I was absolutely devastated at the end of Good Intentions. I wonder if that was the point. I guess the road to hell really is paved with good intentions.
On the face of it, Nur and Yasmina are this beautiful couple who are meant to be together, and triumph over adversity. Nur has gone far away from home, unlike his siblings. In his mind, he is living a lie by necessity. His family are unaware of him living with the warm and kind Yasmina. But is it his family standing in the way of their happiness or is it anguished Nur himself, who lives his life tied up in knots.
You'll have to read Good Intentions to find out

This is a thought provoking debut novel about love in an interracial relationship, Nur, a British Pakistani boy, and Jasmina a British Sudanese girl.

It is a story about family dynamics, love, lies, racism, friendship, anxiety and religion. The chapters are told through different timelines with no chronological order, which while confusing where integral to the story.

I think this will appeal to a young adult reader, it is modern and up to date and will give you plenty of food for thought.

Good Intentions is an incredibly earnest and introspective book that is perfectly titled. Told through an alternating timeline over four years, we see Nur and Yasmina meet, fall in love and move in together. On the surface their relationship is a happy one but there is a persistent uncomfortable undercurrent, Nur has been keeping Yasmina a secret from his family the whole time.

There are many thought provoking nuances to this book, the author explores the complexities of cultural racism, lifestyle expectations, family, friendship, mental health struggles, self-harm, anxiety, religion, homosexuality and colourism.

While Nur is a character I constantly disliked there was raw honesty in his depiction which is rarely shown in writing, especially that told through the eyes on a British Pakistani man. The battles Nur had with himself were at times frustrating and repetitive, particularly when it came to accepting his Black girlfriend.

I went into this book expecting a love story, it is not, however what it does do is give a frank look at a persons good intentions in love, both romantic and familial. It addresses human imperfections and the prejudices that people don’t want to admit to themselves and how a persons decisions have far reaching consequences that affect other peoples lives.

3.5✨

After reading the synopsis I really wanted to love this book. I was looking forward to seeing the challenges faced by this young Muslim couple, but in the end I was disappointed.

The book is very character driven but I didn’t really feel invested in either of the main characters. Nur was extremely frustrating and although I understand how his mental health drove some of his actions, ultimately I just didn’t think he was that likeable. Instead I found him to be self-involved and quite judgmental. He professed to love Yasmina, his friends and family but often it didn’t come across as if he had any faith or trust in them.

Unfortunately this wasn’t for me. The storyline didn’t go anywhere and most of the time it was a bit of a struggle to maintain my interest.

I loved this book, it's quite different to my usual type of book but it definitely touched me, and had me thinking about different issues in new ways.

The Main Character Nur is a British Pakistani, from a very traditional family, who falls in love with Yasmina, a British Sudanese girl. The story follows their love and the complexities of families, their religion, expectations and differences, along with their friends and families.

The book is told from Nur's point of view, and we do come to feel for him and want things to work, but he is also a frustrating character at times!

Social and Racial Issues are delved into throughout the story including racism, depression, gay discrimination, suicide, and religion, but they are done in such a way that it is not a dark and depressing book, rather a very enlightening one with lots of pause for thought.

I very much enjoyed the book and would recommend reading it. It's certainly educational, in a completely non textbook way, as well as being a lovely story of growth and hope, as well as frustration and sometimes sadness.
The ending was certainly not what I expected.

Thank you to Netgalley and 4th Estate for a copy of the book in return for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Multi layers of issues throughout this book and huge issues at that. Well intentioned and researched but didn’t entertain me particularly. One of those books that you really have to e in the mood for and I don’t think I was. So sorry it’s not you it’s me in this instance.

Okay, so when I started reading this, I couldn't help but think of Sally Rooney Conversations with Friends which I did not like. But, I did enjoy this book a lot more. I loved the nuanced discussions on ageing, politics, culture, religion, media power, their complexities and how they all change and refract our life's trajectories. Regardless of our good intentions, the past and the future is constructed solidly on those complexities. From our friendships to who we fall in love with, are all structured on societal intricacies. I appreciated the way sensitive mental health issues and self-harm were discussed so unflinchingly which turning it into a cliché woke dialogue!

Nur was an interesting character. You can absolutely feel that he is a man who is present and aware of his individuality and the benefits of being a 'man'. He was a raw character which was also why I didn't like him. He was selfish and his toxic masculinity almost killed him! I did enjoy Ali's exploration of religion and his take on how even our religious experiences are built on the societal expectations and it takes a good amount of work to personalised our experiences.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This is a really complex and nuanced discussion of relationships, family and racism in modern Britain. It also touches on mental health issues in a particularly sensitive way. Ali's writing is direct but also lyrical at times, and I completely understood each character and their motivations. I'll definitely be recommending this one to people.

This book was overall really good and explored the characters and their relationship in-depth and the writing was strong in doing this. I found it was a very slow-paced reading, but overall took a big topic and explore the complexity of it through the relationship of these two characters.

