Once in a blue moon a debut novel comes along, announcing a voice quite unlike any other, with a layered story and sentences that crackle and pop, begging to be read aloud. Aria Aber’s splendid Good Girl introduces just such a voice ... The book’s not without wobbles, but Aber, an award-winning poet, strikes gold here ... A bildungsroman, gorgeously packed with Nila’s epiphanies on literature and philosophy, a tale of seductive risks and the burdens of diaspora.
The novel is not driven by a forceful plot ... Aber constructs a vivid world in this novel, one that is tough and relentless; her Berlin feels grimy and smells terrible. She unwinds complex histories and legacies — of people, places and politics alike — with a deft touch. It can become tedious, though, to be trapped in the head of such an insistently self-destructive person
Lush ... The story feels overstuffed with reflections on decorum, Islamic culture, and living authentically, and a hate-crime incident is treated like a minor speed bump. Yet readers will live viscerally through the vivid histrionics and adventures of obstinate and libidinous Nila as she tries to achieve her version of freedom.
Coming-of-age stories focused on a relationship with an older, ill-advised paramour are a time-honored tradition, but Marlowe’s red flags are so glaring from the outset that Nilab comes across as startlingly, almost doggedly naïve. Aber’s storytelling also often undercuts its own tensions ... Still, Aber’s vivid depiction of Berlin and the novel’s earnest wrestling with shame about desire and identity will be of interest to many readers. A debut still in the process of finding itself—like its young protagonist.
