A review by nobeliumreads
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

emotional inspiring

3.5

I have a lot of thoughts on this book, although that’s not to say I didn’t like it. First and foremost I acknowledge that it is on me for not reading the content warnings because I went into this book thinking it’d be a lighthearted sapphic romance with a bit of friendly competition based on the premise. It is a lot more, a lot heavier than that. 

So the premise seems to make this book about a school business competition, but it felt more like Nishat going through so much and getting flack and hate for it all, especially since most of it was not really her fault. I personally adored Nishat; I loved her pride and strength in her Bengali culture and lesbianism and whilst she faces challenges, she doesn’t let anything affect her confidence in her identity. It was so affirming and beautiful to see! A big part of my feelings on this book was because seeing her go through everything hurt a lot.
Her parents, her sister, her friends, her love interest; all of them at one point (and some of them more than once) hurt her in a way that I could barely forgive despite their apologies.
 

Even with the romance, I just wasn’t feeling it in this book. I found the sisterly bond between Nishat and Priti way more compelling and heartfelt whereas the romance between Nishat and Flavia disappointed; it might have come too little too late, especially with how little I already liked Flavia after some of the stuff she said and did. I think if this had been a dual POV book with Flavia’s POV, I would have definitely liked her more because it felt like we barely knew her other than what Nishat thought of her (the girl from primary, her rival, etc. etc.) and though I wholeheartedly understand and can relate to the struggles Flavia goes through, I personally think that the things Chyna has done is something that couldn’t be overlooked or forgiven. I know they are family and it complicates matters, but it was so hard seeing Chyna treat Nishat the way she did and Flavia do (in my opinion) so little.

I do think we could have had a deeper discussion on the cultural appropriation part. I wholeheartedly agreed with Nishat throughout but she didn’t seem to explain or articulate her points well enough to get people to understand her point of view, which just led to some frustrating arguments.

I’m just too angry and frustrated over everything that happens to have truly enjoyed the book. Objectively, I think it’s a great book; I just wish we had delved deeper on some issues, possibly had Flavia’s POV, and maybe given Nishat a break because she did not get one throughout the entire story. Overall, though it was a bit hard, it's a good listen and the narrator was wonderful too. It is on me for not reading the CWs because I would definitely have been better prepared and ready for this if I had!
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