From the author of Counting Down with You and A Show for Two comes a new YA contemporary about a girl who accidentally sabotages an up-and-coming local band and falls for the guitarist while secretly trying to make up for her mistake.
Liana Sarkar lives and breathes music, hoping to follow in the footsteps of her A&R coordinator father. Maybe if she succeeds, he’ll finally give her the time of day instead of drowning himself in work to distract from the grief of her mother’s passing.
When Liana accidentally sabotages an up-and-coming local band, Third Eye, she makes it her mission to steer them towards success—without them discovering her role in their setback. But as she gets closer to Third Eye, especially their enigmatic leader Skyler Moon, it becomes harder to hide the truth.
With both her heart and their futures on the line, will Liana be able to undo the damage she’s caused?
Overall Recommendation:
Stay With My Heart is full of musical references and a romances that sweeps you off your feet. Liana was a well-fleshed out protagonist to sympathize with as she embarks on this secret mission to make the band, Third Eye, into a great success. I loved the realness of her struggles, the songs she connected with, and her growing relationship with each of the boys in the band. The romance was so organic even while the impending blow up over her secrets hangs overhead. I couldn’t put this down, and Tashie has slowly secured a spot as a writer that just gets what I want in a love story.
Publication Date: January 2, 2024
Stay With My Heart is the perfect blend of a cute romantic story and a sympathetic protagonist who has to grow through the obstacles in her path. Liana Sarkar didn’t mean to accidentally ruin a band’s chances of making it big in the music industry, especially when this is her career trajectory and the one thing still connecting her with her absent dad. There were so many things I connected with, but I will highlight what made this such a solid read I couldn’t put down.
I always say the protagonist can make or break a story sometimes since we are stuck in their head and perspective. Fortunately, I absolutely adored Liana. She felt like a very real teenager dealing in the aftermath of her mother’s sudden death a few years ago and the resulting rift in her relationship with her dad. Dealing also with mental health struggles such as depression and anxiety while waiting to access affordable therapy, I felt she is someone many people can relate to. She doesn’t always handle everything correctly, but that’s what makes her real. We make mistakes and yearn for things that perhaps are not the healthiest. In her case, her desire to still make her dad notice her and proud of her was understandable, even though he very much should be the grown up to own his neglect. I wanted to strangle him so many times on Liana’s behalf. I suppose that’s what marks a great book from a good one. It makes us feel the way the author intends us to, to empathize or despise as the character does, and Tashie did that for me.
While Liana’s own character was so fleshed out, her relationships with those around her were also beautifully written. I especially like how she grows in her relationship with each of the boys in Third Eye. The boys didn’t feel like a carbon copy character of each other with no distinguishable trait besides stereotypes. They each felt real with their own hopes, struggles, and cultural influence on their behaviour. Her friendship with each was a little different, as well as their friendships with each other. I have never read anything quite like this touchy, cuddly bunch of teenage boys before, but the love they had for one another was kind of refreshing, you know? How often do we see teenage boys only characterized by their deep-seated distrust of others, inability to show emotion, or the wreckage of their actions stemming from who knows what? At first, I wondered if these depictions were realistic of today’s young men, but after pondering for a moment, I realized it can be, and should be, real. I know young men who are respectable and can hold conversations with each other on deeper things, who can cry and show their emotions when it’s hard. In fact, we should be showing such portrayals more often as it shouldn’t only be the “bad/misunderstood boy” stereotype that teenagers see in media alone.
The romance likewise was littered with all the feels as Sky opened up to her and Liana’s opinion of him changed from her first impression. It never felt forced, like we’re supposed to immediately fall for him (I kind of disliked him at first too), but we got to know him as she did in time. I know everyone has their particular romantic trope that gets them – I know I do as well – but when a romance is written in a way that is organic, not like I have to immediately fall in love with the guy and ship them together, the falling for their romance happens naturally. That’s what I want in every romance, and Tashie’s got it.
I want to make a short note that I also loved all the Asian rep in this book. I love Liana’s Bangladeshi extended family (I do not count her father) and their interactions. I love that the boyband isn’t solely made up of white guys, including Sky who is East Asian. It’s the fine balance between adding race to a book just for the sake of checking off some diversity checkbox and actually adding this detail about a character because it is a part of their identity. I’m glad it’s the latter, and it’s more than just a plot device as I’ve come to expect from Tashie’s work. Maybe it’s always easier from POC authors, but I have never felt let down in this manner by one who writes more diverse characters into their stories.
The last thing I absolutely adored was the ode to music and how it can help us in every season of life. This whole book was filled with musical references and wonderful curated playlists Liana made for different emotions she felt throughout. I loved that each chapter title was a song that fit the mood. I’m not particularly musical myself but I have a deep appreciation for what music can do. This story was weaved together very clearly for a love of music and it shows. I like how Liana had to reflect on what music meant to her, whether it was from her connection with her dad or something she could find for her own passion. It was the perfect icing on top of a beautiful story. Now off I go to listen to all the songs listed in this book.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
Down the Rabbit Hole 
1 thought on “ARC Review: Stay With My Heart by Tashie Bhuiyan”