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A review by thebookberrie
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
TW: homophobia, racism, being outed, bullying, a terrible irredeemable antagonist I would throw through a window in a second
So tired of having to put tws on books that are supposed to be cute romcoms smh.
The Henna Wars is about a girl named Nishat who starts a henna shop for a school project. Nishat is a lesbian and out to her parents but they are Muslim and told her to stay in the closet because Muslim girls aren't lesbians. Flávia is beautiful and Nishat quickly falls for her. But Flávia and Nishat's ex childhood friend decide to make a henna shop themselves- despite it not being their culture. Amidst sabotage and school stress, Nishat can't get over her crush on Flávia and learns there may be more to her than she thought.
This was so much more angsty than I ever wanted. I still liked it but there were so many things in the story that just annoyed me and I couldn't get over it. Like I said in another book I reviewed today, [b:Date Me, Bryson Keller|52739801|Date Me, Bryson Keller|Kevin van Whye|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572261861l/52739801._SX50_SY75_.jpg|68247313], I'm so tired of queer stories just being about being outed and religious parents that disagree with being gay, with a little romance thrown in as a treat. These stories are important but I just wanted two girls in rival henna shops falling in love not dealing with endless angst, homophobia, and racism. Characters being outed is my number one rage inducer and I want to read less of them.
I get the antagonist girl is supposed to be completely awful but Flávia spent much of the book just standing by and letting her cousin be openly racist and homophobic. Even when she does stand up to her, it didn't feel like enough. Yeah yeah, the author did her job of making me angry but please I just wanted the cute romcom this was advertised and not to actually want to murder a teenage girl. She just felt like too much of an awful person after a while just because of how completely awful she was. I did like how the racism and homophobia was challenged and fought but please just punch that girl in the face pls I need it so badly.
Also I'm a clown because I originally thought this was an adult romance, with actual henna shops like across the street from each other and hate to love ?? Not a bunch of drama filled high schoolers.
The writing was fine and I loved the talk of culture and family and when it came down to it, Nishat and Flávia were really cute together. This is just a book for someone who wants more angst, not my emo ass just wanting cute gay romcoms only.
So tired of having to put tws on books that are supposed to be cute romcoms smh.
The Henna Wars is about a girl named Nishat who starts a henna shop for a school project. Nishat is a lesbian and out to her parents but they are Muslim and told her to stay in the closet because Muslim girls aren't lesbians. Flávia is beautiful and Nishat quickly falls for her. But Flávia and Nishat's ex childhood friend decide to make a henna shop themselves- despite it not being their culture. Amidst sabotage and school stress, Nishat can't get over her crush on Flávia and learns there may be more to her than she thought.
This was so much more angsty than I ever wanted. I still liked it but there were so many things in the story that just annoyed me and I couldn't get over it. Like I said in another book I reviewed today, [b:Date Me, Bryson Keller|52739801|Date Me, Bryson Keller|Kevin van Whye|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572261861l/52739801._SX50_SY75_.jpg|68247313], I'm so tired of queer stories just being about being outed and religious parents that disagree with being gay, with a little romance thrown in as a treat. These stories are important but I just wanted two girls in rival henna shops falling in love not dealing with endless angst, homophobia, and racism. Characters being outed is my number one rage inducer and I want to read less of them.
I get the antagonist girl is supposed to be completely awful but Flávia spent much of the book just standing by and letting her cousin be openly racist and homophobic. Even when she does stand up to her, it didn't feel like enough. Yeah yeah, the author did her job of making me angry but please I just wanted the cute romcom this was advertised and not to actually want to murder a teenage girl. She just felt like too much of an awful person after a while just because of how completely awful she was. I did like how the racism and homophobia was challenged and fought but please just punch that girl in the face pls I need it so badly.
Also I'm a clown because I originally thought this was an adult romance, with actual henna shops like across the street from each other and hate to love ?? Not a bunch of drama filled high schoolers.
The writing was fine and I loved the talk of culture and family and when it came down to it, Nishat and Flávia were really cute together. This is just a book for someone who wants more angst, not my emo ass just wanting cute gay romcoms only.