Ah, to finally have brown muslim girl representation in western media. This may sound ridiculous but I’d actually like to start this review by thanking Tashie Bhuiyan for giving us this book : as a muslim, brown girl, I haven’t really seen myself in western media growing up, and it’s only recently that I started to find books where the (main) characters resemble me (although, I’m not South Asian…but this is the best I have). 
Alright, now onto the review : Counting Down with You tells the story of 17-year-old Karina Ahmed, senior in high school, who’s left in the charge of her grandmother while her overprotective parents leave for Bangladesh for 28 days. To say I’ve related to her would really be an understatement : I’ll keep this review spoiler-free, but it was impressive how seen I felt while reading this, whether her arguments with her parents, her study choices (and the ones pressured on her), or her friendships, and the way she deals with things. 
I don’t want to detail too much, but the author’s writing is truly impressive, especially in the poetry bits (yes, there is poetry, and this fact alone should convince you to pick up the book and read it !), and I think Tashie Bhuiyan is great at portraying emotions, and conveying them in such an intense way that sometimes I felt I was experiencing everything firsthand. 
As for the characters, they are all so lovable, although obviously flawed, but these are teenagers we’re talking about, and if they don’t get to be flawed, confused, and occasionally impulsive at this point in their lives, when will they ? I truly could write a million essays on how wonderful Alistair Clyde is, or how heartwarming the support Nandini and Cora have for Karina, or how much of a caring brother Samir is, despite sometimes not noticing how privileged he is. This whole story was so touching, I’d recommend this book times and times over.