The Henna Wars

by Adiba Jaigirdar

When Nishat comes out to her parents, they say she can be anyone she wants - as long as she isn’t herself. Because Muslim girls aren’t lesbians. Nishat doesn’t want to hide who she is, but she also doesn’t want to lose her relationship with her family. And her life only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life.

Flavia is beautiful and charismatic and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flavia and Nishat choose to do henna, even though Flavia is appropriating Nishat’s culture. Amidst sabotage and school stress, their lives get more tangled - but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush on Flavia, and realises there might be more to her than she realised.

• ISBN10: 1624149685
• ISBN13: 9781624149689
• Publish Date: 1 June 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Page Street Publishing Co.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[lessthelonely]

4/5 stars.

At this point, I'mma just start going for a queer romance everytime I'm in a reading slump, which was happening because of the book I tried reading (Sol by Con Riley) left me very dissappointed and after a steady like... 5 books that rocked my socks off? That takes a big toll.

There's proof that I don't enjoy DNFing and that I don't DNF easily: often enough, DNFing a book leaves me with no willpower to grab any other book. But I pulled through and grabbed this one!

Simply put: I wasn't expecting to get so much into this. I read most of this while letting my dog play around my yard and it was a great read. I loved the cultural insight, all the beautiful things about henna. I felt for Nishat in every step of the way, specially with the homophobia from her parents storyline - when written by non-queer people, it often feels like torture porn and "Oh, please feel sorry for me, please", but when it comes from queer people? I eat that shit up. I recoil from it. It always stays in my head and it never misses the mark in its realism. I wonder why!

Another incredibly nice surprise was Flávia! I didn't know I was going to get a Brazillian love interest to read about and it was great! I'm Portuguese, so though I can't claim to be Brazillian, I can surely understand Portuguese and it was very fun to read those parts and know exactly what I knew what I imagine a lot of readers (and Nishat, too!) didn't understand without some translating help.

It's hard to make contemporary romance engaging for me and this DELIVERED. I will definitely read other books by this author and knowing I now can read a fake-dating one? I'm very happy about that and believe me, I'll get my hands on this book physically and the other one as well.

You want a sweet, entertaining and charming romance? Pick this one up. NOW!

[Angie]

Proceed With Caution:

This book listed the following content warnings: instances of racism, homophobia, bullying, and a character being outed.

The Basics:

The Henna Wars is narrated by Nishat, a young Desi girl who just came out to her parents. They completely blow off her identity as a lesbian, leaving Nishat feeling...not good. Then she meets, or re-meets, Flavia, a girl she went to school with previously who just moved back to Dublin. She's completely enamored with her, at least until a school competition introduces some problems for the girls.

My Thoughts:

The Henna Wars was a quick read and one that I really enjoyed, but I couldn't help but feel like it was missing a lot. The author includes many important topics throughout, but never goes deep into any of them. I don't expect teenage girls to have all of the answers, but I wanted them to express some type of strong feeling toward what's going on with them. When they do, it read more like a pamphlet rather than their true feelings.

I did really like Nishat. I applauded her for wanting to come out to her family, even with the high possibility they wouldn't accept her. Her parents don't shun her, but they definitely don't accept her being queer. It is something that they work on though and that was nice to see. Nishat is also quite fierce in her beliefs. She won't let a pretty face distract her from what she feels is right! Of course, she does have her flaws, like abandoning her friends and sister when she gets laser focused. I found her believable though.

Now back to those glossed over topics. The Henna Wars deals most heavily with cultural appropriation, but also not really. Nishat has been learning how to do henna tattoos and decides to use that for her Business class project. Flavia also decides to do a henna business because she's an artist and likes how it looks. Obviously, Nishat is not happy about this and confronts Flavia early on, but she can't give her a reason to stop other than "It's my culture and you can't have it!" Yes, that should be good enough, but Flavia is 100% dismissive. Like she's not even listening at all, but then has a complete change of heart at the end so they can start dating. It was a very shallow look at the problem. It kind of felt like it was only brought up because it was trending. I wanted more from Nishat and Flavia!

This next issue is a bit of a spoiler, but I won't go into detail on it. Basically, Nishat is outed to her whole school. It's awful, but again, it's just glossed over. She didn't plan on coming out to anyone outside of her family, yet her reaction is just kind of "whatever." School faculty come to her to help her, but she rejects them. Then it's just kind of not talked about until much later when we find out who did it, and there are no consequences at all. It's just "Oh, *beep* did it and I talked to them about it." The end. What?!

