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A review by bybookandbone
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
3.0
3.5 stars
The first thing I have to say is that this book sent me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I really wanted this to be a 5 star. I was so excited to read a Bengali-Irish book. There is a lot of good here, for one there is one of the best sibling relationships I've ever read. However there were a few small issues that took off the last stars.
The good
As I mentioned the relationship between Nishaat and her sister Priti was my favourite sibling relationship I've read in a long time, possibly ever. Even though it's not perfect, they very clearly love each other and support each other. The depiction of Nishat’s relationship with her parents also seems very real, bringing me almost to tears and by the end, I was ready to curl up.
I really enjoyed reading about the Bengali Muslim experience with homophobia and racism. Okay maybe enjoyed is the wrong word, but it's quite well written and Adiba does a good job of getting you to sympathise with her main character. Though that may not be too difficult seen as some of the bullying is horrific. The depiction of cultural appropriation was incredibly well done, heart-felt and engaging. It’s really the centre of the story (along with racist and homophobic bullying). I really felt Nishat’s upset at the other characters’ disrespecting and competing with her Henna business, despite it not being from their culture.
I originally didn't like Flavia, even little bit, I thought that she was a bad person pretending to be a good one. However, by the time it came down to it you're almost ready to forgive her when is Nishat does (ok, it took me another chapter, or two, to warm up to her again). I liked their budding friendship/ romance but not how it turned out in the end.
The bad
Even though this book was written by an author who has lived in Ireland since she was 10 and it is about a Bengali character living in Ireland, it didn't feel like Ireland, even a little. The book feels as if it was written specifically for an American audience with little to no Irish slang, the use of Fahrenheit instead of Celsius, American slang such as ‘bangs’ as opposed to ‘fringe’ and the continued use of dollars instead of Euros. This was disappointing because I was very excited to read about a queer poc experience in Ireland. I feel that a lot of stories are already for an American or international audience. I even Googled the author because I thought that maybe she had just set the book in Ireland but wasn't here, but it turns out that she has lived here since she was 10. Some of the references to Dublin landmarks felt like someone googled a top-ten list. I just don’t know what happened there.
The only thing that felt 'Irish' was the white parents meeting in China, so they named their equally white daughter Chyna. I don't know how to explain why, but that's some middle-class Irish nonsense right there.
The romance isn't great... Flávia is really condescending about appropriating Nishat's culture for a school project. She claims she's an artist and that Nishat wouldn't get it because she's not (except she is and fuck off with that shit). I found it annoying because as an artist, Flávia would know not to copy Nishat's exact design, even if she had no idea that henna mattered to Bengali culture. It's not unforgivable but I didn't understand why Nishat would still have a crush on her.
There were a few other bits and bobs, but I don’t want to focus on them too much because they might be a ‘me-thing’ or make it seem like I’m down on the book, when I really did like it. There is just a few references that don’t go anywhere, they’re just named. Why include them then?
EditI almost forgot the biggest pet peeve! That the Taoiseach was referred to as the Prime Minister. I wasn't so much pulled out of the story, as I slingshot 160km away from the story :/
The first thing I have to say is that this book sent me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I really wanted this to be a 5 star. I was so excited to read a Bengali-Irish book. There is a lot of good here, for one there is one of the best sibling relationships I've ever read. However there were a few small issues that took off the last stars.
The good
As I mentioned the relationship between Nishaat and her sister Priti was my favourite sibling relationship I've read in a long time, possibly ever. Even though it's not perfect, they very clearly love each other and support each other. The depiction of Nishat’s relationship with her parents also seems very real, bringing me almost to tears and by the end, I was ready to curl up.
I really enjoyed reading about the Bengali Muslim experience with homophobia and racism. Okay maybe enjoyed is the wrong word, but it's quite well written and Adiba does a good job of getting you to sympathise with her main character. Though that may not be too difficult seen as some of the bullying is horrific. The depiction of cultural appropriation was incredibly well done, heart-felt and engaging. It’s really the centre of the story (along with racist and homophobic bullying). I really felt Nishat’s upset at the other characters’ disrespecting and competing with her Henna business, despite it not being from their culture.
I originally didn't like Flavia, even little bit, I thought that she was a bad person pretending to be a good one. However, by the time it came down to it you're almost ready to forgive her when is Nishat does (ok, it took me another chapter, or two, to warm up to her again). I liked their budding friendship/ romance but not how it turned out in the end.
The bad
Even though this book was written by an author who has lived in Ireland since she was 10 and it is about a Bengali character living in Ireland, it didn't feel like Ireland, even a little. The book feels as if it was written specifically for an American audience with little to no Irish slang, the use of Fahrenheit instead of Celsius, American slang such as ‘bangs’ as opposed to ‘fringe’ and the continued use of dollars instead of Euros. This was disappointing because I was very excited to read about a queer poc experience in Ireland. I feel that a lot of stories are already for an American or international audience. I even Googled the author because I thought that maybe she had just set the book in Ireland but wasn't here, but it turns out that she has lived here since she was 10. Some of the references to Dublin landmarks felt like someone googled a top-ten list. I just don’t know what happened there.
The only thing that felt 'Irish' was the white parents meeting in China, so they named their equally white daughter Chyna. I don't know how to explain why, but that's some middle-class Irish nonsense right there.
The romance isn't great... Flávia is really condescending about appropriating Nishat's culture for a school project. She claims she's an artist and that Nishat wouldn't get it because she's not (except she is and fuck off with that shit). I found it annoying because as an artist, Flávia would know not to copy Nishat's exact design, even if she had no idea that henna mattered to Bengali culture. It's not unforgivable but I didn't understand why Nishat would still have a crush on her.
There were a few other bits and bobs, but I don’t want to focus on them too much because they might be a ‘me-thing’ or make it seem like I’m down on the book, when I really did like it. There is just a few references that don’t go anywhere, they’re just named. Why include them then?
EditI almost forgot the biggest pet peeve! That the Taoiseach was referred to as the Prime Minister. I wasn't so much pulled out of the story, as I slingshot 160km away from the story :/