From start to finish, this was fantastic!

This is definitely one of the best books I've read this year, hands down. Everything about this was amazing: Karina was a wonderful main character, her two friends were so amazing and supportive, Ace as a love interest was everything you could want, her brother may have started annoying but grew and learned in the best way... Also, everyone should have a grandparent like Dadu. It was hard at times to see how hard Karina tried to please her parents and yet they were so hard on her, so it was great to have Dadu always in her corner. Honestly, Dadu shined as a character.

The anxiety rep in her was, as far as I could tell, really well done. It was very descriptive and at times visceral, but so realistic. I liked the thread of the countdown and how it had dual meanings-- Karina's countdown method for her anxiety and the countdown until her parents come back from Bangladesh. It pulled a lot together really nicely.

The romance was really sweet, too! Ace was a wonderful love interest, and I liked how he did make mistakes but always apologized and worked to fix it and keep it from happening again. The discussion of boundaries and how he always respected when she drew a line no matter if he understood or not was really good. It was a great example to give to teen readers of a healthy relationship.

Literally my only critique is the tiniest thing ever: the use of slang terms/phrases. I would be very interested to hear from actual high schoolers how they feel about the slang in the book, because it felt kind of extra to me. But, I'm so well past my high school years and teen slang isn't something I use anymore, so I can't say it was inaccurate or poorly done. I would like to hear what actual teenagers think, to know if it was a little over the top or if it's actually how teenagers speak.