I often jest here about how the Modern Pashtun Man is naazuk and has a hard time fitting in with the perceived and accepted ideal of Pashtunness (one that is imposed not just from the from the non-Pashtun 'outside' but also from the Pashtun 'within'). ... Book Review

This is a story about nazakat. Black (er..African American) Nazakat. Of vulnerability, trauma, of falling in love and love falling apart. Two black artists,a photographer and a dancer, both of whom have had a liberal education in London thanks to scholarships, meet in a South

...London pub. For the boy, it is a love at first sight but only to learn that she is sleeping with his best friend. The encounter slowly turns into a platonic friendship. Two fellow black artistic souls anchoring each other in a milieu of whiteness. But as with 'prend-zones'

...and 'platonic prendships', there is this ever lurking possibility of that relationship turning into 'ashta-na-na'. But he is no fuckboi and she is no hoe. He is a sensitive self-aware vulnerable young man who, despite himself, keeps hopelessly falling in love with his best

...prend's girl. And, let us just face it, no man has never NOT found his best mate's girls attractive. At some point it happens. It is a men's thing. What you do about it though is in your hands. (Alhamdullilah, I have never done it. Have you?)

But in the case of our story, there is an inevitability to it. To a prenship turning into love with all its fluttering fuzzy feelings and butterflies. You would think it is happily ever after but no it is not. The thing about love is that it ebbs and flows. Eternal undying

...permanent love is for YA romances, movies and khwateen digests. The fact that our boy and girl are artists doesnt help either. With art comes tension, vulnerability, transgression and a fair bit of complication. And so they drift apart while they navigate a long distance

...relationship, with her going back and forth between London and Dublin. The judai turns the narrative into a lyrical medication on love, un-love, art, racism, what it means to be British and Black. Given that I have never been to UK, there were a few still references that I

..got (the usual: Baldwin, Zadie Smith, Kendrick Lamar) but most reference to Black painters, artists, musicians, bands I had no clue about (so I skipped those parts). Pros: -beautiful lyrical prose -refreshing investigation into British Blackness and what it means to be

..and a Modern Black person -it is poetic Cons: - there is not enough drama in the book and the lyricism (or the attempt to be lyrical and poetic) undermines the plot and characters. So if you are person that likes plots, you will find the story stagnant. - there are parts

...where the writing is slightly overcooked. - the use of the second person 'you' as opposed to the more accessible and intimate 'I' doesnt always work for me. I would have preferred the I or He/She to You. I just feels like it puts a gulf between me and the character. But that

...is probably just me and not 'you'. She is kind, understanding and accommodating. Puts no undue pressure on him but will he overcome his trauma and demons to undo the unlove? 3.5/5 #NaPohaBookReviews

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