Good Intentions: ‘Captivating and heartbreaking’ Stylist

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He almost wishes that there were something wrong with him, that he might have to go to the hospital after fainting somewhere, delivered to sterile white corridors, be told there are cancerous cells swarming his body. Regret begins to tug then, as Nur wonders if he should have told them first, tested it with them, but that moment has long passed. Kasim Ali works at Penguin Random House and has previously been shortlisted for Hachette’s Mo Siewcherran Prize, longlisted for the 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize, and has contributed to The Good Journal. Yes, indeed – it’s interesting for the male perspective (although we’ve had Open Water, obviously) and the cultural and mental health areas covered.

Kasim Ali works at Penguin Random House and has previously been shortlisted for Hachette’s Mo Siewcherran Prize, longlisted for the 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize, and has contributed to The Good Journal . this showed the more ugly side of love, and had a not overly positive ending, but that added to uniqueness of the narrative. I am of the belief that I don’t need Muslim characters in books to be written without sins but if there’s a decision to still identify as Muslim and partake in some aspects of the religion you clearly know what you’re doing wrong and it sucks that we never really see that acknowledgement, internal conflict or even acts of repentance from “non practicing” characters. He wishes they had taken him up on it, said yes, so that he could lie when he got back after the break, say he had no time to talk, that he had taken his family to London to see the fireworks, that he’d always wanted to take them, that this was the first time they’d said yes and he couldn’t disrupt that by telling them his news. Despite my struggles within the story, I can acknowledge that the author is trying to break cultural norms, but also showcases not taking things for granted (i.He takes Islam and it's teaching as backward and is thoroughly making it out like the people who believe in it's teaching are "backward" and that doesn't sit right with me. g. the first chapter remaining with the countdown to midnight on New Year's Eve and then we start from the beginning.

The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. 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. Even though sometimes I get sad about how the publishing industry is still so overwhelmingly white (which sometimes I forget because folks like you and I make an effort to read books by people of color), I can feel a little more hopeful reading reviews about books like this one. Although Ali is critical of certain behaviors or mindsets Nur's parents exhibit, it's refreshing to see how he's equally critical of Nur.Nur, a Pakistani Muslim falls in love with Yasmina, a Sudanese Muslim and the story flicks between the present and over the past couple of years from when they first met. He keeps their relationship a secret from his parents for years because he worries about their acceptance; Nur is Pakastani and Yasmina is Sudanese. Oooooh love this representation of romance (or deep connection generally) between people of color, and I’m also heartened to hear about the author’s exploration of mental health and toxic masculinity! Last thing I’ll say is that Imrans experience as a Queer Muslim was insightful and I think a lot more people need to read it. It seemed like the author was pushing for Nur to have a climactic moment, when at the end Nur was more lost than ever before.