The Bookish Mindset

Overview:

Title: Good Intentions
Author: Kasim Ali
Published: March 2022
Genre: Literary
Themes: Relationships, Family

One sentence summary: A novel centred around endearing characters with good intentions but none of the follow through.

One sentence review: A brilliantly written piece with important coverage on mental health, well worth a read.

Review:

Nur meets Yasmina at university and the connection is instant. But this isn’t a quick fall novel, it’s slow and tender and sweet. Good Intentions tells their story leading up to their parents finally meeting, with multiple timelines and a brilliant array of side characters.

Throughout the novel there were on going topics of mental health and they were written tenderly and handled with care. They weren’t fleeting moments to fill out a chapter, they were consistent and unpredictable, just as we feel them in our own lives. Some of our characters are far from perfect in their actions too and then messiness and depth makes them feel so real.

There’s also some strong themes family expectations in this book that are handled delicately despite their impact of Nur and Yasmina.

The whole book felt really well written and while the ending wouldn’t be my choosing, I really enjoyed the book. Well written, entirely engaging and delicately delivered.

One thing is for sure, I will definitely be picking up their new book, Who Will Remain, at some point soon. If the writing and storytelling Ali demonstrated in their debut is to go by, I think this is an author that will only get better with time.

If this sounds like a bit of you and you’d like to get yourself a copy, you can support local bookshops while doing so on Bookshop.org with this link here. I’d love to know if you’ll be picking this one up, let me know below in the comments!

If you like what you’ve read and would like to access more content, I’d love if you could take a look at my patreon and consider supporting my content on there too. You can also find more content on my Instagram here.

And don’t forget to check out my other blogs and reviews – you can find books with similar themes in the same folder link below, or click back onto blogs to see the whole offering.

Last updated 19/07/2025