Nina is Not OK (2016) is the first novel (and second book) written by Iranian-born British comedian Shaparak Khorsandi. It follows the tale of seventeen-year-old Nina, who must come to terms with the fact that she has a drinking problem after waking up one Sunday morning with little recollection of what happened to her the night before.
Written as a first-person narrative, Nina’s story is genuine and gripping from the beginning. Despite her faults (and she has many), her honesty and authenticity make even the most prudish reader sympathize with her flaws.
I was eager to read this novel when I heard that Shaparak Khorsandi had written it, and by the end of the book, I must say that it lived up to my expectations. There are parallels between Shaparak’s life and mine that have always endeared her to me; we were both born in Iran, and we both left Iran for the UK because of the Islamic Republic’s intolerance to difference and criticism — Shaparak’s father, Hadi Khorsandi, is a satirist and critic of the regime, and my mother is a former Marxist political prisoner. So, both our families left Iran for England in search of more freedom to be who we are.
But our shared British-Iranian identity was not to be the only thing Shaparak and I have in common. In 2016, I came out as bi, and in 2017, Shaparak came out as bi. In fact, she said that her novel’s protagonist Nina, who is also bi, is based on some of her own experiences. Shaparak, now in her late 40s, noted that her life “would have been different” if bisexuality “had been more accepted” when she was a teenager herself.
In Nina is Not OK, Nina has relationships with guys but is also attracted to one of her female teachers at college — but this remains a fantasy. Without giving away the plot, there is also another woman later in the novel, with whom Nina has a sexual relationship. However, her romantic relationships in the novel are with guys.
On the one hand, the fact that Nina knows that she is bi, from the beginning, is refreshing. There is no doubt about it: she is open about her sexuality. All in all, the bi representation of the novel is commendable, especially given that the word itself is mentioned: Nina says to herself: “I am bisexual.” If only more media could manage to say those three simple words.
However, if I had to find fault with something in the novel, I would say that what was perhaps a little disconcerting was the fact that the romantic relationships Nina has are exclusively with men. This isn’t explicitly stated as fact, but the infatuation she feels towards her teacher feels much more like sexual desire rather than romantic feelings, and the woman with whom she later has sex is again not a romantic partner, but it seems that her feelings are purely sexual.
Of course, bisexuality isn’t the same for everyone. It’s perfectly normal to have preferences or to feel romantically attracted to a certain gender but not sexually, or vice versa. It’s completely acceptable and 100% still bi. But the novel might have been improved a little if it perhaps gave the impression that Nina is potentially open to having romantic feelings towards women, too. That’s only my opinion, though, and I’m aware that many others would disagree. In any case, it is, of course, still very much bi.
The issues in the novel are of timeless importance: alcoholism, rape, sexuality, bullying, and teenage troubles. Though you might assume that a novel with a seventeen-year-old protagonist is young adult fiction, the novel is actually very intriguing to anybody above the age of sixteen, I would say. There is explicit sexual content from the start, with generous amounts of profanity, so I would say that it is certainly more adult than young adult fiction. As long as you’re not offended by explicit sex, alcoholism, and swearing, you will love this novel.
Nina is Not OK is one of those engrossing books that you won’t want to put down to see what happens to Nina next. But it isn't just a very readable and entertaining novel; it explores so many important problems in society today, from rape to addiction, that it’s an informative (and enjoyable) well-written social commentary.
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