this aspect of a different culture to my own and wanting to respect them and how important traditions can be for people, but at the same time I desperately wanted Karina to be able to live...

United Kingdom on Jul 02, 2021