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stephsbooktalk 's review for:

Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan
5.0
emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Absolutely loved this book! It had been on my radar for awhile and finally gave in and did the audio. For as many times that I've watched this trope in movies/tvs, this is the first time (in my memory) that I read a book where the good girl and bad boy fall for one another. 

Karina is a bright high school student who feels the pressure from her parents to go into a STEM profession when all she wants to study is English. She is asked to tutor Ace, a fellow student in her English class who is a known bad boy with a reputation. After spending time together, she begins to learn that he isn't what he is appears to be. And then the shock that game to Karina when Ace tells his family that they are dating. Their fake dating morphs into real dating. Karina's parents are very strict and have expectations set for their daughter. Ace did come across as the perfect on paper boyfriend which as a hopeless romantic, loved! Also loved the anxiety rep and how throughout the book Karina used counting as her coping mechanism. 

This audiobook is on the longer side but to me it went really fast. This was just such a cute YA book and made me smile for Karina.