Good Intentions: ‘Captivating and heartbreaking’ Stylist

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A satisfying bittersweet story about love that encompasses all kinds of love – romantic, filial, platonic, and self-compassionate – as well as the permanence and impermanence of love itself, Good Intentions isn’t afraid to avoid the neat and tidy endings that a reader might come to expect from romantic fiction and satisfyingly digs into the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of love in the modern day, proving Ali a writer to watch out for. I really enjoyed the writing (the banter between the main leads, the descriptions of the food omg) such that I ended up tabbing way more than expected!! 😀 tbh this was going so well and I fully expected to give this 3.75-4 stars but the way the ending was executed and after sitting down and thinking through my feelings for the book again, I decided on 3.5 stars. This book was phenomenal. Absolutely brilliant. A philosophical, modern-day classic debut, this novel includes absolutely everything that forms a well-made novel. Through this deft characterisation, Ali joins the tradition of exemplary British writers exploring topics of interracial and crossed-culture romance (this reviewer himself grew up on the young adult stories from Bali Rai, replete with arranged marriages and star-crossed lovers and the experience of second-generation immigration in modern Britain), while also exploring the inner turmoil between family expectations and deepest desires, between societal pressures and true freedom, and all the costs inherent within. Honesty makes us trust the story, trust the characters and form a bond. We adore Nur like we might a younger brother: at times we empathise, want to take him in a warm embrace, and at other times we would rather give him a damn good throttle.

What made this so upsetting was that it was created by someone inside the culture, the religion. This wasn’t a white man writing about us, this was one of us. Which is perhaps why many women feel suspicious that the “where are all the men?” conversation too often goes hand-in-hand with the question: is the novel dead? Byers says there is certainly an authority attached to being a man in his profession. In interviews and talks, he is constantly invited to grandstand on politics or the craft of fiction in a way that his female contemporaries aren’t. Too often, he says, women are expected to write about and discuss their personal lives. Compelling. In the tradition of Spike Lee's film School Daze, Ali's novel explores the ways that racism may do its insidious damaged even among those who are traditionally not its targets and victims."Dystopian Fiction Books Everyone Should Read: Explore The Darker Side of Possible Worlds and Alternative Futures A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism. Since Riz Ahmed delivered that speech in Parliament in 2017, since he created the “Riz test”, a sort-of Bechdel test for Muslims, I have noticed a shift. Recently, I watched Ramy, an American sitcom by Ramy Youssef about a young Muslim in New Jersey. The show depicts Ramy trying to become stronger in his faith, and has honest conversations about how hard that can be. Absorbing, compelling, and beautifully written . Its ending brought me close to tears." —Beth O'Leary, bestselling author of The Flatshare Good news for readers is that it’s unlikely to be the last we hear from Ali. For a début novelist, it would be an understatement to call the 28-year-old prolific. Good Intentions was his 22nd novel, after he wrote a staggering 21 in the seven years between the ages of 17 and 24. “I’m writing another one now,” he laughs. “Writing for me is such an intrinsic part of my life. Now, I’ve been doing it for so long I can’t not write. I’m always writing.”

When I was writing Good Intentions, I wanted to write about a boy who wasn’t afraid to be physically and emotionally vulnerable with his friends, who would have conversations with men in his life that were open and honest about how he is feeling. And it’s not a bad thing. Because people like that, like I, exist. And there is strength in being in tune with your feelings,” he says. this is technically a romance, but it is the story of nur and yasmina during their relationship - the book opens with them being in an already 4-year long relationship. nur is a british pakistani muslim and yasmin is a british sudanese muslim - i loved the explorations of race, religion, and familial vs romantic love. the book gave a lot of insight into culture, tradition, and family ties. i really enjoyed reading this. Ever fallen in love with messy, confusing consequences for everyone involved? Then Good Intentions is for you' Stylist This book had drama, and a lot of it. Relationship dynamics are hard, and Kasim Ali emphasized this throughout the book, giving the reader different situations that feel so human and real that just make you want to stay for the ride.Why is this? That same male publisher points to the Vintage promotion in particular, noting that almost all the editors in that division are female. (Of 19 editors commissioning fiction at Vintage, only four are men.) And this isn’t just one team in one company, he argues – it’s a gender balance replicated across the industry. (A diversity survey, released in February by the UK Publishers Association, had 64% of the publishing workforce as female with women making up 78% of editorial, 83% of marketing and 92% of publicity.) A generation ago the shortlists were dominated by men: the “big beasts” of the 80s and 90s. Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, Ian McEwan, William Boyd, Kazuo Ishiguro et al in the UK and Philip Roth, John Updike and Saul Bellow in the US. The writers we considered our leading novelists were men. This has changed, and while it is almost universally accepted with publishing that the current era of female dominance is positive – not to mention overdue and necessary, considering the previous 6,000 or so years of male cultural hegemony – there are, increasingly, dissenting voices among publishers, agents and writers. They feel that men – and especially young men – are being shut out of an industry that is blind to its own prejudices. I related to Nur at some parts but was also so frustrated with him... Because we focus on Nur's pov, I found myself failing to see how self-absorbed he was until he was called out for it by the other characters in the story. A sensitive, smooth-toned and absorbingly honest novel that makes us question our inner worlds, at a time when this kind of self-examination might be the thing that saves us' Diana Evans, author of Ordinary People An exploration of the ways that race and family ties may complicate or imperil romance even if everyone means well.