You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Tashie Bhuiyan is my favourite author for a reason. Stay with my heart is the absolute cutest romance ever yet it also provides insight into deep and difficult topics such as grief. As a music lover, the chapter titles being songs was such an amazing addition and made the book so fun to read. I absolutely adored the characters in the book and their friendship and connection with each other. Tashie Bhuiyan somehow has an uncanny ability of writing spectacular romances, covering deep topics, and writing characters and plots that have readers hooked. Would 100% recommend this to anyone!
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
When I read the book's premise, I was excited to read it. I loved the found family and boyband trope, but I struggled to like Liana. I understand why Liana didn't tell her dad the truth, but her not telling Third Eye was kind of cowardly. I feel like she should've been upfront with them and explained why she wanted to help instead of just throwing herself in and lying to them. I still don't understand why the group forgave her so quickly for lying to them. It just didn't make sense to me. I wanted to see some growth in Liana and her dad's relationship, but I was left right back where they had started.
Stay With My Heart by Tashie Bhuiyan explores the music industry through a Gen Z lens. The use of modern themes and slang wasn't too overwhelming, but there were some which the story could've done better without. One thing that surprised me was Liana's relationship with her Dad and how he never came to acknowledge his mistakes and growing neglect towards his daughter. It's sad, but probably the most realistic portrayal because not every parent/person in life is gonna accept their wrongs no matter how hard you try to open their eyes. On the other hand, I understand where Liana was coming from, but she should've owned up to her mistake with Thomas earlier as well as her involvement regarding the band's practice space payments, instead of deflecting when confronted by Sky. Overall, this book didn't give me as much excitement as I was looking for, but it ended on a hopeful musical note that others may enjoy.
DNF pretty early on when the protagonist decides to lie instead of owning up to a really major mess up that had big repercussions for the MMC. Since this is a romance, I can assume that there is a HEA and I do not support it for someone who does not take immediate responsibility for something that big
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
This is one of the easiest five stars I've ever given a book; I absolutely adored it! Tashie Bhuiyan, the woman that you are. Every book you've written has turned to gold. I've loved every single one and Stay with My Heart was no exception.
First off, Tashie is so so good at creating characters and making you care so deeply for them. It's not an easy feat, to write characters that are not only very vivid and real but also loveable. I cared for each character in the book and could really understand and relate to them. Liana was such a good character. I was able to relate to her struggles with mental illness and grief. These discussions around mental health were handled with care and I appreciate it so much. So rarely do I see a female main character deal with mental illness and have if portrayed accurately and with respect, but Tashie did, and for that, I am grateful.
All the side characters were so funny and lovable and I had so much fun reading about them. Skyler, Mohammed, Ethan, and Vincent were amazing and added so much to the story. They were incredibly kind people who loved Liana like family. It was incredibly sweet. And Evie was a fantastic character and I loved her so much. All these characters were so real to me and I loved them all.
The romance was so perfect. It developed so well. Liana and Sky were so adorable. They're so good for each other. I was rooting for them the whole time.
I also really loved the complicated family relationships that were discussed in this book. It was heart wrenching to read about but it was realistic. It added much more depth to the story and I cared so much more about the characters because of it.
Overall, I loved this book so much. I love Tashie Bhuiyan. She has become an auto-buy author. I have loved her other books so I know that everything she writes will be amazing. Thank you for writing such a wonderful book and for sharing your amazing brain with us.
First off, Tashie is so so good at creating characters and making you care so deeply for them. It's not an easy feat, to write characters that are not only very vivid and real but also loveable. I cared for each character in the book and could really understand and relate to them. Liana was such a good character. I was able to relate to her struggles with mental illness and grief. These discussions around mental health were handled with care and I appreciate it so much. So rarely do I see a female main character deal with mental illness and have if portrayed accurately and with respect, but Tashie did, and for that, I am grateful.
All the side characters were so funny and lovable and I had so much fun reading about them. Skyler, Mohammed, Ethan, and Vincent were amazing and added so much to the story. They were incredibly kind people who loved Liana like family. It was incredibly sweet. And Evie was a fantastic character and I loved her so much. All these characters were so real to me and I loved them all.
The romance was so perfect. It developed so well. Liana and Sky were so adorable. They're so good for each other. I was rooting for them the whole time.
I also really loved the complicated family relationships that were discussed in this book. It was heart wrenching to read about but it was realistic. It added much more depth to the story and I cared so much more about the characters because of it.
Overall, I loved this book so much. I love Tashie Bhuiyan. She has become an auto-buy author. I have loved her other books so I know that everything she writes will be amazing. Thank you for writing such a wonderful book and for sharing your amazing brain with us.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cursing
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
This amazing YA Romance is for:
- the music lovers
- the ones who can't get enough of the friends to lovers trope
- banter fanatics
- LGBTQIA+ rep
- BIPOC main characters
- drama
- relatable parent and child relationships
- found family trope
and more!
Reading this book, I grew an attachment to Liana. Our shared love for music, confusion in navigating random life bumps, trying to repair the things in life we never expected to be broken, I felt so heard even as my 23 year old self.
Liana is such a strong, sweet, vocal, young girl who loves her music and loves helping others because that's just who she is. Making playlists, working in a family record shop, helping out a boyband she accidentally threw off their path to fame, interning for her dad while trying to deal with the feelings of his neglect. Liana and her life, her story, is all so complex and yet was so relatable. For people who don't want too relatable of a book, there definitely is some fiction in this book. I wish landing an internship/job at a record label was as easy as it is here, same goes for helping a boy band rise to fame as quickly as Skyler (her love interest and lead singer of the band) and his band did.
To sum it all up, you get a little bit of everything and I really enjoyed this book. I can't wait to read more of Tashie Bhuyian's work! I want to thank Bhuyian and her publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this before it was released. :)
Finally, go read this book!!!! Don't think about it, give it a chance and enjoy the drama, friendships, and love.
- the music lovers
- the ones who can't get enough of the friends to lovers trope
- banter fanatics
- LGBTQIA+ rep
- BIPOC main characters
- drama
- relatable parent and child relationships
- found family trope
and more!
Reading this book, I grew an attachment to Liana. Our shared love for music, confusion in navigating random life bumps, trying to repair the things in life we never expected to be broken, I felt so heard even as my 23 year old self.
Liana is such a strong, sweet, vocal, young girl who loves her music and loves helping others because that's just who she is. Making playlists, working in a family record shop, helping out a boyband she accidentally threw off their path to fame, interning for her dad while trying to deal with the feelings of his neglect. Liana and her life, her story, is all so complex and yet was so relatable. For people who don't want too relatable of a book, there definitely is some fiction in this book. I wish landing an internship/job at a record label was as easy as it is here, same goes for helping a boy band rise to fame as quickly as Skyler (her love interest and lead singer of the band) and his band did.
To sum it all up, you get a little bit of everything and I really enjoyed this book. I can't wait to read more of Tashie Bhuyian's work! I want to thank Bhuyian and her publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this before it was released. :)
Finally, go read this book!!!! Don't think about it, give it a chance and enjoy the drama, friendships, and love.
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
3.5 rounded up. I think something was missing in this book, but I'm not sure what. Regardless, it was still very enjoyable.
I LOVED the mental health representation, and I think the author did a fantastic and realistic portrayal of depression. Similarly, I love that Liana's depression didn't just vanish at the end of the novel. And I also like that her relationship with her father was magically fixed, either.
I LOVED the mental health representation, and I think the author did a fantastic and realistic portrayal of depression. Similarly, I love that Liana's depression didn't just vanish at the end of the novel. And I also like that her relationship with her father was magically fixed, either.