Praise

“[An] exhilarating debut novel . . . Aber has published astonishing poems I’ve read dozens of times. It’s thrilling to see her turn major poetic gifts toward the sweep of this Künstlerroman.”—R. O. Kwon, The New York Times Book Review

“Open Good Girl to any page and you’ll be immediately arrested by the haunting beauty of her work and the way desire pushes against the seams of despair.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“[An] impressive debut . . . Aber writes with the masterful precision of an archivist.”—The Atlantic

“Stunning . . . truly a poet’s novel, replete with sparkling prose.”—Los Angeles Review of Books

“An astonishing and compelling book.”—Harper’s Bazaar

“Breathtaking . . . a must-read about the complexities of Afghan sexuality, family, shame, poverty and power.”—The Guardian

“Delicious, propulsive reading.”—Vogue

“Aber’s ear for the immigrant/first generation experience, especially those who hail from “Othered” countries, is pitch perfect, as is her nuanced and revealing depiction of the struggles that Nila faces.”—Brooklyn Rail

“a must-read for those seeking a raw, honest portrayal of the immigrant experience . . . a significant new voice in contemporary literature”—Medium

“This book made me feel alive.”—Ayşegül Savaş, The Millions

“I love reading a poet’s fiction . . . One gets to have it all in such a case: at the line level, the plot level, and the novel as a whole, it’s a marvel.”—Literary Hub

“A striking debut.”—Financial Times

“A wild ride of youth, excess and self-discovery.”—Service95 Book Club

“A complex, multidimensional story—not only a coming-of-age but a poetic journey.”—Electric Lit

“An extraordinary book.”—Interview

“A stunning coming-of-age story . . . a remarkable achievement.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Juicy and vibrant and moving.”—Jami Attenberg (Craft Talk)

“I disappeared into the many overlapping and colliding worlds of this book and emerged with a glistening, vibrating, beautifully exhausted heart. . . . I loved this book.”—Leslie Jamison, author of Splinters

“Aber’s ear is so remarkably good you hardly even notice she’s building this great symphony of textures, mosaics within mosaics.”—Kaveh Akbar

“Rarely have the wildness and bewilderment of youth been conveyed with such richly textured heat.”—Garth Greenwell, author of Small Rain

“Good Girl charts with more precision and poetry than any novel I know the heavy inheritance that children of immigrants carry. . . . I only put this novel down to marvel at its prose.”—Fatima Farheen Mirza, author of A Place for Us

“In Good Girl, pleasure is textured, surprising, and treated with utter seriousness.”—Raven Leilani, author of Luster

“A novel to be transported and moved by . . . [a] portrait of a young Muslim artist finding her way.”—Sarah Thankam Mathews, author of All This Could Be Different

“A haunting exploration of identity and desire, and a testament to Aber’s immense storytelling talent, as remarkable and timeless as the very nature of fiction itself.”—Morgan Talty, author of Fire Exit
a
“A heartbreaking song of youth and desire and violence and history and the unbearable solitude of displacement.”—Jamil Jan Kochai, author of The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories

“She explores the intergenerational sting of what it means to be a ‘good girl’ culturally, sexually, and socially . . . masterful.”—Marlowe Granados, filmmaker and author of Happy Hour