Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - La guerra de la henna

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

La guerra de la henna by Adiba Jaigirdar

47 reviews

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.

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emilyeehaw's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

overall, i enjoyed this book! for the most part, i flew through it and found the writing, while a little simple at times, to help with moving through the story quickly. there were a couple things i struggled with in the plot, for example feeling like nishat was almost too forgiving of some the shenanigans she had to deal with, but in a weird way....same, sometimes we don't get perfect apologies and still choose to forgive and move on...but in the story i wanted her to just go apeshit on all the people being shitty to her. chyna...especially...ma'am i have my eye on you...choke!

i thought this was such an interesting and accessible approach to the discussion around cultural appropriation.

i did tear up a little bit throughout this book, just due to all the awful situations nishat was dealing with, in addition to when her parents slowly started coming around to her being a lesbian. the scene where they were watching ellen....made me so emotional bc that's the exact thing my mom did when i first came out to her. WHICH reminds me!! love some good lesbian rep in books, it made me happy to see nishat so sure of herself and her sexuality.

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tamtam01's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted 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

2.5

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decklededgess's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective 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

3.0

Trigger warning: homophobia, forced outing, bullying, unsupportive family, cultural appropriation, racism, racist microaggressions, alcohol mention

This book was very very sweet and innocent. I enjoyed Nishat's character development and family story quite a lot. I was very much not a big fan of the whole "crush on person appropriating your culture" but the point is conveyed in the end and mistakes are rectified. This book to me felt more like a personal growth story than a romance and I appreciated that a lot. It meant there was a good balance of character growth versus romance. Super sweet!

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theblackswan's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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caidyn's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted 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

4.25

God, this was so damn cute. I hate that I sat on this book for so long, especially when I owned it. It was so cute and happy. The book juggled hard conversations, but it did so in a fantastic way. I loved that this book tackled those topics and did so very well. I absolutely felt for the characters and I can't wait to read more from this author!

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kait_sixcrowsbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

Representation

Irish Bangladeshi Muslim lesbian MC
Afro-Brazilian LI
Bangladeshi Muslim SCs
Korean SC
Other side characters of color

Just finished this today, and I really enjoyed it! I loved seeing Nishat’s character development, along with her mother’s, and while it wasn’t as light-hearted as I thought it was going to be going on, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was really interested in seeing how the author would develop Nishat and Flavia’s relationship, and while I wish we could see a bit more of it, I was still left feeling satisfied.

However, I do wish that

Ali would have been reprimanded on-page for outing Nishat, like what the fuck.

I feel like we as readers missed out on that, but in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t really take away from the story, it just could have added an extra layer. On top of that, I felt like the whole subplot with Chyna wasn’t really...all that wrapped up? But it felt like the story was trying to get me to think it was, if that makes sense. I just thought it left off kinda suddenly near the end, which meh.

But overall, outside of those couple of things, I really enjoyed the book, especially the sibling relationship between Nishat and her sister! Can’t wait to read her next book, which is coming out sometime in May this year!!

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