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.

It's New Years Eve, and like always Nur and his family have gathered in the living room of their home to watch the fireworks on tv together. He'd always wanted to take everyone to see them in person but it never worked out. But this year, the countdown doesn't just signal the start of a brand new year - but a brand new life for him.

It's the moment he had promised the woman he loved, that he'd spent four years building a life with, that he would finally tell his family about her. But his girlfriend, Yasmina, isn't Pakistani like his family would expect, she's sudanese. He has fallen in love with a Black Woman.

As a second-generation immigrant son in a strict Pakistani household, he's always worked hard to be the child his parents have dreamed of, to live up to their expectations of him and continue their traditions. But he also wants to be the partner Yasmina deserves, and he just doesn't know how to do both.

Good Intentions is a beautiful story about young love that blooms into a meaningful relationship, as we look back at our happy couple as they show how they met one lucky night and grew to the people they are today.

But underneath, there is a story with stunning feminist, anti-racist themes with strong messages about oppression, mental health and the dangers of societal expectations. The storytelling was both charming and striking, balancing sweet, sentimental romance with dark, raw undercurrents that hit deep.

The characters were unbelievable complex and rich - each built up and stripped down in front of us, taking the time to carefully create unique and distinct personalities that deal with sensitive topics without falling on two-dimensional stereotypes to convey them.

Not an easy read, but a bittersweet journey of past and future colliding in unexpected ways

I really enjoyed this. It was an interesting storyline. It was quite sad actually, me being Muslim, to completely understand that racism within our own community does exist and we need to be better!! I do think that the Muslim rep was not the best though. Most of what happens goes against everything in our religion, so that part was hard to read!

Otherwise, I love the cover, I love the story and would read more by the author!!

"All of us are playing this stupid game, telling each other lies. What's the point of it? Why do we hide so much of ourselves to cater to what other people think?"

'Good Intentions' accurately portrays the importance of appearances and the topic of interracial relationships in south Asian culture, and the pressures that come along with that. The story was told in a non-linear narrative, jumping back and forth to different times, which helped to build the story in an interesting way and kept a good pace. But I felt there were sometimes too many time jumps which got confusing.

Whilst I enjoyed the overall story and plot, I felt the characters were undeveloped, bringing my rating down. I never found myself fully rooting for the two main characters, because I feel like both as individual characters and as a couple, they felt pretty one dimensional and lacked enough chemistry to justify some of the events of the novel.

Thanks NetGalley for the eARC.

To start with the positive, I liked the premise of this novel - a modern, contemporary examination of a relationship that has themes of religion, race, family obligations and mental health issues at the heart of it. Nur and Yasmina felt like a real relationship and I was really rooting for them throughout; will Nur's parents accept their relationship when they find out that Yasmina is Black? I enjoyed reading about Nur's culture and learning more about Muslim traditions - all the descriptions of the food his mother made sounded delicious!

Unfortunately, the first half of the novel felt like a constant rehashing of the same chapter - Nur loves Yasmina but can't bring himself to reveal the truth of his relationship to his conservative Muslim parents, or to his younger siblings that still live at home with their parents in Birmingham. It was only in the last three quarters of the book that I felt the story moved forwards and the plot took on any momentum.

My grasp of events was also hampered by the flitting between present day (2019) and at various points in the relationship from 2016 onwards, I would have preferred the story to start at the beginning and then move forwards rather than jumping about. I also found myself getting really annoyed with Nur on several occasions! I know he is struggling with anxiety (and that was written about well and with sensitivity), however for this story I felt the author was using this as a laboured point about how Nur couldn't make decisions - fair enough but it just didn't work to keep my attention as a reader.

Finally, if I had been Yasmina, I would have binned Nur a lot sooner than waiting four years to finally​ be introduced to his parents!

I can see that this book will be popular with some readers but it just didn't do it for me this time.

Oh dear. I found this quite dull really. The protagonist was so self centred he spoiled the whole thing for me. Some of the banter between the characters was witty and realistic but not enough to save the book overall.

