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A review by expatpanda
Good Intentions by Kasim Ali
5.0
All intentions and no action until its far too late... a common issue with men in the South Asian culture. this book takes this theme and encapsulates it following a five year relationship between Yasmina and Nur.
Caught between societal and familial expectations (Nur is expected to marry a respectable Pakistani girl) and the love of his university girlfriend Yasmina (who, while Muslim like Nur and his immediate circle, has Black Sudanese heritage), Nur is a protagonist who is simultaneously empathetic and frustrating in equal measure.
Examining themes of race, identity, relationships, this book looks at 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."
What I really enjoyed about this book is that it adequately highlights the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of interracial love in the modern day. Its not an easy read but it is a necessary one.
Caught between societal and familial expectations (Nur is expected to marry a respectable Pakistani girl) and the love of his university girlfriend Yasmina (who, while Muslim like Nur and his immediate circle, has Black Sudanese heritage), Nur is a protagonist who is simultaneously empathetic and frustrating in equal measure.
Examining themes of race, identity, relationships, this book looks at 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."
What I really enjoyed about this book is that it adequately highlights the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of interracial love in the modern day. Its not an easy read but it is a necessary one.