Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

48 reviews

sammyreadsshit's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Bullying, and Religious bigotry

nelibarbareli's review against another edition

emotional informative tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Pretty fast past paced, talks on important topics, but I was a bit disappointed by the love interest's arc.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Lesbophobia, Outing, Racism, and Religious bigotry

mariethem1lf's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Racism, Lesbophobia, Islamophobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Gaslighting

rubydagger's review against another edition

funny inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Religious bigotry, Outing, and Homophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, and Xenophobia

nothingrhymeswithrachel's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun twist on the enemies to lovers trope, and I like that  

neither one of the henna shops won the competition. That was a good way to end that part of the story line, and honestly neither of them deserved it anyway lol.

Obviously there are a lot of situations that could have been solved by literally just talking to each other but it’s supposed to be high school and no one knows how to communicate in high school. A great read! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Outing, and Racism

Moderate: Biphobia, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship

flameoflareon's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An ultimately hopeful story that touches not only romance, but family, friendship, culture, and religion. I loved the protagonist, and this story puts her through the ringer in so many ways that left me sad and angry and tense. Each character feels like a real person caught up in their own stuff. There are a few plotholes, but these are made up for by the cute story, the classic school drama plots and tropes used, and the loving ending.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

The main character is

very publicly outed to her entire school

. This is after her family

tries to convince her to stop being lesbian because it's "shameful"

. She is regularly bullied for being South Asian and lesbian with both macroaggressions and microaggressions.

School administration never stops or prevents this

. There are cute, fluffy parts, but it's not a fluff book.

grace05's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Hate crime

wordsmaderight_'s review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 
it was cute, emotional, addictive and made me cry several times. My heart ached for Nishat so many times, ugh, I admire her for putting up with everything that kept coming at her.

the only downside is that some plot lines didn't get the closure they deserved, the cultural aproppiation stuff could've been explored more in depth and that i really wanted some characters to be punished, but that didn't happen welp.

it's also worth mentioning that this isn't truly enemies-to-lovers, but mainly minor rivals-to-lovers imo. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Toxic friendship

princessapplecore's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

OMG, THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS BOOK!!
I could go on and on about this book. I love this book into the depths of my soul. This book has my heart.
1. Plot- The plot of this book was... I guess different is the word I want, than other LGBTQIA+ novels. There were the elements of race and religion. Most YA LGBTQIA+ books are only centered around sexualities. Because this book added bits of Muslim and Catholic views, as well as the "But Bangladeshis are not gay." and the homophobia from her parents, made this book seem a bit more real.
2. Characters- I love Nishat. She is so strong-willed, she knows who she is and doesn't hide it. Flávia is so careful with others. I love their relationship, it's so cute.
3. The Humor- The little description on the inside of the book says that this is a rom-com, it's not. The only time I actually laughed was at the very end when Nishat's parents are watching The Ellen Show.
As I've said before, I really like this book. 10/10, won't read again, because I'm like that.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Outing, Racism, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Biphobia, Child abuse, and Cursing

anika222's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense 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? Yes

4.0

I'm a little surprised how often this is described as lighthearted. The trauma endured throughout this story is pretty heavy, and it isn't all resolved by the end. It's a great book, I loved the topics of homophobia and racism explored throughout, but it was pretty far from lighthearted in my opinion.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Racism

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Homophobia details: family is unaccepting, says it's a choice, forced outing more than once