Book Review: A Show for Two by Tashie Bhuiyan
A Show for Two by Tashie Bhuiyan
Published: May 10th 2022 by Inkyard Press
Rating: ★★★★★ (5)
Genre: Young Adult // Romance, Contemporary
Quick Thoughts: A phenomenal YA rom-com that hugged my heart whilst making it ache for a happy-ever-after for characters that became more than a comfort—they felt like my friends.
About The Book:
Mina Rahman has a plan for her future:
• Finally win the Golden Ivy student film competition
• Get into her dream school across the country
• Leave New York City behind once and for all
Mina’s ticket to winning the competition falls into her lap when indie film star—and known heartbreaker—Emmitt Ramos enrolls in her high school under a secret identity to research his next role. When Mina sets out to persuade Emmitt to join her cause, he offers her a deal instead: he’ll be in her short film…if she acts as a tour guide to help him with a photography contest.
As Mina ventures across the five boroughs with Emmitt by her side, the city she grew up in starts to look different and more like home than it ever has before. With the competition deadline looming, Mina’s dreams—which once seemed impenetrable—begin to crumble, and she’s forced to ask herself: Is winning worth losing everything?
First Thoughts
If you know me, you know that Tashie’s Counting Down With You was one of my favourite reads of last year, and so when I heard she was coming out with another book—this beauty right here—reading it was a total no-brainer. So much so that I binged the entire thing in under a day…
My Review
Mina Rahman knows what she loves and what she puts up with. The upcoming student film competition happens to be high on her love-list, along with her best friend Rosie, sister Anam and aspirations for leaving New York City behind—and her abusive Parents—for her dream Californian Uni. But to win the student film competition, and garner her Parents admittance that she can win it, Mina knows she needs something big to win. And that golden opportunity falls into her lap when Emmitt Ramos—indie film star and all-round-known-heartbreaker—literally stumbles into her one day.
When Emmitt turns up at Mina’s school—undercover, as research for his next movie role—they come to a deal: he will be in the student film and be their ticket to winning if she acts as his tour guide to help with a photography contest he’s participating in. But as Mina and Emmitt get to know each other amongst the backdrop of NYC and all it’s glory, the city Mina thought she hated starts to bloom into the shape of the home she never thought it was. She can’t help but feel like Emmitt has brought it out of her, and that he might be climbing the castle walls she put around her heart in the meantime. And as her hopes and dreams for the future start to change and disintegrate, Mina comes face to face with a decision—win the contest and be victorious or lose everyone she cares about in the landslide.
Overall, A Show For Two was EVERYTHING. I adored Mina’s voice, her friends (Rosie, in particular) the way she cared about her sister Anam, the love she had for film and how much character development she showed by the end. The connection between Mina and Emmitt was so ying-and-yang, the way the broken parts of themselves was fixed by the other. Also, the namedrop of Karina and Ace?? I was not expecting it and it made me smile so hard. I honestly adored this novel from start to finish. It was a phenomenal YA rom-com that hugged my heart whilst making it ache for a happy-ever-after for characters that became more than a comfort—they felt like my friends. Five stars!!
About The Author
Tashie Bhuiyan is the author of Counting Down with You, and a New Yorker through and through. She recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in Public Relations, and hopes to change the world, one book at a time. She loves writing stories about girls with wild hearts, boys who wear rings, and gaining agency through growth. When she's not doing that, she can be found in a Chipotle or bookstore, insisting 2010 is the best year in cinematic history. (Read: Tangled and Inception.)
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happy reading!
