Praise for THE FIRST AFTER:
“A tender, thoughtful, and beautifully rendered exploration of life in transition, filled with humour, brilliant conversations, and just the right amount of romance to make starting over feel like a battle between every version of you. With this banger debut, Jasmeen is saying: you are the love story. I was glad to read something that made me think of what I would do differently, if given the chance.”
—Téa Mutonji, author of My Person

“Jasmeen A. Siddiqui just wrote my favourite love story. I want to jump into The First After and live in its beautiful, rich, complex world. I should’ve been studying for a final, but I chose to hang out with Anaa instead. I couldn’t put it down.”
—Anne T. Donahue, bestselling author of Nobody Cares

“Honest, vulnerable, and at times, quite funny, The First After is a restless, implosive novel about a young woman’s journey towards self-actualization—as poet and person of colour—on the vibrant streets of Lisbon. Siddiqui takes the classic coming-of-age story and transforms it into a meditation on love, relationships, and expectations. Simply wonderful.”
—Sofia Mostaghimi, author of Desperada

“The First After is an intelligent and wistful exploration of new adulthood and the formative heartbreaks along the way. With lyrical and discerning prose, Siddiqui takes us through this coming-of-age story with maturity and depth. A voice to watch!”
—Noreen Nanja, author of The Summers Between Us

“The First After is a quiet, sensitive, and moving depiction of a young couple coming together for one final week to find closure. Siddiqui's characters are vulnerable and open hearted. This is a novel about two people trying to be good, trying to not hurt one another, while they are breaking each other's hearts. It is a study of compassion and ethics wrapped up in the elusive beauty of first love.”
—Arizona O’Neill, author of Opioids and Organs

“A tender depiction of that effervescent time in early adulthood where the gentle pull of the familiar tugs against the uncertain brightness of the future. These thoughtfully drawn characters articulate a yearning for freedom and independence, for passion and connection, for personal expression and growth, all while revealing how those necessary longings can unexpectedly—and painfully—collide. An ode to the beautiful messiness of being young and human, and a singular portrait of life, love, and creativity that will stay with readers for a very long time.”
—Stacey May Fowles, author of The Lost Season

“The First After is a tender encapsulation of what it feels like to be young and entangled in longing—to make art, make meaning, make a home, make oneself known. Siddiqui reveals a version of Lisbon that luxuriates in sun-drenched mornings and golden hour. A savvy, sincere portrait of how quietly devastating it is to nourish ambition in art and love.”
—Suzannah Showler, author of Quality Time

“Set over a dizzying week in Lisbon, The First After is an intimate, insightful novel about a young woman in the throes of curating an identity while caught between an old world and a new one, an old love and a new one. Siddiqui has a keen eye for interior life and the tenderness and instability of early adulthood. A sparkling debut!”
—Deepa Rajagopalan, Author of Peacocks of Instagram