A captivating story of Nur and Yasmina both muslim but Yasmina is black.
Nur falls for Yasmina and wants to marry her but he keeps her a secret from his family who want him to marry a muslim girl of their choosing. This tells the story of two people in love but how religion can make it difficult especially where parents are concerned.
Would highly recommend and wouls like to thank NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book.

Nur met Yasmina in his second year at university and 4 years later they are living together while pursuing their careers. Everything about their relationship would be perfect, except Yur has hidden Yasmina, and the fact he is in a relationship, from his family. He is Pakistani and Yasmina is Sudanese. He doesn’t think his parents will accept her so he decides not to tell them. Finally, he has decided it is time but is it too late?

Good Intentions flashes back and forth from the present day to key periods in their relationship, This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

my rating - between ⭐️⭐️⭐️ and ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

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 Yasmina 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. Inreally enjoyed reading this.

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.

I struggled with the structuring too. It flits back in time and each chapter is a different time period between 2015-19. I would’ve actually preferred this to be told in chronological order, as during the flashbacks I was just constantly wanting to know what was happening in the present day, rather than past events. It just made me feel a little bored, as I was sat waiting to read about the plot of what was currently happening present day.

This showed the more ugly side of love, and had a not overly positive ending, but that added to uniqueness of the narrative. the flaws of the people, especially Nur, weren’t brushed aside - they had consequences, and that was a thing I enjoyed seeing.

Overall, an enlightening read however I would’ve loved to have FELT more for Yasmina and Nur, personally.

This book explores obligation to family and racial prejudice in our society. It shows that prejudice is not just black and white there are numerous shades in between. Can love and family survive all this?
This book shows how complicated relationships can be in this, still bigoted, world.

What a beautiful story this is. The story of Nur and Yasmina, young and in love, and absolutely meant to be together for the rest of their lives. After meeting at uni, they seem to have it all, except Nur is a Muslim Pakistani boy and Yasmina is a Muslim Sudanese girl. And racism is alive and well within BAME communities just as much as it is anywhere else. Because of this, Nur keeps Yasmina a secret from his family for four years, convinced they will refuse to accept her because she is black. I was totally enthralled by this book, and I just had to keep reading. I fell in love completely with the characters, one in particular, Imran, who is gay and has his own struggles with acceptance from his family. When the ending came, my heart broke. What a fantastic book, a book for all ages and definitely one that I will remember for a long time.

Nur met Yasmina in his second year at university and 4 years later they are living together while pursuing their careers. Everything about their relationship would be perfect, except Yur has hidden Yasmina, and the fact he is in a relationship, from his family. He is Pakistani and and Yasmina is Sudanese. He doesn’t think his parents will accept her so he decides not to to tell them. Finally he he has decided it is time, but is it too late?
Good Intentions flashes back and forth from the present day to key periods in their relationship, gradually fleshing out the characters and the decisions they have made. Along the way we are introduced to their families and Nur’s two best friends, particularly Imran who is gay, his story makes an interesting contrast with Nur’s as he keeps his love life secret too.
This novel looks at racism in a very different way, as Nur says:
“He'd never considered the nuances of racism, how insidious it is, how it operates across a spectrum, rearing different heads to different people.”
It was refreshing to read a book totally based out of London, an understanding of the communities that have built up in places like Birmingham is vitally important in understanding the prevalence of insularity in families like Nur’s. I enjoyed Nur as a lead character, his weaknesses and fear were relatable as he struggled to be a modern man while the pull of tradition was too strong for him to resist. I hoped all would work out for Nur and Yasmina, their love felt totally genuine but the ending was bitter yet understandable.
This is a fine debut, thank you to #netgalley and #4thestatebooks for allowing me to review this ARC

Good Intentions takes us through the 4-year relationship between Yasmina and Nur, told from his point of view. In these 4 years, Nur has hidden Yasmina from his family, even though she has asked him to introduce her multiple times.
The story is told in the 'present day' (February 2019) and flashbacks that give us insights into their life as a couple, from the night they met until now. Ultimately, the book is about how much we can hurt those around us even when we don't intend to, when we think we're doing the right thing or "protecting them" but not really giving them a chance. Who are we really protecting?

I really liked this story. It felt honest about the problems that people in interracial relationships can be without sugarcoating them. There's description of anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems that also felt realistic.