I don't know. I liked The Henna Wars well enough while reading it. I liked watching Nishat get caught up in this competition and be willing to do anything to win. I do think it would have been stronger if her competitiveness was the focus of the story, and she was up against another girl whose culture uses henna, rather than the half-formed cultural appropriation revenge plot. The romance portion was also just okay, as Flavia came across as very aloof and was essentially the only possible love interest for Nishat.

[Sam@WLABB]

A little lighter on the romance than I had hoped for, but I loved and appreciated the multiple issues explored. Jaigirdar takes on identity, racism, outing, homophobia, and cultural appropriation, and though it sounds like a lot, it was organically woven into the story. I liked getting Jaigirdar's perspective as well. Like Nishat, she is a Muslim originally from Bangladesh who is growing up in Ireland, and I appreciated seeing the situation from the point of view of someone not based in America. I don't know if she was supposed to, but Priti, Nishat's sister, was a scene stealer. I adored her, and was jealous of the bond she and Nishat shared. They were definitely #SisterGoals.

Overall: A really strong debut, and I am looking forward to reading more from Jaigirdar.

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[layawaydragon]

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Hey all ya'll! Hope your Sunday is going as well as it can be. It should brighten up with what I've got to present to you today: The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar. It's so adorable I could die! And there's a giveaway for a copy ya'll have to enter because it's perfection! Yes, all the exclamation marks are necessary, promise.

About The Henna Wars:

 

IMHO: The Henna Wars

The Henna Wars is AMAZING. Like finish in one sitting, squeal while hugging it to my chest, crying sobbing smiling amazing.

Nishat is so relatable, strong, and sweet. Her sister Priti is funny, gives the right amount of sass and support. Their relationship is GOALS. It reminds be of the sisters in How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days a bit.

Other friendships help make the book. Supporting characters that I feel bad for describing them as just supporting characters. They're all distinct people with their own dynamics that works for all the layers and nuance involved. It's the right mix of fighting, and growth.

The outcome of the competition is perfect. As soon as it was announced, I was realized there was no better way it could've happened, though I hadn't even thought of it beforehand.

There is a forced public outing, which is agonizing. They attend a Catholic all girls school. The vast majority are assholes or silent appeasers. I hope readers take home the message how important it is to reach out to victims. Be vocal about it. Push back. As Elie Wiesel said, neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.

Nishat does start the book coming out to her parents on her own terms. It doesn't go well. She makes a great point that most outcomings are portrayed as vocal, sometimes violent outbursts in white families. Silence, bewilderment, disbelievement, denial, attempting to persuade though are not often seen in media. It's here though, so raw and powerful.

Their parents start as typical Indian parents to Nishat. Their father owns an Indian restaurant. Concentrating on studying and grades. No dating. But their marriage was a love match that brought shame upon them, which colors their response. They aren't perfect, but they get better.

WAIT, I HAVEN'T EVEN TALKED ABOUT THE ROMANCE.

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In a word: ADORABLE. It's a childhood crush came back, became enemies, and then friends and then more. But then.... And then happiness!! It's....an amazing roller coaster of growth and communication. Plus there is kissing and hand holding and a date ON THE PAGE. It doesn't fade to black or end before they have a chance. Do you know how many freaking wlw books DO THIS NONSENSE?!? Ladies deserve to see themselves together on the page, their relationships aren't just about getting together, FFS! *ahem* Anyways.

 



 

The Henna Wars is realistic, emotional, sweet, and in the end a calming balm.  It's especially needed now with how quartentine has been so harmful to the Quiltbag community. (Here are some tips, if you need help during this time.)

 

Favorite [Non-Spoiler] Quotes:

I wish I could quote the whole last paragraph. And the competition results, but that would be rude, so here's what I can share.

 

It's more like a spark of happiness inside of her that's now shining through on the outside.

 

I've never felt so horrid for not being criticized before.

 

I still have a thing for Taylor Swift, after all--even though I hate all of her white feminism.

 

I feel like my heart, which was soaring just moments ago, has been sliced open, and I can only put it back together when I make a choice.

 

Nishat can be anything she wants to be, except herself.

 

"Even if everything is stacked against me."

 

All I can think is that at least she won't remember me as the girl who makes terrible tea.

 

 

About the Author:

Giveaway:

Prize: Win a copy of THE HENNA WARS by Adiba Jairgirdar (US/CAN Only)
Starts: May 12th 2020
Ends: May 26th 2020
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

This review was originally posted on The Layaway Dragon