Reviews with content warning for Deadnaming - The Henna Wars

Reviews tagging 'Deadnaming'

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

7 reviews

psistillreadyou's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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radiodarkblue's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

"Maybe ... sometimes people don't see the things they do as wrong, but they can see the wrong in what other people do - especially if it's done to someone they care about," I say. "When it happens to someone else, it doesn't feel as important as when it happens to someone we love."

It took me so much time to get around this book and it's entirely my fault! I really blame myself because I would have loved it even more than I already do. I started this book in July 2021 ans finished it in August 2022,,, stupid reading slump!

I find it very powerful when YA novels such as The Henna Wars tackled important themes such as cultural appropriation, racism or homophobia. When you read Abida Jaigirdar's words you feel how much she loves her culture and it's such a pleasure to read. It's so important to have books like this one that focus on queer people of colour. Priti and Nishat's relationship was everything, I love reading sibling relationships so much and they gave everything! Also we love reading the word lesbian so many times, definitely one of the greatest lesbian representations <3

"I'm not ashamed of it. It's who I am. I am comfortable being a lesbian."

I want to add that once in this book they talk about Elliot Page before his coming out as the book was published before he came out, so it mentions his deadname.

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cheesepuppy's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Wow. What a book. I love it. Very cute story about Nishat. Her little love story is so cuuuuute. Love how Nishat is so close with her sister. I also like the way this book shows appropriation and racism in every day life. I think that’s a great thing to show our teens so they understand the implications of their actions.

Note, I do wish the deadnaming in Chapter 33 could be fixed for future prints of this book. For now, I scribbled it out and fixed the name.

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memorable's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I really liked this book! It’s such an easy read while dealing with not so lighthearted topics. Sometimes, it was a bit too much drama for my taste; yes, I know it’s called henna wars, but still.

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miachalupa's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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chave_cempasuchil's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this book is well written, has great representation, an adorable bond between the mc and her sister, and deals with some heavy topics. it ended on an overall happy note, leaving me desperately in need of Adiba Jaigirdar's next book, Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating. 4.5/5

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snowhitereads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Henna Wars is a YA sapphic romance with great muslim and brown/black representation and even more representation in the side characters. Even more importantly, it’s an own voice representation.

Yes, we need more of this!

This book manages to keep a particular balance between being lighthearted and cute and dealing with heavy and complex topics such as racism, homophobia, being outed, bullying and cultural appropriation and microaggressions, especially amongst teenagers. I also liked how it portrayed coming out to a Muslim family without getting too dark and heavy.

Overall it maintains a great balance between serious and light-hearted, and it definitely worked for me.

I love the discussion about the lack of diversity within LGBT representation and the intersectionality between sexual orientation/race/religion.

It also brings strong points on how people don’t realy care about social problems and discrimination unless it has a direct impact on them. It also shines a light on how the words of someone in power, like the president, can have a great impact and threaten an individual's life.

My favourite thing about this book was the characters, especifically Nishat, Priti, and Flávia. They were all well developed, complex, distinct and flawed.

I absolutely love the sister’s relationship.

On a personal level, I did relate to the coming out process of Nishat to her parents. At times, they said the same exact thing in real life. At one point, I even wrote in the book “Dad, is that you?”

Also, the whole thing about being outed in high school, the whispering, the comments and the people refusing to use the same changing rooms as her hit a little too close to home. But that also means it is a realistic portrayal of that event.

My biggest issue with this book is the fact that no one saw any consequences for their actions, not in regards to racism, cultural appropriation or homophobia. It kinda sells the idea that he best way to handle racist and homophobic abuse is with a quiet, enduring dignity since Nishat actively protects her abusers many times, even when others support her and encourage her to report them.

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