My full review can be found on my blog link below.
https://isobelsbookishthoughts.wordpress.com/2022/03/16/book-review-good-intentions-by-kasim-ali/

Good Intentions by Kasim Ali.

Nur and Yasmina have been together for four years, happy in love and living together. However, because of Nur's fears around what his parents will think of him being with a black Muslim girl, they still don't know that Yasmina exists. Good Intentions explores the relationship between Nur and Yasmina over a four year period and what happens when the two most important parts of Nur's life come crashing together.

I found it really refreshing reading a book like this from a male author. The description might lend itself to appear as a rom-com type book, but it really was so much more than that. This book studies in-depth all the nuances of living in an immigrant family in the UK, trying to live up to expectations set for you whilst also being true to yourself. The theme of colorism is present throughout, and the obligations of being a young Muslim person living in 21st century Britain.

I hope that this novel wasn't semi-autobiographical because I really disliked our protagonist. I found Nur selfish to the point where I was begging and willing Yasmina to leave him. I also just wish he gave his parents more credit! It makes it hard for me to enjoy a book when I dislike the main character, and so this made the novel a bit of a drag for me if I'm being honest.

Apart from this, I commend the author in being so vulnerable on the topics above, as well as other tough subjects which were prevalent such as anxiety, depression, and being LGBT and Muslim. I think a lot of people will be able to relate to at least one of the different pieces that made up this story as a whole.

Thanks to @4thestatebooks
@juskasim for approving me to read an advanced copy of this book via @netgalley. This book is out now.

#goodintentions #kasimali #bookreview #bookhaul #writing #novel #fiction #nonfiction #memoir #reading #read #readingchallenge #reading2022📚 #reads2022 #book #books2022 #bookrecommendation #bookstoread #irishbookstagram #irishbookstagrammer

Nur a British Pakistani boy falls in love with Yasmina, a British Sundanese girl, but keeps their relationship hidden from his family. It's a story of racism, assumptions, love, family and relationships.

Nur and Yasmina are happily in love, living together, even - but there's one problem. That'll be Nur. He's convinced his family (mainly his parents, his dad born in Pakistan, his mum born in the UK as a second-generation immigrant with Pakistani parents) won't accept Yasmina because she's Black. We hop around during the four years they're together, back and forth from when they meet to various scenes in their relationship, always returning to early 2019, when Nur finally tells his parents. We see his brother and sister, the family's reaction to his wanting to leave home for university, his grandma's perspective, and then his friends, the rather terrifying ex Saara, the friend from home, Rahat, and the newer friend from university, Imran, and Yasmina's family.

Although this was a little bit in the "millennials and their painful love" genre, there was more to it than that. One aspect was the examination of different ways to be a good British Muslim son. Nur is always straining towards independence, but his brother Khalil chooses a university close to home; Rahat chooses a traditional option he's scared Nur will decry; and Imran comes out as gay but courageously follows his heart and doesn't choose the half-way option his parents present him with.

We also see an examination of mental ill health and toxic masculinity at play. Nur has at times overwhelming anxiety and depression. He doesn't let people in or talk about it, although he really seems to help one character with her mental health issues at one point. Rahat is the only person who can really read and calm him - so is this actually fair on Yasmina, either.

My blog review: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2022/03/13/book-review-kasim-ali-good-intentions/

Yasmina and Nur are in love and have been together for the past four years. They are happy together but Nar had been keeping his girlfriend secret from the rest of his family. Because Nar comes from a Pakistani family and Yasmina is a black Muslim. As a second generation son of a strict Pakistani family, and Nar doesn't think that his family will be happy about his relationship with Yasmina and that is the reason why he has been keeping their relationship a secret. All he wants is to make his family proud, he works hard and is a good Pakistani boy he does his family proud. But he also wants to let Yasmina knowhow important she is to him and so it is with this in his heart he is set to tell his family about their relationship. As New Year comes around Nur is with his family at his parents home watching the fireworks on the TV together like they do every year. We look back over Nar and Yasminas life, how they got together and how they feel in love.

On the surface it seems to be a simple love story, but it holds and tells so much more feminism, anti racist themes, oppression, mental health, societal expectations, family expectations and emotional struggles. It is complex, rich, charming, sticking, romantic, sweet, raw and bittersweet.

Good Intentions by Kasim Ali

This is the story of Nur's relationship with Yasmina, told over 4 years and going backwards and forwards in time.

Wow, this book is wonderful, one of my favourites of the year so far! The story is fabulous, the characters so well drawn and the important issues raised are thought-provoking. But the really standout feature for me was the dialogue between the characters - Nur and Yasmina, his siblings, his friends Rahat and Imran. I can't remember when I last read a book that nailed the dialogue in such a brilliant way. And I loved the author's choice for the ending too. I'd really like to see this book on TV/Netflix please! Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Good Intentions is a love story. Nar and Yasmina have been together for four years since they met at University. They're living together, and their story is filled with understated, beautifully moving moments.

But there is something that is threatening their relationship, as well as Nar's emotional well-being.

