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A review by booktrovertgirl
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
4.0
This is such a cute YA book! Queer South Asian protagonists are rare even now, so reading this book was a refreshing experience.
Nishat has recently come out to her Bangladeshi parents, who think that Muslim girls cannot be lesbians. Nishat and her crush, Flavia, both decide to do henna for a school business competition, which isn't just a friendly competition because Flavia is appropriating Nishat's culture.
In addition to heavy topics like racism and homophobia, Adiba Jaigirdar handled the topic of cultural appropriation really well. It can be difficult to explain why taking only parts of someone's culture can be exploitation, but Jaigirdar explains it with emotions and the reasoning behind those emotions.
Also, you know how some YA books don't really feel YA and seem really mature? That irks me so I loved that Nishat's POV really felt like that of a young adult, with her friendships and the misunderstandings and the self centeredness that teenagers possess. I really really loved Nishat's bond with her sister. Most of the western world's YA doesn't show close bonds between siblings, and reading it was a delight.
TW: Homophobia, racism, forced coming out.
Nishat has recently come out to her Bangladeshi parents, who think that Muslim girls cannot be lesbians. Nishat and her crush, Flavia, both decide to do henna for a school business competition, which isn't just a friendly competition because Flavia is appropriating Nishat's culture.
In addition to heavy topics like racism and homophobia, Adiba Jaigirdar handled the topic of cultural appropriation really well. It can be difficult to explain why taking only parts of someone's culture can be exploitation, but Jaigirdar explains it with emotions and the reasoning behind those emotions.
Also, you know how some YA books don't really feel YA and seem really mature? That irks me so I loved that Nishat's POV really felt like that of a young adult, with her friendships and the misunderstandings and the self centeredness that teenagers possess. I really really loved Nishat's bond with her sister. Most of the western world's YA doesn't show close bonds between siblings, and reading it was a delight.
TW: Homophobia, racism, forced coming out.