The only reason why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that the first half felt a bit long: I just wanted the book to go back to the present to see what was the aftermath of the revelation, instead of feeling stuck in the past and hoping that the next chapter would go back to the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Good Intentions – we all have them. It doesn’t always seem like that to people around us though, as our lead character, Nur soon discovers in this story. He’s a young Muslim man who’s happily in love with Yasmina, his girlfriend of four years. The thing is, he hasn’t told his family about Yasmina because she’s Black and his family are from Pakistan, and he’s worried about what they will think.

Good Intentions explores themes of race, identity, relationships and how much traditions dictate the lives of the younger generations. It looks at the reasons why Nur has kept his Sudanese girlfriend a secret from his family and addresses an aspect of racism I haven’t read a novel about before: 'He’d never considered the nuances of racism, how insidious it is, how it operates across a spectrum, rearing different heads to different people.'

Despite both Nur and Yasmina being Muslim, he knows that wouldn’t be enough for his family, as Yasmina is Black. So when he finally decides he must tell them about his relationship, how will his family react?

Good Intentions effortlessly conveys the conflict that so many young people go through between being respectful of the tradition and family values they were brought up with, and carving their own place in the world.

The tension and intrigue in this read comes from looking at those nuanced juxtapositions: what happens when you come from a loving and supportive family but realise it’s on their terms, and suddenly those terms look outdated and racist?

As well as being a bit of a different read for me from a theme perspective, it also was from a genre one. I don’t often read novels written by men (not a conscious choice, I’m just drawn to female authors generally), so this love story written with both a male author and male romantic lead felt quite refreshing actually.

Nur was a character you care about, although I did find myself wishing he had a little more courage and then maybe he could have had more say over the outcome of his life.

The fact the story didn’t go the way I expected was a nice surprise. It meant it felt grounded and worked to give authenticity to the themes Good Intentions was exploring.

I am not which readers the author had in mind but perhaps a 77-year-old white male was not high on the list.
If that is is indeed the case then perhaps he would be surprised to find that I found this book to be utterly compelling. It is easy to categorise non-fiction as educational and fiction as entertainment but it is not as simple as that. Fiction books have the power to open minds and to modify thinking and this I believe is such a book. It is a very sad love story set across racial divides in modern-day England but the divides are between a boy of Pakistani heritage but British birth and a girl of Sudanese heritage., both of Muslim faith. There is much to be learned about our modern multi-racial society from the pain and torment suffered by the Pakistani boy who feels unable to tell his parents of his love for a black girl The book also shows what it is to be gay in a Pakistani family.
We can only hope that in future years people may read this book and not recognize the society it portrays.
A brilliant debut novel.

An amazing book with great dialogue, great characters, and real themes to explore. Not only does this story perfectly capture life at university and after university, but also family dynamics, family tensions, dealing with anxiety, and the constant battles a lot of us face. I also think Ali does a great job of capturing the conversations young people of colour have, especially British Muslims. Definitely a book I’ll be recommending to friends and family!

A slow-burning dissection of a romance that may end up on the rocks if Nur, the narrator, does not find the strength and courage to stand up for the woman he loves. Worried that his traditional Muslim family won't approve, he keeps secret that he's dating a black woman, Yasmina, causing himself, Yasmina, and ultimately his family, untold angst.
Starting with this disclosure to his family, then toggling backwards and forwards through the years Nur and Yasmina have been together, the story offers a valid and thought-provoking look at how racism can rear its ugly head, not just between white people and ethnic minorities, but between different ethnic minorities, too. It also addresses the challenging theme of depression.
I'm sorry to say this story left me feeling a bit depressed at Nur's lack of backbone. The wonder isn't that he's kept Yasmina a secret for four years - it's that she has stayed with him longer than four weeks! When even his gay friend Imran finds the courage to confront his family, you do wonder why Nur hasn't stepped up a bit sooner.
White privilege is mentioned throughout the book, and so maybe I don't have the experience to fully understand Nur's dilemma. But I make no apology for not warming to him.
It's shame because Ali is a good writer, and demonstrates through Yasmina, Nur's friends and even his family that he can bring warmth to his characters. But this wasn't the book for me.