He hasn't told his family about Yasmina.
Because he's afraid.
His family is a conservative, traditional Pakistani family. And while Yasmina is Muslim, she is also Black. And Nar is sure this will be an issue for his family.

Yasmima gets increasingly hurt and angry about being kept hidden.

And so, he finds the courage to tell his parents. And to introduce them to Yasmina and her parents.

And it seems to go ok.

Until his parents ask to speak to him alone. Asking him if he is sure Yasmina is the one.

They are hurt by him hiding his relationship more than anything.

And a blazing argument with Yasmina highlights all the pent up frustrations and unspoken feelings they've both been keeping to themselves.

There is nothing saccharine or predictable about this story, and I loved every second of it.

Whilst this was an interesting and easy to get into book, i was increasingly infuriated by Nur and his inability to come clean to his parents about the relationship with his girlfriend of 4 years. Despite opportunities, he never quite feels he can disappoint them with the fact that he has a girlfriend who he wants to marry. It was an interesting insight into racism from a part of society you perhaps wouldnt have expected, but i am left feeling a little fustrated and annoyed at Nur.

Nur and Yasmina meet at University and seem to be a perfect match. He is the eldest son of a Pakistan taxi driver and she is Somalian. They are both from Muslim families. After University they move in together and appear to be very happy together. However, despite many many nudges from Yasmina, Nur has yet to tell his family about this relationship that has been ongoing for four years. This book gets close to their relationship and looks at it from within, and the issues raised by Nur's failure in communication. It is a very emotional read

tw: racism, tw: colourism, tw: mental illness

Good Intentions tells the story of Nur, a Pakastani Muslim, and Yasmina, a Sudanese Muslim, over the course of their four years together. Through a series of flashbacks and present day scenes, we discover that Nur has been keeping his relationship with Yasmina secret the entire time, because of the colour of her skin.

This was a thoughtful, and often poignant delve into the inner workings of an interracial relationship, with all of the potential issues that those around them might have.

Nur frustrated me. A LOT. I empathised with his mental health issues but otherwise, I couldn't really relate to him.

I really liked Yasmina on the other hand, and appreciated her patience. I don't think I could have waited that long. I also enjoyed the glimpses into Nur and Yasmina's respective families.

What I found more challenging was the writing style. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the voice used didn't really work for me. It often felt too passive for what were far from passive situations. However, that's a personal issue, and might have been a deliberate choice. Others might like it.

I have to say, I really appreciated the ending. No spoilers, but I think it was the only logical one.

Overall Rating: ❤❤❤
Heat Rating: 🔥
Emotional Rating: 💓💓😑💔

*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to leave an honest review*

Good Intentions is a book I went into with zero expectations and ended up loving. A lot of that has to do with the characters, who leapt off the page, and the way that the book addressed the conflicts they experienced.

It’s a book that takes a quite large topic—racism and colourism in the South Asian community—and examines it through Nur, a British Pakistani boy, who falls in love with Yasmina, a British Sudanese girl. Nur is, ostensibly, worried about his family will take the fact that he’s dating a Black girl, so elects not to reveal this to them. Which is where the novel opens.

The book flips back and forth between present-day and the past, often in somewhat confusing orders—it is quite important to actually read the chapter titles in this case, but once you work out the general order of events, it gets a bit easier. I think it also helps to see the progression of Nur and Yasmina’s relationship because it helps you understand why Yasmina puts up with Nur, to be blunt about it. This is a book that concludes that Nur was the one with the issues, less so his family (although still them to some extent). That Nur was the one who, despite loving Yasmina as he did, was hurting her the most. This is the only logical (and, really, acceptable) ending to the book, so it’s important that you sympathise with them (mostly Yasmina though, to be honest).

What the book also does well is not let Nur off the hook for his behaviour. I mentioned that the way it ends is the only logical way, but there’s also this. Nur is repeatedly told that he is treating Yasmina badly, even though he continually shifts the blame on his family instead, and he’s not …babied (for want of another word) when it all goes wrong because of it. He has to take responsibility for it all.

A little away from that plot point, I also liked how this book discussed mental health and homophobia. Nur and Hawa both have depression (and Nur anxiety as well) and I thought it was good how it showed that symptoms eased and got worse throughout. Perhaps I would say I’d have liked there to be some discussion of therapy—be that psychological or biological—but I did also like that the book was about characters with mental illnesses but wasn’t about the mental illnesses specifically. With regard to the homophobia, that was more peripheral, but I thought was still dealt with well. I never felt like the book was trying to cover too many topics here—they were all given time and space to be discussed and with nuance.

In the end, then, this was a book I really enjoyed. I read it within a few hours and, I will admit, ended up quite emotional by the end. It’s definitely one that’s put Kasim Ali on my authors to watch out for list.

Nur and Yasmina have kept their relationship secret for 4 years. Nur is the golden child and has to balance parental love with his love for Yasmina. This book tackles racism and prejudice in an empathetic way, questioning why we always feel the need to please others.