A review by crackedspines_
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
REVIEW
OVERALL: I enjoyed this book for sure. It deals with important and emotional topics while still staying lighthearted and easy to read. I was invested in the characters’ lives, and I am South Asian so I saw myself in a lot of the culture. But I definitely have mixed feelings about it.
PLOT: I had some issues with the plot. I do not think Flávia’s cultural appropriation was addressed properly. She doesn’t acknowledge she’s wrong until long after Nishat has gone back to being flirty with her, and that sends the message of “cultural appropriation is okay if the person is really cute!” Even once Flávia admits she was wrong, she keeps the money she made. Second, when Priti and Nishat had their big fight, Nishat takes almost all of the blame despite not having done anything wrong. It’s unfair of Priti to be mad at Nishat for not noticing that she and Ali were fighting; Nishat did notice but Priti brushed her off every time she tried to talk about it. Also, Priti says that Nishat hasn’t noticed she and Ali fighting and that their Nanu is sick because Nishat is obsessed with Flávia, but the real reason Nishat has been preoccupied is that she is dealing with intensely homophobic parents, racism from her best friend, Flávia and Chyna appropriating and profiting off her culture, and was publicly outed. Priti never really apologized for saying those things or for lying about who outed Nishat. Lastly, the ending didn’t do it for me. I think the book compromised realism and believability for the sake of having a happy ending.

SETTING: I think the author did a great job integrating the setting of an all-girls school; lesbians are often harassed when in all girls spaces, including changing rooms, and I’m glad Jaigirdar chose to talk about that.
THEME: I appreciate that this book tackled a lot of tough topics, but I think because of the things I mentioned in PLOT, it sends some not-so-great messages. It had a lot of potential though, and I will definitely be reading Jaigirdar's upcoming book in the hopes that that one is a bit better!
CHARACTERS: The only character I really liked was Nishat. I don't have anything against unlikable characters, but I do have many things against characters who are never held accountable for their actions, and that's how I felt about Priti, Flávia, and Jess. And I don;t think Chaewon was a great friend either. She didn't do anything that I'd say is clearly wrong, but I was just left with the impression that she was not a great friend.
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