When Riz Ahmed gave a speech in Parliament in 2017 about Muslim representation on screen, I had hoped it might be the turning point. Kasim Ali, 23, bragged about his job to the decoy, saying he worked as an audiologist and that he had ‘access to children’. Throughout this book, we follow the life of Nur, as he takes his course of life through family status, relationship status, and finding out his overall identity. Scared to tell his parents about a girlfriend, Nur tries to balance his family life with his love life. At a certain point, the two worlds collide, and Nur now doesn't know where to go. But he later pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a child under the age of 13 into non-penetrative sexual activity and attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child. I wanted, too, to ask questions that I felt weren’t being asked. Of parents’ expectations of their children, of the way my culture can judge, of the way it can often feed into our very worst traits. I strove for authenticity above all.

A love story full of hard choices and tensions, family obligations and racial prejudices. Not to be missed by fans of Modern Love." Rita Begum has also put herself forward. She is currently a councillor on Brent Council, representing Kilburn ward. She was previously a councillor on Westminster Council, representing the former safe Tory seat of Maida Vale. Begum stood for election to the London Assembly in 2021, coming second behind the Conservative candidate. Outside of politics, she works as a development manager for the charity London Tigers, which provides pathway opportunities in sports and wellbeing to disadvantaged communities across London. 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.There were some times of southasian Pakistani, get togethers on eid and stuff. And those were the times I really enjoyed in this book. All the food talk was also comforting. The points of struggle with parents and their expectations how ever indirect was very relatable. Ali sent ‘Emily’ a picture of him lying in his bed before asking for images in return, saying he was performing an inappropriate act. There are many thought provoking nuances to this book, the author explores the complexities of cultural racism, lifestyle expectations, family, friendship, mental health struggles, self-harm, anxiety, religion, homosexuality and colourism. 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.

GOOD INTENTIONS tells the story of Nur, a young British-Pakistani man whose attempts to do the right thing by his family, his friends and the woman he loves creates an emotional pressure cooker. Deftly exploring millennial relationships alongside the complexities of immigrant obligation and racial prejudice, it is a dazzling,

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

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. 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.” These characters], they are such good friends at the start, but then you realise they are quite poisonous to one another. But it’s all about that loyalty that you have to your childhood friends, even as you’re growing and changing.” 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.

Rep: British Pakistani Muslim mc with depression and anxiety, British Sudanese Muslim li, British Sudanese Muslim side character with depression, British Pakistani Muslim gay side character, British Palestinian gay side character, British Pakistani Muslim side characters 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.” Rhys Thomas: And how much of this book does stem from your own life? I know the geography is biographical. You’re from Birmingham as is the main character, and lived in Nottingham which is where he lives. 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 Update, November 24th: Local campaigner Joe Powell has been selected as the Labour candidate for Kensington.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. It's the countdown to midnight on New Year's Eve and Nur is steeling himself to tell his parents that he's seeing someone. A young British Pakistani man, Nur has spent years omitting details about his personal life to maintain his image as the golden eldest child. And it's come at a cost. Kasim developed a system where small kitchens could produce food safely and distribute it efficiently. Alluring . . . [A] thoughtful portrait of young people weighing the bonds of tradition with personal identity. Readers will root for this imperfect love until the end."

Absorbing, compelling, and beautifully written . Its ending brought me close to tears." —Beth O'Leary, bestselling author of The Flatshare He added: “He worked as audiologist at hospital, that was a job he enjoyed. He had worked hard at university to get himself qualified. In her thought-provoking and topical book, ecologist Rebecca Nesbit investigates the current state of conservation in the natural world, asking a series of pertinent and timely questions: “Are the species we love the best ones to protect? Do all extinctions matter? What sacrifices should we make in the name of conservation?” Looking at issues such as culling, hunting, rewilding and the complexities of invasive species, she provides an illuminating analysis of where human efforts may best be directed. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir 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. He comes from Birmingham and lives in London.As I said earlier, one of the major topics discussed in this was the world of technology, and the hardships of the dating world while the technological advancement of online dating is happening simultaneously. Ali presents a topic thoroughly discussed, but said in a way never done before: He feels he has let his family down, that at a time when his mother was still grieving and dealing with the sudden loss of her husband, she has also found her son before the courts,” Mr Latif said. When I was writing it, it started with the very simple idea of an interracial relationship without a white person. Then all of these complexities arose through the writing itself.” Out of the writing came Imran, “one of my favourite things about Good Intentions”, Ali says. “Like, I love him. I think he is fascinating and really cool and really funny. And I didn’t plan for him. I truly love him so much because he goes through this journey in the book that I did not plan. All I knew was that Nur needed a friend. And then he became this complex character. I didn’t plan for him to be a gay Muslim. When I was writing, it just happened. It just felt right that he was [a gay Muslim].” What I’m really interested in is the question of: do we give our parents a chance to evolve with us? Or do we just accept that they are who they are? Nagging parents who believe marriage is the most important thing in the world; a disillusioned South Asian Muslim man who wants to escape his culture; a white love interest who represents Western freedom.