Good Intentions: ‘Captivating and heartbreaking’ Stylist

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She’s one of many community heroes delivering amazing acts of kindness as the United -Kingdom pulls together as one. Nur!” comes a shout from the living room. His mother’s voice, urgent. “It’s about to begin! Come down!” Nur loves how she gets so excited about something that could so easily become mundane to other people, the same year in, year out. He loves that she makes them all sit there, her husband and their three children, in a family tradition crafted from something that only she truly enjoys. I saw a post in a Facebook group about nurses having to wear face masks for 13-hour shifts and getting blisters,” she says. “It sounded horrific and I wanted to do something.

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.” Kasim Ali: I grew up in an environment where I wasn’t able to express emotion otherwise I’d get taken the piss out of, right? Called ‘gay’ or ‘a girl’ or whatever. And then I’d internalise those things as insults, and stop doing the things I wanted to that led to people calling me those insults. We’re learning from each other all the time,” says Kasim. “And it works because we’ve all got a shared goal.” A frank, moving, and truly compelling tale of the complexities of modern romance, and how family, friendships, society, and our own internalized prejudices can impact upon it. Good Intentions is a beautiful and honest story that I'd defy anyone not to be pulled in by, from a fantastic new talent in contemporary fiction." 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.

'General manager' of drug dealing enterprise Kasim Ali jailed as part of Operation Blade

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." You have lost your career, suffered public humiliation and been met with disapproval from your close knit community. Imran’s relationship with his parents by turn helps Nur consider his own parents, his expectations of them. “It’s fascinating to me as the author that I sat down and subconsciously created a mirror narrative to Nur’s relationship with Yasmina through Imran. And his relationship with his parents and his family,” he says, adding that alongside questions of masculinity, parents show up again and again in his writing. Parental guidance 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.

however … i found nur and yasmina - especially yasmina - hard to warm to. i struggled to root for either of them. i think them having flaws was effective and refreshing to see, however it’s important to root for characters and often i felt disconnected; which could be due to the 3rd person narration. however, i LOVED the side characters - imran and rahat 🥺 every time they were in a scene i got very very happy - they were just so lovable, and i wish i’d felt that way about nur and yasmina. i also loved nur’s siblings - they were such a great addition to the story.Good Intentions is a magnificent and messy love story that broke my heart. Bittersweet and tender, Ali writes about modern day relationships with such compassion. This is a novel for anyone who has ever known what it is to be conflicted in falling in love, feeling the expectations of our families but also ourselves." A love story full of hard choices and tensions, family obligations and racial prejudices. Not to be missed by fans of Modern Love." No taboo is off-limits in Kasim Ali's bold and thought-provoking debut. Good Intentions is a necessary addition to literature."

Kasim says, ‘Like every author, I’ve imagined this moment infinitely, conducted press interviews in the shower, cast the TV adaptation right before bed. And yet, speaking to Helen and her team, hearing the news from Juliet, it all felt like a hazy dream that I’d soon wake up from. There isn’t enough space to describe my elation at getting to work with Helen on this book, someone who so clearly understands it and me, who sees the characters not only for who they are but who they so desperately want to be. I couldn’t be happier to bring this book to life with the team at 4th Estate; I’ve been carrying Nur and Yasmina with me for too long, it’s time for the world to see them now.’ He bragged about his job, the court heard, ‘saying he worked as an audiologist in a hospital and in particular as a result of his job that he had access to children’, Mr Wilcox said. Read More Related Articles This wasn’t the only time I’d been let down like this. Aziz Ansari’s Netflix comedy Master of None left a bitter taste in my mouth. To watch Ansari’s character, modelled on himself, forego Islam, drink alcohol, eat bacon, and have sex only with white women, felt so unlike the life I had lived.The book ends on such a 360 degree note and I still do not understand what the hell happened. But yeah it also make sense, Because the main character was kind of unhinged. We have enough money to keep us going for about another month and anything left over will go towards helping the wellbeing and mental health of hospital staff once the crisis is over.”

The talk of racism and prejudice in Asian community, specially South Asians, Pakistanis in this book is refreshing, this issue is rarely seen. But again most of the conversation about race was mostly in protagonists head not with actual people. Dont even get me started on that ending. Kasim Ali: I guess, before I was just writing to write. There was no idea of an audience, that’s maybe what’s crippling me since. The idea that there is an expectation, which is why I’m really glad that I wrote my second book before I sold Good Intentions. Despite ‘Emily’ telling Ali she was only 12, he swapped phone numbers and asked to continue the conversation on WhatsApp, the court heard.Good Intentions is a heartbreaking story of a young man caught between worlds—between youth and adulthood, between family and passion, between ambition and survival. Kasim Ali builds a quiet yet unbearable tension while examining the complexities of racial prejudice. An unbelievably gorgeous debut."